Ranjana Kamo
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
Social Media Trap - My Point of View
The age of selfies is here and probably determined to
stay for long.
Social media came and conquered mankind in no time.
Surprisingly we are spending long precious hours, moving
our fingers on the screens of our devices, without realizing that we have a real life that is fading away with the notifications that constantly remind us of the arrival of a message or a post.
The age of books and outdoor games is soon to be the glorious saga of our past. Devices presently rule our
world and our minds.
I wonder what makes selfies such an important part of
social engagement. Does it arise from the need for social acceptance? Or has it
substituted socializing? I do not have an answer to these questions as I am
still contemplating on this subject which has left me intrigued.
Our social
skills have definitely been compromised by online socializing, be it through
Facebook, Twitter, What's App, Instagram, etc. We are wishing people on their
birthdays and anniversaries, a good thing for sure. But that personal touch of
a telephone call, where the wishes were 'delivered' verbally, is missing. The heart to
heart conversations and warm hugs are irreplaceable but have sadly been done
away with.
There is definitely merit in being connected to long lost friends
and relatives through social media but it has taken a toll on our time. The
sound of notifications has overpowered our thinking abilities. We have become
addicted to these sounds which make us turn towards our device even when we are
amid an important conversation.
In my opinion, our thoughts are also being
limited to the information we are being fed through the posts that are being
regularly circulated.
I feel torn between the real and virtual world as I write
this post. I struggle to break free from this addiction but am determined to
step aside and form a schedule where I limit my time on social media and make
time to meet real people, listen to real voices and devote time to real activities.
Saturday, December 3, 2016
When Kerala Beckons
From
the driver in Udaipur who carried a feedback book with him, to the beaches,
backwaters and tea gardens of Kerala, it has been an year long gap since we
took a vacation from the drudgery of everyday life.
Venturing through Cochin, Cherai, Munnar, Thekkady, Alleppey and Kumarakom, has been a wonderful experience.
Cherai, a town near Cochin in Western Kerala, has some beautiful beaches to offer to its tourists. The Munambam and Kuzhipally beaches line the town on one end and the Chinese fishing nets in its backwaters stand tall on the other end. Sandy beaches of the Arabian Sea have great number of visitors, both local residents and tourists, flocking there at sunset to admire the sea.
The route from Cherai to Munnar offers some beautiful waterfalls like the Cheyppara waterfalls, almost midway. The locals have spice shops lining the roadside throughout the route where they have adjoining spice gardens, the tour costing just INR 100/- per head. Another business that flourishes here is the homemade chocolates.
Tea gardens line both sides of the hills as you enter Munnar and they continue to smile at you throughout Munnar. Though the Madupetty dam and Echo point are the main tourist sites at Munnar, I feel the entire town is a place of significance. The mountains are covered with tea plantations, providing scenic beauty that provides for beautiful photography. The tea museums/ factories provide an insight into the transformation of fresh green leaves into tea that gets served to us in its glorious form in tea cups. It is a wonder that a tea tree lasts forever, an elixir of life. The tea trees of Munnar are now 135 years young.
Our
journey continued through the tea plantations to Thekkady, a destination 90 kms
from Munnar. Cardamom, pepper, rubber and coffee plantations kept us awed
through the 90 kms stretch to Thekkedy. The Periyar Tiger Reserve lent a serene
backdrop for our walk through the jungle periphery where monkeys and langurs
outnumbered the tourists. At one point I almost lost my camera to one of the
monkeys that strolled towards me.
The
next destination, Alleppey, has beautiful backwaters and beaches to offer
satiation to our wanderlust. Alleppey or Allapuzha as it is called by the
locals is a difficult to pronounce name. Pronunciation has to be perfect like a
musical note. Incorrect pronunciation is like a note going off that hurts the
ear. So I tried my best to pronounce Allapuzha and succeeded in getting the 'zha' correct. We went boating in a
'Shikara' for three hours in the backwaters, an augustine experience. The red lighthouse
near the beach is blocked from view by the railroad construction which is in
progress nearby, but we managed to drive up close to it to take a picture.
The
last stop was at Kumarakom where we skipped the boating in the backwaters. Our
cottage in the resort overlooked the lake and we spent the evening watching
fish and ducks swim in the water. We drove down to Cochin where we took a
motorboat ride in the Vembanad Lake for about an hour and a half. The mangroves
provided us with a good sighting of Kingfishers, Cranes, African crows and some
other birds. This culminated our twelve day vacation in Kerala in the
magnificent beauty of God's own country.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Rajasthan Hidden Gems
As
we set out on our vacation to Udaipur, we were not aware that we
were about to discover two hidden gems of Rajasthan. On the first day of our
trip we drove to Kumbhalgarh, awestruck at the scenic beauty of Rajasthan with
mountains on both sides of the road and lush green fields dotting the horizon. The
first gem, Hameripal Lake, is hidden in Village Hameripal
in Kumbhalgarh district, a two hour drive from Udaipur. The lake welcomed us
with its calm waters which had clear reflections of the mountains, that stood
on its side, spread grandly across its shining surface. We created a stir of
excitement in the village as the lake is not frequented by tourists. We bought
bread and biscuits from a vendor near the lake and climbed down the steps to
the bank of the lake. It was an overwhelming experience to see all the catfish
come up to the shore the moment I threw a piece of bread in the water. The
catfish had their mouths open to catch the bread. They were literally jumping
out of the water to catch every piece of bread that we were throwing at them. I
kept throwing the bread and biscuits to see them storm near the shore and jump
up from the water. Children and adults from the village joined us to watch the
adventure in the water. There was a sense of fulfilment in our hearts as the catfish ate the bread and biscuits.
We
discovered the second gem on our return journey from Lake Jaisamand to Udaipur
on the third day of our vacation. Our driver, Rakesh Kumar, (prefers to be called
Panditji), decided to show us a temple that has been recently excavated. He had
read about this 10th century temple in the papers and wanted to impress us with
this information. We drove through the villages lining the lake in search of a
village called Jagat. This is where Ambika Devi temple was unearthed. The drive
through the villages was absolutely divine. Flanked by a lake on one side and
the villages on the other, we drove for almost thirty kilometres, stopping
frequently to get directions from the villagers on the way, before we found the
village of Jagat. The temple was definitely worth a visit. The entire temple is
made of marble and has intricate carvings of Gods and Goddesses giving it a
divine beauty. We stood there astounded looking at this beautiful piece of
architecture. The temple did not have any other visitors except us. A pandit had just finished
performing a puja as we could tell
from the smoke rising from the hawan
kund in front of the main temple. The serenity at the temple compound
filled us with a peaceful aura and the creativity of our ancestors filled us
with pride at the masterpiece of heritage they have left for us.
The
road less taken, had made us discover the richness of civilization of our
country.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Review - Beyond The Sunset
I just finished reading, Beyond the
Sunset. Actually I got a bit busy with something else and so paused for a while
in the middle but I think it goes to Ranjana's credit, that I picked up where I
had left off without forgetting a thing:))
I am quite amazed by the amount of
hard work Ranjana has put in her writing. The setting is so clearly etched out
- the cruise as well as the city background. The characters stand up as humans,
I loved the scenes between Shipra & Rita and the beauty of the central love
story.
-
Nilanjana Sengupta, Author of 'A Gentleman's Word' and
'The Female Voice of Myanmar'
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