The Harappa Files - Sarnath Banerjee

 Loved this graphic novel that Pooja gave me to read. It's a satire on the great Indian society. Starts with 17 retired beaurocrats who meets every Thursday to catalogue a society on the brink of great hormonal changes. The Commission is called The Greater Harappan Commission.

The cover says it all. The Indian middle class out to conquer the world.

The files include various important parts of a society on the brink of change - right wing members of South Resident's Association, gadget driven MNC executives, tax evading garment manufacturers, green architects, Marxists of high birth, kickback collecting arms dealers, last pedestrians, Ministry of Hope, Department of Surplus Emotion cost of one Nobel Prize - beurocracy, life of Calamine, Lifebuoy, IIT exams, Precocious kids, Extra Curriculars, Vicco Vajradanti, City of Gates, Single Malt Woman - he takes off on all the things that ail us, surround us.

Smart work. Loved the humour. Loved his take on society on the brink of hormonal changes.   

RAW Hitman - Kastuf Mashaikh and Lucky Bisht with S. Hussain Zaidi

I generally like Hussain Zaidi's stories from the world of crime and picked this up. It's a bunch of stories about a RAW hit man called Agent Lima about whom another NSG Commando Lucky Bisht who watched him in action speaks. Agent Lima is a legendary hit man who is under the guidance of Col Sobhraj. The stories are peppered with conversations between Lucky Bisht and Hussain Zaidi who meet in various places in Mumbai and Lucky narrates the stories.

Stories range from Agent Lima stopping a massive fake currency operation from Kathmandu by eliminating the king pins - he starts his work from within Almora's jail and goes to the main kingpins and completes the dangerous mission - poisons the target with thallium. Another time he targets seven militants of a separatist group who blew up a Police Station and killed police personnel. In another he captures a high profile ISI officer Lt Col Zahir in Kathmandu as a bargaining chip for a captured double agent Jadhav.

In another story he takes out an agent who in involved in creating trouble in Bangladesh for the Mukti Bahini, posing as cable TV operators. In one botched operation which almost ended his career Agent Lima does not find out the mission details despite getting a lead and it results in an ambush of army personnel who die. In another he gets a militant to surrender and act as an informant - an operation in which the militants girl friend dies. The use of a Israeli agent as a honey trap to capture the killer of four soldiers in Dimapur is another.

In each of the operations they also refer to well known secret service operations such as Mossad's capture of Otto Adolf Eichmann, the Bay of Pigs failure, the Iran Contra deal failure, the role of Dr Shakil Afridi in the capture of Osama Bin Laden, of Khun S opium king, of Sylvia Raphael the Israeli agent.

Nice stories. But did not enjoy the style in which they were told. Bottom of my Zaidi books.          

The Pune Diaries - Random Sights

 Some random sights on our walks. Like chai at the Irani Cafe in Kothrud after the morning walk. A stop at Marzorin. Express Book Store. Kayani Bakery. And so on.

Irani chai at Irani Cafe

Irani chai and bun maska and a masala omelette or scrambled eggs, kheem pav or such other options after a nice long walk with people you can have a conversation with - what else do you want on a chilly winter morning in Pune?
 

Kettle that brews chai in Irani Cafe

Lovely little touches, decor, cute statements - Irani Cafe is very nice.

Irani Cafe

NP Singh at Marzorin - he was there

NP Singh loved Marzorin and picked up a bunch of sandwiches and somehow zeroed down to rose milk which is a good old combo with chicken sandwiches. He wanted a pic here so we got it.

Kayani Bakery 

Kayani Bakery and their Shrewsbury biscuits are famous all over so Chatterjee wanted some and we went there. There was Diniyar who played with us at Parsi Gymkhana, big hitter and wicket keeper, who was part of the Kayani clan someone told me once.

Victory Cinema 

Never realised that there was this cute old cinema theatre in Camp area which is still running - must see a film in it just for the experience.

Albert Edward Institute, East Street

Beautiful Library. The things you see when you walk!

Cowasjee Library, East Street

And another right next to it - both opposite to Kayani Bakery.

Express Book Store, East Street

A little down to street towards the beginning of Camp area, lies this cute book store with many books, first and second hand, an owner who knows his books and people who find the books you want in that maze. Fantastic experience. Remember buying books here. Didn't have time to go in though.

MCA Stadium, Gahunje

The cricket stadium at Gahunje! Hyderabad vs Haryana!

The Pune Diaries - Chaturshringi Temple

 Of the many temples in Pune this is the most visible for anyone travelling by the Senapati Bapat Road towards the University. Situated atop a hill with steps leading up to it, the temple has always remained on my mind but I never went there. So when we were tossing up between Sinhagad and any other place Pooja suggested we check this temple out since there is a nice 200 step climb from where we can look at the city. So off we went ta 730 in the morning.

Chatturshringi Temple on top with the white gopuram

The drive from Karve Road to Law College Road, past Symbiosis on Senapati Bapat Road has always remained a beautiful one. So many educational institutions - SNDT College, FTII, NFDC, Film Archives, Law College, Bhandarkar Institute of Oriental Research and further up Symbiosis - its a lovely stretch. Towards the other end of the road we came upon the temple area and found that there was plenty of parking space available. 

Impressive arch

Interesting yantras or whatever

Up front is an imposing gateway consisting of some arches, and some yantras designed on it. The steps start leading up and we came upon another temple - very picturesque and nice.  I think it is a Ganesh temple.

First temple

Ganesh temple from the arch

The temple is dedicated to Goddess Chatturshringi, an incarnation of Durga. Story goes that a businessman Durlabsheth Pitambardas Mahajan dreamt of Goddess Saptashrungi who said that if you cannot come to me I will come to you and showed him clearly where to dig on the hill. He dug and found a natural statue, a svayambhu, and constructed a temple there. The deity is also known as Goddess Ambareshwari who they say is the presiding deity of Pune. Every Navratri there is a festival held here.

City view from the top

Gopuram of the main temple

Way down

As with all temples there are pooja items being sold. The walk up is about 200 steps they say - I did not count. What was distressing is the amount of concrete structures that are coming up all along. Clearly there is a lot of money coming into the temple Trust and it is being spent but it somehow does not look very nice and it is now. Maybe when it finishes it may look better.

Deep sthambh

Way out

Up at the top we prayed to the deity. We looked at the city from up there. One mandir to the right seems to be a Hanuman mandir. One gentleman took a fancy to us and told us that he had been coming here from his childhood (he must be 65-70) now and told us some tales from those days.

Nice. We went to Bangalore Tiffins from there and headed home after.          

The Pune Diaries - Shaniwar Wada

Shaniwar Wada (1732) was the seat of the Peshwas (Prime Ministers) of the Maratha Confederacy until 1818 when the then Peshwa Bajirao Il abdicated the throne to the East India Company.

 

Shaniwar Wada - Main Entrance

The main gate from inside, from the back wall

The fort had 5 gateways (Delhi Darwaza, Mastani Darwaza, Khidki Darwaza, Ganesh Darwaza and Narayan Darwaza), 9 bastions, court halls, Diwan Khanas, fountains and gardens. In 1928 the 7 storey fort was burnt down due to an unexplainable fire which left only the foundations intact.

 

Interior of the main gate - Delhi Darwaza

The foundations where the 7 storey building stood

Narayan Gate - Named after the child ruler Narayan was murdered  

Legend is that when the Peshwas started building the grand edifice, some people complained that only the Chatrapati can build a palace with stone. The Peshwas changed their plan upon the royal order and built it with brick and wood.

Walk along the parapet walls

On a bastion

Parapet wall leading to the main entrance

At its peak the wada housed 1000 people they say. One of the most tragic events related to the wada is the murder of the fifth and ruling Peshwa Narayan by his guards on the instigation of his uncle Raghunathrao and aunt Anandibai. Legend goes that people can still hear the cries of the young Peshwa calling out to his uncle to save him.

Some Persian elements

The wooden pavilion on the main entrance

Another view

Satish and I found that getting into the wada is not easy - entry is only through online payment and both of us didn't have online payment. So we got a young kid to pay for us and paid him cash. It is obvious that the gatekeepers have some relation to the gatekeepers of the olden days because they really made it difficult to get in - first they sent us to a non-existent ticket booth who sent us back, then they said only online and no cash and so on and on.

Pavilion overlooking the courtyard in front - a statue of Bajirao I

A door

Inside we roamed around the foundations, gardens, climbed the steps to the bastions and walked all around the fort on the walls. At the Delhi Darwaza there is a well preserved court room made of wood.

View of the temple through the bastion window

An old cannon in the main entrance

We walked around for an hour and came out. Time well spent.

The Pune Diaries - Shinde Chhatri

Saw Shinde Chhatri on a 'Things to do in Pune' list and decided to go. Satish and Pooja joined up and we took off early in the morning to Wanawadi in Prarthana's car.

Mahadji Shinde tomb

Shinde Chhatri is a beautiful memorial to the 18th century Maratha military leader Mahadji Shinde who was the Commander in Chief of the Maratha army under the Peshwas in the 1760-1780 period.

Shiva temple and the memorial in front

Mahadji Shinde had constructed a Shiva temple in the site in 1794. Unfortunately he passed away in the same year and a memorial was commissioned by his descendants. 

Outhouses within the premises

Another view of the memorial

A picture of Mahadji Shinde inside the memorial 

Interestingly the 1910 memorial which stands today was commissioned by Maharaja Madho Rao Scindia (1876-1921). The Scindias of Gwalior are descendants of Daulat Rao Sindhia (adopted son of Mahadji Shinde).

Beautiful gallery inside the memorial

The Shiv ling and the statue inside the memorial

Sanctum sanctorium

The entire complex is within a high stone wall. Lots of greenery around, enough parking at 730 am. There is a Ganesh temple outside. The structure as you see it first is stunning - rather European in its look with coloured glass windows. But then there are Rajesthani elements like jharokhas. Most interesting are the figures of saints on top (at least 12 of them).

Beautiful Ganesh idol

The main area - Shiv ling in the foreground and the Mahadji Shinde statue

To the left of the courtyard there is the tomb of Mahadji Shinde. The Shiva temple is to the back of the complex. It's very clean and well maintained. Entry fee was 25 rupees i think. We walked all round and came back to go into the complex. 

Ceiling - misaligned pic

The main complex is stunning with superb maintenance, lovely colours, photos of the Shinde family (many adopted sons which is a wonder). It's a double storey structure in front and has the temple attached at the back.

Gallery with pics

Hall 

The temple area has a Shiv ling and a life size statue of Mahadji Shinde behind. Beautiful statues of other gods and goddesses in marble are seen. One can sit here in peace comfortably for a long time. Definitely one to see in Pune.

Ganesh temple outside the gate

The one thing that seemed out of congruence was the yoga centre at the back wall which looked way too modern  for this complex. 

The Chhatri is maintained by the Shinde Devasthan Trust, Gwalior. If you're in Pune and have the time, do visit. It's worth it.