Have you read my review of Himalaya by Michael Palin yet? No? What are you waiting for? Read it here => Himalaya - Book Review. Let me know what you think of it. Your feedback will help me improve my reviewing skills. I am still struggling with this art, you see.
I have always maintained this. Unfortunately my wife is from Chandigarh and she does not like me saying so. I was therefore delighted when I first read the following in the book Himalaya by Michael Palin (Check out my review of Himalaya).
Chandigarh seems to consist mainly of roundabouts. Beautiful, well-kept, florally abundant roundabouts, sending the traffic spinning from one to another like some endless Scottish reel.
Verdant avenues of peepul, ashoka and mango trees connect this gently swirling system, leading, presumably, to a city of substance, for Chandigarh is the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana. I say presumably, because in our short stay here it is difficult to see much beyond the roundabouts and dead-straight, repetitive avenues.
What I do see reminds me of Islamabad. Both are post-Independence cities, built in a self-consciously modern style to replace the architecture of the Raj with something new and fresh, and more in keeping with what Nehru called 'the nation's faith in the future'. Both are discrete, tidy and a little cheerless.
At least Chandigarh secured the services of the top man. Swiss architect Le Conbusier designed the grid-plan layout and the boxy, modular buildings in concrete and red brick that can be glimpsed every now and then between the trees.
When I enquire what sort of person lives in this mecca of modernism I'm told that it's mostly wealthy Punjabi farmers approaching retirement.
My local informant summed up Chandigarh as 'a town of white beard and green hedges'. And sadly I'm not here long enough to disprove it.
"Rubbish!" Did I hear someone say 'rubbish'? Come on! Defend your town!
Meanwhile, I brace myself to face my wife tonight.
Serendipity can't get better than this.
I naturally skeptical of travelogues. I find the genre pretty boring. I picked up Himalaya by Michael Palin because there was nothing better at a small book shop at St. Pancras (before it became the home of the Eurostar) while waiting for a train. This must have been two years ago.
Advertisement obviously works. The cover says "The No. 1 Bestseller".
Or perhaps it was the title of the book Himalaya.
I mean, ask any Indian - any - about Himalaya he would go all misty eye - even if 99% of the population has never visited the Himalayas. We feel that it belongs to us.
After all we created it!
(I would rather not go into a detailed geography lesson on the Continental Drift Theory, The Indian Shelf and Tethys Sea.)
The book lay in my shelf for the last two years. I started reading it a few days ago. And I haven't stopped giggling since. My sons keep looking at me as if I have gone nuts.
Michael Palin has a way with his words. His humour is infectious. And his style of writing reminds me Of Yes Prime Minister. The book is actually a diary in print (are all Travelogues written this way?) and entries are short and crisp.
This book is about the BBC crew journey from one end of Himalaya (Pakistan) to the other (Assam, India) - but it is not a mountaineering expedition.
I have just reached his meeting with Dalai Lama in McLeodganj, India, and then I discovered something that I was totally unaware of.
Buddhism is far from being an irrelevant, unchanging religion. Buddhists and scientists have much in common, while in the field of psychology the Buddhists are well ahead. He [meaning Dalai Lama] grins. By 2000 years.
Since the time of Gautama Buddha in the fifth century BC, an analysis of the mind and its workings has been central to the practices of his followers. This analysis was codified during the first millennium after his death within the system called, in the Pali language of Buddha's day, Abhidhamma (or Abhidharma in Sanskrit), which means 'ultimate doctrine'.... Every branch of Buddhism today has a version of these basic psychological teachings on the mind, as well as its own refinements" (Goleman, 2004, pp. 72-73).This is certainly a new field to explore.
In the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan is a small town called Darra Adam Khel.
This place is famous for manufacturing fire arms. I am sure this place supplies arms to the terrorists. This place needs to be shut down.
I have extracted this from the best seller Himalaya by Michael Palin (He is English and I do not think is related to Sarah Palin; but I could be wrong). This was written in year 2004.
"Darra High Street, described by Geoffrey Moorhouse as 'the noisiest street in the world', runs for almost a mile and is filled with the roar of horn-blaring, gear-changing trucks punctuated by the cackle of gun-fire. You never quite know where the shots are coming from. As I cross the street a preoccupied figure in white robe pops out of a shop behind me, raises an AK-47, blasts a few rounds into the air, shakes his head and disappears inside again to make adjustments. Seeking relief from the din, I walk into a small arcade running at right angles off the main street. It is, to all intents and purposes, an arms mall, consisting of everything from workshops to carpeted rooms where you can select the weapon of your choice while taking tea with the management. In one establishment an earnest, bespectacled young man sits cross-legged, fashioning a trigger for a mini-Kalashnikov using pliers and a small hammer. Next door to him an older, bearded man scrutinizes a freshly made Mauser like a scholar bent over sacred texts. The equipment may be low-tech but the standard of plagiarism is extremely high. Originally confined to making copies of the British Army's great standby, the Lee Enfield .303, Darra's retailers now offer brand-name pump-action rifles, revolvers, automatics and quite probably rocket-launchers. One man proudly shows me a James Bong pen that can fire real bullets (he proves this to me by stepping out into the street and loosing it off.)"
Can't this be shut down? I mean what kind of country is this where weapons are manufactured and sold openly.
Evidence or no evidence, fire arms can be used for only one purpose - killing people. I am sure the Pakistan Army does not buy their arms from Darra Adam Khel!
So, who are the customers? Do I need to spell that out too?
Note: The picture used here belongs to Renxx Gmdr. To see more of pictures visit his gallery.
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