Memories of an ordinary Indian :: 28 :: Jabalpur (Part 2)

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(Continued)

The Marble Rocks, Jabalpur

While Mandla was only 60 miles away Balaghat was fairly long way off. I had to travel overnight by the narrow gauge Satpura Express. It used to take around 11 hours of swaying and bouncing on the tracks. The more it would try to pick up speed the more it would sway and bounce. Once it almost threw me off the narrow berth as it bounced past a rather bad portion of the tracks. The train has since been upgraded and runs on broad gauge after track conversion.

Soon after I joined at Jabalpur my brother was transferred from Bilaspur. My friend Das wanted to receive him at Katni and bring him to Jabalpur in his huge Buick that he had bought a few weeks earlier. I thought it was needless as my brother would have to pass through Jabalpur on his way to Bhopal in any case. The car was a gas guzzler as it would go only 15-odd kilometers in a gallon. Yes petrol was cheap in those days yet, I thought, it would be extravagance which we couldn’t afford. But despite my protestations Das drove the car to Katni station and felt mighty happy with the drive in this huge limousine over roads that were of indifferent quality.

During my brother’s visit we went on a trip to Kanha National Park. Wildlife Tourism had not taken off till then and hence not many tourists would be seen. We stayed in the government-owned rest house the front verandah of which would offer a spectacular view of the jungle or rather the grassland in front. Sitting there with our morning cups of tea we witnessed spotted deer and massive bisons grazing. We even saw a suckling bison that was supposed to be a rare sight.

More than fifty years ago tourism in the wildlife parks was yet to be properly organized. The kind of facilities of accommodation and viewing game available now were just not there. In Kanha they used to use baits to enable visitors to see tigers. This was apart from the tiger sightings one would get while taking rounds in the park. The system of baits was generally used long ago in the Gwalior zoo. This would satisfy the children’s craving for viewing a tiger killing the bait and also probably satiate its hunger. At Kanha we joined for viewing the tigers in a machaan type of construction of grass that was full of white ants. A rather weak-looking buffalo was tied to a peg in front. As the buffalo started wailing frantically we could hear the distant call of a tiger. The calls became louder as the tiger approached closer making the buffalo restless and nervous. Soon two sub-adult tigers appeared. They would make passes at the buffalo but eventually they got it by one of its hind legs and tore off a huge chunk of meat from it. Unable to stand anymore that blood and gore and the unearthly hopeless cry of the buffalo I came away and out of that claustrophobic enclosure.

Another time in Kanha, when we went in Das’s huge Buick, we saw tigers lounging under trees at high noon. I remember a tiger giving the vehicle a cold, hard look. Its olive green body of mammoth proportions probably appeared curious to it. But doing Kanha in a big car had its own advantage – especially of appreciating the beauty of the jungle, and Kanha had such beautiful jungles. Every turn would open up a new vista that would be a massive feast for one’s eyes. That memory has stuck with me as I could never go to Kanha again. Half a century ago we had only Mahindra Jeeps that would run on diesel and make a racket when they ran. Now, of course, the National Parks have specially made vehicles that are open at the top to seat around 8 visitors and are much quieter.

An Assistant Conservator of Forests who was a regular visitor at our house came one evening and suggested a drive in the neighbouring Bargi forests. I do not know whether the forest has survived after the Bargi dam was erected. At that time it was, however, a dense jungle and tigers used to be known to be wandering around unprotected. This forest was out of the Kanha National Park. Das, as usual, was game for a safari. A 10 year old child of a Sikh neighbour too joined us. Das wielded the spot light and had his American Carbine standing next to him.

As we drove through for miles there was no game, not even small game, and it was already past eight. Das wanted to turn back condemning the jungle that, he said, was bare of wildlife. It was I, remembering Jim Corbett’s experience,, suggested that maybe some big game was around. Jim Corbett had experienced that whenever jungles were bereft of small animals some predators were found to be around. As we went further up Das spotted some bovines but as we went closer we realized these were not bovines but tigers right on the middle of the road. There were three of them – one tigress and two full grown cubs.  They all sat and looked at the approaching lights. Soon they leaped into the jungles as the vehicle approached closer to them. We turned back as we were not equipped to deal with three tigers with two of them full grown. The neighbour’s child sitting next to me had a severe spell of trembling out of raw fear.

*Photo by Bandana Bagchi

(To be continued)

Memories of an ordinary Indian :: 28 :: Jabalpur (Part 1)

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Mable Rocks at Bheda Ghat, near Jabalpur

I was out of Raipur within five months as I was asked to proceed to Jabalpur to hold the charge of the divisional headquarters there. I spent around a couple of days with my brother at Bilaspur and then caught a train. My brother had already talked to the Collector Girish Buch and I was supposed to stay with him till I made my own arrangements. Girish, a bachelor, was there at the station to take me to his house which was bungalow in the Civil Lines. As I got off the train he told me that he was under orders of transfer and that he would leave within a day or two. His replacement was AS Das whom I knew as he was my batch-mate.

Girish, bless his soul, died rather early. He was excessively fond of anything made of tomato; juices, soups, curries and things. He was a very good soul. He had certain personal peculiarities: he would bicycle down to the office even though he had a spanking new black Standard Herald parked in the garage. The car’s seats and everything were wrapped in plastic. The car would run only from the garage to the porch and back again to the garage in the evening. I never saw him driving the car during the few days I spent with him.

As soon as Das came over he told me there was no question of my moving out. He said “let’s stay like we did in Mussourie”. My accommodation problem was thus solved – at least for a few months. And we had a great time together. On Sundays we would go to the Narmada Club and play billiards while sipping beer with sausages. Prem Nath, the film actor and brother in-law of Raj Kapoor, used to be playing on the other table. He was at a loose end as for sometime during that period when he had a lean time with no films on the floor.

Jabalpur (Anglicised version was Jubbalpore) was earlier in the erstwhile British Indian province of Central Provinces & Berar. On reorganization of states in 1956 it came under the state of Madhya Pradesh. The town was more or less the geographic centre of India. Strategically well located it was  at one time was a big cantonment and also had an ordnance factory. It had an engineering college, too, where some of our friends studied and built up their flourishing careers in the country and abroad. I met two of them in Washington during our visit to the US in 1998 The predominance of army officers resulted in the Narmada Club being run and managed by the army. The manager was a British Indian Army man called Dungey – a happy go lucky type but quite strict in enforcing the Club codes, whatever they were.

 At Jabalpur I had to take care of postal operation of three districts: Jabapur, Mandla and Balaghat. All were spread over the Satpura Ranges. All the three were relatively backward with Balaghat and Mandla the most backward. Jabalpur was a little more prosperous, the other two were tribal districts with little trade and business or industry. And yet we had to open more and more post offices as the Department was on an expansion mode. Village post offices would be opened even if these were not able to earn their keep. We just went through the motions as there was no alternative; it was a political decision.   

The most important office opened during my time was the Jabalpur City Post office. The proposal was pending for almost twenty years but as generally happens in the government for one reason or the other the proposal remained dormant. This time, however, I decided to push it through. A building was suggested and we quickly met in a rent assessment committee and recommended the rent as approved by the Financial Adviser. The proposal was sent to the headquarters at Bhopal which approved it. After some days I was asked to take all the documents relating to the jurisdiction of this office, the way it as cut out from its parent, to the PMG for him to have a look.

The PMG was the same man who was sizzling hot against me at Raipur. Before meeting him I took everything to the Director, Mohammed Umar Khan, a terribly decent man, to apprise him. In the meantime SP Gulati, an APMG and a downright “chamcha”, asked me to seek a date for opening of the office from the PMG. I was not in favour of an inauguration but since he was so insistent I agreed.

A few minutes later the Director and I trooped in to the PMG’s chamber with magnified maps and statistical and all other relevant information. The Director took upon himself, to my immense relief, to explain the details. The hot-headed old man found he had nothing to better the proposal and asked me the date on which I would inaugurate it. I was watching the proceedings quietly and progressively my temperature was rising as I saw the old man making no move to ask the Director to sit down. It was very discourteous of him to keep a senior officer standing before him. I thought I would never have this man as a guest to open the office. I forgot all that Gulati had told me and blurted out a date. In a rare gracious move he asked me to get in touch with Mr. Khan if I needed additional funds for anything. I said I would do that and collected all the material to scoot out of the room.

As the date for the opening of the office approached, I think it was 20^th March 1967, I was inundated by phone calls from the lower functionaries of the PMG’s office.  All of them by turn told me that the boss had not received an invitation to inaugurate it. I told them I didn’t believe in inaugurations and that the office would just start functioning which, in any case, was the priority. He, it seems, was waiting for a gilded invitation card. I realized how publicity crazy he was. On the 19^th he sent the Director to look up the arrangements. He was more than welcome. But then, one must point out such were some of the officials at high level who missed their profession in politics where they could have had inaugurations of smallest thing to their heart’s content.

* Photo of Bheda Ghat taken by Bandana Bagchi

(To be continued)

Destinations :: Praha (2004)

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A square in Prague Caste area

Having come so close it seemed it would be a pity if we did not take a shot at Praha (Prague), now capital of Czech Republic. Czech Republic was established in 1993 before which it was federated with Slovakia. Many would have heard of Bohemia. Well, it was virtually the original name of the current Czech Republic having been known as the Kingdom of Bohemia for about 900 years since the 12^th Century. Praha is known to be cultural, economic and political centre of Central Europe.

About 350 kilometres away from Vienna and yet, given the quality of

Prague Castle

roads, it takes little more than three hours to reach the place. There is a brief halt for immigration check at the Austrian border and another at a small town by the name Brno (pronounced Bruno). As we got to Prague our bus crossed a river went up a hill and unloaded us at the Prague Castle.

The castle is the biggest medieval residence of kings and the rulers of Europe. It was so of what was once a kingdom and later a state ruled by communist governments and elected presidents. Spread around 50 acres it has some architectural marvels, historical palaces, reception

On way to Charles Bridge from Prague Castle

halls, offices, stately rooms, churches, buildings, fortifications and gardens. I happened to peep into one hall and what a beauty it was! Since it is more than a thousand years in age, the complex has had the benefit of all the architectural styles, from Romanesque to Renaissance, Gothic and Baroque. Hence, in one snapshot one is able to see almost all the styles. The Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral is an architectural marvel the construction of which was commenced by King Charles in the 14^th Century.

Unfortunately for the Prague trip we did not get a more considerate

Prague Castle - ancient and modern

guide. He led us through the milling crowds of tourists with his hands raised holding probably a hanky. Many a time we lost track of him. Whatever we saw was on our own initiative and we were never told the names of the buildings and complexes, they are so difficult to remember, anyway.

So we generally followed the raised hand with a hanky that was fluttered by the gentle breeze and walked on. The Presidential complex is so enormous and has such beautiful structures all around that we

On the Charles Bridge

were generally in awe. While there were narrow lanes, there were also huge open spaces like Italian piazzas of magnum sizes surrounded by beautiful architecture. In the midst of all these we were herded through the crowd to another architectural marvel – more than 600 years old Charles Bridge named after the King Charles (was it?) IV. The Bridge is on River Vltava – the very River that we crossed by the bus before being unloaded – connecting the Prague Castle with the Old Town. It also became an instrument of faster trade between Western and Eastern Europe. The bridge has some fine statuary; around 30 beautiful statues adorn its sides. They are supposed to be more than 150 years old.  

We crossed over to the Old Town as we were told that the bus would be

Skyline of Old Town

available from somewhere near the Old Town Square. We had a bite before we commenced looking around

St. Vitus Cathedral

There was too much to see as we were in the Historic Centre of Prague – the World Heritage Site. The cobbled streets, the magnificent structures, the ancient clocks, etc. were captivating. No wonder the city is known as Mother of Cities or the Golden City or the Heart of Europe. We, as usual hardly had any time to give the place a good, hard look. Traditionally a cultural Centre of Europe the city hosts a number of theatres and has the reputed Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Prague Symphony Orchestra. There are museums galore and a number of art galleries, hundreds of concert halls. Outsiders flock to the place in large numbers to satiate their appetites for the varied fare that is on offer.

St Nicholas Church

The Old Town Square is famous for two beautiful churches – one Gothic and the other Baroque. The Square is where they used to have executions during the rule of the Hapsburgs. The Square is also famous for the reason that the Czech novelist and story teller Franz Joseph Kafka used to live somewhere near here. Another thing; here in Praha I have seen Skoda cars in numbers that I had never seen before anywhere else in Europe. Skoda had not been in India till then.

Prague is one of the most beautiful towns we have ever visited. If we ever get back to Europe again Prague is the place where we would like to spend most of our time.

 

 

Old Town Square

From tthe scrapbook :: 13 :: Role of INA in freedom struggle

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Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor, recently repeated what Clement Atlee, Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time of India’s Independence had revealed during his visit to India in 1956. Earl Atlee had told the then acting Governor of Bengal that the British departure from the country was hastened by the activities of the INA and the nationalist fervor it injected into the armed forces. Doval’s revelation was taken as an attempt at appropriation of Netaji and his legacy for the BJP.

It seems, Clement Atlee who was Prime Minister of Great Britain when India became independent came on a visit to Kolkata in 1956 and stayed there for two days as guest of Governor West Bengal. The (acting) Governor at that time was Phani Bhushan Chakravarti, the first Indian Chief Justice of Bengal. He had a lengthy conversation with Atlee during which he happened to have asked the latter what the reason was for the uncalled-for haste for the British exit from India, particularly when there was no compelling reason for them to leave in such haste. There was no anti-British movement and the last one, the Quit India Movement, had petered out. That is when Atlee told him there were numerous reasons, but the most important one was Netaji’s activities, the INA and its fight against the British besides the nationalism that it evoked in the British Indian armed forces. Atlee had in mind the naval mutiny of Karachi and Bombay, the army rebellion of Jabalpur and stray rebellious incidents in the Royal Indian Air Force. His contention was that with the erosion of the loyalty of the Indian armed forces for the British Crown, it was felt, it would be difficult to keep the country within the Empire.

Asked whether the non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi had anything to do with the hasty withdrawal of British from the country Atlee replied, pronouncing each syllable separately with a disdainful smile, “minimal”. If one goes by what Atlee is reported to have told the then acting Governor of Bengal it was in no way the Indian National Congress’s non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi that forced the British to withdraw from India.

Ever since independence the Congress has cornered all the glory magnifying its role in the freedom movement to the exclusion of all others, including that of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Its claim of winning freedom for the country by means that were non-violent in nature was a fraud that was spun and perpetrated by the leaders of the Congress. As it turns out with the statement of Atlee, it was Bose’s daring efforts to throw out the British by combining with the Axis Powers, though held controversial by many, proved to be the nemesis for British imperialism. Not only was India freed of the British yoke, India’s independence resulted in freedom of many small and big nations right around the world. The sun, which had stopped setting over the British Empire a century or so ago, started setting over it again. The seed for this was sown by Netaji and his Indian National Army. The INA became idol for the men in the British Indian forces who were very unhappy on account of the post-War INA Trials at the Red Fort. The rebellions in the British Indian forces were because of their discomfiture as they were always told that they could win wars only when led by the British. In the INA they were led by their own countrymen acquitting themselves very creditably.

The leaders of the Congress were always antipathetic towards Subhash Chandra Bose even though he was popular among the Party’s rank and file. While Bose wanted firmer actions against the ruling British his opponents in the Congress believed in compromises. In fact, when he found that his efforts were being stymied by his opponents he escaped from confinement and went to Germany to meet Hitler to seek help for India’s independence. INA followed as a corollary and that seems to have worked against the British.

Even in his death controversy did not leave Netaji alone. There were quite a few theories about his disappearance after he left Saigon for Tokyo. Many believed that he wanted to go into the custody of Russians after the surrender of Japan and had therefore proceeded to Manchuria which was close to being annexed by Russia from Japan. Many considered the ashes kept at Renkoji temple as fake.

Even in India a large section of people believed that there was no plane crash and that Netaji had come back to India to live incognito as a saint. First it was a saint of Shoulmari who was considered by many as Netaji. Later, another saint living in Faizabad, UP, was widely believed to be Netaji. Intermittently reports would appear of his close connections with members of the Bose family who, along with some of his friends, were reported to have visited him. After his death in 1985 a large number of documents, including photographs of the Bose family, were recovered from the aashram of the Baba who used to be called Gumnami. Various items of personal effects, like his silver rimmed spectacles and a gold Rolex wrist watch were also found in his ashram after the Baba’s death. Recently, a report appeared in the newspapers indicating that American handwriting experts have certified that the handwriting of Bose and the Baba had very strong similarities. Other physical features of the two also happened to tally.

In view of Atlee’s statement on the British withdrawal many historians have said that the time has now come to re-appraise the role of Subhash Bose in the freedom struggle. Hitherto, written history has extolled only the roles of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. That is from where Rahul Gandhi got his wrong notions about the Congress winning freedom for the country. But as many feel, the roles of leaders like Netaji in the fight for freedom need to be re-assessed particularly when they had been moved to and kept in the margins all these years by the hegemon that was the Indian National Congress.

*Photo from internet 

From the scrap book :: 12 :: Sacrificing trees for development

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A tree near Minto Hall felled and being cut

About a year ago a staggering item of news came from no place other than the capital of the country that for re-development of seven south Delhi residential colonies as many as 14000 trees were to be cut down. Virulent protests were launched by the people of Delhi against the intention of the authorities to cut the unconscionably large number of trees. They felt if things were allowed to go on in the manner proposed by the government authorities Delhi soon would be converted into a desert town.

Among the seven colonies to be redeveloped were Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar and Nauroji Nagar, etc. All these colonies had houses for lower level officials of the government departments of the Central and Delhi governments. The plan for redevelopment of Nauroji Nagar was most curious. It was planned to demolish all the buildings and erect a massive World Trade Centre. It was a bizarre idea to deprive the lower level officials of their houses calling them decrepit and old and build in their place a swanky new World Trade Centre. Fortunately the protests gathered strength and managed to catch the attention of the Housing & Urban Affairs minister who swept the proposal aside and ordered a redesign of the project and ordered no more trees would be felled. But by the time the orders came more than 1500 tree had been felled. The minister was helped in taking the decision because of the extraordinarily large number of trees, 44000, that were permitted to be felled by Delhi’s Tree Authority during the preceding seven years. Currently the whole matter is pending in courts.

If last year it was Delhi this year it is Mumbai in the news for a proposal to fell 2700 trees in a forested area in Aarey. The proposal is to clear the trees to create a stable for Metro cars. Ever since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Tree Authority gave permission to fell 2700 trees the “Save Aarey” campaign gathered traction. The Brihanmumbai Metro Rail Corporation has been claiming that the area to be clear-felled does not fall in a forest area but the protesters argue that even though the area falls under the Goregaon suburb of Mumbai and has not been declared as a forest the literature documenting the characteristics of the ecosystem in indicates that it can undoubtedly qualify as a forest.

Before 2018 Aarey was a “no-development zone” but this status was later changed by the Maharashtra government. The matter went to court which said that while the government had the right to change the land-use of public lands it was still bound to meet conditions to ensure safety of the environment. Nonetheless, the issue whether it is a forest or not is still pending before the Bombay High Court.

There have been some studies to determine whether Aarey is a forest. As early as 1963 a study revealed hundreds of species of flora that were found only in a forest. Dr. Rajendra Shinde, now principal of St. Xavier College, Mumbai, published a study to determine whether Aarey could be described as a forest on the basis of its flora. More than 100 indigenous species in Aarey are recognized as forest species which have survived only by self-propagation. Some other species found in Aarey are never found outside forests. The study concluded by saying that Aarey falls within the “botanical” definition of forests.

Apart from flora the forests that are contiguous to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park also has fauna. While BMRC claimed the forests in question were bereft of wildlife naturalists produced a photograph of a leopard on the site. If leopards are there, small game would also be there as without a prey base predators cannot survive in the kind of numbers they are found in the forest.

From all evidence the Aarey forests are forests whether declared as such or not. Since the Mumbai activists have cited alternatives that, if used, would not cause any environmental damage, there are enough reasons for the Metro Rail Corporation to look elsewhere for building its metro cars depot. Quite clearly the Aarey forest needs to be left alone. After all it has taken ages to become what it is today.

People in metro towns too are so concerned about the environment that quite frequently news-breaks reveal protestations against the mulish administration. However in Bhopal, a town that has speedily lost its green cover, there have been no protests for felling of trees by the Smart City Corporation.  Though the Smart City Corporation has been at work for nearly three years, if not more, there is no sign of the smart city till now. But trees have been felled probably to the tune of around 3000. What’s more there have been no protests. People of Bhopal had vehemently protested when the Smart City was going to be sited in Shivaji Nagar. When the location was shifted, it seems, people lost steam and the Smart City Corporation felled trees without let or hindrance.

Similarly the Minto Hall redevelopment by the MP Tourism Development Corporation has taken its toll. The bank of the Lower Lake has been denuded of trees and the place looks so bare. But not a soul raised his voice. That is the way it is in Bhopal – every man for himself.

Destinations :: Budapest (2004)

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Hungarian Parliament on the Danube

We were in Vienna for a fortnight taking in its sights and sounds. Of the neighbouring towns, we had already visited Baden – a city that is accessible by tram from Vienna. After a brief respite of a couple of days we planned a day-long trip to Budapest which was only around 200 kilometres away. Austria and Hungary are neighbours and, in fact, during the times of Austro-Hungarian Empire they were one and the same country. In 2004 when we visited Vienna Hungary was yet to join the European Union and hence we had to have a Hungarian visa to visit Budapest.

We got on to a bus one morning which took us to Budapest. On the

Hero's Square

way there was nothing much that was interesting except the over-bridges that were built for wildlife to cross over from one side of the highway to another. Unlike India, Austria has only some small game; some species of antelopes, rabbits, foxes, etc., but the country takes care of them howsoever they might seem insignificant to most of us. They don’t want whatever they have to be crushed under the speeding wheels. Elaborate arrangements have been made to keep them away from the highway and to guide them on to the over-bridge in the event of their inclination to go across the highway.

One of the several national galleries

Perhaps a word about Hungary is necessary here. It is a country in Central Europe in the Carpathian Basin. At one time it was independent, later it came under the Ottomans before being tagged on to make the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Habsburgs. The Empire was lost as the World War I came to an end. During the inter-war years Hungary joined the Axis powers only to be with the losers. In the post-War rearrangement Hungary became a Soviet Satellite. During its “Satellite Years” Hungarians revolted against the harsh rule imposed on people. I vividly recall this uprising as it would be reported in the newspapers in 1956. This was my introduction to Hungary as I read about Soviet tanks rolling into Budapest, more specifically Pest. The

The millennial tower

uprising helped in opening the closed border with Austria. It was partially instrumental in collapse of the Soviet Union. The country soon became democratic and became a member of the European Union in 2004 even as we were in Vienna.

Our first stop was at Hero’s Square which is an important feature of modern Hungarian history. The central feature of Hero’s Square is the Millennium Memorial construction of which began in 1896 to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the foundation of the Hungarian state. The Square is noted for its iconic complex of statues of Magyar leaders and other important national leaders. It is also the re-burial ground of Imre Nagy who became the leader of the Hungarian Revolution that was suppressed by the military in 1956. Nagy was arrested, tried and hanged secretly by the then Communist Hungarian regime.

The President's Palace with its bullet marks

 As we moved around on the Square my wife was collared by a Roma who was pushing her crochet work. The work was of great quality and the price was also steep – beyond the grasp of a shoe-string budget tourist. Roma’s, as is well known are ancient migrants from Rajasthan in India and are spread all over Europe and are generally badly treated.

We were whisked in the bus to the Castle Hill and dropped somewhere near the climb on to the Hill. The approach gave us a view of the other side of the Hill – green, fresh and refreshing bathed as it was the late morning sunshine. We had also saw a bit of the President’s Palace – an

The Chain Bridge

imposing building of fair proportions. Then we were taken through a dark area known as the Lions’ Courtyard that presumably had been scene of some action during 1956 uprising. Some bullet wounds were still visible on the external walls of this government building.

As they say the Castle District gives an architectural history lesson to the passers by. As one walks through it one finds some exquisite examples of medieval, neo-classical and baroque architecture generally in good repair. We walked past many of them. The most attractive was the spire of the Mathias Church with its many pinnacles. Virtually next door is the

A view from Savoy Terrace

19^th Century refurbished Castle Garden Bazaar which has some attractive looking theatres and exhibition halls.

From the Castle Hill one can descend to see another marvelous sight that is offered by the Chain Bridge. Numerous Hindi movies were shot here. But that is beside the point. A walk across it is a wonderful experience with the fantastic Hungarian Parliament on one side and the Buda Castle Hill brooding over the mighty Danube flowing below. The best time to visit the bridge is early in the morning when the tourists are yet to start off on their trips. The time we were on it past midday (we couldn’t have helped it as we came in from Vienna) the place was crawling with tourists.

Back again on the Buda Hill the guide took us to a pavilion on the

Mathias Chuech, Buda

escarpment of the Buda Hill – known as The Savoy Terrace. From the Savoy Terrace, supposedly one of the most representative areas of Buda, one gets an excellent view of the town of Pest and the sweep of the famous Danube River with a fabulous view of the Parliament building across Danube.

 Here we were joined by an elderly Roma lady who too, like the one on Hero’s Square, was pushing her products of crocheted work. She was a friendly woman and told the young girl who was our guide how difficult it was for her and others like her to survive. She told us that they lived across the border in Romania and every morning they climbed into a train for Budapest and clear out of the town before night-fall. Their pickings are measly as they are constantly shoed away from anywhere near the tourists. Hers was a pathetic story. Romas are generally ill treated in most of the European countries.

In a cafe in Buda

From Buda we were brought down to Pest and were dropped in front of a massive Synagogue – reputed to be the biggest in Europe. As we had a brief peek inside we realized that Cochin Synagogue was no match for it. It is indeed enormous and immensely decorated.

The bus after picking us up from the Synagogue dropped us at Hungary Restaurant. Here on offer was Hungarian Goulash and bread. I had come across mention of goulash in Russian novels but never had the occasion to taste it. So, we ordered goulash and Hungarian bread for both of us.

The restaurant was located in a building of immense proportions and

The Parliament building

was very well appointed. We seemed to be rather early for lunch as many other tables were still unoccupied. Our waiter was trying to push a Hungarian wine and we ordered two glasses taken in by what he told us about it. Not that either of us was connoisseurs of wines but, to be neutral, it was perhaps proper to say that it was good. But the best was goulash which was served in generous quantities in bowls and tasted like Bengali meat preparation. Both of us liked it and needless to say, we lapped it up. It was followed by ice cream that too was pretty good. After the hearty meal we came out and saw numerous cases full of crystal ware. The exposition was in several big rooms. Hungarian crystal probably is not as good as of Czech Republic but the specimens we saw here were really eye popping.

The Danube

We went across the street after checking up with the bus driver who told us that it would be leaving in an hour’s time. I do not know to this day the name of the place but there were large number of people hanging around, shopping or having coffee. We too had a coffee each and sat around taking in the ambiance. We took care to leave before it was time to be next to the bus. We couldn’t visit the public baths for which Budapest is famous. We just had no time.

The self-willed broadband

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Even as Chandrayan was orbiting the Moon transmitting telemetric data to the ISRO ground station at Bangalore we in Bhopal were being starved of data from the internet. The broadband of the local BSNL became self-willed and would make an appearance or disappearance at will. This has been the plight of the local netizens for the last two weeks, perhaps more. That is why one wonders if we have the capability to land on the surface of the moon a lander with a moon-rover inside why do we have such inability to provide stable broadband services to their subscribers on the ground here on our Planet Earth?

 The entire operation of Chandrayan 2 was carried out with the help of telemetry. That, unfortunately, somehow it could not be converted into a success as something went wrong just before it was to end is another matter. The country, however, is reported to have gained in knowledge and experience of the effort. The question, nonetheless, remains that when our scientists can aim for the moon why cannot they fix things at home on earth? All over Bhopal this year during the rains broadband has been a rare visitor. I keep my eyes fixed on the four points on the Wifi modem where a like number of tiny LEDs indicate the presence or absence of the internet. Mostly only two light up and what I get on the monitor is “This site cannot be reached”. Occasionally all the four tiny LEDs light up but the signals they receive are so weak that no site appears on the monitor.

Since early last month I have lodged complaints on Nos.1500 and 1504. Only once the complaint was acknowledged but on the remaining occasions no acknowledgment was received and nothing was done about it. Even two complaints lodged by e-mail to CGM (Bhopal)’s notified ID of agmitmp@bsnl.co.in did not bring forth any response. The broadband continues to function in its own lackadaisical way.

Another strange thing is when one dials the two telephone numbers mentioned earlier it is not the complaint registry in MP that is connected. The response comes from Rajasthan and, no wonder, when one tries to lodge a complaint the operator wants to know which state is Bhopal located in or what is the STD code of the town. The MP Telecom Circle has no complaints registry of its own or has moved it to somewhere in Rajasthan. The name of the place it is located in seems to be state secret as the operator, when asked, refused to divulge the information.

Such is the state of affairs of the technological services that Indians are reported to be masters of. With progressive computerization many services just cannot do without the broadband facilities. The government is promoting digital transactions but these cannot be carried out in the absence of internet connectivity. I am sure shopkeepers and business houses, including those of the government and its agencies, have suffered losses.

 If the broadband services continue in this fashion one wonders how the government would achieve its goal of a Rs. 5 trillion economy. Only last Sunday it was reported that the United Nations Conference on Trade & development (UNCTAD) estimated that India’s domestic market for computer services fuelled by Centre’s Digital India programme was likely to grow faster than exports. But the kind of services its PSUs like MTNL and BSNL render the whole projection seems unlikely.