Once upon a time

When Scotsman Peter Orr moved to Chennai (then Madras Presidency) in the mid 19th century, he must have had no idea that he would become an official timekeeper of the city. The chronometer maker joined George Gordon & Co. and in 1849, after Gordon’s death, took over the watches business and turned P Orr and Sons into one of Chennai’s biggest retailers. I remember the radio jingle from when I was a child in Chennai: kala kalamaga makkal gadigaram vangum idam – where people have been buying watches for generations.

It is important to remember P Orr (if not his sons) today since his name is etched on many of the clock towers in Chennai. Of the several installed by the British Government in the early 20th century, barely a handful survive in good condition. At an age when wristwatches were unaffordable and mobile phones not even a distant dream, these towers served a clear purpose.

It is fascinating to think of all the global influences on these towers: the art deco style from New York, the clock mechanisms from London and a scuffle between Madras Time and Bombay Time that resulted in a compromise of GMT + 5½ hours.

One cool morning (by Chennai standards) I set off for a clock tower walk with Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan, who conducts regular photowalks in Chennai. First on the list is the one at Royapettah, with its distinct art deco style that was all the rage in the 1920s when it was built. Of the standalone clock towers in Chennai, this is perhaps the only one that is maintained well and always in perfect working condition.

We walk across into Pycrofts Road – now called Bharatiyar Salai, after poet and freedom fighter Subramaniya Bharatiyar who lived on this street – that stretches all the way to the ancient temple precinct of Triplicane. There are several more art deco buildings on this stretch, many of them in ruins. We cross ‘Siva Mani House’ where a board says Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose stayed there. And close to that is the imposing Amir Mahal with its deep red facade, home to the Nawab of Arcot.

Apart from this one, most of the clock towers were built in North Madras in the areas around Fort St. George, where the seat of British administration was located. That part of the city is home to a large North Indian, Gujarat and Marwari community; to walk through its narrow lanes is to peek into a way of life very different from the rest of Chennai.

The tower at Mint is not working now but Mint Street, almost 4 km long and said to be the longest road in Chennai, makes up for the long trek up to this area. It once held the British mint and was the commercial heart of the city. It was also home to the publishing industry; the first editions of the Hindu were printed in a local press in the 1880s.

At that time in the morning, the street is just beginning to wake up. Evenings are better for pottering around, when shopkeepers are less testy about their boni (first transaction of the day). The street is ideal for a food walk, a well-kept secret in Chennai. There is Novelty Tea Stall, known to make a mean pav bhaji and some of the best samosas, kachoris and chaat in the city. Then there is Cheena bhai’s oothappam shop, Kakada sweets known for its onion kachori and to wash it all down with a glass of badam milk, Kamal Chaat House.

We then move on to neighbouring Purasawalkam, still a major street shopping destination, despite the glitter of the omnipresent malls. The clock here at an area called Doveton is functional and there has been some recent activity to spruce it up. The main attraction in Purasawalkam is the beautiful 2000 year old Gangadeeshwarar temple, where legend has it that the temple well never dries up (slightly implausible in perpetually water-short Chennai).

Chandrachoodan remembers reading that there are 16 standalone clock towers in Chennai but nobody seems to know all of them. City historian V Sriram mentions two more in Tiruvottiyur and Choolai, both out of commission now. Apart from these, there are several functional clocks on public and private buildings including Chennai Central Station, Ripon building which houses the Corporation office, the P Orr & Sons shop, Spencer’s Plaza and Madras University. Chennai-ites whiz past – as much whizzing as is possible in this still laidback city – these buildings everyday but barely spare the clocks a glance.

Once perhaps symbols of British efficiency and punctuality, these clock towers have now lost their relevance, and at best serve as landmarks. “And remember, time itself is not such an important concept to Indians,” says Sriram. I nod, thinking of Indian Flexible Time.

To take this tour, email chandrachoodan@gmail.com or call 91-98844-67463. There are also several heritage walks organized by citizen groups as part of the Madras Day celebrations in mid August every year. Look out for detailed programs here – http://madrasday.blogspot.in/

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Published in the March issue of Outlook Traveller – Once Upon A Time

A morning at Ranakpur

A couple of years ago, I was in Udaipur during winter, staying with an extremely warm and friendly family at their homestay. My host was perplexed when I wanted to see the Ranakpur temple, and suggested other “sightseeing” options around the area, and if I must see temples, then why not these and those Hindu temples? But I had seen photographs, and was sure Ranakpur was what I wanted to see.

I started early one morning, hoping to come back before the day got too hot. The town of Ranakpur is 95 km far from Udaipur, a couple of hours by car. The temple façade itself is beautiful, and I was not expecting to see the grand and imposing structure that I saw. I read later that the Ranakpur temple is the best of the Jain temples in Rajasthan (and the country, I guess), even grander than the Dilwara temples at Mt. Abu, although not as famous. That is good in a way, I suppose, since it keeps the loud weekend vacationing crowds away.

Now, guidebooks say that the temple opens at 7 AM, but I knew only after reaching there that entry for non-Jains was only after 12 noon, after the morning’s pooja and ceremonies were over. I had, thus, over three hours to kill, and spent some time wandering around the complex. There are a couple of other small shrines inside the complex that you can visit; if I remember right, Parsavanath, Surya, and some form of Amba. I also chatted with the locals who had come for prayers, as always trying to take candid portraits, making them giggle and blush.

Finally, at noon, I walked inside. The temple interior was stunning. The carvings were lush and intricate, covering every inch of the temple, built in the 15th century with cream-coloured marble that has a slightly golden glow. In the hour or so that I spent inside, I felt like the pillars were changing colour constantly, depending on the amount of light falling on them.

As I stood looking around in awe, a priest saw me and offered to take me around. It seemed like every statue, every pillar, every corner of this temple has its own story, and I found it difficult to keep track of them all. The temple is said to have 24 pillared halls, and a total of over 1,400 pillars supporting the roof. Then, there are the countless statues, each of them facing another statue.

There are a few stay options in the area, including an RTDC resort. It is, however, better to stay in a hotel in Udaipur or Kumbalgarh, since there is nothing else to do in Ranakpur. The temple has a bhojanshala (dining hall), which serves very simple but delicious food that, if I remember right, is free or comes at a nominal cost.

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The Girl Next Door asked me for a guest post on her lovely blog and I wrote this for her. She also made a nice collage of the pics I had sent her for the post. I like her thoughts on life and books and the cities she lives in and has lived in. Go read her blog if you haven’t yet…

Friday photo: Rann of Kutch

One evening on the salt plains at the Rann of Kutch…

Also see: Friday photo series

A picture perfect holiday

The first thing Hellmuth Conz teaches me about my camera is how to hold it correctly — with my left hand under the lens, cradling it and not above it. “There is no need to raise your little finger,” he says. “You are holding a camera, not a tea cup.”

I am in Hampi with ten other enthusiasts for a workshop on the basics of photography. Hellmuth, our instructor, has politely made it clear that an eye for composition is all very well, but without technical knowledge, I may as well be using a simple point and shoot, instead of an expensive DSLR camera. By the end of that first session, my head is swimming with principles like aperture and ISO that I’ve known about vaguely but have never made a serious effort to understand. Luckily, most of the other participants seem to be groaning under the weight of all the information too.

Read my story on photography workshops I attended with the fabulous Photography On The Move team in Hampi and then Varanasi – this was published as a Learning Journey in the October 2012 issue of National Geographic Traveller under the title Snap Judgments.

As part of the story, I had discussed four of my photographs from these workshops – why that subject, composition, framing and so on:

HAMPI

I call this photograph “A coracle takes a walk”. While one lies unused on the shore, the other is being carried by its owner, whose head is completely covered by it. This image is a result of Hellmuth’s advice to stop and notice the little things that would make an interesting shot, instead of clicking away in hundreds.

I found this tailor’s shop as I was walking in Hampi Bazaar. The clothes in the background were bright and cheerful, with the dull metal machine in the front of the shop. This is one of my early attempts at an abstract picture, trying to suggest a subject instead of fully displaying it. It was also an experiment with opening the aperture fully to get a shallow depth of field — with the foreground sharply in focus and the background a blur.

VARANASI

This is a scene from Tulsi akhada capturing a small part of a wrestler’s exercise regimen before he gets into the main wrestling arena. It is a quiet moment he has to himself while other students and the masters are busy either doing their own warm up or wrestling sessions. I shot with a forward tilt to make the frame more interesting and to emphasize the feeling of motion. And I also like that this kushtiwala is totally oblivious to the photographers swarming around him.

Here I have tried to capture the mood of a typical morning by the ghats in Varanasi. The steps are crowded with pilgrims, priests, and vendors of all things that people use in their search for salvation—from incense sticks to sandalwood. By keeping the frame tight, I portray how people are squeezed together, but also how there is space for everyone to do his or her own thing.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE…

Friday photo: Badami

This Friday, an image from Badami, the north Karnataka town famous for its rock cut temples, along with Aihole and Pattadakkal. It could actually be a scene from anywhere in India.

Also see: Friday photo series

Of prints and paisley

Close on the heels of the Anokhi museum story, here is a photoessay I had done for Marwar magazine on traditional Rajasthani prints and the hand block printing process – these images are from Sanganer and the Anokhi factory, both near Jaipur. The next time, will visit Bagru village too, to complete the story in my head.

For now – Of Prints And Paisley

The magic of Mandu

In Mandu, every brick, every building, every nook and cranny whispers stories about the legendary love of prince Baz Bahadur and Roopmati. Though this love story unfolded in the mid 16th century, Mandu itself took shape in the hands of the Parmar kings in the 8th century. Mandu was originally called Mandapa Durg, meaning ‘a fort with pillared halls.’ It is also said that emperor Jahangir once exclaimed, “I know of no other place that is so pleasant in climate and with such attractive scenery as Mandu in the rainy season.”

WHAT TO SEE

Mandu is scattered with so many monuments and historical sites that you need a good three to four days to explore it completely. However, if you intend to make it a weekend break (ideal from Mumbai), you need to choose wisely to make the best use of your time.

Roopmati’s Pavilion which used to be Rani Roopmati’s haven is where you should head first. Perched on top of a small hillock, the open terrace of the pavilion gets a strong breeze through the day and almost through the year. From here, the queen could see both Baz Bahadur’s Palace and the Narmada river (venerated in the name of Rewa in this region) flowing through the Nimar valley below.

Baz Bahadur Mahal is located close to Roopmati’s Pavilion and also affords beautiful views of the countryside. The Mahal has a small pond in the center of the courtyard surrounded by rooms and open terraces on top on all sides.

Jami Masjid, said to be modeled on the grand mosque at Damascus, was started by Hoshang Shah and completed by Mahmud Khalji. Huge domes in pink granite rise across the courtyard, with lines of arches and fading coloured etchings on the walls adding to the aesthetic sense of this otherwise simple mosque.

Hoshang Shah’s Tomb as the name suggests was built by Hoshang Shah to be his mausoleum in marble. This is attached to the Jami Masjid grounds and is entered through a arched doorway. The tomb looks plain at first sight but has a line of exquisite pillars, also in pink granite running on one side (as seen in some Hindu temples) and latticed windows inside the main structure.

Jahaz Mahal, undoubtedly the superstar of all structures in Mandu is built in the shape of a narrow long ship (jahaz). This palace is situated between two artificial water bodies, the Munj Talao and the Kapur Talao. The terrace, reached by a long fleet of steps, has a few interesting aspects such as the pillared pavilions, small domes and arched windows. It is said that during the monsoons, when the two lakes are full, the Mahal seems to float like the ship it is named after.

Hindola Mahal, or the swinging palace is one of the more significant palaces inside this complex. Once again, if you let your imagination free, you may perhaps be able to imagine this palace with its slightly sloping walls swinging lightly in the cool breeze.

Apart from this, the Jahaz Mahal complex has several other minor structures to explore. The best times to visit this place are early mornings (the gates are open from 6 a.m.) and late evenings around sunset.

WHERE TO STAY

As with most tourist destinations in Madhya Pradesh, the government Tourism Board (MPSTDC) has a couple of basic but clean properties – Malwa Resort and Malwa Retreat. For more information on these, check the MP Tourism website.

For a more relaxed and premium experience, stay at the mid 19th century heritage property of Jhira Bagh Palace located 32 km from Mandu, on the Indore highway.

HOW TO GO

The nearest airport and large railway station is Indore, roughly 100 km. Indore is an overnight train journey or a short flight away from Mumbai. You can take a taxi to Mandu (return fares start from Rs. 2500, depending on how hard you bargain). And it is best to keep the cab through your stay in Mandu since the sites are spread through the town.

WHEN TO GO

Mandu is best visited during the rainy season when the entire area comes alive in a carpet of green, or in the cooler months between October and March. Summers are very harsh in this part of India and are best avoided.

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Published in Conde Nast Traveller as Mandu, Distant But Never Too Far
Also read – Mandu in the monsoon

The story of Anokhi Museum

The pink sandstone haveli with its elegant arches and windows is easy to miss. Many of the locals have not even heard of the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing, found down a narrow dusty lane at Amber, eight miles outside of Jaipur, where women walk in colourful saris and children suspend their noisy games to wave at you.

The museum was set up a decade ago to preserve the craft of hand block printing. This method of printing patterns onto cloth is used across India, but the tradition is strongest in Rajasthan where communities of hand textile printers once flourished. But the more efficient and more economical machine-printing process is damaging their livelihood and threatening to extinguish an important craft.

Inside, the cool museum is a welcome relief from the desert heat. Large boards in the open courtyard explain the lengthy process of hand block printing. Once the designs are finalised—often floral, paisley or geometric—they are carved by hand onto wooden blocks (which have been soaked in oil overnight and cleaned). These blocks are then used to print the pattern onto fabrics using natural vegetable dyes (like indigo, pomegranate rind and turmeric) in vibrant blues, reds and greens. The boards also describe life in the areas of Sanganer and Bagru, near Jaipur, where the craftsmen come from. These towns, like others in Rajasthan, are hot and dusty for most of the year. Locals rely on hand block printing and what little agriculture the soil permits for their livelihood.

More than a hundred garments and blocks are on permanent display in side alcoves and galleries across two floors. There are ethnic designs and patterns (such as the tunic-like kurtas) and also Western clothes in traditional prints, like knee-length dresses in shades of red and russet. On the roof-top terrace, a few craftsmen sit with their tools, ready to demonstrate their work to interested visitors. The UNESCO award-winning museum does not get many, so the spacious galleries can be wandered through at leisure.

The museum is a cultural endeavour of the Anokhi clothing brand, which sells hand-block print garments in a handful of outlets across India. The company was set up in 1970 by Faith Singh, a British woman who married an Indian man and moved to Jaipur. She worked with local craftsmen and created contemporary designs with fabrics decorated in their prints. The bright and colourful clothing was popular at the tail-end of the swinging sixties. And it remains popular several decades later, both in India and abroad.

Ms Singh and her husband bought the dilapidated 17th-century mansion, which once belonged to a family of palanquin bearers for the royals, in 1989. “It would have been the easiest and most lucrative thing for them to convert it into a hotel,” says Pramod Kumar who was part of the team who later built the museum. But the family did not want to monopolise meagre water resources, and decided a museum dedicated to the hand block printing craft would be more beneficial. There is a section that details the sensitive restoration of the building with “before” and “after” photos.

Rachel Bracken-Singh, Ms Singh’s daughter-in-law, was instrumental in creating the museum in 2002. “Faith had meticulously maintained archives since 1969 and we spent months going through them to see what would go into the museum,” says Mr Kumar. The result is a “commitment to the preservation of craft techniques and traditional patterns”, says Ms Bracken-Singh.

But it has a modern approach too. The team is always looking for new craftsmen and techniques to develop new garments in the main workshop on the outskirts of Jaipur. They have worked with a British designer to re-interpret William Morris’s prints, made costumes inspired by the Russian theatre, and worked their patterns into contemporary fashion—all of which are showcased in temporary exhibitions. Mr Kumar claims that “Anokhi is one of the reasons hand block printing is still in existence in India.” The museum may support their business interests but it does an important job of preserving a local craft too.

Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing, Chanwar Palkiwalon ki Haveli, Kheri Gate, Amber, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Published in Prospero, the Books, Arts and Culture blog of The Economist on November 8, 2012 as Colours of the Rainbow

Friday photo: Chettinadu

Friday photo? So naff. I know. But here’s the thing – I figured I may as well make sure I post something on this blog atleast once a week – although yes, just uploading a pic is cheating but no, you are not allowed to say it. So I put up a pic with the name of the place where it was shot. And I would love, love it if you add the words, phrases and images that come to your mind immediately in the comments section.

Chettinadu saapadu

“You are vegetarian?” Everyone’s face falls, some shake their heads in disapproval or dismay. But there I am, exploring Chettinad and wanting to eat authentic local food as part of the overall experience. The Chettiar community has been known for its fiery cuisine and that notion has somehow attached itself firmly to cooking from that region. But the truth is that their food is not much spicy as it is flavourful. Each meal is a delicate mix of different subtle tastes.

Just to give an idea on what I ate there (vegetarians have enough options there; surprise, surprise!)

This is breakfast at the beautifully restored Visalam – dosa with three varieties of chutney (coconut, coriander and tomato), paniyarams (in some places it is also called appam) and idiappam (string hoppers) eaten with slightly sweet coconut milk.

And this, lunch at The Bangala, the first of the Chettinad mansion hotels. The meal served on banana leaves is a huge spread, against a play of various flavours and the badam halwa (almonds) is to die for. And they feed till you beg them to stop.

I am working on a larger piece on Chettinad – will update here when it appears…