From Kings Cliff

I first went to King's Cliff some six years back. I took one look at the moss-covered trees, the white colonial bungalow, the profusion of flowers and the steep craggy cliffs that form the backdrop of the place and was (in the words of my young son's favourite airman) hooked, cleaned and fried!

It was perfect. All of it. From the liveried staff with their clinking cutlery to the wood paneled smoking room, the rose patterned upholstery and the old fashioned fireplaces. Everything belonged to a different time and place altogether. You could practically picture Jane Marple sitting at those windows, needles at the go, keeping a sharp eye on weeds and widows alike. Or of course you could imagine you yourself were a memsahib, if you please, watching over all Ooty from those giddy heights. Retiring to the drawing room when the evenings became uncomfortably cold. Warming yourself at the fireplace while listening to jazz (or whatever those memsahibs listened to) on the gramophone.

Too delicious!

I kept going back of course. It was the best quick fix to the humdrum of daily Bangalore grime. A getaway from work, home, weekday, city, century, country what have you! After five visits and then a looong break to have and raise a baby to traveling stage, I was back!

To a bit of a shock.

Which was silly of course! What place would not change in three years time? It was simply that kings cliff had seemed timeless (sigh). Anyway the lawn now hosted a glass house with a restaurant and dance floor! The staff were all gone, replaced by much more up to date hotel management types. The food, to be (grudgingly) honest, was much better. But the bathrooms had been redone with tiny tiny shower cubicles that were all metallic and modern and completely unusable.

Of course Ooty itself was a revelation. Strictly plastic free, pedestrian friendly, wide pavements to walk on, lots of nonsensical touristy stuff to buy and charm in shovelfuls. It had actually become the kind of place India could market as a big time small holiday destination. Not so much incredible india as incredible it's in india. But coming back to Kings cliff...

On coming back from our ramble around town we realized that having in our ignorance, omitted to pre-book the smoking room (our erstwhile favourite hang out) we had lost out to a bunch of johnny come latelys who had taken the place over with the result that we had to settle for second best - the drawing room. Giving in with slightly bad grace, we shut the doors and started a game of dumb charades. At regular intervals, various savory soups and snacks kept coming in to help us keep the energy levels up. This is the best part about this place. They always strive hard to create the illusion that you are at home. Not your own home, no! Not a place where you might have to cook your own food or make your own bed. But a fictitious make believe home. Where you have an army of servants (giggling housemaids to stately pretend butler) waiting on you hand and foot. And they still get all of that right!

We descended from the heights the next day and spent most of our time wandering around various little stores selling overpriced nonsense and looking into the english meets tamil church. A quick trip to dolphin's nose in coonoor was followed by lunch at 'kluney manor' - copycat kings cliff with bigger and better rooms but lesser charm, atmosphere and green.

And then it was time to head back!

Short holiday wound quickly to a close. Would I go back? Well the prices have tripled and the charm's getting a bit rusty but when I turn around on my way back the mossy trees seem to call out and call back.

The Documents in the Case

The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The plot of this book is so smart that it actually figured as a problem in one of my organic chemistry textbooks in college! One of those musty dusty tomes but still!!!



The brilliance of the science aside, it is truly an excellent book! Dorothy Sayers is a master at creating three dimensional characters that live and breathe. The book is written in an epistolary format and most incidents come across from two or more points of view, each so consistent and complete by itself that that alone would be reason enough to read this book. How does she get the characters, their voice, what they say and think and feel so right every time?



You can see what's coming from the start of course but that will in no way impair your enjoyment of the book, at least not unless you are looking for nothing more or less than a whodunit. Like all of Dorothy Sayers' novels, this is a book that does not see why it shouldn't be a 'real book' (in Lord Peter Wimsey's words) just because it is a mystery novel.

Great read.


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Almost Single

Almost Single by Advaita Kala

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
It's a book about a single woman in the city. She hangs out with her friends - one beautiful but married to a jerk, another gay, another single with lots of bright ideas on how not to be single. She spends a lot of her time getting drunk, smokes a lot of cigarettes and struggles with her weight. And her name is not Bridget Jones!!!



Hard to take this book seriously. It's bridget minus the charm and the humour. Aisha Bhatia is not particularly likable. Karan whatsisname similarly so. I haven't lived in Delhi for sometime now but I find it hard to digest that people like Nic and Ric do.



It finds some soul towards the end but too little too late. I'd rather read Zoya again.


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the zoya factor

The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The best thing about Zoya is that it is not just 'an english book by an indian' if you know what I mean. There is so much more story and people and India than in the 'I'm Indian, I live abroad, I'm confused' kind of book there has been so much of in the recent past.



Zoya is peopled with characters that are as believable as they are likable. Zoravar, Eppa, Rinku Chachi, Vishal, Monita even Sanks are people you would have or at least easily could have met somewhere.



It is laugh out loud funny in many places. I especially liked the crickindya website comments section. Anuja Chauhan certainly has an ear for dialogue!



Other pluses: Nikhil's a dish and the mushy stuff doesn't make you cringe (well mostly). The romantic is nicely tempered by the ridiculous. Big bonus - people from Delhi especially of Karol Bagh origin will LOVE how VERY Delhi this book is!



Only grouse... it is way too long! Better editing would have made such a difference.

With no literary pretensions whatsoever, Zoya is light weekend reading at its best.


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More thoughts on Road Widening

I really did not want to post on this topic after last time's post which I thought said most of what I had to say, but I'm back. Here's why.

With the new govt. firmly in the saddle, orders are out to finish all road widening in the coming six months. One gone five to go. That's how long our trees have, folks! Already in Koramangala we are seeing huge, stately old trees being mercilessly butchered to make way for wider roads. Worse than that, people like it! People you would expect to think differently! But lets not talk of that.

Not even talking now about the 40000 people on Avenue road (that has the misfortune of being in the way of a proposed six lane highway) who are going to lose their livelihoods for a road.

Nor am I talking of the eighteen villagers who died trying to cross the 30 kilometer road to the aiport that has only 4 traffic lights and no pedestrian underpasses. Over bridges cannot be constructed on a national highway as per NHAI rules. So the villagers must risk their lives daily so we can make that flight on time. Not talking about that though.

What I am talking about is the rising incidence of asthma and bronchitis among children. In the last 15 years, the percentage of kids with bronchitis and asthma has gone up from 8 to a whopping 40%! The incidence is higher among kids living in areas with less trees and greater vehicular population.

The writing's on the wall.

We may not care about trees. We may not care about about poor shopkeepers losing their source of income. We might not spare a thought to the poor villager by the side of the road.
But have we really fallen to such a moral abyss that we don't care about our children? Is our convenience on the road so important that we don't see that of the four kids out of every ten that can't go out to play because they have bronchitis, one could be ours?

I always thought with parents it was different. That it had to be personal. But in a world where a parent does not care for a child, the human race must be considered past redemption.

Trivia for a change!

Zenda Zembla Xanadu
All your dream worlds may come true
Fairy lands are fearsome too
As I wander far from view
Read and bring me home to you.


No ordinary rhyme that. What do the above lines signify?

It is an acrostic. Put together the first letter of every line and it spells ZAFAR!

Zafar is the name of Salman Rushdie's son. When he went into hiding after the Fatwa, he wrote Haroun and the Sea of Stories - A tale starring a storyteller father and his young son. A fairy tale about freedom of speech and the importance of imagination :)

The above lines are the dedication that appear at the beginning of the book.

Mother of the Trees (Concluded)

After the wide road was built, the king had another idea. Having gone to all this expense to build this road into the forest, why let it lead only to the palace? Everyone in the kingdom should be able to enjoy the forest, felt he. And so he built a huge bazaar by the road.

Little by little, the forest began to change. The prince was very unhappy, as were all the children, and many of the grown ups. This was no longer the magical place they had stumbled onto. You could hardly hear the chirping of the birds over the raucous yells of the bazaar merchants. You could no longer smell the flowers.

Dejected, the prince walked into the heart of the forest where things were yet somewhat unchanged. Here was a very big and very old mango tree (yes, the same one you are thinking of!). It had always been a favorite of the prince's. It gave the most shade. It promised the sweetest fruit. Even in his low spirits, the tree would be able to cheer him up somewhat.

He sank onto the grass under the tree. 'What have I done', he muttered to himself. 'If I had but known what this would lead to, I would never have shown this place to anyone.'

'Don't worry', said a voice from somewhere near. 'It is not your fault.'
The prince started and sprang up. 'Who is it?' he asked. 'Show yourself!' He could have sworn there had been no one there, but suddenly the bushes moved, and there stood before him a tiny, wizened old lady. She smiled at him.

'Who are you?' he asked. 'I've never seen you here before.'

'They call me the Mother of the Trees', she said. 'What my name is, I could hardly tell you', she smiled. 'I forgot it myself so long ago.'

'Why did you ask me not to worry?' asked the Prince. 'What do you know about me and my worries?'

'I know', said the old lady, 'that you love this forest. And all this change upsets you. But when you get to my age, you will know that change is natural and will always happen. Mostly you have to accept it.'

'But my father! And his constant tree cutting! Is that natural? The animals and birds are losing their homes. They have no more fruit to eat. The air is no longer clean. Is this good?'

'A wise man once said that this earth has enough for every man's need, but not for every man's greed. Don't worry about your father.' She smiled and left as quietly as she had come.

The prince walked back slowly to the palace.

There he found the whole place in an uproar. 'The forest has vanished!', yelled the King and his courtiers. 'It is right here!' said the Prince in some surprise! 'What's wrong?'

'It's gone!' said the king. 'Vanished! The forest is bewitched! Let us leave at once, before some further harm befalls us!' And the king and all his courtiers took to their heels and ran!

In some confusion, the Prince turned to a small page boy who was still standing in the now nearly empty palace. 'Is it just me or is the forest still right where it always was?'
'It is, sir', whispered the boy. 'I see it too. But perhaps it is a good thing after all that they can't.'

Well, perhaps it was! But one thing was for sure. From that day to this the forest has remained hidden. It shows itself from time to time. But only to whose it counts a friend.

THE END.


With much admiration for Saalumarada Thimakka and the Narnia stories.

The Fable of the Mother of the Trees (contd.)

The Mother of the Trees spent the next many years planting and taking care of her trees. When there was less water, she carried water on her head from the next village many miles away. When her husband did not make enough money of a month, she cut branches from the trees and planted them in the ground.

And everywhere new life bloomed. Slowly, what had once been a barren wasteland became a beautiful forest! And miracle of miracles! Birds, bees, butterflies, animals all flocked to their new home! And the trees heavy with fruit (even after the animals had eaten their fill) eased their tired limbs by dropping the fruit on the ground. And from them yet more trees were born. Things could not have been better.

But one day, the man, who had by now become a very old man, went to sleep and died. The mother of the trees no longer felt like being with anyone but her children, and she went into the heart of the forest. The forest closed in on her and everyone forgot all about the trees and the story of the birth of the forest.

Many years passed.

Then one day when the prince was out hunting, he came upon these untouched woods. As he entered, a calm descended on him. All he could hear was the sound of birds chirping. He could smell the blended fragrance of a million fruits and flowers. The very air was fresh and sweet. 'Surely this must be a magical place', he thought. Excited at his discovery, he ran back to tell all! 'We must find out what this place is and make it a part of our kingdom!'

Everyone in the kingdom was thrilled by the new place! They came from far and wide to inspect and admire the forest. And the forest was SO pleased! For so many years they had missed the voices of people. The trees were happy to offer their best fruit to the children who came visiting. The flowers were keen to show off their brilliant colours. Everyone admired the prince's forest.

But the King who was a very greedy man, had other plans. 'Why don't we build a small palace here?' he asked. 'Then we can stay in comfort whenever we want'. The prince was not happy at the thought of changing anything in this lovely place. But the King assured him that it would not make much change, and anyway many of the trees were old and much better off being cut! The prince gave in.

The King was very pleased with his new palace. It was so much better than the old one! It had much prettier rooms and the furnishing was SO elegant! He was really quite taken with it and began to spend more and more time there.

After a while he began to get quite fed up with all the traveling back and forth he had to do between his kingdom and the forest. He decreed that a wide road be built connecting the palace in the forest to the palace in the city.

Like a sweeping gust of wind, rumour swept through the forest. No one was sure anymore what was true and what wasn't.
Was the venerable beech tree by the well really going to be cut? 'It can't be' said the squirrel. 'That tree is my home!' 'And my playground', said the small child. 'Who will I climb now?'
'I just built my nest there' said the sparrow. They shook their heads sadly.

And yet men poured in every day with axes and plans.

(To be concluded.)

The Fable of the Mother of the Trees

Once upon a time there lived a woman. This woman was very sad. You see she did not have any children. So she cried and asked her husband why this was so. He was very upset and went to sleep feeling sad.

And then, he had a dream!! Not just any ordinary dream, but a great and wondrous dream! In his dream God came to him and said 'My child. Don't be sad. It is very easy to love your own children. I do not worry about that. But I worry about my children. I need someone to take care of them. And that is a difficult thing to do. I need someone special! Out of the ordinary. Will you do this job for me?' And God went away smiling.

The next morning the man woke up with this curious feeling you sometimes have. Was that really a dream? What had happened? And what did God really mean. He thought about that all day as he had his meals and went about his daily chores. Preoccupied, he did not notice when he tossed a half eaten mango out of the window instead of putting it neatly in the bin.

The days went by and he all but forgot about his conversation with God in that special dream. But one day about a month from the day that this story started, he saw a tiny green shoot thrusting out of the earth under his window. The tiny green shoot had four even tinier glossy leaves sticking out of it. And as he looked at it he was filled with wonder. A strange feeling went through him. For some reason he could not explain, even to himself, he thought of the special dream. Could this possibly be what God meant? Was this little shoot the 'God's child' of his dream. He felt very sure that this was the explanation of the whole thing.

So he called out to his wife, showed her the tiny green shoot, told her about the dream and asked her what they should do. 'Nothing for it!' she said. 'We must care for this little tree.'

And they did. Tending it carefully, watering it. Cleaning it to remove insects. They watched it grow with so much pride. From a shoot it grew, to become a big, fine tree! And the man and his wife were happy.

One night soon after, God came in their dreams again. 'My children', said He. 'You have both done very well. Ask what you will of me and you shall have it!' 'Then', said the woman. 'Give me more, many more of your children to care for. '
'I will', said God. 'And you will henceforth be known as The Mother of the Trees'.

(To be continued...)

Road Widening - A Necessity?

Road widening is a daily reality for most people in developing cities. In a place like Bangalore, it is also a daily question (well for some anyway) . Is it really the best way to cope with growing traffic?

I've put down some thoughts on why I believe it should always be the LAST not the FIRST way to manage traffic.

1. Road widening leads to tree cutting. Trees purify air, lower temperatures, improve the water table, provide shade, shelter birds... I could go on. Cutting a single tree has an irreversible impact on the environment that we need to consider.

2. Road widening needs land acquisition. Very often this land has been purchased by people using their life's savings. Sometimes it is used to run shops or businesses and people's livelihood depends on it. Before taking it away shouldn't the people planning, implementing or advocating road widening be able to say in all conscience: 'I'm sorry. I tried everything else. I had NO OTHER alternative' ?

3. Road widening cuts into pedestrian space. The road belongs to all kinds of users including cyclists and pedestrians. Also, it is a fact that in areas with very wide roads (Delhi in India, most cities in the US) it is less than safe to ride two-wheelers or cycles. When we make roads unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists and two wheelers, we put more cars on the roads, for which we need more road space and more widening - it's a vicious cycle!

4. Road widening has been going on for the last 3 years in full swing but with negative results. The reason is not hard to find, every extra inch of road space has been occupied by a new vehicle that has been added to the roads.

Which brings us to the bottom line. The real issue plaguing our roads today is not less infrastructure but inefficient use of existing infrastructure.
Every traffic jam is marked by the huge number of cars carrying only ONE passenger. Clearly the available road space is under utilized.

The natural conclusion is that better utilization of road space through car pooling, shared taxis/autos, more dependence on buses and other public transport as opposed to private transport would improve matters.

True, it would not be as convenient as driving your own car, playing your choice of music or leaving at the exact second that is convenient to you.

But against that we should weigh the environmental and human loss that is a result of road widening and its natural corollary - tree cutting and land acquisition.

Which is the better way? Which one should we try first?