Our Trip to Malaysia - Batu Caves

After Genting Highlands which had left everyone in the group complaining about the food, we started for KL, the capital of Malaysia.
Mr. Tanwar, my fellow Rajasthani from Jodhpur, delayed the departure by 30 minutes as he attended to some last minute requirements (not sure what it was - maybe his kids had to go to the toilet)
Amarjeet, our local guide informed us that we would stopping at Batu caves. These caves are situated about 15 -20 kms away from KL and houses the temple of Muruga, a Hindu Deity.
The temple is more than 100 years old. The limestone caves they say are more than 400 million years old and the temple attracts 1.5 million pilgrims annually.
Once again when we compare it with the cave temples in India and if any one has been to the Elephanta Caves outside Mumbai, the attraction is nothing much to talk about. I am not even talking about the Ajanta and Ellora attractions.
The pic alongside is the tallest Muraga statues in the world that stands on the foot of the caves. 272 steps alongside lead to the cave. Mayank and I made it in one go and at a fast pace.

Two special things about the place:

• We had coconut water. The coconuts are full of water and one coconut provides a belly full. Needless to add it was costly. At RM 3 for a coconut it came to Rs. 42/=. But it was worth it.
  
• Mayank took a picture with a python around his neck. I will upload the pic once I have scanned it. But this will always remind us of Batu caves and Mayank looks cool. He had wanted to take the pic at Genting Highlands but had backed off. Although Amarjeet had managed to let him get the snake around his neck there as well (without paying a penny). We paid RM 15 for the pic at Batu Caves.
  

Till then we had thought that the tour was highly professional. There was no commercial strings attached. But just before we reached Batu Caves we had the first taste of commercialization. We had a stop outside a watch shop. Just like in India the tour guide told us that the shop prices are attractive. I wonder why only tour operators find such shops attractive? Why don't the locals shop there?

Anyway this was a small irritant and as I did not buy anything I have nothing to complain about.

By six in the evening we had reached our hotel in Malaysia.

The rooms were good and the location was central.

We meet Homi, our Cox & Kings guide from India. The guide who was supposed to part of the tour had failed to report and Homi was sent as a replacement. He was a couple of days late but he made his presence felt immediately.

If Amarjeet's spoke in a modulated tone, Homi was an out of tune African drum. If Amarjeet brought humor in every sentence, Homi killed it with his long drawn narration. If Amarjeet was relaxed, Homi was time bound. We now had a guide who took his job as the tour leader seriously.

To be continued....

THINGS I DID LIKE ABOUT DARBHANGA

Hello,
After having put in a lot of words about my disappointment with the trip to Darbhanga I started to think and ponder on the positives of the trip. Was it so bad that I did not see any thing I liked? I wondered and concluded that no it was not that bad.

• The four lane highway from Patna to Darbhanga is almost done. Once it is done the traffic flow will improve and the journey will be comfortable. The stretches where the road was completed was good.
• The Raj Dharbhanga fort stands tall. A majestic structure it reminds you of the forts in Delhi and Rajasthan.
• Alongside the old untouched cinemas we see several new structures. The buildings around our dilapidated lal kothi states that money is flowing in. It is understood that children from Darbhanga are moving out and doing well for themselves. It is interesting to note that they are ploughing back the gains into Darbhanga. With land at a premium it is understood that land costs are pretty high.
• Our plot of land continues to remain the largest in the town. The plot of Gopalji Chacha comes a close second and his son Arvind told me that there were only two landlord families left in Darbhanga i.e. after Darbhanga Maharaj, of course.
• Gujju Chacha, my uncle who has stayed back has continued to retain the goodwill built for the family by my grandfather and his predecessors. We had several visitors and all appeared keen to retain contacts with the family.
• Nitesh, Neha and Dolly, Gujju chacha's children and my younger cousins have done well for themselves. Nitesh seems to be doing well in his business venture in Chennai, Neha is already recruited by Ranbaxy through her campus and Dolly, who is still in school appears to be on the right track.
• The hotel we stayed in was Airconditioned, we had electricity for the major part of the day and the comforts were at least three star. Did not expect this in Darbhanga.
• My childhood friends, Arvind and Mani came down to meet me and we effortlessly slipped back into those days when sitting in our verandah and playing cards was a full time activity. They did not have the paunch that most people in mid age acquire and looked as good.
• Sanju and Nitesh are good cousins to have. Sanju has matured.
• Although the Lal Kothi is beyond repair and rennovation we can still think of something for the place.
• Our entire family got together at short notice. This shows that there is a chance of doing things together.
• Cleanliness remains an issue but you cannot have everything can you?

Hope seems to come back when I think of the positives. I only pray that matters get sorted out legally. I cannot afford to get into any legal tangle.

TRIP TO DARBHANGA

I was wondering if it would be right to jot down the disappointments of the trip. I had such high hopes and so many wonderful memories of the place that I feel I betray the place of my birth when I say i was disappointed by what I saw.
The trip started on a wrong footing -

• We chose to go by train to Patna when flights were available - my sister, Asha and I had decided on the train journey as we felt that the flight to Patna would be an unwanted expense for our younger sister, Rina. This seemed stupid when we saw how Rina's husband, Ashok pooh poohed the idea of expenses. I believe they are doing well financially and do not require their NRI relatives to look down on them financially. Good for them.
• Coming back to the beginning - the choice of going by train was wrong - Delhi station was very crowded, the weather was hot and humid, the waiting rooms were overflowing with people, the fans on the platforms were not working, the tracks next to the platform were full of human filth and bad odour, the wait for the train to arrive was too long. The sea of humanity, the filth, the bad odour and the delay was a big letdown after we had heard so much about what laloo Yadav was supposed to have done for the Indian Railways.
• The train was a dissappointment as well. The sheets, pillows provided were unclean, there were cockroaches is the coach and we were not allotted seats together and although we had thought it would be fun with all 10 of us travelling together it never materialized. I could not sleep well as I feared that my snoring would disturb the others and although the AC worked fine, I do not think I can say that the train trip was enjoyable.
• We reached Patna in the morning and were happy to see a less crowded station. The station also appeared cleaner than Delhi. We were joined by Shailesh, Asha's husband. This was a surprise as he had told us that he would be on a business trip in Dubai. He is a fun guy and I was happy to see him. We stopped over at his parents house in Patna. This place in Sri Krishna Nagar is supposed to be a posh area with the CM of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, having a house in the same colony, but the surroundings were a disappointment. There was a vacant plot nearby which was being used as a garbage dump by all residents in the vicinity. I fail to understand how people ignore the threat of disease that this kind of garbage disposal invites. The pothole in front of the house gate was as big as a inflatable kiddies swimming pool.

Do you think this is bad. Well this did not actually disappoint me enough as the memories of the house in Darbhanga was keeping me in good spirits.

• The journey to Darbhanga by road was torturous. The state highway was under construction and the lesser we talk about the better. But once we reached Darbhanga the spirits took a dip.
• We took a narrow path along the Raj Darbhanga fort. - A fabulous construction in red, ignored and unattended. It would have acted like an oasis in the middle of a desert if they had taken care of the beautiful structure created many many years ago. Unfortunately the surroundings are inhabited by a set of people who have ideas about cleanliness that is matchless. Used to broad roads in Kuwait and reasonable roads in Jaipur we felt it was a miracle that the path along the Raj fort could manage a two way traffic.
• Anyway, the tower chowk, Uma and Society cinema which have a special place in my memories were also a disappointment. They remained untouched by any caring hand for the last 25 years. And then finally I reached the Lal Kothi - my grandfather's abode, a place I have always associated with buccolic charm. Oh God! what a disappointment.
• The kothi has crumpled. Only 50% of the frontage in broken state is still standing. The lovely frontage is spoilt by several changes. The grond in front has been raised to reduce the steps to the verandah from 10 to four. The rose garden in front of the house is a weed infested open ground, the agricultural patch beyond is also weed infested and the small pond at the end remains just a pool of dirty water.
• I enter the house and go inside - the inner aangan looks beautiful except that the rooms around it have all collapsed. The Tulsi still stands but I do not think anyone prays there. The house with 36 rooms is now a modern structure with just three rooms at one corner. They say that my aunt was hit by a falling brick in the old room and they had to hastily build the new rooms to escape further calamity. I cried inside and I am sure my grandfather who was so proud of his house would be crying as well.
• Is there a chance to redo it. No none. None as it would be expensive. None as it would not be worth it. None as the will to do it is missing.
• I had plans of doing something for the house, but then I heard what my relatives had to say and I got scared.

I am giving it time though and if and only if things can be sorted out legally will I take the next step. Till then I have no option but to regret the tumbling of my childhood memories.

• Darbhanga is a disappointment. The population has multiplied, the land has remained the same.
• Darbhanga is a disappointment. People have moved out and have come back with the same narrow minds.
• Darbhanga is a disappointment. The village setting has been forsaken to create concrete structures without the supporting infrastructure.

Luckily, three trees, the jalebi tree at the far end of the agri plot, the coconut tree on the left and the lovely tree with flowers we used for prayers on the right still stand. Gives me hope, but is it hopeless I wonder.

I had hoped that with so many relatives gathering we would be in a position to think on some positive lines. No one talked about anything, group photgraphs were taken, hugs were exchanged but I feel that the under current of ill feeling towards each other is too strong to fight against.

Dear God prove me wrong. I am ready to be corrected.