4. NEFA- 15.1. 02
We drove from Kaziranga to Dibrugarh reaching about Lunch to Hotel Mona Lisa bidding goodbye to Narayan and the Sumo and shifting to the Black ‘Cielo’ of our host/ friend at Arunachal.
Driving Eastwards were, more and more Tea-estates spreading far and wide owned by various Williamson & McPhersons, Williamson & etc. etc. still symbolizing past or present history of British ownership. Most of the Head-offices were in Kolkota, most tea was exported but most workers were local, lots were women and just about surviving.
The roads were getting bad and then bad to worse. For my NRI friend Veena, used to driving on fast and mighty Highways of a mighty country, It was difficult to comprehend why ‘it had to be so’. Depending on my state of noon-somnolence I would react by simply smiling or going into our intricate ways of existing and ‘progressing’ in Mera Bharat Mahan.
We crossed the border into Arunachal. I remembered (too late) that our inner-line permits, which I had procured in Delhi after ‘some’ effort, were in the Boot of the car in my suitcase. “No problem” announced the Driver, “nobody will check in my Sahib’s car” WOW!
He did not even have to stop or slowdown at the Barrier ‘in these’ troubled times, although it ‘troubled’ both of us for Mera Bharat----you know what- Mahaaan !
We arrived at Guna town, Chowkham in Lohit Distt. to a large dwelling in the midst of lot of greens and were welcomed by Rajen and his wife Frica. Somewhat in a daze after the long travel, the hot Brandy with Madhu, Black pepper and Ginger was wonderful.
Arunachal borders with Bhutan, China and Myanmar (Burma). It is mountainous, remote and predominantly tribal.
Rajen belongs to the tribe of ‘Khamtis’. His ancestors moved here in the mid 80s’ from Burma. They are one of the most prosperous, have their own language, script and religion. His father Mr Namshun, now in his 80s was the tribal chief and later an MP. Arunachal at the time of Independence was the most backward state, the capital Itanagar being built only in 1982. Mr. Namshun was instrumental in its growth in education, general development and brought it on the Industrial map of India. Though born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was socially committed and almost developed the whole town including 2 Budhists temples or Stupas, local Schools, market, club and Parks.
At this time he was going through ‘grief’ after Ashok Kumar’s death who he said had been his contemporary and favorite Bollywood star.
We visited the Parashuram Kund which is a place of pilgrimage and especially famous for a ‘Holy-bath’ during Makkar Sankranti. There were about 500 steps going down the hill, which Veena descended in the hope of ‘being cleansed’ of her sins while I waited with Rajen in his Pajero. Once in those waters people actually remove and discard their clothes (with no inhibitions I was told) and wear new ones to ‘become new’ ??? perhaps.
Driving on narrow roads one saw luxuriant tropical rain forests giving way at places to paddy fields and human habitations. There were rhythmic hilly rivers checked by small dams, boats and bridges of various kinds including a floating Bridge controlled by the Army.
(We were told that on one such rope bridge Rajen’s brother Guna had slipped into the river and died).
There were small tin and jute dwellings, which looked like railway carriages, long and narrow. These belonged to the Mishi tribe, most of who were farmers. Each had atleast 4 wives and lots of children all living in complete harmony. The groom just had to pay some money to buy his bride and she was ‘his’ to command and help in the field.
The evenings were indoors with the Namshuns sharing local rice dishes cooked in Bamboo, fresh steamed vegetables and lovely fruits from Fricas own garden. Along with this I have to also mention the other sharing, discussions and confessions on life, love, marriage and values, VALUES of people who belonged to Arunachal, Kashmir, Punjab, South of Delhi, South of Manhattan. They were actually the same. Singing George Harrisons songs in a tribal home - the integration felt complete, not of the Indian but the Global-Mind.
Then the clouds gathered and the rain began to swell the waters along the roads. Not risking getting trapped in Arunachal, which they said could happen, we left a day early to reach Mona Lisa and next morning fly back to Kolkota carrying bagfulls of Arunachali Tea.
At Dum-dum airport over a cup of Tea from the Machine, over shared emotions of meeting and parting friendship we hugged good byes. We shook hands vowing to meet at Amsterdam at the International meet of Law and Psychiatry in July 2002, my trolley facing Indian Airlines to Delhi- hers to British to New York.
Veena Kapoor
13. 2. 02
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
3. NEFA trip
3. NEFA- 15.01.2001
I took my half Avomine and we got into the Sumo to undertake the long drive ‘down’ Megalaya hills, rather ‘up’ North and then East through Assam, across the Nilachal hills towards the World heritage Kaziranga National Park- supposedly the home of the One horn Indian Rhino.
Once in the plains, the plains were covered by Paddy, beginning yellow mustard (milder than the familiar rich yellow ‘Saron’ of Punjab)
And Tea , tea and Tea. They say that Brahmaputra which swells in the Monsoons later recedes and leaves the ‘plains’ so fertile that all you have to do is put the seed, go to sleep and return at harvest time for a rich ‘yield’. This is a rational explanation of the ‘lazy laid back attitude of the masses up there, the absence of absolute poverty, beggars on the streets or the need of higher ‘info-tech’ needs of a regular guy that ‘we’ know of in our part of the world.
Narayan slowed. ‘The people jam’ was not traffic but Ha Ha a Spanish Bull fight- part of the celebration of the Bihu festival. I woke up my Sakhi who jumped at the announcement, picked up the Sony and disappeared into the crowds while I was still manipulating myself slowly down the highish Sumo seats. The Bulls looked rather mild compared to those in Spain but the owners ‘hot’ with their long Dandas and the gambling streak. Narayan was instructed to ‘Dhoondo’ my friend which he failed at. Finally she emerged out of a family crowd with a young bride and groom clamoring for the attention of the ‘Sony’ and sneaking in their addresses for copies of their images with the foreign Indian lady. “How the Hell do they know I am from outside?” “Why the Hell don’t you know, it is your attitude?”
The drive was getting long and the day dark.
Finally the announcement, we were close, we were surrounded by trees in the dark and then aha! Wild Grass. ‘Wild Grass’ was the destination today our resort- Jungle mein mangal- The manager Royneesh was amply welcoming and also inquired if we were psychiatrists which we were and then that that meant there was a special invitation for us for Dinner with Manju the owner (infact the guy who had organized and guided our trip) and another Psychiatrist. After our usual chai we strolled around the wooded cottages, all nationalities of tourists around, music and sounds of tabla around a fire and finally joined our hosts around another big bon-fire. Here is where we met Sushrat, the shrink from London who was familiar with us through our e-group. So from virtual reality we met in real reality at Kaziranga. He was not a ‘transit’ visitor but someone who had chosen Wild grass as his Haven and comes regularly for ‘------???’. “Sushrat wo’nt you tell us about your wild grass connection?”
Next morning was the only morning we got up early which was for a 6 o’clock elephant Safari in the jungle followed by ones later in open jeeps through tall wildy grass and marshy land and dusty roads. We did see the famous Rhinos, wild elephants, deers, boars, crocodiles and ducks but the tiger was no where to be sighted.
There were birds, ‘migratory’ and unusual according to the guide. I tried to focus through his special binoculars, but concluded I was no Salim Ali who had said that the phenomenon of migration is most highly developed in birds, the most enthralling and still a mystery to understand. Assam and the foot of Himalayas form one of 5 popular bird resorts in India and reminded me of my earlier visit to the famous Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan, Bharatpur where I had gone with Shobha, my bird-watching friend 2 years ago.
Veena caught the ‘Snuffles’ and after another Dinner around the Fire,
we retired to be woken up in the morning for our next stop Arunachal.
Veena Kapoor
5.2.2002
I took my half Avomine and we got into the Sumo to undertake the long drive ‘down’ Megalaya hills, rather ‘up’ North and then East through Assam, across the Nilachal hills towards the World heritage Kaziranga National Park- supposedly the home of the One horn Indian Rhino.
Once in the plains, the plains were covered by Paddy, beginning yellow mustard (milder than the familiar rich yellow ‘Saron’ of Punjab)
And Tea , tea and Tea. They say that Brahmaputra which swells in the Monsoons later recedes and leaves the ‘plains’ so fertile that all you have to do is put the seed, go to sleep and return at harvest time for a rich ‘yield’. This is a rational explanation of the ‘lazy laid back attitude of the masses up there, the absence of absolute poverty, beggars on the streets or the need of higher ‘info-tech’ needs of a regular guy that ‘we’ know of in our part of the world.
Narayan slowed. ‘The people jam’ was not traffic but Ha Ha a Spanish Bull fight- part of the celebration of the Bihu festival. I woke up my Sakhi who jumped at the announcement, picked up the Sony and disappeared into the crowds while I was still manipulating myself slowly down the highish Sumo seats. The Bulls looked rather mild compared to those in Spain but the owners ‘hot’ with their long Dandas and the gambling streak. Narayan was instructed to ‘Dhoondo’ my friend which he failed at. Finally she emerged out of a family crowd with a young bride and groom clamoring for the attention of the ‘Sony’ and sneaking in their addresses for copies of their images with the foreign Indian lady. “How the Hell do they know I am from outside?” “Why the Hell don’t you know, it is your attitude?”
The drive was getting long and the day dark.
Finally the announcement, we were close, we were surrounded by trees in the dark and then aha! Wild Grass. ‘Wild Grass’ was the destination today our resort- Jungle mein mangal- The manager Royneesh was amply welcoming and also inquired if we were psychiatrists which we were and then that that meant there was a special invitation for us for Dinner with Manju the owner (infact the guy who had organized and guided our trip) and another Psychiatrist. After our usual chai we strolled around the wooded cottages, all nationalities of tourists around, music and sounds of tabla around a fire and finally joined our hosts around another big bon-fire. Here is where we met Sushrat, the shrink from London who was familiar with us through our e-group. So from virtual reality we met in real reality at Kaziranga. He was not a ‘transit’ visitor but someone who had chosen Wild grass as his Haven and comes regularly for ‘------???’. “Sushrat wo’nt you tell us about your wild grass connection?”
Next morning was the only morning we got up early which was for a 6 o’clock elephant Safari in the jungle followed by ones later in open jeeps through tall wildy grass and marshy land and dusty roads. We did see the famous Rhinos, wild elephants, deers, boars, crocodiles and ducks but the tiger was no where to be sighted.
There were birds, ‘migratory’ and unusual according to the guide. I tried to focus through his special binoculars, but concluded I was no Salim Ali who had said that the phenomenon of migration is most highly developed in birds, the most enthralling and still a mystery to understand. Assam and the foot of Himalayas form one of 5 popular bird resorts in India and reminded me of my earlier visit to the famous Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan, Bharatpur where I had gone with Shobha, my bird-watching friend 2 years ago.
Veena caught the ‘Snuffles’ and after another Dinner around the Fire,
we retired to be woken up in the morning for our next stop Arunachal.
Veena Kapoor
5.2.2002
Monday, July 19, 2010
2- trip to NEFA
2. NEFA
It is Republic day tomorrow. The country is gearing up for the celebrations with an apparent anxiety and insecurity. To my mind the problem is diffusely immense with uncertainties of a kind, which have penetrated factions of societies globally. Only rational/ practical way I keep peace within myself is recognizing my limitations at every level personally, socially and politically. Defeatist as it may seem, I have had an inner strife and have fought intellectually and emotionally most of my adult days and today feel as I do now -- which my mother will like very much…
13.01.2002
Narayan had been instructed not to report at 6 or 7 or 8 AM but 10 as we are both not Sunrise birds and it didn’t hurt to sip Assamese cuppa chai one after another interspersed with muscle-stretches and mind-stretches thrown alongside.
We were driven from Guwahati to the state of Meghalaya ie. The abode of the Clouds although for us they stayed in check and we had 2 clear Sunny days. Passing through small hilly villages we stopped at tiny fruit shops with overhanging Pineapples and Oranges which were ‘heavenly’ in taste as Veena described, very fresh, sweet and smooth as the best whiskey. Shillong was like Simla in Himachal also called ‘Scotland of the East’. It had been the British capital and very much still appeared so. We stayed at Pinewood lodge which is a Hotel from the Raj era surrounded by dense trees and a lake with a tiny restaurant serving piping hot tea, snacks and music to set your feet and soul tapping to old nostalgic beats from the Beetles. Evening was cold but the Big Fire in the room was more than wonderful with a drink and an early meal.
The local ‘Khasis’ seemed prettier and petiter. Women were ‘manning’ the markets, it being a matriarchal society as we were told.
Next morning we drove via Shillong Peak to Cherapunjee, the highest rainfalls place in the world. We were reminded of the Grand Canyon with multitude Falls on rainbow rocks and a deepish Gorge on the other side overlooking a vast view of Bangladesh merging into the clouds and the horizon far away. Scanty tinroof shops and a grazing goat here and there but otherwise nature at its best!
There was a preserved cave with formations of stalagmites and stalactites with a guide and his harmless dog.
Evening before the big Fireplace again, although Pinewood hall had a concert going with the local ministers’ son as the Pianist who was visiting home from the US, a medley of Christian Hymns and modern
American jazz to the elite of Shillong.
(to be contd.)
Veena
It is Republic day tomorrow. The country is gearing up for the celebrations with an apparent anxiety and insecurity. To my mind the problem is diffusely immense with uncertainties of a kind, which have penetrated factions of societies globally. Only rational/ practical way I keep peace within myself is recognizing my limitations at every level personally, socially and politically. Defeatist as it may seem, I have had an inner strife and have fought intellectually and emotionally most of my adult days and today feel as I do now -- which my mother will like very much…
13.01.2002
Narayan had been instructed not to report at 6 or 7 or 8 AM but 10 as we are both not Sunrise birds and it didn’t hurt to sip Assamese cuppa chai one after another interspersed with muscle-stretches and mind-stretches thrown alongside.
We were driven from Guwahati to the state of Meghalaya ie. The abode of the Clouds although for us they stayed in check and we had 2 clear Sunny days. Passing through small hilly villages we stopped at tiny fruit shops with overhanging Pineapples and Oranges which were ‘heavenly’ in taste as Veena described, very fresh, sweet and smooth as the best whiskey. Shillong was like Simla in Himachal also called ‘Scotland of the East’. It had been the British capital and very much still appeared so. We stayed at Pinewood lodge which is a Hotel from the Raj era surrounded by dense trees and a lake with a tiny restaurant serving piping hot tea, snacks and music to set your feet and soul tapping to old nostalgic beats from the Beetles. Evening was cold but the Big Fire in the room was more than wonderful with a drink and an early meal.
The local ‘Khasis’ seemed prettier and petiter. Women were ‘manning’ the markets, it being a matriarchal society as we were told.
Next morning we drove via Shillong Peak to Cherapunjee, the highest rainfalls place in the world. We were reminded of the Grand Canyon with multitude Falls on rainbow rocks and a deepish Gorge on the other side overlooking a vast view of Bangladesh merging into the clouds and the horizon far away. Scanty tinroof shops and a grazing goat here and there but otherwise nature at its best!
There was a preserved cave with formations of stalagmites and stalactites with a guide and his harmless dog.
Evening before the big Fireplace again, although Pinewood hall had a concert going with the local ministers’ son as the Pianist who was visiting home from the US, a medley of Christian Hymns and modern
American jazz to the elite of Shillong.
(to be contd.)
Veena
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
1-trip to NEFA
1. NEFA - 7.1.2002
Calcutta, as it was to me in 1966- crowded and full of the poor, housing on pavements of Posh Park Street where parents were posted and lived for some years.
Kolkota as of now- cleaner with few apparent poor on the streets, but definitely still – hot blooded and emotional, resorting to ‘Bandhs’ when in need of attention from some faction of the government.
IPS our annual conference held at the Science City was disorganized as they have been during earlier years, to say the least. It was amply evident that the organizing committee WAS the Pharmaceuticals who ‘were the ones’ registering, directing, hosting, and decorating the billboards including the IPS Banner on the main stage covered by ‘Citalopram’ for the prescribing information of the astute psychiatrist.
12.01.2002
My friend Dr. Veena Garyali, the forensic psychiatrist from New York and I took our adventure tour of the North East Frontier States as they used to be known earlier. We flew from Kolkota and were received at the Guwahati airport by our travel guide who was brisk and enthusiastic, the reason as it turned out later, “Madam I was not expecting 2 lady doctors but men”.
KAMakhaya temple was on the way to the Hotel. Legend has it that while Shiva was carrying the corpse of his wife Parvati who committed suicide because he had insulted her father Daksha, her lower half with the ‘yoni’ fell at this spot. Long queues of guys waited to worship the stone image, as both of us were able to sneak in through the VIP back entrance by donating Rs.100. It was claimed that they maintain Parvati’s youth and cover her once a year with a ‘red cloth’ signifying periodic menstruation, a piece of which is given to devotees who believe in the special tantric sexual forces endowed by her, the Godess of Sexual desire.
After lunch we cruised on the mighty Brahmputra, the only ‘Male river’ in India and the longest originating in Tibet and traversing Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya, East Bengal and finally merging into the ocean at the Bay of Bengal. In the middle was the Peacock Island with the Umananda temple on top of the rock. Veena hiked up while I gave respite to my aging bones admiring first the golden ‘langur’ family hanging from the branches and then the group of young men including the priest who came into the boat. One young boy started crushing and chopping what looked like ginger to me but turned out was actually ‘Bhang’ which was given in ‘offering’ by the pilgrims in the temple but was consumed by them including the priest.
The evening Sun had turned a flaming red and was caught instantly by Veena’s ‘digital Sony’.
‘Bihu’ is a festival at the end of the harvest season when families come home and celebrate like ‘Thanks-Giving’ in the U.S.. One of Veena’s friends was one such member of one of the many Baruah clans of Assam who joined us for a drink back at the Hotel Ashok and an early dinner. Late nights are not a ‘norm’ and nothing and that means nothing happens after dark! He is currently the Political Science Prof. at Columbia, N.York. It was literally mind boggling to hear the history of this part of India, Assam being the largest North Eastern State, has been plagued by insurgency for years.
The Hindu rulers were taken over by the Buddhist ‘Tai’ tribe in the 13th century and then the Burmese and the British in the 17th.
Political agitation and upheavals took place after the 1980’s with lot of migrant populations from Bangla desh with the emergence and dominance of the under world the ULFA and the SULFA who are ‘into things’ and that means really ‘into things’.
Getting to bed we realized ‘not to our surprise’ the toilet of the ITDC Ashok was leaking and laughed remembering the Posh ‘Park’ of Calcutta owned and run by the APJ group.
(To be continued)
Veena Kapoor
24. 1. 2002
Calcutta, as it was to me in 1966- crowded and full of the poor, housing on pavements of Posh Park Street where parents were posted and lived for some years.
Kolkota as of now- cleaner with few apparent poor on the streets, but definitely still – hot blooded and emotional, resorting to ‘Bandhs’ when in need of attention from some faction of the government.
IPS our annual conference held at the Science City was disorganized as they have been during earlier years, to say the least. It was amply evident that the organizing committee WAS the Pharmaceuticals who ‘were the ones’ registering, directing, hosting, and decorating the billboards including the IPS Banner on the main stage covered by ‘Citalopram’ for the prescribing information of the astute psychiatrist.
12.01.2002
My friend Dr. Veena Garyali, the forensic psychiatrist from New York and I took our adventure tour of the North East Frontier States as they used to be known earlier. We flew from Kolkota and were received at the Guwahati airport by our travel guide who was brisk and enthusiastic, the reason as it turned out later, “Madam I was not expecting 2 lady doctors but men”.
KAMakhaya temple was on the way to the Hotel. Legend has it that while Shiva was carrying the corpse of his wife Parvati who committed suicide because he had insulted her father Daksha, her lower half with the ‘yoni’ fell at this spot. Long queues of guys waited to worship the stone image, as both of us were able to sneak in through the VIP back entrance by donating Rs.100. It was claimed that they maintain Parvati’s youth and cover her once a year with a ‘red cloth’ signifying periodic menstruation, a piece of which is given to devotees who believe in the special tantric sexual forces endowed by her, the Godess of Sexual desire.
After lunch we cruised on the mighty Brahmputra, the only ‘Male river’ in India and the longest originating in Tibet and traversing Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya, East Bengal and finally merging into the ocean at the Bay of Bengal. In the middle was the Peacock Island with the Umananda temple on top of the rock. Veena hiked up while I gave respite to my aging bones admiring first the golden ‘langur’ family hanging from the branches and then the group of young men including the priest who came into the boat. One young boy started crushing and chopping what looked like ginger to me but turned out was actually ‘Bhang’ which was given in ‘offering’ by the pilgrims in the temple but was consumed by them including the priest.
The evening Sun had turned a flaming red and was caught instantly by Veena’s ‘digital Sony’.
‘Bihu’ is a festival at the end of the harvest season when families come home and celebrate like ‘Thanks-Giving’ in the U.S.. One of Veena’s friends was one such member of one of the many Baruah clans of Assam who joined us for a drink back at the Hotel Ashok and an early dinner. Late nights are not a ‘norm’ and nothing and that means nothing happens after dark! He is currently the Political Science Prof. at Columbia, N.York. It was literally mind boggling to hear the history of this part of India, Assam being the largest North Eastern State, has been plagued by insurgency for years.
The Hindu rulers were taken over by the Buddhist ‘Tai’ tribe in the 13th century and then the Burmese and the British in the 17th.
Political agitation and upheavals took place after the 1980’s with lot of migrant populations from Bangla desh with the emergence and dominance of the under world the ULFA and the SULFA who are ‘into things’ and that means really ‘into things’.
Getting to bed we realized ‘not to our surprise’ the toilet of the ITDC Ashok was leaking and laughed remembering the Posh ‘Park’ of Calcutta owned and run by the APJ group.
(To be continued)
Veena Kapoor
24. 1. 2002
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
3- China for me
3 - China for me
Beijing
Suhale and Jai came to drop me at the airport. “Dadi, r u going to the Olympics?”
“Yes but they are over. But I will get a hat for you. And a T-shirt, and a bat and a Ball”. He said,” OK” Adit had woken up at home and reminded me on the Cell, “Dadi you have to get me Gold, Silver and a bronze medal”.
I laughed and said “for that you will have to go yourself and win”.
“Fake ones” he said and I laughed.
Remembered Suhale many years ago had taken part in the ‘Olympics of the mind’ in Elementary School and won some project in the US.
As I write this I get a call from the Maurya Sheraton, “Hi” he says,” I just called to say that I just received an award from Jyotir Scindia ‘The best young emerging company in the BPO sector in India-2008’ ‘’. “Wow son, well done!”
As we landed at Beijing, there stood a huge globe resting on 2 dragons announcing “One world one dream, the Paralympics”.
In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with a disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, now called Paralympics. In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging them for international sport competitions was born.
The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympics has increased from 400 from 23 countries in Rome in 1960, to 3806 from 136 countries in Athens in 2004, to 7,000 from 148 countries now at Beijing in 2008.
The whole route about 60 kms of the highway to the Hotel was lined with Banners of the Olympics. In fact the whole city was. All the Parks had exquisite floral formations of Sports sculpture in Green and all colors of the rainbow. Huge LCD screens, on big buildings including ‘the great wall’ were screening events 24hrs. of the day.
"Sacred flame, you are burning in my heart; are you hearing me? I'm singing for you." said Wang Yimei, a ten-year-old with a hearing impairment, speaking with her hands in the most moving language in the world. The burning flame understood her message as did all those who watched.
It was indeed a treat to watch the visually challenged, the amputees, and those on wheel-chairs on a basketball field and other events. The Paralympics integrated dignity, value and humanitarianism and the inspiration and fortitude of those with disabilities.
Beijing From Now to then :
Home to over 2000 years of imperial rule, Beijing was built to awe the populace with the power of the emperor. The central axis of the city is 7.5 km long, cutting through Beijing in a line from north to south. Almost all the streets are constructed according to this axis maintaining the harmony of the design.
The Great Wall
As you fly into the city, the Great Wall rises up beneath, slithering its way like a dragon along the tops of the surrounding mountains past the Gobi desert to the Yellow sea over 6000 kms. Long.
Symbolizing China's ancient civilization it is the7th new wonder
Construction of the Wall first began during the period of the Warring States about 300 BC. Formerly it was built at strategic points by different kingdoms to protect their territories. After the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China, he had the walls linked up.
About 1 million people, one-fifth of China's population at the time, worked in scorching summers and harsh winters, the wall a symbol of pride and invincibility.
While Sudhir wrote to us his adventure on the Badaling section, we went to Mutianyu. There is a ski lift that took us the lazy seniors to the great watch towers and scenery around. We took the ‘Tobaggan’ down which is a long twisty slide, scary to begin with, but wild and fun once you get the hang of it.
As usual there are little shops and hawkers at the entrance. We had a delicious snack looking like a Rummali roti, on top of it they break an egg and spread it with a spicy sauce and crunchy stuff, a bit like a pappadam and then they fold it...hot and yummy.
Tiananmen Square
Chairman Mao shines bright on the Gateway and presides over Tiananmen Square, the largest urban square in the world. This vast space, measuring 40 hectares, has a historical significance to rival its size.
The May 4th demonstrations in 1919 against the Treaty of Versailles took place here. So too did anti Japanese protests in 1935. Mao inspected his troops here during the Cultural Revolution and in 1976, one million people gathered in the square to pay tribute to the Chairman. Tiananmen Square is largely Mao's concoction Today, visitors remember the square mostly for the images of the May,1989 student demonstrations which were relayed throughout the world.
This is not only the physical centre of China, but also the centre of power and politics. The Chinese flag is raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset when PLA soldiers march up and down, drilled to perform at 108 paces/ minute! The number of soldiers guarding the corners almost imparts a sense of intimidation. In the centre is Chairman Mao's tomb, his body lying embalmed for paying respect to him and other heroes of the Revolution.
Forbidden City
This is the Palace Museum. It is the largest and most well preserved imperial residence in China today. Under Ming Emperor Yongle, construction began in 1406 and took 14 years to build. The first ruler who lived here was Ming Emperor Zhudi. For five centuries thereafter, it continued to be the residence of 23 successive emperors until 1911 when Qing Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne.
The ancient astronomers divided the constellations into groups and centred them on the North Star. This was the Constellation of Heavenly God.
The palace has morality written all over its wings; hall of mental cultivation, palace of tranquil longevity, of gathering elegance, of celestial and terrestrial union, of manifest harmony and of modest ladies.The Kings chamber had 9 beds for his eunuchs, concubines & the empress.
I remembered Forbidden City from the Oscar winning movie ’last emperor’. In it Pu Yi was tutored by Peter O’toole. Although he was driven out and became a citizen in the end, Bernando Bertolucci immortalised Pu Yi,as also the Forbidden city.
The Summer Palace
is beautiful with the Gardens and the Lake of Clear Ripples. It was constructed in 1750 by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty in honour of his mother's birthday. After 15 years and one seventh of the nation's annual revenue spent, it served as a testimony to China's scientific and technological achievements and renamed ‘the Garden of Nurtured Harmony’ which it truly is.
Temple of Heaven
Magnificent and colourful is a delightful place. It was completed in 1420 and was originally a platform for the Son of Heaven (the emperor) to perform sacrifices and solemn rites. The Temple buildings and the parklands reflect ancient Chinese religious beliefs that imagine heaven as round and earth as square. The temples themselves are round and the bases square. Among the gods worshiped were the god of earth, the god of water, the god of agriculture, the god of religion and the god of civilians. Offering sacrifices was a serious task, as was atoning the sins of the people
The parklands and the Temple are an exquisite place to spend some time and dance with the Tai-chi experts, kite flyers and violin and accordion players.
One of the unique features of Beijing which has been China's capital for five dynasties is the Hutongs, which means small lanes in the Mongolian language. In these lanes, quadrangles, each consisting of a courtyard surrounded by one-storeyed tile-roofed houses exist, which are the living quarters of ordinary people even today.
A round in these lanes by a Rickshaw is part of the Day trip we took. It is like any old city in any small town in India, perhaps my own grandmother’s old house in Ludhiana where I was born.
There are still no modern toilets. There is close community living, groups of senior men and women sitting around playing cards, chess, checkers or plain gossiping.
I talked at length to a lady in a family we visited. She of course also knew no English. She told us she was 63, an architect, love-married to an architect, mother of a son who lived in Shanghai, still working, living in another area but was visiting her 92 year old father who lived here with her widower 67 yr old brother who was making mo-mos in an earthen oven / tandoor. “Do u believe in Feng-shui?” She nodded her head and said, “Not really, most educated people have left these things behind”.
Met the 92 year dad outside cleaning the street with a standing Broom. He nodded and smiled and said, he likes to clean as it cleans the environment to throw away those cigarettes Stubbs that young people smoke. Also, “it keeps my body moving which is good.”
Once back to the Hotel in the evening, I had to put my feet up but there was no way I wanted to miss Sun Li Tan or Bar Street. It was a melting pot for the locals and those around the Globe, both young and not so young. There were jazz players, Portrait painters, lots of Budweiser and Heineken, outdoor Café and eating joints both for casual and elite. Lots of Music indoors and outside by the side of the Lake with its shimmering lights and swaying crowds which was hard to resist even for my tired feet.
Time had come to return ------ I am half awake-----reminiscing—between flights---
I've witnessed at first-hand what may well be the fastest, most far-reaching national metamorphosis in human history. There is no way one could encapsulate the myriad forces that have driven China's blindingly fast rise.
In 1960 a prime minister who promised that income would double in ten year turned out to have underestimated: the target was passed in 1967. In 1985 she became the world’s largest creditor nation.
Deng pushed industrial growth at any cost, short of giving up one-party rule. Investors kept pouring in from Hong Kong and Taiwan, unfazed by questions of human rights, to build factories and take advantage of cheap migrant labor.
Now try to imagine such explosive transformations happening all across a country of 1.3 billion people. The China that appeared on the world's TV screens today is centuries old, but it's been made anew in just the last three decades. Thirty years ago China was an immense ruin of enforced ignorance and abject poverty, the psychic rubble that remained after Mao's misconceived attempts to reshape Chinese society.
Industrialization has leaped to unlikely places with speed of a computer virus and the shifts of initiative in
the next millennium may be into the hand of worldwide elites or of a few masters of cybernetics,
moulding world culture from a specific location through millions of modems.
The Sun has come up again on this side of the world and the culture of the present and the
Future emanates from the depths of Asia and – increasingly and decisively, not from the Atlantic but
from the shores of the Pacific.
Veena Kapoor Sept. 2008
Beijing
Suhale and Jai came to drop me at the airport. “Dadi, r u going to the Olympics?”
“Yes but they are over. But I will get a hat for you. And a T-shirt, and a bat and a Ball”. He said,” OK” Adit had woken up at home and reminded me on the Cell, “Dadi you have to get me Gold, Silver and a bronze medal”.
I laughed and said “for that you will have to go yourself and win”.
“Fake ones” he said and I laughed.
Remembered Suhale many years ago had taken part in the ‘Olympics of the mind’ in Elementary School and won some project in the US.
As I write this I get a call from the Maurya Sheraton, “Hi” he says,” I just called to say that I just received an award from Jyotir Scindia ‘The best young emerging company in the BPO sector in India-2008’ ‘’. “Wow son, well done!”
As we landed at Beijing, there stood a huge globe resting on 2 dragons announcing “One world one dream, the Paralympics”.
In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with a disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, now called Paralympics. In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging them for international sport competitions was born.
The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympics has increased from 400 from 23 countries in Rome in 1960, to 3806 from 136 countries in Athens in 2004, to 7,000 from 148 countries now at Beijing in 2008.
The whole route about 60 kms of the highway to the Hotel was lined with Banners of the Olympics. In fact the whole city was. All the Parks had exquisite floral formations of Sports sculpture in Green and all colors of the rainbow. Huge LCD screens, on big buildings including ‘the great wall’ were screening events 24hrs. of the day.
"Sacred flame, you are burning in my heart; are you hearing me? I'm singing for you." said Wang Yimei, a ten-year-old with a hearing impairment, speaking with her hands in the most moving language in the world. The burning flame understood her message as did all those who watched.
It was indeed a treat to watch the visually challenged, the amputees, and those on wheel-chairs on a basketball field and other events. The Paralympics integrated dignity, value and humanitarianism and the inspiration and fortitude of those with disabilities.
Beijing From Now to then :
Home to over 2000 years of imperial rule, Beijing was built to awe the populace with the power of the emperor. The central axis of the city is 7.5 km long, cutting through Beijing in a line from north to south. Almost all the streets are constructed according to this axis maintaining the harmony of the design.
The Great Wall
As you fly into the city, the Great Wall rises up beneath, slithering its way like a dragon along the tops of the surrounding mountains past the Gobi desert to the Yellow sea over 6000 kms. Long.
Symbolizing China's ancient civilization it is the7th new wonder
Construction of the Wall first began during the period of the Warring States about 300 BC. Formerly it was built at strategic points by different kingdoms to protect their territories. After the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China, he had the walls linked up.
About 1 million people, one-fifth of China's population at the time, worked in scorching summers and harsh winters, the wall a symbol of pride and invincibility.
While Sudhir wrote to us his adventure on the Badaling section, we went to Mutianyu. There is a ski lift that took us the lazy seniors to the great watch towers and scenery around. We took the ‘Tobaggan’ down which is a long twisty slide, scary to begin with, but wild and fun once you get the hang of it.
As usual there are little shops and hawkers at the entrance. We had a delicious snack looking like a Rummali roti, on top of it they break an egg and spread it with a spicy sauce and crunchy stuff, a bit like a pappadam and then they fold it...hot and yummy.
Tiananmen Square
Chairman Mao shines bright on the Gateway and presides over Tiananmen Square, the largest urban square in the world. This vast space, measuring 40 hectares, has a historical significance to rival its size.
The May 4th demonstrations in 1919 against the Treaty of Versailles took place here. So too did anti Japanese protests in 1935. Mao inspected his troops here during the Cultural Revolution and in 1976, one million people gathered in the square to pay tribute to the Chairman. Tiananmen Square is largely Mao's concoction Today, visitors remember the square mostly for the images of the May,1989 student demonstrations which were relayed throughout the world.
This is not only the physical centre of China, but also the centre of power and politics. The Chinese flag is raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset when PLA soldiers march up and down, drilled to perform at 108 paces/ minute! The number of soldiers guarding the corners almost imparts a sense of intimidation. In the centre is Chairman Mao's tomb, his body lying embalmed for paying respect to him and other heroes of the Revolution.
Forbidden City
This is the Palace Museum. It is the largest and most well preserved imperial residence in China today. Under Ming Emperor Yongle, construction began in 1406 and took 14 years to build. The first ruler who lived here was Ming Emperor Zhudi. For five centuries thereafter, it continued to be the residence of 23 successive emperors until 1911 when Qing Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne.
The ancient astronomers divided the constellations into groups and centred them on the North Star. This was the Constellation of Heavenly God.
The palace has morality written all over its wings; hall of mental cultivation, palace of tranquil longevity, of gathering elegance, of celestial and terrestrial union, of manifest harmony and of modest ladies.The Kings chamber had 9 beds for his eunuchs, concubines & the empress.
I remembered Forbidden City from the Oscar winning movie ’last emperor’. In it Pu Yi was tutored by Peter O’toole. Although he was driven out and became a citizen in the end, Bernando Bertolucci immortalised Pu Yi,as also the Forbidden city.
The Summer Palace
is beautiful with the Gardens and the Lake of Clear Ripples. It was constructed in 1750 by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty in honour of his mother's birthday. After 15 years and one seventh of the nation's annual revenue spent, it served as a testimony to China's scientific and technological achievements and renamed ‘the Garden of Nurtured Harmony’ which it truly is.
Temple of Heaven
Magnificent and colourful is a delightful place. It was completed in 1420 and was originally a platform for the Son of Heaven (the emperor) to perform sacrifices and solemn rites. The Temple buildings and the parklands reflect ancient Chinese religious beliefs that imagine heaven as round and earth as square. The temples themselves are round and the bases square. Among the gods worshiped were the god of earth, the god of water, the god of agriculture, the god of religion and the god of civilians. Offering sacrifices was a serious task, as was atoning the sins of the people
The parklands and the Temple are an exquisite place to spend some time and dance with the Tai-chi experts, kite flyers and violin and accordion players.
One of the unique features of Beijing which has been China's capital for five dynasties is the Hutongs, which means small lanes in the Mongolian language. In these lanes, quadrangles, each consisting of a courtyard surrounded by one-storeyed tile-roofed houses exist, which are the living quarters of ordinary people even today.
A round in these lanes by a Rickshaw is part of the Day trip we took. It is like any old city in any small town in India, perhaps my own grandmother’s old house in Ludhiana where I was born.
There are still no modern toilets. There is close community living, groups of senior men and women sitting around playing cards, chess, checkers or plain gossiping.
I talked at length to a lady in a family we visited. She of course also knew no English. She told us she was 63, an architect, love-married to an architect, mother of a son who lived in Shanghai, still working, living in another area but was visiting her 92 year old father who lived here with her widower 67 yr old brother who was making mo-mos in an earthen oven / tandoor. “Do u believe in Feng-shui?” She nodded her head and said, “Not really, most educated people have left these things behind”.
Met the 92 year dad outside cleaning the street with a standing Broom. He nodded and smiled and said, he likes to clean as it cleans the environment to throw away those cigarettes Stubbs that young people smoke. Also, “it keeps my body moving which is good.”
Once back to the Hotel in the evening, I had to put my feet up but there was no way I wanted to miss Sun Li Tan or Bar Street. It was a melting pot for the locals and those around the Globe, both young and not so young. There were jazz players, Portrait painters, lots of Budweiser and Heineken, outdoor Café and eating joints both for casual and elite. Lots of Music indoors and outside by the side of the Lake with its shimmering lights and swaying crowds which was hard to resist even for my tired feet.
Time had come to return ------ I am half awake-----reminiscing—between flights---
I've witnessed at first-hand what may well be the fastest, most far-reaching national metamorphosis in human history. There is no way one could encapsulate the myriad forces that have driven China's blindingly fast rise.
In 1960 a prime minister who promised that income would double in ten year turned out to have underestimated: the target was passed in 1967. In 1985 she became the world’s largest creditor nation.
Deng pushed industrial growth at any cost, short of giving up one-party rule. Investors kept pouring in from Hong Kong and Taiwan, unfazed by questions of human rights, to build factories and take advantage of cheap migrant labor.
Now try to imagine such explosive transformations happening all across a country of 1.3 billion people. The China that appeared on the world's TV screens today is centuries old, but it's been made anew in just the last three decades. Thirty years ago China was an immense ruin of enforced ignorance and abject poverty, the psychic rubble that remained after Mao's misconceived attempts to reshape Chinese society.
Industrialization has leaped to unlikely places with speed of a computer virus and the shifts of initiative in
the next millennium may be into the hand of worldwide elites or of a few masters of cybernetics,
moulding world culture from a specific location through millions of modems.
The Sun has come up again on this side of the world and the culture of the present and the
Future emanates from the depths of Asia and – increasingly and decisively, not from the Atlantic but
from the shores of the Pacific.
Veena Kapoor Sept. 2008
Saturday, June 19, 2010
China for me-2
China for me-2
Shanghai
I stand in the Balcony on the 23rd floor of my Hotel. On the left and the right are 2 high-rises above me. In the middle I see the Huangpu River. On it the barges are plying up and down gently ruffling the calm waters.
There are cranes in the distance. A lot more is happening there as I watch sipping my Green Tea.
Shanghai is the “Oriental Paris “. As the largest and most prosperous city in the nation, it is the economic, financial, fashion and cultural glitzy center of China.
We are in newest area of the city, Pudong, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, the area that has changed most dramatically in the city in recent years.
Pudong was just docks and paddy fields until 1990s. Now it has 200 square miles of offices, malls, tallest buildings and the ‘Maglev’. It is the fastest commercially run train of its kind in the world running by magnetic levitation at 270 miles/hour. It took us 7 minutes instead of an hour to get here from the Airport.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is a recent construction, which heralds the beginning of the Special Economic Region over the river. It incorporates eleven spheres (or "pearls") and three gigantic columns linking the green grass below to the blue sky above. It has computer controlled lighting displaying more than 1000 varieties.
The International Conference Center was completed last year, just in time for the Fortune 500 conference which attracted literally thousands of investors to the city. Shanghai's Wall Street is also over here and hundreds of commuters make the trip through a long, long tunnel under the river every day to work.
The Jinmao Tower, the tallest building in China and the third tallest in the world, now soars above, higher than the TV Tower. Skyscrapers are shooting up all over the place.
The famous Bund on the western side of the River was the "British Public Park", reminding of Shanghai's days of the past. The symbol of old and new, the Bund is Shanghai's most famous landmark. In the 1930s, the row of buildings was host to the city's financial and commercial centers and the world's greatest banks and trading empires.
Today, it is still home to many of the city's hotels, bars and banks and a lover’s walkway with the city lights twinkling in the River.
The river twists and turns like an almighty Dragon tumbling from Snowbound Mountains of a land called Shangri-La into a tea cup of Shanghais Café.
Shanghai’s futuristic skyline at Sunset, a sophisticated city sets the pace of China’s urbane coast whether enjoying fine wine at night, neon lights or answering global networks with the latest electronic telecom
Yu Garden
My guide Linda, Ying-Ying, her real name took me to the Old City God's Taoist Temple which is enclosed in Yuyuan Gardens which are also popular for shopping.
She showed me boutiques selling local specialties like Silk garments, Jade jewellery, fancy teacups etc. where bargained prices were 30% of those marked. A special MO-MO place was qued up and mo-mos all gone by the time our turn came.(The inner city still has sitting Indian style loos to my discomfort and Linda’s apology).
It was raining heavily the next day but she turned up at dot 10, (Chinese punctuality was remarkable.)
We decided that the Museum was the best choice. It is the centrepiece of People's Square, a harmonious combination of square shapes and circular ones, the Chinese traditional concept which imagines heaven as round and earth as square. The design is also in keeping with Feng Shui principles with perfect symmetry. Inside is the usual Sculpture, mostly Buddhist, Bronze, ceramics, art and calligraphy etc.
AP was busy with his exhibition / trade fair.
It was HUGE at least 10 times the size of Pragati Madaan in Delhi. Fully covered, air conditioned, carpets rolled, eating joints every nook and corner, Machines galore on ground, cranes fixing stuff above, billboards, Colors, people of all types and kinds, an air of ‘emergence’, scant Indians--- lots happening beyond ME----- so in the evening, we were off to------
Nanjing Road
The cabbie dropped us at the square. Neon as far as the eye can see, more than Piccadilly-London, more than Time square-Manhattan, more than imaginable----
A trackless sightseeing tram provided a comfortable tour of the night-transformed pedestrian street.
Today over 600 businesses on Nanjing road offer countless famous brands, and new fashions. KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and other world-famous food vendors line both sides of the street. Upscale stores include Tiffany, Mont Blanc, and Dunhill. In addition are also, approximately a hundred traditional stores and specialty shops.
Open-air bars, abstract sculptures, and lingering sounds from street musicians are all around. Flashing neon signs illuminate the magnificent buildings and spangle the night skyline.
There is an intangible feel in Shanghai, an urgency, a hope and optimism that hangs in the air all around from the minute you arrive, People are pushing forwards with their feet and in their heads, building a future, a country, moving onwards to some distant unseen goal—
The World Bank says china has lifted 400 million people out of poverty since 1978. China is doing the most extraordinary thing the planet has ever witnessed.
A 5th of humanity is being convulsed every minute, thousands are making millions. ‘Blink’ and you’ll miss plenty in new China. A nation in tumultuous transition
Ordinary Chinese people caught up in an extraordinary moment in time. Millions of people leave their homes in search of jobs in cities. It is the largest migration in History. This army is fuelling the economic boom, putting cheap toys, clothes, flat screen TVs and computers on the shelves of the world’s stores. China has overtaken Britain as the worlds 4th largest economy. It is the workshop of the world. China matters more today than it has ever mattered before. Many take it for granted that it will be the next superpower.
What exactly has it done to the Chinese Psyche and the Chinese soul? The country is turned upside down by development and so is its psychological and moral universe. Our educated guides share in private moments, “this pace is so immense it is rapidly and subtly tearing at the fabric of society even as the new roads and railways knit the country more closely together”.
Veena Kapoor
Sept. 2008
.
Shanghai
I stand in the Balcony on the 23rd floor of my Hotel. On the left and the right are 2 high-rises above me. In the middle I see the Huangpu River. On it the barges are plying up and down gently ruffling the calm waters.
There are cranes in the distance. A lot more is happening there as I watch sipping my Green Tea.
Shanghai is the “Oriental Paris “. As the largest and most prosperous city in the nation, it is the economic, financial, fashion and cultural glitzy center of China.
We are in newest area of the city, Pudong, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, the area that has changed most dramatically in the city in recent years.
Pudong was just docks and paddy fields until 1990s. Now it has 200 square miles of offices, malls, tallest buildings and the ‘Maglev’. It is the fastest commercially run train of its kind in the world running by magnetic levitation at 270 miles/hour. It took us 7 minutes instead of an hour to get here from the Airport.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is a recent construction, which heralds the beginning of the Special Economic Region over the river. It incorporates eleven spheres (or "pearls") and three gigantic columns linking the green grass below to the blue sky above. It has computer controlled lighting displaying more than 1000 varieties.
The International Conference Center was completed last year, just in time for the Fortune 500 conference which attracted literally thousands of investors to the city. Shanghai's Wall Street is also over here and hundreds of commuters make the trip through a long, long tunnel under the river every day to work.
The Jinmao Tower, the tallest building in China and the third tallest in the world, now soars above, higher than the TV Tower. Skyscrapers are shooting up all over the place.
The famous Bund on the western side of the River was the "British Public Park", reminding of Shanghai's days of the past. The symbol of old and new, the Bund is Shanghai's most famous landmark. In the 1930s, the row of buildings was host to the city's financial and commercial centers and the world's greatest banks and trading empires.
Today, it is still home to many of the city's hotels, bars and banks and a lover’s walkway with the city lights twinkling in the River.
The river twists and turns like an almighty Dragon tumbling from Snowbound Mountains of a land called Shangri-La into a tea cup of Shanghais Café.
Shanghai’s futuristic skyline at Sunset, a sophisticated city sets the pace of China’s urbane coast whether enjoying fine wine at night, neon lights or answering global networks with the latest electronic telecom
Yu Garden
My guide Linda, Ying-Ying, her real name took me to the Old City God's Taoist Temple which is enclosed in Yuyuan Gardens which are also popular for shopping.
She showed me boutiques selling local specialties like Silk garments, Jade jewellery, fancy teacups etc. where bargained prices were 30% of those marked. A special MO-MO place was qued up and mo-mos all gone by the time our turn came.(The inner city still has sitting Indian style loos to my discomfort and Linda’s apology).
It was raining heavily the next day but she turned up at dot 10, (Chinese punctuality was remarkable.)
We decided that the Museum was the best choice. It is the centrepiece of People's Square, a harmonious combination of square shapes and circular ones, the Chinese traditional concept which imagines heaven as round and earth as square. The design is also in keeping with Feng Shui principles with perfect symmetry. Inside is the usual Sculpture, mostly Buddhist, Bronze, ceramics, art and calligraphy etc.
AP was busy with his exhibition / trade fair.
It was HUGE at least 10 times the size of Pragati Madaan in Delhi. Fully covered, air conditioned, carpets rolled, eating joints every nook and corner, Machines galore on ground, cranes fixing stuff above, billboards, Colors, people of all types and kinds, an air of ‘emergence’, scant Indians--- lots happening beyond ME----- so in the evening, we were off to------
Nanjing Road
The cabbie dropped us at the square. Neon as far as the eye can see, more than Piccadilly-London, more than Time square-Manhattan, more than imaginable----
A trackless sightseeing tram provided a comfortable tour of the night-transformed pedestrian street.
Today over 600 businesses on Nanjing road offer countless famous brands, and new fashions. KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and other world-famous food vendors line both sides of the street. Upscale stores include Tiffany, Mont Blanc, and Dunhill. In addition are also, approximately a hundred traditional stores and specialty shops.
Open-air bars, abstract sculptures, and lingering sounds from street musicians are all around. Flashing neon signs illuminate the magnificent buildings and spangle the night skyline.
There is an intangible feel in Shanghai, an urgency, a hope and optimism that hangs in the air all around from the minute you arrive, People are pushing forwards with their feet and in their heads, building a future, a country, moving onwards to some distant unseen goal—
The World Bank says china has lifted 400 million people out of poverty since 1978. China is doing the most extraordinary thing the planet has ever witnessed.
A 5th of humanity is being convulsed every minute, thousands are making millions. ‘Blink’ and you’ll miss plenty in new China. A nation in tumultuous transition
Ordinary Chinese people caught up in an extraordinary moment in time. Millions of people leave their homes in search of jobs in cities. It is the largest migration in History. This army is fuelling the economic boom, putting cheap toys, clothes, flat screen TVs and computers on the shelves of the world’s stores. China has overtaken Britain as the worlds 4th largest economy. It is the workshop of the world. China matters more today than it has ever mattered before. Many take it for granted that it will be the next superpower.
What exactly has it done to the Chinese Psyche and the Chinese soul? The country is turned upside down by development and so is its psychological and moral universe. Our educated guides share in private moments, “this pace is so immense it is rapidly and subtly tearing at the fabric of society even as the new roads and railways knit the country more closely together”.
Veena Kapoor
Sept. 2008
.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
1-China for me-2008
1-China for me - 2008
When AP said he was thinking of going to Shanghai for his trade fair, I jumped to join him.
China had been on my travel list. Although each trip I make, I feel weaker in my physical capacities, yet the wandering lust of the heart wins and I succumb.
For some reason the Embassy decided to give his Visa but denied me for/lack of funds in the Bank. I still haven’t registered the significance or relevance of these accounts in spite of having worked and had bank accounts all my life.
Well the travel agent did some mumbo-jumbo and lo and behold they gave me more days in China than AP.I wondered though if the Chinese Authorities had some thing to do with that, it being ‘one world one dream’ time, what with all the security checks.
I traveled Air India after 40 years; the fare being some rupees less, hard earned money, money received for every minute of my working time, listening and glued to suffering souls.
It wasn’t bad except for Rickety Toilets and welcome elderly air-hostesses to my surprise.
Shanghai Pudong Airport was impressive with silver grey vaulted steel roof and huge glass windows.
AP had asked for hotel pick up. The guy was there with the placard and welcomed us with a smile and heavy Cheeni accent and fragmented English.
Translated the name of the hotel in Chinese and deposited us in the plush cab, the cabbie nodding his head, encased in a see-through Driver’s chamber.
A smooth ride on freeways and we were at the high rise Apartment Business hotel being ushered in by pretty men and women smiling but poor at English again. Had lot of difficulty communicating to find place to eat, other sundry needs like water, soft pillow, method to regulate AC etc. A ‘supermarket’ on the premises was on the brink of closing as we searched for some thing familiar, a packet of biscuits, Orange juice, a ball of steamed momo and a tiny cup of Haagen-Dazs Ice cream, the most expensive.
Any way settled for the night, midnight India, 2.30 AM China time with plans to ride the train to Hangzhou next morning.
The Railway station was some what noisy but well planned, a 21st century architecture looking like a UFO sitting on the ground. Underground metro lines are connected to the trains above. Airport like security checks everywhere. Most travelers seemed Chinese. We met a young student from Croatia going to do Masters in Biomedical engineering at Hanjhou after being at Beijing for his undergrad. Was a relief to say a few words and get a response.
On the Air India plane there was a large contingent of young students. Found out they were all from Andhra Pradesh coming to China to join med School in the univ. of Nanjing. All they needed to do to get in was marks above 60% in 12th and 10-15 lacks as expense. I had never met a Chinese Indian Doctor and this was a surprise. Chinese not just producing machines and other commodities bur also ‘us’.
The D-Train (for Dynamic) left punctually, comfortable as in Europe, edibles snacks, chips and crackers going around as in India and polished people on laptops as any where else in the globe.
I was hoping to see the country side and fields, remember Pearl S Buck’s ‘Good earth’, story of a simple farmer’s family, instead there were reasonably developed towns and plenty of green. Within 2 hours we had reached.
Lo and behold, AP forgot his Hotel reservation slip in Shanghai although we knew we were to go to Dragon Hotel. Amazing, they all said there was no Dragon hotel by nodding their heads. Multiple phone calls to India, and traced the hotels tel. and got the address. Finally met a gentleman who wrote it for us in Chinese for the cab guy. In no time found and reached the beautiful Dragon Hotel.
Relieved at finding better English speaking girls and were able to organize room, water, a delicious Shrimp lunch and plans for the remaining and the next day.
Hangzhou is one of the 7 ancient capitals of China. Heaven is above but below is it.
West Lake is the symbol of Hangzhou. Marco Polo called it the most enchanting. Hills embrace the Lake on three sides; the city is to the east.
In the evening as suggested we went to Hubin Road which has an upscale international Mall on one side, the architecture and Stores a blend of East and West and the lake along the other.
A large Fountain displays a Laser lit show every 30mts. spraying water with great momentum. It changes position high and around and dances with the music of China as at Sentosa island Singapore. The lake view reflected double pagodas with Dragon fronts. Took a boat cruise surrounded by city lights across the peaceful gentle waves.
The same cruise was part of our day trip the next day, accompanied, thank heavens by our English speaking guide Elaine and a family from Amsterdam and a young man from Paris. Regarded by many as China's most beautiful lake, reputedly was also considered ancient China's most beautiful woman. The subject of many of the country's most famous literary and artistic works, and the inspiration for countless more, it had been working its charms on those who gazed upon it for centuries.
Three isles were inserted in the lake, triple causeways in the middle and Six Harmonies Pagoda on one side. This 8 storied Pagoda was built by King of Wuyu in year 970.
The pagoda was named to signify the harmony of heaven, earth, and the four directions east, west, south and north. During the night lanterns were lit on the pagoda so that ships and boats on the Qiantang River could use it as a navigation tower.
We then went to Lingyin temple, one of the largest and wealthiest temples in China, commonly translated as "Temple of the Soul's Retreat”. It was originally founded in 326 AD, but has been rebuilt again and again. The hillside to the south of the temple is a site of old Buddhist caves and rock carvings as at ‘Ellora of Aurangabad’.
The principle Buddha here is Maitreya and the Laughing Buddha. The main hall is called the Mahavira Hall and has a huge golden image of Shakyamuni. A group of old ladies were waiting outside for a special service to honor Shakyamuni, the historic Buddha whose birthday it was, but there were no signs that this day was any different than another.
Chinese Lunch, confusing to us after delicious Indian Chinese food we are used to, was followed by a visit
to a tea plantation, misty valley spread across thousand of acres. The farmers here are no more poor
but own large villas and lands, producing high quality Longjin tea, No.1green tea in china. We sipped Teas
traditionally brewed, served and familiarized with Tea culture, history and the medicinal Virtues. The cost in
Grams varied depending on time of the year it had been picked, the best being the Emperor or ‘Dragon
well tea’ in Spring time. Tea here focuses on taste, choosing a silent place, it calms the Mind, stirs you up
and sublimes the inner spirit into an exalted realm.
Also the city of Silk, the weaving tradition here goes back over 3000 years, enticing the traveler since yonder years along the famous Silk route from Rome, the Mediterranean and Istambul. The Silkworm Cocoon here was much fatter than one in Kashmir I had seen. They produced 100% silk bed sheets, soft blankets and other garments materials.
After our cuppa and rest to my grudging feet, we set off again to Wushan road which had a night Bazaar with all kinds of curios, pottery, calligraphic etc. and Bargaining Galore!
Most interesting was the gathering we saw in the square. I suddenly heard music with tens of mostly elderly Chinese people dancing. Even though some of them didn't know what they were doing, it was a delightful scene and I felt party to a wonderful evening, my feet no more begrudging but moving to the beat. The selection of beautiful music ranged from gentle and soft to more vibrant and uplifting. I later discovered it was a form of Tao dancing and very commonly done at the rising and setting of the Sun as our yoga and Walk groups in the Parks here.
Hangzhou is in the rich Zhejiang & Jiangsu provinces which came under the special economic Zones like the city Shenzhen. They implemented large scale infra structure projects, multiple express ways, power generation, airports and other cultural facilities. Ecology and water control of farming lands helped poverty alleviation of the farmer.
The principle goals of development were to achieve a new high plateau for the economy at a remarkably higher level, improve democracy and the legal system and all round social progress.
So far they have more than 300,000 private enterprises and nearly 7 million self employed business people. Total industrial out put values gross sales account for over one third of china’s top five hundred private industries.
The Lee-ding University is the most comprehensive, with 76 disciplines, a student population of 576 thousand and 22 thousand post graduates. Our friend from Croatia must have registered by now.
Since New China was founded in 1949, the policy requirement was of opening up to the out side world. The people have worked diligently resulting in remarkable development. It is evident that this has been the spirit of the local people constantly strivings to become better, stronger, despite difficulties and risks.
Veena Kapoor
Sept. 2008
When AP said he was thinking of going to Shanghai for his trade fair, I jumped to join him.
China had been on my travel list. Although each trip I make, I feel weaker in my physical capacities, yet the wandering lust of the heart wins and I succumb.
For some reason the Embassy decided to give his Visa but denied me for/lack of funds in the Bank. I still haven’t registered the significance or relevance of these accounts in spite of having worked and had bank accounts all my life.
Well the travel agent did some mumbo-jumbo and lo and behold they gave me more days in China than AP.I wondered though if the Chinese Authorities had some thing to do with that, it being ‘one world one dream’ time, what with all the security checks.
I traveled Air India after 40 years; the fare being some rupees less, hard earned money, money received for every minute of my working time, listening and glued to suffering souls.
It wasn’t bad except for Rickety Toilets and welcome elderly air-hostesses to my surprise.
Shanghai Pudong Airport was impressive with silver grey vaulted steel roof and huge glass windows.
AP had asked for hotel pick up. The guy was there with the placard and welcomed us with a smile and heavy Cheeni accent and fragmented English.
Translated the name of the hotel in Chinese and deposited us in the plush cab, the cabbie nodding his head, encased in a see-through Driver’s chamber.
A smooth ride on freeways and we were at the high rise Apartment Business hotel being ushered in by pretty men and women smiling but poor at English again. Had lot of difficulty communicating to find place to eat, other sundry needs like water, soft pillow, method to regulate AC etc. A ‘supermarket’ on the premises was on the brink of closing as we searched for some thing familiar, a packet of biscuits, Orange juice, a ball of steamed momo and a tiny cup of Haagen-Dazs Ice cream, the most expensive.
Any way settled for the night, midnight India, 2.30 AM China time with plans to ride the train to Hangzhou next morning.
The Railway station was some what noisy but well planned, a 21st century architecture looking like a UFO sitting on the ground. Underground metro lines are connected to the trains above. Airport like security checks everywhere. Most travelers seemed Chinese. We met a young student from Croatia going to do Masters in Biomedical engineering at Hanjhou after being at Beijing for his undergrad. Was a relief to say a few words and get a response.
On the Air India plane there was a large contingent of young students. Found out they were all from Andhra Pradesh coming to China to join med School in the univ. of Nanjing. All they needed to do to get in was marks above 60% in 12th and 10-15 lacks as expense. I had never met a Chinese Indian Doctor and this was a surprise. Chinese not just producing machines and other commodities bur also ‘us’.
The D-Train (for Dynamic) left punctually, comfortable as in Europe, edibles snacks, chips and crackers going around as in India and polished people on laptops as any where else in the globe.
I was hoping to see the country side and fields, remember Pearl S Buck’s ‘Good earth’, story of a simple farmer’s family, instead there were reasonably developed towns and plenty of green. Within 2 hours we had reached.
Lo and behold, AP forgot his Hotel reservation slip in Shanghai although we knew we were to go to Dragon Hotel. Amazing, they all said there was no Dragon hotel by nodding their heads. Multiple phone calls to India, and traced the hotels tel. and got the address. Finally met a gentleman who wrote it for us in Chinese for the cab guy. In no time found and reached the beautiful Dragon Hotel.
Relieved at finding better English speaking girls and were able to organize room, water, a delicious Shrimp lunch and plans for the remaining and the next day.
Hangzhou is one of the 7 ancient capitals of China. Heaven is above but below is it.
West Lake is the symbol of Hangzhou. Marco Polo called it the most enchanting. Hills embrace the Lake on three sides; the city is to the east.
In the evening as suggested we went to Hubin Road which has an upscale international Mall on one side, the architecture and Stores a blend of East and West and the lake along the other.
A large Fountain displays a Laser lit show every 30mts. spraying water with great momentum. It changes position high and around and dances with the music of China as at Sentosa island Singapore. The lake view reflected double pagodas with Dragon fronts. Took a boat cruise surrounded by city lights across the peaceful gentle waves.
The same cruise was part of our day trip the next day, accompanied, thank heavens by our English speaking guide Elaine and a family from Amsterdam and a young man from Paris. Regarded by many as China's most beautiful lake, reputedly was also considered ancient China's most beautiful woman. The subject of many of the country's most famous literary and artistic works, and the inspiration for countless more, it had been working its charms on those who gazed upon it for centuries.
Three isles were inserted in the lake, triple causeways in the middle and Six Harmonies Pagoda on one side. This 8 storied Pagoda was built by King of Wuyu in year 970.
The pagoda was named to signify the harmony of heaven, earth, and the four directions east, west, south and north. During the night lanterns were lit on the pagoda so that ships and boats on the Qiantang River could use it as a navigation tower.
We then went to Lingyin temple, one of the largest and wealthiest temples in China, commonly translated as "Temple of the Soul's Retreat”. It was originally founded in 326 AD, but has been rebuilt again and again. The hillside to the south of the temple is a site of old Buddhist caves and rock carvings as at ‘Ellora of Aurangabad’.
The principle Buddha here is Maitreya and the Laughing Buddha. The main hall is called the Mahavira Hall and has a huge golden image of Shakyamuni. A group of old ladies were waiting outside for a special service to honor Shakyamuni, the historic Buddha whose birthday it was, but there were no signs that this day was any different than another.
Chinese Lunch, confusing to us after delicious Indian Chinese food we are used to, was followed by a visit
to a tea plantation, misty valley spread across thousand of acres. The farmers here are no more poor
but own large villas and lands, producing high quality Longjin tea, No.1green tea in china. We sipped Teas
traditionally brewed, served and familiarized with Tea culture, history and the medicinal Virtues. The cost in
Grams varied depending on time of the year it had been picked, the best being the Emperor or ‘Dragon
well tea’ in Spring time. Tea here focuses on taste, choosing a silent place, it calms the Mind, stirs you up
and sublimes the inner spirit into an exalted realm.
Also the city of Silk, the weaving tradition here goes back over 3000 years, enticing the traveler since yonder years along the famous Silk route from Rome, the Mediterranean and Istambul. The Silkworm Cocoon here was much fatter than one in Kashmir I had seen. They produced 100% silk bed sheets, soft blankets and other garments materials.
After our cuppa and rest to my grudging feet, we set off again to Wushan road which had a night Bazaar with all kinds of curios, pottery, calligraphic etc. and Bargaining Galore!
Most interesting was the gathering we saw in the square. I suddenly heard music with tens of mostly elderly Chinese people dancing. Even though some of them didn't know what they were doing, it was a delightful scene and I felt party to a wonderful evening, my feet no more begrudging but moving to the beat. The selection of beautiful music ranged from gentle and soft to more vibrant and uplifting. I later discovered it was a form of Tao dancing and very commonly done at the rising and setting of the Sun as our yoga and Walk groups in the Parks here.
Hangzhou is in the rich Zhejiang & Jiangsu provinces which came under the special economic Zones like the city Shenzhen. They implemented large scale infra structure projects, multiple express ways, power generation, airports and other cultural facilities. Ecology and water control of farming lands helped poverty alleviation of the farmer.
The principle goals of development were to achieve a new high plateau for the economy at a remarkably higher level, improve democracy and the legal system and all round social progress.
So far they have more than 300,000 private enterprises and nearly 7 million self employed business people. Total industrial out put values gross sales account for over one third of china’s top five hundred private industries.
The Lee-ding University is the most comprehensive, with 76 disciplines, a student population of 576 thousand and 22 thousand post graduates. Our friend from Croatia must have registered by now.
Since New China was founded in 1949, the policy requirement was of opening up to the out side world. The people have worked diligently resulting in remarkable development. It is evident that this has been the spirit of the local people constantly strivings to become better, stronger, despite difficulties and risks.
Veena Kapoor
Sept. 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
