INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (9) - 23 Feb 2008

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg# 25955 on 23 Feb 2008 as `Another Indian Odyssey - Pt 2` :

Pt 2: Khajuraho and beyond

From Varanasi then we again took a short flight, this time by Kingfisher Airlines (another growing independent airline, owned by the same conglomerate that produces the famous brand of beer) to Khajuraho. One can `do` Khajuraho in a single day with an overnight stay, but we stayed two nights there, partly to relax after the gruelling few days before. And what can one say about Khajuraho that you may not have read or heard about or experienced yourselves? Yes, the extant temples with their famous erotic carvings are there for all to see, but much would depend on one`s own state of mind, knowledge and the way one is guided through the complex. Our guide was not particularly inspiring and so we had to delve into our own imagination!

And since Khajuraho has been mentioned in a couple of different contexts by others, let me say at once that the infinite variety of positions and possibilities depicted in the carvings, all very visible, is so striking that it far surpasses what Clinton did (or what the CIA failed to do to Castro) with their legendary cigar!. I am inhibited by a sense of decorum from posting pictures of some close-ups of such scenes, but am sure most people on this forum are familiar with them. Since the site was discovered and perfected for public viewing, millions of people must have passed through it, and yet it has retained an aura of freshness and anticipation. We could amble along from one temple to another at a fairly relaxed pace, in perfect weather. Some wanted a closer look around and went up the long steps into one or more of the them; others were happy simply to imbibe the atmosphere and gape at the sculptures on the exterior walls of the temples. While their sensual nature is self-evident, it is mixed with a sense of the sublime as well; that is the essence of creation.

Inevitably, we also thought of our visit to the Ajanta and Ellora caves in 2005. There too is concrete and living evidence of elaborate architecture and carvings, of sensuous paintings and murals on the walls of temples and monastries (Buddhist and Jain) set in caves which were actually man-made, hollowed out of solid rock. Khajuraho however confirms that Hindu mythology has a solid foundation as far as depiction of the sexual mores of the people of that period is concerned - and of course we must not forget the Kama-Sutra, which too has been mentioned in passing on this forum lately!

From Khajuraho to Orcha, some 170 km away - another historical city, a creation of a Rajput dynasty that had ruled the middle kingdom (Madhya Pradesh) during the 16th century. `Orchha` literally means `hidden`, and it is indeed a hidden archeological treasure, in the form of a huge fort complex comprising a number of palaces and temples, combining the best of Rajasthani, Jain and Mughal traditions. There is a pervasive air of tranquility and romance that we could all but breathe from the terrace of our hotel situated right on the bank of the local river on a curve. So again, we were able to relax here before another spell of hectic sight-seeing that awaited us in during the final stage of our tour.

We drove to Jhansi, of the 1857 fame, and from there took the Shatabdi Express to Agra. These express trains are famous for their comfort and hospitality and so we found. In the air-conditioned seater class, we were served fresh tea and snacks in grand style (on journeys of 4 hours or more, full-scale meals are provided). For many Agra was the highlight, and they, we, were not disappointed. There can be no doubt: the Taj Mahal is the eternal monument. It looked more magnificent than ever; it simply shone! This was our third or fourth sighing, and it has certainly never looked better; moreover it is in the process of being cleaned up even more. One cannot but marvel at its creation, its design, its engineering and architectural perfection. Indian tourist authorities have made great strides in preserving and presenting all this Mughal heritage of the country, in terms of access and surroundings. Our lingering impressions, carried over from previous visits, of a crumbling framework are a thing of the past.

I also visited Agra Fort and Akber`s Tomb and was amazed to re-discover how massive and solid they are. There is something to be said for revisiting places after so many years. The memories one may have of them are often compressed into a few selective snap-shots, focusing on only the most obvious features, and of course as the years go by these become even more entrenched. And so coming upon them afresh opens up new vistas. More importantly, we also would have matured, acquired greater knowledge and developed other, perhaps sharper and more nuanced, faculties of appreciation. And so reappraising the past and new bits of the present becomes an adventure and a learning process in itself. That was my, our, experience - and so it didn`t matter that we had been to some of these places. That was true also of Jaipur (though we gave the standard tours of the fort, the museum, the elephant ride etc a miss and instead took a day off to be by ourselves) and of New Delhi, where again the huge scale of Lutyens` creation and of mystic of his British neo-classical archiecture combining elements of the Indian Buddhist, Mughal and Hindu influences comes as a surprise when you go around along its wide avenues to look at Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate etc. I spotted just one cow in the midst of the otherwise fairly pollution-free traffic on that Sunday (the old foul emitting scooter-rickshaws have been replaced by modern ones).

To sum up then, I am truly encouraged by all that we saw. The cliche about India booming cannot be over-stated. The creativity and the huge potential of its people are there for all to see. The big cities, Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, are developing fast - buildings, roads, shopping malls, residential complexes, public spaces etc. There is a huge expansion of the infrastructure of rail, road and air communications, as well as of course on the technological front. The 1400 km Jaipur to Mumbai highway is an engineering feat, comprising 6 lanes plus service areas and accessories. The Jaipur-Delhi route is also being improved. On such visits, it is difficult not to draw comparisons with East Africa and to wonder why for example it never occurred to the Kenyans in 40+ years of independence to upgrade the one miserable narrow guage railway line from the coast to Kisumu into at least a double-track, or to similarly to modernize its road network (considering that during the recent troubles we were all reminded of the fact that the port of Mombasa serves a huge hinterland and that most of the goods traffic bound for the neighbouring countries has to travel along a single carriage trunk road from Mombasa upwards over such long distances)!

Even during our visit in the winter of 2004/5 it was apparent, and I had noted, that abject poverty had disappeared. That is definitely so. You do not see many beggars or people with little or nothing by way of clothing. Starvation is clearly a thing of the past. Yes, of course, there are street vendors at every tourist spot, but they don`t hustle you much, and in the same way the stall holders and shop keepers let you be after an initial approach or invitation. So things are changing. This is reflected in the tv programmes also of course. And then, the tourist industry as a whole has become better organized, very professional and most impressive. Wherever we went, there were many visitors, in small and large groups, of visitors from Japan, Korea, Thailand and from Europe and a few from America as well, and so many Indian tour guides speaking Japanese, Korean, German, French etc. Even the old `sing song` English of the Indians has given way to a more neutral form!

That said, of course there are all sorts of social problems and historic imbalances that remain, but these are apparently being addressed at many different levels. As most Indians will point out, India is a country of 1 billion people, and contains a vast mix of ethncities and regional variations. But something has happened - they appear to have crossed a threshold, into a national consciousness of optimism and expectation that is infecting the whole body politic.

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey, England