surakṣita yātrā

Its good to be back after what appears to be a hiatus of sorts..no teetering over in agony...no struggle for words...! Have been off the road for a little less than a month but the bug bites yet again ...and how?! ...the plans in place, all ready for the next trip..but meanwhile life goes on..

Last weekend, friend Kriti Mukherjee of Social Potpourri invites me for a meet up with a Business Potpourrian, SafetyKart

Keeping my expectations in the bottom drawer, I gingerly agree to go..I imagine mundane humdrum and prepare myself for jaw aching forced conversations...much anticipating the wine and cheese..ahem!


Stepping in ~ am instantly drawn to a familiar searchlight lookalike contraption.."its our best seller Multi Functional Car Safety Tool" says the genial host, Vikas Bagaria of Safetykart.com, apparently the contraption includes Safety Hammer for breaking the glass in emergency, Blade for cutting the seat belt,  Red Flash light for Alert, Compass, Emergency charger for mobile phones and digital products. Intrigued by the possibilities I ask for specific features and am told that the power is generated through crank dynamo (no need for external adapters), the tool boasts of a FM radio, LED lights, blink & siren for an emergency, magnets that can cling to the car roof for flash light alert and an inbuilt USB! I am wow'ed! Here is an environment friendly product that captures the imagination of the traveller in me...

Vikas and his team sense people beginning to gravitate towards their display board un-bidding and chip in to tell us more about their other flagship products. One can also check them out at safetykart on FB

Am so wishing I had their memory card holder on that trip to Ladakh..where we were scrambling to keep all those precious memories safe, or that miner's light that straps onto your forehead as one climbs a mountain or bikes across the terrain..I like what I see, promising to immediately buy that much needed pencil pepper spray (now that I am resigned to stay in my abominable adopted city)! Needless to say, my travel gear would soon boast of a number of these items and none too soon..

Till the next wave strikes....

(c) Sonia Kapoor

Sri Lanka - a soulful journey

Street Talk

Savitri was Brahma's desolate wife, whose temple is perched atop the Ratnagiri hill in a small rustic town of Rajathan. Here at Pushkar, the goddess is believed to have rested on the hill upon her arrival and refused to join her husband who had married a local girl Gayatri. Her temple overlooks the famous Brahma temple and is believed to serve as a lookout for the goddess for her erring husband...

My camera wanders its gaze and settles itself upon these women sharing some un-spoken pain in a guttural rural accent...I do not understand the dialect but the feeling is familiar...

...the Camera further wanders and rests upon these old women in the streets of New Delhi amongst posh luxury clothes brands and high end restaurants...these two old women sharing their everyday concerns with each other captivate the camera to sit still and listen to their streetwise talk....

..my inner eye connects the two through a time tunnel...life comes full circle and rests at certain cross junctions...the age difference notwithstanding..the tales continue to be familiarly haunting...

The Pedestrian Traveller

The inertia is setting in...as is its nature..slowly creeping onto my entire being..I am consumed by a desire to not think another thought..or lift a finger..nothing but just to lie low/hibernate...I was always the one to be quick on the uptake but move gradually towards a disgruntled, dispassionate being as the world moves on around me...

Oh its all so familiar..the insipid reactions..the devil may scoot attitude..all calling for that dive into the serenity...longing is gnawing at the pores now...time to hit the road again..!

A Nation in Transit

We are a country born out of a deluge of multi cultural influences spread across a few thousand years. And like every other nation, we aren't perfect. But what we have is a rich history, deeply enmeshed in our modern lives, supported by a tenacious value system and a steady undercurrent of spirituality.

Mark Twain had once called India the "..cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition..."

- Given the present state of her affairs, I am not sure India would recognize herself in us today.

Nonetheless, the optimist in me would like to believe that beneath all the superficial filth and dilapidated health of its governance, underlying the pregnant silence before the storm, there may be a semblance of a new India waiting to be born.