events

I was at this rally today organised in Mysore as a remembrance of 26/11, The day that India will remember for a long time to come. As I write this post If I look back the same time a year back, I remember partying in Pune looking at some scantly clad women without being aware that the world is being shattered for so many at that very moment.

Observeing 26/11 in front of Townhall, Mysore

I spent the next 10 days in Vipassana without any communication with the rest of the world. And when I got to Bambay soon after. Everything seemed normal except near the Taj.  I wanted to take the Walking Tour in Bombay and the lady running it wasn’t sure if it’ll happen because of the obvious reason. I wondered why cant life still carry on like before? Anyways she finally did the tour for me, which started from the Gateway of India and I could still feel the tension in the air with the whole area still cordoned off. For the records the walk was an absolute disappointment.

The Bullet mark at Leopolds

I went to the Leopolds Cafe later, I had always wanted to go to that place.. I was sitting by myself sipping beer and all I could see was bullet marks all over the place, from the walls, pillars, ceiling to the table cloth. Nothing seemed to have escaped the fury of that night. They had preserved it all as some kind of memorabilia, which I failed to understand why. I was sitting in a corner and when I turned to the Wall right next to me, I saw a deep bullet mark piercing the mirror. It shook me a bit because who ever was sitting there that unfortunate night would sure have not survived.

I am glad I went to Leopolds and dint avoid (as I had been advised, again for obvious reasons) it because I happened to meet Gregory David Roberts,the Author of the most gripping book I have read so far, Shantaram. The very reason I was at the Leos was because a lot of what is described in the book takes place at Leos. I was thrilled to meet Gregory and get his scribblings on my book. I am glad he too dint avoid this place because of “security reasons”.

With Shantaram at Leos

I was in Kashmir this July on a biking trip more about it here. I was in Leh when my good friend and Author of Splendours of Royal Mysore, Vikram Sampath called. He asked “Vinay, Is Mysore safe now?” I said “Why?” He said “A friend of mine wants to go there for a musical concert and after the recent communal clashes and deaths due to police firing, I was wondering if it was all fine now” I told him “Well.. I am in Kashmir now and this definitely feels normal !! ”

It is human be paranoid. We are living in the age of fear and we avoid going to a lot of places. doing a lot of things for the exact same reason. And by doing so we are actually helping these terrorists achieve their goal. That is to drive fear into our minds. Dont you think the most fitting reply to these rouges is to live as if we are not affected. Every place is affected by terrorism. Weren’t there blasts in London, New York , Madrid, Bali? Yet we Indians avoid Kashmir like plague. Which I think is the most beautiful place on earth that I have been to and where people with their kindness and helpful nature show you what humanity means. When we Indians regard as Kashmir unsafe I don’t blame the foreigner for his/her attitude towards India.

I am not writing this post claiming that I wear my undies outside my pants and that I am Sooperman !! I am just another individual like so many other who wants to lead his life normally so that terrorists know that their objective will never be fulfilled by creating fear and if we all as a nation do it together, It’ll be loud and clear.

As for the question, Is Mysore Safe ? I think its safe as any another city in the world or probably as unsafe. Ain’t it the same

The person who has single handedly made twitter popular in India , Mr Shashi Tharoor A tweetup in Bangalore on the 4th of Nov was a great way of  meeting this person up close. And if you have been tracking his columns, reading his books and following him on twitter you would even travel from Mysore like how I did to be a part of the action. Thats the Tharoor power over the younger generation.

Once at the venue Mr Tharoor took off seamlessly over how he joined politics and what got him to twitter. Mr Tharoor’s unassuming self, his amazing sense of humor with his brilliant timing at it and his positive attitude would grab anybody attention. I found him appealing because he was normal, more for the sense in what he spoke rather than how he spoke and more of the Aam Aadmi around him rather than security guards. so unlike our other netas, here was a leader I could connect to. A refreshing difference in our political class.

At the informal setting (pic by Soham)

Mr Thaoor got to fielding questions varying from Politics and Cricket to Social Causes, It was great watching him at ease and how well he tackled the question around his twitter controversy. Sample some of these..

Audience : You should suggest that twitter should make manditory for all minister ?

ST: “I’m not the right person for the job”

Audience : How do you manage to stay so positive in spite of being in the Indian Political arena?

ST: “If you want to make things better you have to believe that things can get better and stay positive”

Audience : How would you want the younger generation in India to change

ST: “I’m not the sort of  person who would  want to change people”

Audience : Describe yourself in 140 chars ?

ST: “Lets not even get there”

Now with the time for Questions over and he was getting ready to leave to Mysore for the TED Conference, I asked the minister “Can i hitch a ride back with you to Mysore ?” And genetly came the reply with smile “Sorry, Its a official car..so I wont be allowed” So there I missed my ride to Mysore with the Mr Tharoor. But what a tweetup it had been. And I managed to get his book The Elephant, The Tiger and The Cellphone (Which i bought the day I quit my job to start Royal Mysore Walks .. and have been using much of its stories to keep my guests entertained on India Autographed, another reason I was at the tweetup.

Tweeple with the Twitter Minister (pic by avid00)

It was a great effort by dhempe, tinucherian and santoshp to bring together the tweetup. A lovely choice of venue at TERI, Domlur. It left me thinkning, we need more minister like Mr Tharoor  because being normal is a rarity these days !!

During the 10 days of Dasara festivities, The King holds court every evening. A tradition that has been going on for centuries. Even now there is a Private Durbar held every evening at 7PM during the first 9 days where the Maharaja’s family and friends are invited for the same. And if you lucky enough to sneak in like I did you might as well get to steal a glance.

Golden Throne

After pulling a lot of strings and a bit of my patience we managed to enter the Private Durbar Hall of the Mysore Palace, Which in my personal opinion is the grandest and the most beautiful place in the Palace (of the little that i have seen). You had the cremonial Golden Throne out on display. It is really impressive with all the gold and studded with precious stones. With a line of priests sitting in row in front of the throne and also the Palace staff deressed up in ceremonial robes waiting for the Maharaja to Arrive. The entire ambience makes you feel thatyou are actually in the bygone Royal Era.

The Maharaja makes a grand entrance, The Palace staff guide him to the throne, A lot fanfare, Bugles being blown and respect shown (real or otherwise) in lot a ways. It feels like you are watch a 1960s movie on some royal dynasty ,

They go on to announce loudly something that you can never decipher expect for the words “SriKantaDatta Narasimha Raja Wodeyar Bahadur”, guess they were singing praising for the Maharaja. He accends the throne and salutes.For the next 20-30 mins there are a lot of Pujas that are performed and the loud annuncement keeps coming up regular intervals. After which the Maharaja decends the Thonre and is escorted away.

Truban Maker

The best part of the evening was when we came out and happened to meet Mr Paramesh the  turban maker, He is from the family of turban makers who makes the famous Mysore Peta (Traditional Mysore head gear). You see him in the pic wearing the traditional robe and silver in his hands. Took down his contact , So you might end up seeing more insider details on the Mysore Peta on Royal Mysore Walks