Lapping the sleepy shores of Diu

I am a creator of memorable moments, I always have been.  An idea takes hold and I try hard to conjure up the little details that will induce the optimal ambience.  It could be finding the precise time to walk the Corndon Skyline to maximise the summer sunset over Shropshire and Mid Wales.  It was once selecting the best drum and bass¹ tracks to accentuate sun rise from the smoking rim of Mt Bromo.  Sometimes it’s as simple as choosing the perfect wine to compliment my cooking.  This time, Diu is giving me an extended perfect moment all of its own creation.

I needed a few basics this week like a reliable internet connection to start my job search, a decent laundry to give my knuckles a rest, vegetables with less oil and somewhere to write outdoors.  Diu served these up with its laid back ease and threw in my quirky little church roof bedroom and a host of natural beauty for good measure.

Unlike the weekenders, drinking undercover on their rows of plastic chairs just a few hundred metres away, the evening beer on the church roof is unhurried, its 360 views are decorated by a dazzling sunset and it precedes a table full of George’s wife’s delicious home cooking.

 ¹ It was the 90s!



Diu's haunting memorial to 160 lives lost in the Tsunami



On the lash…

The once Portuguese Diu Island hangs onto the dry state of Gujarati by a thread.  Like Goa it is characterised by vividly coloured houses, neatly swept shady streets, Catholicism and alcohol.  The island plays host to a uniquely Porjurati blend of multilingual families, bird life, tourists, lions and wild cows.  To its credit or perhaps misfortune, little tiny Diu is not dry like its neighbour so the weekends are a sight as the predominantly male Gujarati tide sweeps over the causeway and into its bars and restaurants before swiftly receding allowing sleepy island life to lap its shores again.

Note point 11

For some months and in numerous coastal locations I have been observing these men as they consume alcohol with their pals and I can report that it looks like an endured process as opposed to a pleasurable activity¹.  The norm would be to start drinking at breakfast, or on arrival if it’s Friday night, continuing with neat straights or gallons of gassy Kingfisher until they fall, puke or sleep.  I am not passing judgement but I can understand why alcohol has such a bad name in India and why it is looked down upon from higher moral circles. …this is the very epitome of binge drinking, but only carried out by men of an age (and often social status) that would know better in Europe.

¹ the possible exception might be the Punjabi Policemen in Goa.  These guys were having such a lovey time behind their sunglasses that they ditched their dangerously inebriated colleague in the in the sand in full sun without the ability to stand.

Map Update 3 - follow the link

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Big Cat Check List - Tick Two!

Lion Cub - the best of a bad lot of photos

Leopard Prints

Male Lion Print

Basking Jackal

Mother and Baby - again disapointing photos, sorry folks

The lion photos weren't great but Sasan Gir Nature Reserve, the last remaining outpost of the Asiatic Lion was indeed a beautiful place ...thank you to the Joshi family for their lovely company on safari!

Welcome to Gujarat!

21 hours in 2AC from Bhopal facilitated a thorough overhaul of my CV, some covering letter templates and a genuinely good night’s sleep without any fear of missing my stop¹.  The journey also deposited me neatly in the heart of Junagadh, my first stop in Gujarat, the scorching western state wedged between the Arabian Sea and Pakistan.

The people of Junagadh, from the grubby faced street kids to the Texas-educated restaurateur’s son, were outstandingly welcoming and friendly. I was able to walk along the street browsing the shops and stopping to chat without any trace of a hard sell, demand, snub or mobile phone camera in my face. As a result of this and my uplifting time at Brahmavidya Mandir I have not smiled as intensively as I have smiled these last few days for possibly years².

I enjoyed chatting and smiling at the people of Junagadh for less than 24hours during which time I managed to top up an out-of-state SIM card (never straightforward) with a deaf and dumb shop keeper and uncover many of its hidden gems from fair-pricing Auto drivers to this little treasure trove of architectural delights…

¹ see the poem “Wormcatching” earlier in the blog (turn pages at the bottom)

² Partly thanks to Danny too for having me in stitches it was a real pleasure to spend a few days with you and your sense of humour! Check out his blog all of you greenies and environmentalists http://www.facebook.com/CattTrax

Hello ThinkingSpace Readers (yes You!)

ThinkingSpace was started hesitatingly for a handful of my nearest and dearest but these days there are hundreds of you lovely folk and I welcome you all wholeheartedly! I also want to thank you sincerely for the time you find to read this in your busy schedules.

This week's office is the roof of St Thomas' Diu, Gujarat!!

The commute

Please don’t be shy about sharing a ThinkingSpace link on Facebook or with any other of your networks that might be interested – there are still two months to go!  Owing to those who have already shared links, your numbers have swelled still further (over 100 views per day now) which is wonderfully encouraging.  I may not be earning but I am firmly employed carefully selecting ingredients and baking these quirky slices of India for your delectation.

From today I will trial a facility whereby all readers may leave comments.  Don’t feel obliged to comment, however whoever you are, your quips, jibes, kindness and feedback are heartening to receive.  I do aim to create a balance between observation, reflection and experience and would love to know if you want more of, less of or something different.  When commenting please be mindful of the fact that comments are public and that some readers are young and impressionable (Hello Fred and Barney xx)

NB Callum, Toby and Bea you are all way too grown up to be impressionable so I won’t send you kisses, I’ll just appreciate how cool you all are JJJ (but just in case …xxx)

Another day in the office on behalf
of my lovely readers!!

Silently Screaming (Me and Bhopal)

Eight years old, brown sofa, on the news

Far away factory burns,

Exhaling poison smoke into distant TV city

Human Impact Unknown

Eighteen years old, A’Levels, chemistry class

Union Carbide chemical disaster

Pumped cyanide gases into Bhopal’s homes

Human Impact Catastrophic

Thirty, kitchen table, in the junk mail

Disaster appeal donations sent

Respiratory illness precedes congenital defects

Human Impact Ongoing

Thirty Three, Morocco, Indra Sinha’s novel

Negligent Kampani’s Faktory exploded

Breathing impossible baby left in the Bastis

Human Impact Personal

Thirty Five, Bhopal, Sambhvana Clinic

Gas exposure, water contamination

Conventional medicine follows indigenous treatments

Human Impact Documented

Thirty Five, Bhopal, Chingari Trust

Physical Therapies, Special Education

Shaking the distorted hands of misshapen children

Human Impact Unending?

Thirty Five Bhopal, in the Bastis

Silently screaming, grief and anger

into Dow’s forgotten factory’s walls

Human Impact Ignored

Factory Site Now

NB The Bastis are the Slums

Ghandi's Toilet

Don't say I never bring you something different!...

Ghandi Exhibition at Sevagram Ashram

Ghandi's Room During the Independence Struggle



Ghandi's Toilet ...which apparently
he used to "cleanse" himself!



Career Break

Where is the break?

if it’s a career break?

What is a break?

if I career into it?

How did I break?

if I had a career?

Does the career break?

if you take a break?

Will I need a break?

if I break with career?

When should I break?

this break career?

Vinobaji

Vinobaji (the –ji suffix is a mark of respect …think “sir”)

Vinoba Bhave was an intelligent, gently single-minded, and philosophical boy from an extremely spiritual family.  He chose a life of celibacy before most boys even know their own sexuality and during his teens instead of travelling to Bombay for his national examinations, he told his father that he and his friends were going “somewhere else” instead.  That “somewhere” was Varanasi where he hoped and failed to find a satisfactory depth of spiritual development.  Having questioned by letter some of the  inspiring speeches that Ghandi had been making, he was invited to meet Ghandi face to face and so he left Varanasi to seek him out at his Ashram in Gujarat.

Ghandiji said of Vinoba that where “most people take something from the Ashram, Vinoba gives something to it”.  This spirited young man pledged himself to Ghandi’s service and devoted himself to promoting societal change through non-violence.  Unlike Ghandi, his disciple was not a politician and after Ghandi’s assassination (1948) and Indian independence, Vinoba soon began a 15 year walking tour, (Bhoodan) during which he famously encouraged landowners India-wide to pledge one sixth of their land to their local poor.  He covered every state in India and 4,000,000 acres were pledged.  By the time his Bhoodan began Vinoba was in his fifties, he spoke several languages and was fantastically versed in the world’s religions; he had studied the Koran (in its native Arabic) and once even delighted Martin Luther King’s wife on a public stage with his knowledge of Negro Spirituals!  Vinoba was a modern-day saint, and was accompanied on his monumental voyage for the poor by brothers and sisters of all religions through all weathers surviving upon the charity of those they met and inspired along the way.

Some of the sisters on the walk decided that they wanted to lead spiritual lives in line with Vinoba’s and so Vinoba, who firmly believed that the natural love within women holds the key to a non-violent future for the world, founded the Brahmavidya Mandir Ashram as a live “experiment” into non-violent society and how it can work.

To have been sincerely asked by the community members, many of whom lived Vinobaji to “please treat the Ashram as your second home” and to return at least to visit “but preferably for at least a year” is a true honour.