meharitha’s blog

My name is Haritha … and I don’t suffer from Asperger’s syndrome. For that matter, by God’s grace … I am fit and fine

Yes friends. I have been away from iLand for quite long time now. And here I am with all the new rediffBlogs. I guess it would take little time to get used to this new look/features.  

CLASSIC VERSION…

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
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MODERN VERSION…

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others, like him, are cold and starving.

BBC, CNN, NDTV show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor  grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper.

Opposition MP’s stage a walkout.

Left parties call for “Bharat Bandh” in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]“, with effect from the beginning of the winter.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by BBC,CNN and NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it “a triumph of justice”.

Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

28th Oct Saturday 2006
After an early breakfast, we started our journey to Interlaken - Between the Lakes. This place is supposedly a sought after location for our bollywood movies. The drive was scenic, but the actual destination was rather dissapointing. I have to admit, there was nothing interesting or beautiful enough; may be it would have been better if we stopped close to the lake. Manu and myself sat in a cafe and enjoyed a cup of early morning coffee.

After spending more than an hour at the bollywood park, we headed for Trummelbach Falls - a fascinating place where a stream of water has cut its way through the hard rock, creating deep crevices and caves, only a few feet wide. These Falls are unique, in that seven of its 10 cascades are inside a mountain. A lift took us up inside the mountain, and then we started climbing further up to the cascades. The tunnels and stairs that lead to the cascades are dimly lit and damp, with water dripping everywhere. Add the deafening roar of water and the constant vibration in the rock - one hell of an experience. Our descend was equally fun - thanks to the weather - the autumn colours and acres of green grass in front of our eyes - all added to the wonderful experience.

We then came to Laterbrunnen rail station. The Lauterbrunnen Valley, regarded as one of the most spectacular glacial valleys in Europe, lies surrounded by the unspoilt natural beauty of the magnificent Swiss Alps. We took the train to Kleine Scheidegg, from where we changed on to another train for Jungfrau - the highest mountain peak located in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps - at 12000 feet. The train actually runs inside the mountains. Shortly after leaving Kleine Scheidegg, the train enters the tunnel. The first stop is at Eigerwand - where there are few windows through which we could have a look at the high peaks. The train stopped for 5 minutes. Once everyone got back, it pulled on and stopped again for 5 min at Eismeer. Here too there were few windows to look at the mountains and admire nature at it’s best. The windows are supposedly placed in holes used to remove excavated rock from the tunnel during construction and occasionally used as access points to rescue climbers. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch was roughly 50min including the stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer; the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes

At Jungfraujoch, a large complex of tunnels and buildings have been constructed. A couple of hotels, restaurants (one with the name Bollywood), research station, cinema, ski school, Ice Palace and much more. We went outside to a flat, snow covered area, it was very, very cold and very slippery too. I couldn’t go more than 4 steps and had difficulty walking back those 4 steps too We decided to go around Ice Palace - a collection of elaborate ice sculptures. I thought I would end up on the ice floor, but surprisingly here it wasn’t slippery at all. Then we went to the observatory and again came out in the open. Here it was all decked but couldn’t stay for long due to the strong winds and bitter cold. By this time, I was really getting affected due to the cold and also because of the altitude. Manu and myself decided to relax in the coffee bar and enjoy the post-card views of the mountains thru the huge glass windows.

If only I could expess all my feelings in words! I guess the best way to understand ourselves is to get as close as possible to the nature; one would realise how small man is! No matter what ‘great’ achievements we boast of, we are nothing but another minute species existing in the vast lap of nature.

Hello Friends,
Just got back from a short trip to India. Will post the second part of the Swiss holiday soon - need to catch up with work at office. Will drop by your ilands shortly .. till then …
Take Care

Here is the memoir of our Switzerland trip - hope you enjoy reading it to the extent we enjoyed the tour. Manu, as usual, did all the planning and booking for the trip; He wanted us to go all by ourselves, but I insisted that we take the Taj Tours package - so that we don’t struggle with the language/food in the new place. And it indeed turned out to be a good decision to go with Taj Tours.

26th Oct Thursday 2006
Our flight to Zurich was around 8:50AM from Heathrow. We had to get to the airport early as we were supposed to meet the tour manager and collect our e-tickets at the airport itself. So - got out of bed at around 4AM, got ready and were at the airport before 6AM; there were quite some people already collecting tickets from the tour manager and checking-in. Our tour manager, Mr Shroff, looked familiar - well, he’s the same one who was on the Scotland trip with Chitties & Nannus. We checked in our luggage, collected our boading passes, purchased £100 worth Swiss Francs, passed thru the long security check, had our croissant and coffee at Nero Cafe and got on to the flight after a boring wait. Our flight was delayed for 20min - due to fog at Zurich airport. It was rainy in London and many parts of UK, so we were little doubtful about the weather in Switzerland.

I was very hungry when we got into the flight, but all we got to eat was a small muffin!! Manu and myself remembered our domestic flights ( especially Jet Airways) which are much better than the Swiss Airways we were travelling in. Well, definitely in terms of food. It took us around 1 1/2 hrs to get to Zurich. After passing thru immigration, we collected our baggage and that’s when had a good look at everyone in the tour. It’s a mixed group - a couple of oldies, a few young pairs and couple of families with kids. After a short wait at the airport, we got into the clean Taj tours coach & met Alex - the coach driver.

Once we all settled down in the coach and were on the clean and speedy roads of Zurich, our tour manager started off with the day’s itenary. We were driven to Zurich City center for a stroll and a meal as the check-in time at our pre-booked hotel was around 3PM. On the way to our first halt, we saw the famous Swiss Bank - an imposing old building. The coach dropped us at the lake side and we were asked to be back with in an hour. Manu and myself walked to the lake, took few snaps and looked for a place to eat. Our first choice was to grab something from a road-side eatery, but couldn’t make out anything from the menu - it was all written in German ( or was it French?). We decided to walk across the bridge and check out the eating places on the other side of the lake. Well, after a short while we were at Starbucks - a safe bet - we had sandwich, pasta and coffee.

Once everyone got back to the bus, we started for our hotel - NH Zurich Airport. We reached hotel around 3PM, collected our keys and were given 30min time to freshen up, before heading for Rhine Falls. Manu and myself felt a bit tired, but still managed to get to the lobby on time. A couple was late and Alex - the coach driver threw his weight around. People were really not very happy about his attitude. NEways, shortly after 4PM, we were on our way to Rhine Falls - the largest Falls in Europe; with an average flow of 700m3/sec the water cascades down the cataracts, which are 150m wide and 23m high. The entire journey was very pleasant and scenic.

The coach stopped at an altitude and right in front of the falls. Rhine Falls appeared to be a miniature version of Niagara Falls. Manu and myself walked down while quite a number of people from the group were posing for photographs. We decided to take snaps at those spots while returning back. There was a small cafe near the lake, which was just about to close; we bought coffee and sat on a bench facing the falls. It was very peaceful, quite and a little cold. People went around walking close to the waters, but we decide to sit and relax. There was a small boat ride available to tourists also. There were some very high buldings overlooking the falls, and we wondered about having our offices’ in one of those buildings

After spending an hour at the Rhine Falls, we were all ready for dinner - yes, our tummies started making sounds. So we headed for Taj Palace - an Indian restaurant close to Zurich City center. It was around 7PM when we got to the restaurant - a small, dimly lit, cosy place. The decor represented whole of India - banana plants, ethnic Rajasthani/Gujarati mirror work wall-hangings, huge brass Ganesha, wooden carvings and loads of other stuff from across the length & breadth of India. The buffet was all set and the food was really tasty. We had wine(had to pay for), papads, chana salad, dal, paneer, chicken, roti, rice, curd and desert.

We got back to our hotel around 9PM. The tour manager briefed us on our next day itenary and asked us to be ready by 9AM. Manu and myself were really tired when we got to our room - it was indeed a long day. We hit the bed after a quick bath and were snoring to glory in no time

27th Oct Friday 2006
After a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel, we were all ready at the coach on time - 9AM. It took us more than an hours drive to our first halt - Engelberg. From here we took cable car ride to Mount Titlis - the glacier paradise at 10,000 feet, the highest viewpoint in Central Switzerland - the home for first revolving cable car. Our first look at the great Alps glaciers was - splendid. The snow from last winter was still white and fresh. We had to change cable cars at various altitudes, at couple of places before reaching the top. Though myself and Manu were not dressed for the snow - we still decided to walk on the snow/ice and take the Ice Flyer ride - a chairlift that spans the glacier crevasses of Mount Titlis. It was quite windy and cold - obviously it has to be cold. While walking back after the Ice Flyer ride, I did slip on the ice and was on all fours couple of times. We took a photograph - all dressed up in traditional Swiss clothing, had a sandwich and were back on the cable car to Engelberg just after lunch time.

Our next halt was at The Lion Monument, Lucern - carved in the early 1800s, by Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen, in the honour of 700+ Swiss Guards who died protecting the Royal family after the French Revolution. The sculpture was carved in a sandstone cliff above the city center, near Lucerne’s Glacier Garden, and it has attracted countless visitors since its dedication in 1821. Our initial plan was to take a boat ride, but due to unavailability of boat captains (yes), we couldn’t go. We had ample time to shop around and relax near the lake. Manu bought me a Maurice Lacroix watch and a few cow bells to gift.

We were then driven again to Taj Palace for dinner - papads, chana salad, kadhi, mix veg curry, chicken, roti, rice, curd and ice-cream. It was almost 10PM when we got back to the hotel. Initially we had plans to try out night life in Zurich - but did not go out as we were suppossed to start early next day. Went to bed straigth away - still feeling the snow in the heart.

Wish you all a Very Happy Republic Day

I hope you have heard/read our dear President’s R-Day speech. For those of you who didn’t, here it is : http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/25text.htm

Mr. President’s speech is as usual inspiring. But somehow, I still felt a little uneasiness while reading the speech. It’s all good to have a vision .. no .. actually it it important to have a vision; but how long are we going to talk about 2020 without even addressing the grass root issues. The Indian growth rate, the IT/outsourcing/call center economy, the spending power of the middle class - all this is fine - thanks to everyone who contributed to ‘this’ growth.

But - what worries me is we are still fighting the age old problems - poverty, literacy, basic health facilities. 20 yrs back when I was a kid at school, the main problems discussed were around  - ‘roti, kapda, makaan’.  Even today we are still ‘talking’ about those problems. One of my very close friends’ won a debate on dowry problem and I am damn sure dowry is still a ‘hot’ topic for debate in schools. Or we just moved over thinking it doesn’t exit? Children who need to be in school are still working on the streets. 

There are many different approches - individual contributions to government policies. I won’t be able to say anything about individual contributions but yes - can’t we elect a decent government to make good policies?

What are your thoughts ? Would definitely like to hear.

(I wonder - do our politicians ever do soul-searching?)

Winter finally arrived in London; it snowed a bit today. It was all white when I first looked out of the window in the morning; quite bright and beautiful when I started for work. I had to bring my camera out to capture the snow covered trees (with barely any leaves) and roofs. The last few years were rather dry - few wintery showers ending in icy roads; no snow.

The first time I ever came in touch with snow was during my stay in Albany-New York, way back in 2000/2001. There it snows a lot - usually there would be  2-3 feet snow after a storm. I did enjoy the snow then  - playing like a kid, trying to make a snowman etc. The second time I experienced snow was in 2003 - in our very own Manali. I was not prepared for snow then - had to buy woolies then & there.

Here in London - one gets to see very little snow (1-2cms) Well, it’s good to be at home and watch the snow rather than be on the streets here. The streets get icy quickly and difficult to walk/drive. Though it’s turning out to be very cold - I am still enjoying the winter.

Will try to post the photos as & when I get to transfer them on to my computer.

Wish you all a Very Happy Makar Sankranti.