Whale Watching...

Place: Cape Ann, Gloucester, MA
Day: September 8th, 2007
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Whale Watching

High Point: After having watched about 15-18 humpback whales, a couple fin whales and a minke whale, some from very close quarters, the Captain announced that the boat would make one last stop before heading back towards land...

It was our lucky day...on the bright, breezy, sunny afternoon, we found ourselves surrounded by close to a hundred dolphins...seriously...it was amazing....they were jumping all over the place...all around us...the ooohs and the aaaahhhhs came effortlessly...the experience was breathtaking ....the best part was that they were out in the wild and in their own habitat rather than jumping to a trainer's whistle, putting up a show....they were just themselves...in their element...and they were beautiful...absolutely beautiful...

I could not get a single shot of them...I clearly was not thinking about photography at that point of time...just wanted to register the experience...and what an experience it was !!!

Vasantahabba 2003

Place: Nrityagram, Bangalore
Dates: February 1st 2003
Event: Vasantahabba

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Vasantahabba

Nrityagram, a dance school started in 1990 by Protima Gauri (Bedi), used to host the Vasantahabba or the spring festival. Vasantahabba was a very unique concept; beginning at dusk of the first Saturday of February, continued till dawn of the following day. About 12-14 hours of Indian classical music and dance. It is shameful that this celebration has discontinued due to the financial crunch faced by Nrityagram and lack of sponsorship for an event that attracted 40,000 people in 2003 !!!!

Summer of 2003, my Mother came over and stayed with me for a month. She and I boarded a bus and then another bus and then an auto rickshaw and then a bus again to reach Hesaraghatta, about 35 km from Bangalore. We reached there at 2:30 pm even though the performances were not supposed to start till about 6:30 in the evening. The reason was simple, seats. Vasantahabba did not have any entry fee or ticket and had no reservations, no passes, no VIPs, nothing. Pooja Bedi, Protima Bedi's daughter, had to show up at 3:00pm keep places for herself and her father, Kabir Bedi. Now, I have to confess, I am the biggest fan of Kabir Bedi's voice, hmm.... If Bollywood ever decides to remake Troy, Kabir Bedi must play Hectar....sigh! Okay, back to Vasantahabba. The performance was in an amphitheatre and sheets, mattresses and pillows are provided ( not that there is ever any space to lie down, but it makes sitting for 14 hours a little more comfortable).

The six hours of classical dance saw performances by Belliappa and party, an ensemble by the villagers, another ensemble by the students of Nrityagram, Kuchipuddi by Guru Jayaram and Vanshree Rao, a contemporary piece by Stem Group and Mohiniattam by Mandakini Trivedi. The music section was opened by hindustani vocal performance by Malini Rajurkar, followed by Shashank's flute (amazing , amazing amazing). Pandit Vishnu Mohan Bhatt played the Mohan Veena, along with his son. Then came the Warsi Brothers, Naseer and Nazeer Warsi. They had the crowd up and going berserk at 4:00 am in the morning !!! The night was brought to a fitting end by Taufiq Quereshi and his friends....

The most memorable moment for me lasted for a split second....during one of the dance performances, I turned around to look around me....Partly cloudy sky...full Moon...chilly air....light breeze... people in complete silence, on the mattresses, on the grass, on the tree branches, fence pillars, walls...sitting, standing, necks sticking out, butts precariously places,...eyes.... glued to the stage...

...the experience...unparalleled...


Did I say this before....It is shameful that this celebration has discontinued due to the financial crunch faced by Nrityagram and lack of sponsorship for an event that attracted 40,000 people in 2003 !!!!

Mammoth Caves National Park, KY

Place: Mammoth Caves National Park, Kentucky
Date: 07/07/07

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Mammoth Caves

The Wild Cave Tour...http://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/tour-wildcave.htm

One experience that stands out from all others during the trip: Five hours into spelunking, we had started to ease out, feel comfortable in the darkness,....Ranger John asked us if we needed a breather...All of us sat down in one long line in the cave...He asked us look all around us, get comfortable, look at our watches if we had one on and then switch off our lights....the first few seconds, it was pitch dark....I could hear nothing...I could see nothing....we sat there in complete silence trying to soak the feeling in....what it would be to be blind, to have your pupils move, but not see anything...no matter how hard you try....strain to hear something....but don't...the silence was deafening....then we started hearing sounds (according to Ranger John, we were all imagining them...there was no group of people anywhere close to us....and what we heard, was our own imagination....)

After what seemed like a very long time, he broke the silence and started talking about the rules of safe caving....and then followed the tragic stories...of children in Ukraine dying, lost in the caves, from what started as a game, ....I began to feel really eerie....all that I had fought off so well till now, fear of darkness, of insects, of heights, of confined spaces, everything started coming back....I was claustrophobic all of a sudden, I felt like screaming out aloud, looking for the person closest to me....some sign of life....of light....took a deep breath and eased out slowly....regained my composure....

When we finally switched on our lights, we realized that it had just been 10 minutes.

It was done only to make us realize the dangers of spelunking and the dangers of complacency...and wow, what a realization that was....

I came out with an appreciation for fresh air, water, sky, earth, light and sound, LIFE, that I had never had before....with confidence in my strength....physical and mental...

The experience was surreal as it was happening. It is surreal now.... in a completely different way....