Amma was a student of history but she is an ardent believer in myths. I am untrustworthy. I can shift allegiance as per the diktats of the hour for I am often beset with doubts and unable to judge truth from tale. She requests a darshan of the sacred spot where god Krishna was born-Mathura.

As a believer in Hindu gods, I would often feel a sense of pique when I espied Westerners, in shorts, tees and sarongs walk around our temples with a mark of nonchalance and a sense of disbelief. ‘The spot is sacred to us; the deity is an embodiment of our faith; He is a placebo strengthened by the power of our prayers’. But how do you counter a non-believer approaching it from the point of touristy curiosity? Perhaps the same way I felt while visiting the Vatican- with a distant respect for a religion that was not my own; with a curiosity that made me look at it with fresh eyes; as also with a feeling that the place embodied the spirit of prayer and healing, though not of my faith.

In Mathura folklore rules, history is a talking point, and faith remains unchallenged. I found myself a bit removed from the faithful bit though. My Ummachi rests in my tiny altar at home. He nestles in mid crawl on a tiny silver swing, that is showered with flowers and decked with sandal paste. He is the unseen power that I beseech when I need succor.

Gautam is 13, a student, who hops into the passenger’s seat, as we fumble for road directions. He is the eldest of three brothers and the family makes a living off the sacred town’s tourist and religious attractions. His father does a bit of mixed farming- a couple of cows, a bit of vegetable farming to eke a living and sends the boys to a local government school. After school hours, Gautam and his classmates roam the streets surrounding the ghats and temples looking for pocket money. “Only 40 rupees for whole day of guiding”, he asks. Given the avarice of the notorious pandas this request seems reasonable. We don’t haggle over the price.

Our first stop is at the Krishna Janma Bhoomi or the Keshav Dev temple. It’s a difficult moment. Twin marble domes of a masjid stand cheek by jowl near the temple’s tower. A wall of the temple is shared with the mosque and coils of barbed wires guard the inner walls menacingly. It’s easy to feel roused, especially for believers of either faith who visit remnants of historical insults over mythical gods.

Gautam has the gift of a guide’s gab. He informs: “Ghazni, Lodhi, Aurangazeb all destroyed it, even today you can see a shrine missing and it has been replaced with a marble wall, devoid of idols. See, see”, he urges us. He insists that we train our eyes on the marble and make out the form of Krishna. Amma peers hard at the marble wall as the lad points out, ‘the peacock crown, the flute over there and his cowherds gathered around him’. I purse my lips and he argues, “See it with your heart and soul and you’ll be able to make out his form’. Other guidebooks inform that the ‘original’ temple is located near the ghats and this is a ‘new’ structure. Who’s to tell?

We are ushered into a chamber that served as the prison where the God was born. Amma nudges me to do a namaskaram at that spot and garland the small idols of the infant Krishna.

We rush past the kitschy moats of colour and clay and sip a lassi kissed by flies to go past the ghats to Gokul. We travel past the Yamuna. She will swell in the monsoons, Gautam informs. Today, she is placid, her banks dotted with shrubs and grass and folks partaking of her holy waters.

Gokul is amazingly rustic, idyllic, untouched by urbanity. There are low thatched mud houses and small brick buildings and livestock sheds and cattle grazing. You can well believe myths about the community of cowherds and the pastoral lives of the people that Krishna spent His boyhood. The lanes are utterly narrow, gutters spew forth filth, pie dogs laze around and the tiny cubicles along the lanes are makeshift kitchen stores. Here smiling men ladle huge vats of ghee, sugar, butter, khoa to make sweets. There is a faint smell of cooking butter as you walk down the lane to reach, erm, Krishna’s house. “Krishna lived 3000 years ago. This is Devki’s house,” Gautam invites us into a brick building that looks eerily like my grandfather’s home in Tirunelveli. Priests usher us in to come forward near the idols placed in various nooks and corners of the house around a tiny courtyard. The clay idols are utterly charming, folk forms, highlighted with bits of gold pigment and colourful clothes. Puppets of cowherds and villagers sporting with Krishna are arranged in a row. We circumambulate dutifully before taking leave.

More lassi, some sweets and we head back.

Did I enjoy the visit?
Yes, I liked the sights, sounds and smells.
However when temple visits such as these come together knotted with myth, history and current political babble I am unable to feel pious.
Hopefully Krishna, the Divine Benefactor, in my heart and prayers would forgive me for this.

In this Krishna Mandap, relief carvings in a cave-like slot cut in the mountain, pays tribute to Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan. The shallow cave is infused with warm light, bringing to life the villagers of Gokul huddled under the mountain.

According to legend, the Vedic Indra Dev feels offended by villagers for stopping their offerings to him, and lets loose a torrential storm deluging the village and endangering life. To save his kinsmen, Krishna lifts mount Govardhan offering respite to human and animal life, under its canopy.

In this life-sized panel, Krishna is depicted easily supporting Govardhan on his left palm while offering grace with this right. He is joined by herdsmen and animals, predominantly cows under this mountain. You notice a father casually holding a child on this shoulders (right); gopis (cowmaids) bringing along their children and balancing pots, apparently filled with milk and butter on their heads and in rapt adoration of their hero. A huddled woodcutter is consoled by Balarama; a beautiful mother cow licking its calf, as a herdsman milks it. A woman carries stacked pots in a sling while supporting a load on her head. In the background are a host of cows carved in shallow relief; a women with child drawn by a flutist. It is a crowded panel, but how beautifully executed.

Krishna's raised hand lifting the mountain, touches the top of the cave and gives us the feeling that we too are standing alongside him, one with the herdsmen, under this mountain, in his grace!

(click image for larger conjoined image)

• Tirth Yatra: Temples of Tamil Nadu;
• Vaikuntha Perumal in Kanchipuram;
• Kanchi Kamakshi;
• Varaha Mandap

Next in this Travelogue:

• Great Penance

Additional References: (see Varaha Mandap for remaining)

• Mahabalipuram, Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India (2004).

My beloved brother......!!......I really love him much....And now we is going through a cold war.....he he he......But i'm damn sure he too love me much...lol......So that'zzz it......I really missing him much......!!.......Now he is the silence.....or he is keeping his mouth shut......!!

Summertime, I'm the silence as the wind blows
My land is your land we are free
Summertime, if you listen close you hear my teardrops fall
My dream is yours..................!!

(Adopted)

::: Kent ::: Kevlar soul Lyrics :::

उधो ब्रज मोहि बिसरत नाहीं

लेकिन उद्धव को यह पीड़ा कहाँ समझ में आने वाली थी। वे तो ज्ञान-ध्यान की बातें करते थे। कृष्ण को माया-मोह को भुलाने की बात कहते थे।

कृष्ण ने उद्धव को अपना संदेशवाहक बनाकर मथुरा भेज दिया और एक पत्र भी ग्वाल बाल के नाम लिख भेजा। उधर उद्धव कृष्ण के सन्देशवाहक बनकर ब्रज पहुंचे और इधर ब्रज में कोहराम मच गया। जिसने जहां भी सुना वहीं अपना कामकाज छोड़कर उद्धव को मिलने पहुंच गया। यशोदानंदन के मित्र को सबने घेर लिया। उधो जी कृष्ण का क्या संदेश लाए हैं?

क्या लाए थे, उद्धव जी तो अपने ज्ञान की पोटली लेकर आए थे। कृष्ण का दिया हुआ तो बस एक पत्र ही था, सो हाथ का लिखा हुआ वह रुक्का बढ़ा दिया। सोचा, पढ़ लें, स्थिर चित्त हो जाएँ, तब समझाऊंगा इन्हें जीवन का तत्व भेद।

सो पत्र उनको दे दिया। लेकिन यह क्या, जिसके हाथ में पत्र आया, उसी के आँसुओं से वह भीगने लगा, कागज गल गया, स्याही फैल गई, पढ़ने को तो कुछ बचा ही नहीं। इसके बाद छीना-झपटी मच गई, जरा हम भी देखें, हम भी पढ़ें उनका संदेश। पत्र के टुकड़े-टुकड़े हो गया। छीना-झपटी में जिसके हाथ जितना छोटा टुकड़ा आया, उसी फटे हुए टुकड़े को वह लेकर रोने लगा। अपने माथे से लगाने लगा, छाती से लगाने लगा। कृष्ण की स्मृति में खो गया। पत्र पढ़ने की तो जरूरत ही नहीं रही।

सभी गोपी-ग्वाल बालकृष्ण की याद में रोते-सिसकते और आँसू बहाते रहे। उद्धव उनके प्रेमाश्रुओं की बहती हुई गंगा की धारा को पार नहीं कर सके। प्रेम भक्ति के इस हृदयस्पर्शी मार्मिक दृश्य में किंकर्तव्यविमूढ़ से खड़े रहे। बिलखते हुए गोपियों ने कहा- उधो, अँखियाँ हरिदर्शन की प्यासी।

उद्धव ने उन्हें आत्मतत्व का महत्व समझाया, ज्ञान-ध्यान का रस पिलाया किन्तु कौन सुनता है। किसी को इसमें कोई स्वाद नहीं आया। नीरस ज्ञान किसी के मन को नहीं भाया। फिर उन सब को भगवान की व्यापकता का परिचय दिया। योग का मूल सूत्र बताया। किन्तु गोपियाँ तो उस कृष्ण की याद में आँसू बहाती रहीं, जो उनके साथ खेलता था। कहा,

उधो! मन नाहीं दस-बीस, एकहुतो सो गयो श्याम संग, को आराधो ईश

महाराज, यह मन 10-20 तो हैं नहीं। हमारे पास हमारा एक ही मन था और वह कृष्ण के संग चला गया। तुम्हारे ज्ञान की बातें सुनने के लिए अब हमारे पास हमारा मन नहीं है।

गोपियों और ग्वाल बाल के प्रेम के सामने उद्धव निरुत्तर हो गए। ज्ञान की पोटली खुल कर बिखर गई, मूल्यहीन हो गई। उन्हें मथुरा वापस लौटना पड़ा। प्रेम का सम्बन्ध तर्क-वितर्क से नहीं होता, उसका सम्बन्ध तो हृदय से होता है।

प्रेम के रहस्य को कोई भी नहीं जान पाया। मीरा कृष्ण के प्रेम में व्याकुल होकर एक बार कहती हैं- मेरे तो गिरधर गोपाल दूसरो न कोई, जाको सिर मोर मुकुट मेरो पति सोई। फिर अगले ही पल कहती थी, जो मैं ऐसा जानती प्रेम करे दुख होय। नगर ढिंढोरा पीटती, प्रेम करो मत कोय।

प्रेम शब्द का बड़ा व्यापक अर्थ है। यह प्रभु का ही अनन्त रूप है। यह निष्काम, नि:स्वार्थ, पावन पवित्र शब्द है। यह भगवान की महिमा का व्यापक रूप है। जिसने भी इस प्रेम शब्द को जान लिया-पहचान लिया, वह भगवानमय बन जाता है। जब भक्तगण भगवान को याद करते हैं, उनका मनन-चिन्तन-स्मरण करते हैं, भावविभोर होकर गुणगान करते हैं, भगवान के लिए करुण क्रंदन करते हैं, तो भगवान का हृदय भी उनकी भाव भक्ति से दवित हो जाता है। और भगवान भी अपने भक्तों को याद करते हैं। भक्ति भाव भी उसी प्रेम का एक रूप है।

नवभारत टाइम्स में प्रकाशित

Its always been that when you have something so popular as Google, it sets a very high mark for the competitors to match. Loads of wannabe search engines have vanished without a trace and M'soft seems to be goin the same way with the new 'Windows Live' search engine.

Firstly the've tried to embed the Google features like 'Local', 'Images' and 'News' which can't be exactly called as a copied idea as they are just tryin to offer similar services.

AJAX is a cool new thing but I'd say that the've overdone it. The enlarged images on hover may look cool but then replacing the scrollbar is stoopid! The opening page might seema bit cluttered and folks may argue that its in liew with Google's personalized home. Now listen up dudes, the google personal page shows u stuff only if u wanna c em. U have control of yorhomepage and you have to sign in first. It doesnt shove the various components in your face!

The home page looks kinda cool with the movable components and colors are neat and simple. Image search is kinda slow to load, Local search uses MapPoint but I can't find my appt on it. All the search results are shown on a single page so you can't say 'hey it's the second result on page three'.

Ok, lets sum it up...

Aye:
1) Movable components
2) Good GUI and colours
3) Big images on hover
4) Live Ideas is an interesting concept

Nay:
1) Replaced the browser scrollbar with AJAX scroll
2) Image search takes a few days to load
3) Local search can't find my appt, or school
4) Slow Slow SLow
5) Search for 'mayur' returns my blog as the thirs result.... LMAO
6) All results on a single page
7) For some reason wen u hover on the URL's u can find exceptionally long ones(referin via MSN)

The last one one bamboozled me. Why redirect serach results via MSN? To improve pagerank? Or is there any other reason? Sponsored links? Increase traffic? Hmmmmmmmmm we prolly wud never know!

Lastly I surely wont be usin it for search, but I dont discourage ppl. U like eyecandy go ahead, but wen u r tired with floss get back the the simple HTML based Super fast n sexy search engine......

Welcome to Google!

In other news, those of u who heard abt the new IE 7.0, chill. It sucks, n moreover disables all toolbars. How dare they remove the Googlebar? And if that was noy enough the search used is MSN search! It has Tabs that look kinda cute but all the rest is nothin like the hype.

They have sumthin called phishin filters that seemed kinda cool, but hey its after all Micro-f*****-soft ppl will still find a way thru!

BTW if u are wonderin wat AJAX is, look here.

more will follow..............

It's 21:30 here n i gotta head home 2 grab some grub.

The Lord of the URLs is leaving Hyderabad. I'm off to do my 'Masters in Networking & Telecommunication' at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. My last day at Google will be on Wednesday (27th July), following which we have a team dinner (pics will follow).

This might come as a relief to a few denizens of cyberabad, but I have no regrets. Regret only makes one feel low n hurts him more. In any case I hope it's for the good. I fly out on the 31st and will start a new chapter in my life with the first day of August.

It was a hard decision but a decision I chose to make. Quitting Google wasn't easy, but this was something I had to do. My manager has been very supportive in this and understands the situation and the importance of higher education.

Cubicle verses and cubicle gyaan will now be found under a new name, posts and comments will have a time lag now. Apart from that I don’t see a change in this blog. College life again means more opportunities to do evil things and that means more topics and incidents to blog about.

Three months at Google have been very rewarding. It has not only changed my outlook but also the way I now look at search results, web pages and the internet in general. Apart from playing with URLs I have learnt a lot about the various products and processes and this is something I'll forever cherish.

It's been tough balancing family and friends on one side and office on the other. Since its not too long now, everyone wants a piece of u. Strange isn't it? While you are around people hardly take notice of you, but when you leave you suddenly become hot property.

Leaving Hyderabad is a very emotional decision, but one that is inevitable. I would surely love to come back to the city that has taught me so much and has added a lot to my lingo. It would also be great if I can get back to Google as I feel there is no other place like it. I may have hurt a few people but I’m sure I brought a smile to almost thrice the number of faces.

Well what can I say now?
Once a Googler always a Googler, likewise once a hyderabadi always a hyderabadi.