Glimpses of Haridwar

Recently, had an opportunity to visit, or rather transit via Haridwar.
While there were many good sights and great people I came across, including a rural school [where the kids taught us the importance of personal hygiene and water purification as well as sang us some rhymes and songs], a Self Help Group of Women, who has just been home makers, now aspiring to set up a dry leaf based plate making unit among other projects, a couple of things were interesting, when seen in person.

The Thomson canal – aka the Ganges canal, build by a British Engineer Thomson – who was also instrumental in setting up the Civil Engineering department at Roorkee – that had portions that were actually at 2 levels..
  You can see the canal flowing at the lower level [somewhat west to east]
and another [with no water] at the higher level [north east to southwest]
Another interesting observation was at the Har Ki Pauri, which is one of the famous Ghats on the Ganges.  Water had been let out after an annual break, when the Ghats are desilted and the shrines also appeared freshly painted.
 
It was a full moon day – Sharad Poornima – and we reached there just when the Aarti had got over.

the crowds slowly moved out.
. and we could go near the water

Many people did some pooja and let lamps float on the river..

in this very short visit. also touched Rishikesh, for a brief overnight stay – checked in late evening, when it was dark and checked out the next morning before sunrise..
Even in that short drive, could see that every other building seemed to be a Yoga center!
Maybe that was an indirect influence to my enrolling in the #YogaMOOC!
so, no pictures.. only a recording of the roar of the Ganges..

an acrophobic’s attempt

recently, i had posted a picture on my Facebook page.

while this got many likes and some comments of appreciation, there were also ones of

- doubt

- disbelief

etc.

this post is to go behind the scenes and tell it all!

not so much to garner appreciation or admiration [] but more to share the bigger picture behind this picture ..

it all started when some colleagues and business partners stopped briefly on a road trip,

at the Columbia river bank — at Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park.

to reach this spot, we had to cross snow clad mountains :

clear snow , one handful at a time!

and reach the land of the wanapums .

and cross a rocky and dry environment,

while they are almost extinct now – per the sign there, the beauty of the location still hasn’t vanished.

  

 

the river was almost a gorge

 

there was this protective wall at places

and no protection at others

i chose to venture to the other side of the wall!

while the effect in the picture was a combination of
camera angle and the subject’s position, it was, i should admit, a safe spot with reasonable foot room.

but, for an acrophobic, this was something!

Counting people in cups of corn

Last week, made a quick trip to yercaud.
the drive was good, with the roads and the weather in excellent condition almost all the way.
the last few kilometers on the 20 hairpin bends uphill, it was raining heavily with very little visibility.
the hotel where we stayed was small, but functional. one of those ecology themed hotels, close to the lake.
with very misty weather, took pleasant walks the next morning - but the view points - the pagoda point [invariably spelt as pakoda point - pakoda being a local snack!] had only the view of the mist.

we found very few visitors at the view point, and the local dog at the temple could also not be bothered from its sleep.

there were a few vendors who had their stalls - though on push-carts and makeshift sheds, they had screen-printed banners with names such as steam and roast - for steamed corn and roasted peanuts!
their steaming equipment was a hand operated blower!
i was wondering how they plan their quantities - as it looked like the corn would feed a battalion. i tried to imagine how the vendors would feel as they see visitors coming there. they surely welcomed us very enthusiastically and expectantly.. though we were not good customers.
i was tempted to try the fresh fig and honey combo, but decided against considering the cleanliness aspects.

on the way down, as the sky was also clearing up a bit, we saw many vehicles - cars, buses, two-wheelers going uphill. tried to visualize the emotions and expectations of the vendors at pakoda point!

like in cartoons, the image that flashed before my eyes, were that each vehicle was equivalent to a number of cups of corn..
2 for a 2 wheeler, 2-4 for a car and 10 for a bus....
i am sure they would have done good business for the rest of the day, going by the number of strewn paper cups and plastic spoons we could find along the way back.