Pictures and words

The best thing about Amman is that it offers you the freedom to look at it in whatever way you want. It gives you an infinite bouquet of its variants. You don't get to do this in a lot of other cities. One thing that gained my curiosity when I visited the city (for the second time) was the sofas. Its a beautiful city with very hospitable people. And sofas randomly spread in the by-lanes. It interested me so much that I started searching about the history of the sofas. In the book Illustrated History of Furniture: From the Earliest to the Present Time  by Frederick Litchfield Frederick Litchfield - page 166 , it says that the word "sofa" is of Arab derivation, the word "suffah" meaning "a couch or place for reclining before the door of Eastern houses." In Skeat's Dictionary the word is said to have first occurred in the "Guardian," in the year 1713, and the phrase is quoted from No. 167 of that old periodical of the day—"He l

Today I want to write briefly about my late grandfather, S. K. Prabhakar, as I have come to know him. Daddy, as all of us called him, was the most well-read and upright member of the family. I could not spend much time with him, at least from what I can recall. When he died in 2001, I was only 7 years old. I have a very sketchy memory of him. He was an army man. After his retirement from the services, he started learning homoeopathy on his own. Everybody, especially my grandmom, tells me that he was like me. Earlier, I couldn't understand why they said so. I was too young to comprehend. I actually got to know and understand him better after his death, when I was given access to his room. His room was a treasure chamber. It had a lot of books, mostly on Homoeopathy, Stock market and Self-help. The latter was something I was most interested in. The self-help section had all the bestsellers of his time. So, later on, whenever I would visit my grandmom, the first thing I'd

Today I met Daulat Jha. Iih had been telling me about someone who became 'Ghajini' (an Indian adaptation of the movie Memento). Iih is a person who'd always make serious stuff sound light. I'll tell you about him later. So, I reached the theater during a practice session in Teku, a place in Kathmandu valley, while Iih waited for me outside. We climb up the building to reach an in-construction theater where some artists were practising. That's when I saw Mr. Jha for the first time. I said a nonchalant 'Hi' and sat next to Iih, keeping him in the middle. In a while Iih asked me to sit next to him and talk, if I wanted to. I shook hands with him and introduced myself. He then told me his name in a much distorted voice. It took me some time to get used to his voice. When he asked me where I lived, I told him I was staying in Patan. As soon as I told him about myself, he took out his phone and started noting my name, and asked me for its spelling. Then he sta

Lucky 'the magician' AKA Jadoogar Abhay Samrat has gained some weight and his voice is now heavier. He is more confident now. I met him last in 2015 during a village annual fair in the village of Dhrang. You can read that 2015 post  here . It was again a sudden plan to go to Dhrang. Satish and I rode his bike through the scenic Kutch. The village organises a big fair every MahaShivratri in February. The fair, also called the 'mela' was exactly the same, the stalls were similar, the swings were in the same position as three years back. This time the kids-jumping-pneumatic-structure had mickey mouse's photos instead of bikini photos of actresses I was privileged to witness in 2015. Inflatable thing. Crossing through the swarms of people and many plastic-made-in-china-junk stalls, I wondered what has happened to the country, this was one of the most remote mela I had been to where only locals visit. Still all the stalls are filled with cheap picture fram

Sharing with you some complete, some incomplete sketches from my travel sketchbooks made quickly-on-spot over the years. With the sketches, there are interesting things you can also do when you are around. Would love to know your opinions and comments. Enjoy! 1. Enjoy the M.F Hussain's paintings in B.V Doshi's design at Amdavad ni gufa in Ahmedabad  2.  Absorb the serenity and Gandhi's simplicity in Sabarmati Ashram 's courtyards in Ahmedabad. 3. Trekk to the hidden '7 domed building' in Pawagarh  near Baroda. 4. Rest at the oldest Dharamshala lodge in Bet Dwarka .  8. Eat garma garam maggie in the chilling rain at 'no name cafe' in Mcleodganj.  9. Listen to the Arzan sitting in the tal taliya mandir at the Ghat of Upper lake in Bhopal.  10. Learn to weave in Bhujodi village in Kutch.  11. Climb to the big bell in Prag mehal, Bhuj. 12. Experience the amazing composition of natural architecture in Hunnarshala