Blah Blah Backpacker:'Jhadoo ka Jadoo'

Kehne ko tinkon ka guccha

Kone mein padi tucch ek vyastu

Par choti cheez nahi ye jhadoo

Ao tumko aj bata dun

Koi banaye tinka jod jod kar

Koi patke, jhade, chain paye ise tod kar

Kisi ke liye bas safai ka hathiyar

Kisi ki rozi roti ka adhar

Waise to ye dhool utare

Par kitno ke ye bhoot utare

Kahin bhent kahin khud bhagwaan

Har nukkad badalti iski pehchaan

Ghar angan ka alag hai jhadoo

Khet mein alag, Kachre ka alag

Har upyog ke chote bade hain jhadoo

Har khadhya-ann ki ghaas se bante hain alag akriti ke jhadoo

Koi bade prem se banaye khaas kalakriti ke jhadoo

Aise hi kahin jhaduon ka sangrah hai

Arna Jahna Maru Sanghralaya

Maru Jiwan ke kahin pahluon ka

Hai ye ek jiwant vidhalaya

Aiye ap bhi miliye is jhadoo ke jadoo se

Janiye kitne jeewan jude hain

is tuchh lekin kamal ke jhadoo se

Yes! I’m fascinated by Jhadoo. It's like enchantment. And No, I’m not out of my mind. Nor am I talking of the whichcraft broom. Before you give me that ‘duh’ look you’ve got to experience this yourself. It takes a visionary totally attached to his roots and a folklorist of unparalleled knowledge to make a museum on something as neglected as a broom. In our urban lives, we would not stop to give a second thought to brooms. How many kinds of broom would you know of; one that we use in our households or maybe two, max four. But think of a place that exhibits hundreds of its varieties. And these are from only one state, Rajasthan. Imagine how many more kinds of brooms exist in the entire country!

I visited the Arna Jharna Museum, the Desert Museum of Rajasthan almost 4-5 months ago but the place still lives fresh in my mind. Since then I’ve been wanting to write something on the museum but couldn’t come across any fitting description for the spectacular experience. And then one day this words came from nowhere and the very next day I was punching wild on the keys of my comp. Ten minutes and I had a printout in my hand and a smile on my lips! But then there’s still so much to this museum than the poem itself.

The visionary behind the museum was Padma Bhushan Late Shri Komal Kothari, a renowned folklorist. His organisation, Rupayan Sansthan has been committed to the documentation of folk performing arts of Rajasthan since six decades, besides the development and maintenance of this museum. Spread over a scenic hilly locale enroute the Jodhpur Jaisalmer highway, Arna Jharna museum does not even look like a museum from outside much less inside. It’s like visiting a farmhouse. Enter inside and you’ll feel you’ve entered a typical Rajasthani village. There are two exhibition modules, made in the shape of mud hutments. The first one is Jeewan Rupayan which is where the vast variety of brooms is exhibited. Inside one are the brooms used inside the home while the other displays those used on the outside. The brooms have been very beautifully placed in the respective settings like a mini kitchenette, granaries. Likewise there is a goat pen created in the other hut. Each broom has a tag describing, the grass it is made of, its crop zone, its usage and specific region in the state it comes from. A bigger scrap book provides further details on each broom.

The third hutment is a conference cum projection room where one can see interesting documentaries on the significance of brooms in the lives of people. Startling facts from small villages of Rajasthan and their by-lanes re-affirm the fact that brooms are indeed a big deal. I could go on and on!

Loads of knowledge to digest, beautiful locale, excellent glimpse into the desert culture, this place is a photographer’s paradise. I think I could spend a year there in solitude, come up with my own collection of beautiful pics and an entire book!

Can’t wait to be there? But before you pack your bags for Jodhpur, visit their website www.arnajharna.org

Contact them on the given no. or email. There’s loads that can be done there. Nature and culture enthusiasts, eminent folklorists have been regular visitors to this place. The museum has been witness to several cultural events and folk performances before. So what are you waiting for now? Go ahead, book your date with culture and the bounties of nature are sure to join in!

Keep Exploring...Keep Blah Blahing!

Bla Blah Bookshelf: A THOSAND SPLENDID SUNS

Almost an year after I read the “Kite Runner”, I bump into another marvelous creation by Khaled Hosseini, ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’. This time he takes up the stories of two women, both from different countries and generations. Yet spectacularly, with destiny, both are united by the turmoils of their land and lives. The union comes as effortlessly as two ribbon ends being beautifully wrapped into a bow. Bow, infact a thousand splendid bows go to the author’s genius!

The Story: Mariam, an illegitimate child of a big shot in Herat is married off by her father to a shoe-maker of Kabul, three times her age. She silently accepts her father’s betrayal and her husband’s harrasement. She even comes to accept his wrath on several miscarriages and then later his infidelity. Laila, on the other hand is born to loving parents in Kabul, but in times of endless political turmoil. She loses her brothers and then her love to the violence of heartless warlords. The final blow, a bomb blast which leaves her injured, orphaned and homeless, turns her world upside down. The homeless girl is given shelter by an elderly shoemaker in the neighborhood. This is where destiny brings Laila and Mariam together in one household. The story ahead is a touching, inspiring and gut-wrenching account of the crusade of these two women, wives and mothers. In store for them are pain, sacrifices, harassment, extreme religious fanaticism and then a miracle which would bring hope and peace; but only at the cost of lives dear to them.

Be it innocence, trust, friendship, infatuation, love, motherhood, empathy, or the extremes of disillusionment, pain, suspicion, hatred and resignation. Each emotion etches out with as much beauty and grace, thanks to Khaled Hosseini’s excellent yet simple writing style. Another up for the book is the shocking description of political turmoil and wars, the toll they take on minds and lives of ordinary people. The parts spelling out the hardships faced by women brings tears to the eyes and sends chills down the spine. Reminds me of my favourite book, ‘Not without My Daughter’, which was a woman’s real account. This fiction, nevertheless is most recommended and a must read. Happy Reading!

My favourite parts:

‘…he told her that Herat, the city where Mariam was born in 1959, had once been the cradle of Persian culture, the home of writers, painters, and Sufis.

"You couldn't stretch a leg here without poking a poet in the ass," he laughed.’

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‘ Nana said, "Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam."’

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When the Taliban had found the paintings, Tariq said, they'd taken offense at the birds' long, bare legs. After they'd tied the cousin's feet and flogged his soles bloody, they had presented him with a choice: Either destroy the paintings or make the flamingos decent. So the cousin had picked up his brush and painted trousers on every last bird

"And there you have it. Islamic flamingos," Tariq said.

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‘She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings’

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‘…she'd thought of her childhood friends Giti and Hasina, and Hasina saying, By the time we're twenty, Giti and I, we'll have pushed out four, five kids each. But you, Laila, you'll make us two dummies proud. You’re going to be somebody. I know one day I'll pick up a newspaper and find your picture on the front-page. The photo hadn't made the front page, but there it was nevertheless, as Hasina had predicted’

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So go ahead get your copy! Read the rest yourselves! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Till the next blog post, take care,
God Bless

And Keep Blah Blah-ing