Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with
Being stuck inside a bus all alone can be scary. Especially considering
the times we are living in. I wondered whether I would be better off getting
out, but the situation outside did not look too good either. In sharp contrast
to the interior of the bus, the outside was filled with people – loud, hooting
bands of guys filling trucks, tempos, and whatever vehicles they could find. I decided
I was much safer inside, with the driver and conductor alone for company. For the
umpteenth time, I wondered what I was doing, late in the evening, stuck in a
bus, on my way to a press conference I wasn’t sure I wanted to attend!
The invite had arrived just a couple of days earlier, and I found
myself tempted to attend. It was to announce the launch of the Goa Carnaval,
which was interesting, but what would I do at a press conference? Eventually I agreed,
considering that it would be an experience of sorts, and besides, I could
probably meet a couple more bloggers too!
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| masks seem to be an important feature of the carnival |
In all the excitement, coupled with the fact that everyone
at home went to work / school as usual, I completely forgot the fact that it was
a public holiday – on the occasion of Id-e-Milad! Too lazy to stand in a queue
for a ticket at the railway station, I had opted for the cool comforts of an AC
bus, and hence had found myself in this situation – with flyovers closed,
diversions due to the Id procession, and roads jammed with revellers celebrating
the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
I was stuck in the bus for over 2 hours, as the irate driver
slowly managed to steer his huge bus through the narrow lanes before finally
managing to drop me at my destination. No, I did not click any photos, though I
did have my camera with me, since I really didn't want to draw any attention to
myself in all that chaos!
I eventually reached the venue of the press conference,
about half an hour late, (that tells you how early I left) thanking my stars that
I wasn’t the last one to arrive (those of you who know of my obsession with
punctuality will understand)! And then, I met Nisha, Vamsee, and Bindhu, and
all the travails were forgotten, as we first listened to the announcement of
the Goa Carnaval, and later, enjoyed a peaceful mini-blogger meet by ourselves!
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| The Goa Tourism Minister - Dilip Parulekar (on the right) at the press conference |
The carnival (carnaval in Portuguese) is the annual 4-day
celebration that begins on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, heralding the 40
day Lent period of penance and abstinence before Easter and the Resurrection of
Christ. The carnival is celebrated in various countries, but the most popular
one is at Rio, Brazil. Goa, with its Portuguese historical background, has its own
carnival, which the Goa Tourism department is now trying to popularize. This year,
the carnival falls between the 9th and 12th of February,
and promises to be a bigger spectacle than ever.
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| MD of Goa Tourism, Nikhil Desai addressing the audience |
Floats are, of course, the most prominent at the carnival, and
are led by the carnival mascot, King Momo. This year, however, the tourism
department plans to broaden the event, adding more colour and fun to the event,
such as fashion shows, food fiestas, and of course, the ever popular Bollywood
celebrities. It is also expected that some other states will also participate. In
reply to questions, we were told that there would be an increased
representation of Goan culture, food, and handicrafts, and that there is also
the possibility of more interactive events. The government and the tourism
department also assured us that pains will be taken to ensure safety of
tourists, especially women.
From what we know from our experience of festivals in India,
crowds tend to be unmanageable, as I experienced on my way to the conference. Any
festival on a large scale needs not just infrastructure and security
arrangements, but also responsible citizens, which, unfortunately, we are often
short of. As I listened to the
arrangements to be set in place for the carnival, all I could think was to hope
that it all just works fine, without any untoward incidents...
However, the press conference was also interesting in other
ways – for example, I learnt that some areas in Goa have a procession during
Holi, and that the Narakasur festival was celebrated on a grand scale during
Diwali – both of which were news to me! I have been unable to get more
information about the former, but the latter does seem to be an interesting
festival – with an effigy of Narakasur being burnt the day before Diwali.
(Narkasur was a demon who was killed by Krishna and Satyabhama the day before
Diwali, and in the south, this is the reason for the celebration, though I don’t
know of Narakasur being burnt anywhere else). I don’t know if I will be able to
attend the carnival this year, but now I know where to plan my next Diwali
vacation!
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| For more information, go to http://www.goa-tourism.com/pdf/carnival_webpage.pdf |
I missed this one in Delhi as I was at Alwar. The pictures make me want to attend the next one whenever it happens :D
ReplyDeleteI am sure they will have more, Mridula. they are planning loads of events in the year now!
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