Filter Coffee #134

On Our Visit to Madhya Pradesh

🔗FC 133, mercifully, was well received and elicited nice comments too.

• V Acharya: “Dry, dark, and satire, the genre of refined expressions of comedy. More enjoyable and tasteful than the loud, expressive and gaudy types.”

• Tarun Kunzru: “Humour is Humour - Dark Rum or Dry Gin both work. They leave me high-spirited. Like most subtle things in life, humour is about timing and often a clever twist. I find funny people who are sensitive and who are somewhat detached. They have a ringside view of life and its challenges, but also see them in the third person. It is a gift, no matter which form of humour it is.”

• Ana: “I liked your humorous post on Dry & Dark humour. You pull off every topic in detail with so much ease. Hats off, Mr Prasanna. Keep enlightening and humouring us.”

• Krupa: “Humour is humour, dry or dark! Few like you have the innate ability to keep it alive even after dissection! Please keep it up and us alive!!!!! Please do not deprive us a dose of your brilliant dose, even for a week! Please pardon my harsh demands.

  Krupa kare, kshama kare (be graceful & be forgiving)”

• Anju Agast: “Really enjoyed this article. Loved all the examples – Still laughing :)”

• Rahul Mallik: “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and end, and to have the two as close together as possible. — George Burns”

🏰 Fortitude

In the face of adversity, to accomplish something is not always easy. Being constantly on the move, finding the time and marshalling one's thoughts can be quite daunting. I vacillated between motivating myself to write the post and taking advantage of foreshadowing ‘may-skip-the-post’.

When I read Krupa Murthy’s entreaty, I thought I will somehow plod on and keep my Sunday date with my readers. So here I am, but with a caveat. The post may sound and read like a travelogue. Please read 🔗FC #100 for a similar record of my travels.

We, a family of six, planned an outing in parts of Madhya Pradesh. We air-dropped on 18th February at Gwalior by Spice Jet, but not before concluding that there was no Spice in cabin service.

Originally we had planned to end our tour with a visit to Khajuraho, but we were told that it would have restricted access due to the G20 delegation visiting from 22nd to 25th February. Hence, we tweaked the sequence such that we are in and out of Khajuraho by 20th February. With our itinerary in place, we drove from the Gwalior airport to Orcha, a small town with big surprises. The light and sound show was quite fascinating, particularly when you focus on the sound (narrative) than the light. Please visit 🔗Best Tourist Places to Visit in Orchha - Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

We then went to Khajuraho, and, contrary to popular perception, it is not full of erotic sculptures – though there are a few mutilated panels which, according to our guide, represent material dimensions of life, besides distinguishing love from lust. Please visit 🔗Khajuraho Group of Monuments - UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

The Khajuraho Dance Festival commenced on the day we arrived, and we were able to behold the beautiful sight of the temples bathed in light at night. The first day’s performance comprised Bharatanatyam and Kathak. I think people have a lot less patience with an extended dance performance of Bharatanatyam. This was compounded by the fact that it was not interspersed with narratives of the story on which the dance was based. Many folks in the audience walked out. I don’t think it was to do with the performance, but with the delayed commencement of the performance, thanks to the late arrival of the local political dignitary. 

In contrast, sans any narrative, the Kathak performance was very engaging with its fast, swirling moves and the percussionists adding to the rhythmic movements. I’m not sure how many readers would agree if I said that traditional dance, music, scriptures and the like are better understood and appreciated if there’s an explanation of what it means and represents in English or the local language. For instance, I learnt Sanskrit as a second language, and it helped me understand and relate to slokas or mantras – at least their gist, if not their literal meanings.

The following day we went to Panna, which has a National Park. We took the scenic route, stopping at Ranah falls. Apparently, during the height of monsoon, it resembles Niagara Falls. However, we were not disappointed by our visit, as during the lean season it can be the Indian version of the Grand Canyon. Apparently, many centuries ago, there was a volcanic eruption which led to the rocky formation. It was a fascinating experience. I urge you to visit 🔗Raneh Falls - Wikipedia.

The safari through Panna sanctuary turned out to be productive. We were lucky to see a large leopard crossing our path right in front of our vehicle. We sighted other usual species as well. Not only that, but we saw a giant male tiger resting under a faraway tree. I’m not sure if it had a far-away look :) If you haven’t been there, please check it out using this link 🔗Tourist Places in Panna | Panna National Park |Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

On the way back to Gwalior, we saw another magnificent fort at Datia. We climbed the steep steps to the fort with fortitude (pun intended and so is the title of this post) just as we did when we visited the other forts. It is impossible to describe the history and the splendour of this fort. Please visit: 🔗Datia Palace - A stunning testimony to friendship | Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

The Gwalior Fort was another fascinating experience. It was well-preserved and, interestingly, one was not required to climb up but climb down to see the three basements below. It is another fact that we had to climb up to get back to ground level. Please visit: 🔗Gwalior Tourist Places | Destination: Gwalior Fort | MPTourism.

The guide showed us a dancing hall where the singer was not to be seen but clearly heard. I tried singing from the hidden anteroom and it sounded incredible. I sang a piece just to experience the age-old lore. It turned out to be quite real. Please listen:

Visiting the Shiva temple in Mitawali involved a steep climb, but some of us had the fortitude to get up there and thanked ourselves for doing it. The temple had an outer circular structure reminiscent of our Parliament building. Our visit to the Padali and Bateshwar sites was also very interesting. Please see for yourself: 🔗Mitaoli, Padavali & Bateshwar - A Collection of Historic Architectural Beauty! | Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

A visit to MP is incomplete without a mention of Chanderi Sarees. Watch this fascinating narrative: 🔗Chanderi Sarees | Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

As we headed back I started to jot down all these points to help me write this post and I managed to write it aboard the Spice Jet flight from Gwalior to Bangalore. We landed at 2.30 pm on Saturday and reached home by 5.30 pm, thanks to the Hebbal flyover logjam. As soon as I got home, I sat down to keep up my date with my readers. I do hope I haven’t disappointed you guys.

In a lighter vein: 

Q: What is the name of the fort built in 15 days?

A:  a fortnight

Want to hear a stale joke? Here you go!

Q: Why is Bombay Dying?

A: Because Gwalior suiting!

“Aaargh...” did you say? I couldn’t resist after having just returned from Gwalior.

Please share your experience if you have been to any of the places that I have featured in this post. Thank you ! Ciao, take care.