On 12th July, my friend Manjari Gokhale (now Joshi) had her marriage reception at Pune. Aditi and I had to be there. While at it, we thought why not visit Ajanta caves and also soak rains at Goa for a few days. I will write about these places as soon as I get accustomed again to the humid hell that is called Delhi. For now, just a few tangent strokes.
Did you say mobile phone is a recently invented gadget? In cave no 26 at Ajanta, I found this sculpture of a Royal lady on a panel on the wall (created in 2nd century AD). If she is not speaking over the cellphone, what else is she doing?
I saw the statue of a mermaid in one of the roadside parks at Panaji, Goa. It’s there near the main market, beside the Indian Oil petrol pump. The Mandovi river flows on the other side of the road. I was wondering what would happen if similar mermaid statues are put up in other cities of India. I asked some of my journo friends for their opinions. A Times of India Senior Correspondent said, “I am not sure about other cities, but can talk about Kolkata and Delhi. If it’s set up at Kolkata, the ruling party would call for a day-long Bangla Bandh, and then destroy the statue calling it ‘symbol of degenerative culture (apasanaskriti)’. In Delhi, half of the men folk of the area the statue is put up, would visit the place at night to caress the statue.”
I already said it’s raining most of the time at Goa. If you are visiting any part of it now, don’t
leave your vehicle at the roadside for long. It will have the same fate as this truck had and the parts would have public usage as you can see in the photographs.
Wait for more such different strokes as I finish going through the photos.
leave your vehicle at the roadside for long. It will have the same fate as this truck had and the parts would have public usage as you can see in the photographs.