The Search For Wisdom
I am off once more on my travels.
The search may take some time.
Cartoon copied from The New Yorker, without permission
A Matter Of Scale
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Picture taken on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo.
Where Everything Is Music
“In my beginning is my end.
Now the light falls…”
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“You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not.
You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not…”
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Quotations taken from East Coker, Four Quartets. (T S Eliot. 1940)
Pictures taken after yesterday’s birthday-party on the roof-terrace
Expecting The Unexpected
Having lived in India for over five years, suddenly confronting the unexpected no longer truly surprises me.
But finding myself in the midst of a wrestling match, while walking to our local shops this morning, was one experience I had never even considered.
“If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.”
Heraclitus (c. 535 -475 BC)
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Pictures taken in Fort Cochin.
A Certain Aloofness
A tourist observes the evening street-life of India from her guest-house balcony.
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Picture taken in Pattalam, Fort Cochin.
A Full House
Returning to the house after running errands,
I am often greeted by several pairs of unrecognised shoes outside my door.
It usually indicates the presence of one of the many squadrons of workers, who are summoned by Shaji from time to time.
Over the years, I have slowly grown used to teams of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, tilers, upholsterers or decorators suddenly swooping upon the house.
Now I know them all quite well.
But not quite well enough to identify them by their sandals..
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Picture taken outside my front door.
Home From Home
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It looked rather like home,
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It felt almost like home.
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Though this was not Kerala but Cornwall.
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I was beneath no tropical canopy
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But instead: the geodesic domes of the Eden Project.
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A welcome break from the near-arctic climate of England in June!
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The Temples Of Stone
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Our mango-fed journey had brought us to Halebidu,
A name that means “Ruined City”
Nine hundred years ago, this was the capital of an ancient Dravidian kingdom which was twice laid waste by invaders.
But two stone temples still stand strong,
With their impressive relief sculptures largely intact.
Silent echoes of long-forgotten glories.
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The Chamundi Hills
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High in the hills sits the Chamundeshwari Temple, dedicated to the Parvati, consort of Lord Siva.
It is Mysore’s most important temple.
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The place was bustling with devotees.
Having experienced the long queues of Nanjangud, we opted to pay a higher entrance fee.
This fast-tracked our transit through to heart of the temple:
The business class option for spiritual tourists.
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By now we were seasoned temple travellers.
But receiving darshan without first waiting in long, slow-moving queues somehow detracted from the experience.
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The women selling temple offerings
And a religious procession
Dazzled us with their beautiful colours.
But often it’s the small things which capture our focus.
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My Left Foot
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Actually, not my left foot, but that of this morning’s driver.
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Neither Use Nor Ornament 