On the peacock trail from Mayilapuram to Mylapore

Posted on by sudhagee

I gaped at the Roman merchant as he passed me by in a parrot green silk toga with a  golden border. And then gaped some more as two more Roman merchants, in bright blue silk togas with flowery motifs, strolled past me in the marketplace. Romans in Mylapore? And that too in colourful silk togas?

“Sudha…Hey, Sudha? Are you listening? Where have you gone off?” a voice broke into my rambling, and rather colourful, imagination.

“Sorry, Akila,” I replied a little bit sheepishly. “Your mention of Mylapore’s Roman connection triggered off some time travel. The idea of Romans in colourful silk togas was too delicious to resist.”

It is a quarter to eight in the morning and I am standing outside the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai. I am there to explore and experience the many layers of Mylapore through the Peacock Trail, a walk conducted by Storytrails, an organisation that promises to give “a glimpse into the local way of life, using… stories as the medium”.

Akila is my storyteller and guide for this trail, and her narration of Mylapore’s rich past is so vivid and detailed that my journey of exploration through this ancient place is an unforgettable experience. And one that I hope you will also be able to undertake with me as I relive that experience through this post. 🙂

The main gopuram of the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai, can be seen rising up in the background

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A visit to Dakshinachitra

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A welcoming Kolam and flowers greets visitors
The glass of chilled mosambi juice was a life-saver. The blinding white heat and the humid haze that had assaulted my senses from the time I had landed in Chennai dissipated a wee bit.

I became aware of the quiet and calm of Dakshinachitra, “a living museum of art, architecture, crafts, and performing arts of South India”.

Located on the East Coast Road in Muthukadu, Dakshinachitra is about 21 km south of Chennai. The sprawling, 10-acre complex houses carefully recreated heritage structures, traditions and culture from the four southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is also a hub for performing arts, a retreat for artists, a learning centre for students, an exhibition space, a place to visit for the culturally inclined tourist… And a place that I had been wanting to visit for a long time, particularly to see the heritage structures.

So when the opportunity to visit Chennai came up about 10 days back, I planned my itinerary in such a way that I would go straight to Dakshinachitra from the airport itself. So far so good. What I had not accounted for, or rather ignored what everyone told me, was the severity of the infamous Chennai heat. I mean, how much more different could Chennai humidity be from Mumbai’s? By the time I reached Dakshinachitra, I was almost dehydrated and was having fond thoughts about Mumbai weather !

A shady courtyard at Dakshinachitra

Though the mosambi juice and lots of water revived me enough to brave the heat and take a walk through the heritage houses, the relentless heat made it difficult for me to really enjoy my visit there. I did manage to walk through the entire section of heritage structures, but my mind and camera did not register or record everything I saw.

But do allow me to share with you what they camera recorded. 🙂

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Museum Treasure: The Lachish Reliefs

Posted on by sudhagee

The British Museum‘s exhibits can delight a layperson, a history buff and a museum junkie at the same time. One of its more impressive exhibits is a set of stone panels known as the Lachish Reliefs. In its original form, the Lachish Reliefs (700-692 BC) would have been vividly painted. But the soft sepia tones that the frieze has acquired today (and enhanced by the lighting in the room) makes the viewer feel that is watching a documentary, albeit one etched in stone.

The Lachish Reliefs

Lachish (present day Tell ed-Duweir) is about 40 km south-west of Jerusalem. In 700 BC, Lachish was a heavily fortified hill town in the Kingdom of Judah and was strategically located on an ancient trade route that linked Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean and the riches of Egypt. At the end of the 8th century BC, Hezekiah, the King of Judah, rebelled against the Assyrians, who had built an empire that stretched from Iran in the East to Egypt in the West, and who controlled the region. Naturally, this rebellion did not go down very well with the Assyrians, whose King Sennacharib led and won a campaign against Lachsih.

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My “now” song: Zindagi mere ghar aana

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Do you ever have a song, an idea, a storyline, or an image stuck in your head? And it just refuses to go away? For some time at least? I have this with music—it could be a song, an instrumental piece, a jingle, etc. This becomes my “now’”song, and the “nowness”  (pardon my English here) could be for any length of time.

Yesterday was a rare day at home. I actually got control of the TV remote, and so after the first few minutes of savouring the power of having the TV remote in my hand, I got down to what one does best with it — surf channels. One of the channels I halted at was a music channel which had a programme on songs beginning with the word “Zindagi”. The half hour programme saw some of the more popular and well known “Zindagi” songs getting  discussed and screened.

As I watched the “Zindagi” songs play across the screen, a long-forgotten “Zindagi” number stirred in the depths of my memories and slowly uncoiled itself and before long I had muted the TV volume and was singing Zindagi mere ghar aana, from the 1979 film Dooriyan.

I first heard this song, which is sung by Bhupendra Singh and Anuradha Paudwal, on Binaca Geetmala around the time it was released. I had loved this song even then and would often be found humming or singing along when the song was aired. Soon other songs displaced it and this song got relegated to the deep, vast recesses of my memory. Only to have it resurrected with the programme on “Zindagi” songs. I find that I still like the lilting tune, and today I can even appreciate the simple, romantic lyrics.

So, tell me, has this post triggered off memories of any “Zindagi” song that you like? And do you have any favourite “Zindagi” song? Do share. 🙂

Travel Shot: The milk can and the gargoyle

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During a day trip to the Cotswolds region in England in August 2009, our tour group stopped for some refreshments at The Old Mill in a village called Lower Slaughter. This arrangement at the entrance to the mill-cum-tea room-cum-ice cream shop-cum-souvenir shop caught my eye.

The Milk Can and the Gargoyle. This is what came to my mind instantly on seeing the arrangement.

What do you think the gargoyle’s thinking? Do you think he hates ice-cream and would rather have a barrel of beer there. My imagination then took over and I thought of a pub named “The Milk Can and the Gargoyle”. And then dismissed the thought instantly, even though English pubs have weird and wonderful names (you can read more about it in one of my earlier posts here), they will not go for the word ‘milk’ for the name of a pub. It defeats the entire purpose, don’t you think so?

But, back to my question. What is the gargoyle thinking?

PS: I had the best ice-cream I have ever had in my life here—some creamy, organic, hand churned butter nut ice-cream. If you ever visit this place, do have some on my behalf and do say hiya to the gargoyle for me. 😀

2 years, 202 posts, 1,46,401 words…

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Image: http://thegoodheart.blogspot.in

It’s celebration time on My Favourite Things as it turns two today. 😀

A celebration of a blogging journey that began tentatively with a post on the Bandra Fort in Mumbai on 2 June 2010. A celebration of a journey whose last (more confident) halt, was a post on bloggers met, almost met and not yet met on 31 May 2012. The posts in between have explored all the things that I am passionate about: travel, books, music, my beloved Mumbai, and much more. In other words, My Favourite Things. Initially, I found my hastily named blog and its URL highly unoriginal and silly. I mean, who would name their blog “My Favourite Things” ! But today, I feel that I could not have chosen a more apt name as this blog truly reflects all my favourite things and multiple things I am interested in!

Join me as I take you through my blogging journey of 2 years with a focus on the highs and a couple of lows of year two, with some trivia thrown in as well. 😀

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