I visited Rameshwaram

Its 12:30 in the afternoon and I am sitting in Chennai Airport even as I type this line. I can’t believe it!!!! Since I have joined my new company I have been on a traveling spree. In the last 30 days, I have now traveled to Delhi, Panchkula, Mohali, Chandigarh, Chennai and now the latest is Rameshwaram. And by the looks of it, things are really hotting up and I might travel to lot many places then I even imagined. I am loving it!!! :-)

The reason why I am giving my visit to Rameshwaram a special mention in my blog is because – first, it’s a beautiful place to visit and secondly its one of the holy places for the Hindus. The icing on the cake is, of course, the fact that the company is covering all my charges (I was on an official tour) :-)

For starters, Rameshwaram is a place where the Bay of Bengal joins the Indian Ocean. It’s really impossible to describe the beauty that this place has to offer for you. You need to see it to believe it. The vast expanse of sea, the slow humming breeze, the hot and crispy sun and the simple unsophisticated friendly people - everything about this place is awesome. I feel much better after visiting this place.

One thing worth seeing in this place is the Indhira Gandhi Bridge. I am sure some people might have observed small dots on the map of India between India and Srilanka. The Indira Gandhi Bridge joins two such “dots” (Islands). If you stand on this bridge facing towards Srilanka, on your left hand side you can see the Bay of Bengal and on the right hand side you can see the Great Indian Ocean. With ships, fishermen and tourists dotting the landscape, it’s a heavenly sight. If you happen to be an early riser you could as well come to this bridge at around 6:00 in the morning and see one of the most spectacular sunrise of your life. You can literally see the sun rising from the Indian Ocean.

Now let me go to the mythological part of this place. It is in this place that Lord Sri Ram worshipped the “Shiva Linga” (there is a beautiful story about how the Shiva lingam came here in the first place, more about it at some other time). This Shiva lingam is also happens to be one of the 12 “Jyothir Linga” in India (Jyothir lingam is a lingam that is very close to Lord Shiva. It is said that a part of Shiva lives in the Jyothir lingam). It is also said that no person goes to this place by him self. It is only when the Jyothir lingam wants to see someone it makes circumstances such that the person is drawn to the place. Hmm… Interesting. It is also at this place that Lord Rama started to build the “floating stone bridge” towards Sri Lanka. This bridge was then used by the troops of Sri Ram to march into the kingdom of the demon Ravana and defeat him. The photo attahed here is of the Ram bridge as seen from a satellite.

A beautiful, humongous and ancient temple now stands in the place where Lord Rama worshipped the Jyothir Linga. This temple is just besides the ocean shore. Every morning at around 5:30, water and beach sand is brought from the ocean. With this along with milk, honey, holy Ganges water and sandalwood the lingam is washed (called as Abhishekam in local lingo). I was not lucky enough to see this. But I can imagine how blissful it might be to watch this event. A special mention about the size of the temple has to be made. Just for the sake of it, I thought I will circumcise the entire temple once, believe me, I had to sit and take rest twice before I complemented walking around the temple. I am not sure when this temple was built, but I can positively say that it is “at least” two centuries old. My heart filled with joy just by imagining the number of devotees that might have walked inside this temple seeking for divine blessings.

All in all it felt wonderful to be in this place. I am going back with happy memories, joy in heart divine grace of God with me and body pains (due to the intense traveling). Bottom line – I am happy :-)

My first North Indian marriage…

Soul mates, it is said, are decided in heaven. The celebration of this heavenly match on earth is – marriage. Recently I had the good luck of attending the first north Indian marriage of my life. On 20th January, 2007 Nitin, a close friend of mine wed Adithi. No doubt it was once in a life time day for Nitin – it was an extremely good day for me as well.

What amazes me the most is the diversity that India has. Though we are from the same country and have common beliefs regarding marriage, the way it is conducted in North and south part of India is breathtakingly different and wonderful thing to experience. The basic difference is that in South India marriage start early in the morning (about 4:00 am) and ends in the evening (about 6:00 pm). In north India marriages begin in the evening (about 6:00 pm) and end in the morning (4:00 am). This is as far as the timing is concerned. This is also the tip of an Iceberg.

Once more very big difference was the “Nach Gana” (singing and dancing) part North Indian marriage. The atmosphere is very lively and fun filled. There is a lot of music and people dancing all around. I could see an old man with all his hairs white and hardly able to walk giving his best shot at dancing. Now that’s what I call participation. The marriage atmosphere in south India is much sober. It is also conducted in a very orthodox way. Dancing is less and limited only to the younger lot.

Another difference is the verity of food available. Everything from milk, tea, coffee, Horlicks, Roti, Kulcha, Raita, fried brinjal, Jalebi, rasgula, Ice cream, Rice, bhaji was available for the taking. North Indians seem to just love food. This is one more common thing that I share with north Indians.

There were some funny traditions that I happened to see. One such tradition is called as “Jaymala”. Here the bride and the bridegroom are supposed to exchange garlands. The fun part is that when the bride is trying garland the groom, the groom’s friend make a lot of fuss over it. They act as if they do not want the groom to get married away and a lot of fun and frolic happens. Ultimately the groom and his friends relent and the bride put garland over the groom. The same refusal game is played by the bride’s friends when the groom tries to garland the bride. It’s an extremely funny thing to watch – I loved seeing it.

Another such thing is when the couple starts to have food. The bride’s friends and sisters literally surround the groom. They have some fun with the groom by giving “sweet dishes”. The funny part is that the so called sweet dishes have salt in them instead of sugar!!!! It is not done is a dry and customary way, but it done in a very lively way with a lot of fun and enthusiasm. You must see it to know what I am telling.

One more funny tradition is that the bride sister’s try to steal the groom’s shoes. The groom along with his friends keeps a close watch on his shoes. They try their level best to “protect” it from the bride’s sisters. In case the bride’s sisters are successful in stealing the shoes, the groom will have to “pay” to get bay his own shoes from them. Funny – right??

The way that North Indians conduct marriages might be vastly different from that of south India. But, the common this is the good will everyone has for the newly weds. By following different traditions and ways the only thing they wish is that the couples live happily ever after. I too wish the same…:-)

New place, new dreams and new challenges – Now in Delhi!!

So - I have left Hyderabad. It feels good to know that I am moving ahead with life. It feels good to know that I can accept challenges. It feels good to know that I am growing up – at last. Any new place offers soo much. It offers you an opportunity to earn new friends, face new challenges, test yourself, make new mistakes, learn about different people, learn about different culture and broaden your knowledge. In more ways then one, I am happy that I took the decision to try luck in a new place.

Many of my friends were shocked to know that I am moving towers Northern India. After all, Susheel is a typical south Indian boy who loves to stay nearer to home – is what they thought. Hmm, frankly speaking – even I am shocked that I took the decision to move so far away from my Home town. Maybe – just maybe, it was because I studied in this place during my childhood. I have some found memories from Delhi. Whatever the reason, I am now in Guargaon and glad that I am still alive to write about it.

After a very hectic first month, in which I was forced to retune myself to the climate and people of this place, I am slowly settling down. The climate in this place (at this time of the year) is much cooler then in south India. The people here are very bold, confident and outgoing as compared to south Indians. And the best part is they simply love to talk – a trait that is common between us.

I have a big wish list now. To mention a few - I want to see snow fall, I want to ride in a desert (both a rarity in south India), I want to see the Taj mahal, I want to see the beautiful hill stations of North India (shimla, Kasar devi.. etc) and last but not the least – I want to make as many new friends as possible.

I understand it’s less then a month since I came to this place. I understand that my stay here might be bumpy. I understand that I might face a lot of problems initially – but all this excites me and makes me happy to have the courage enough to come to this place. Let’s see how my stay here turns out to be :-)