Dharamshala trip

Posted on June 19, 2015 by prashant bhatt

On asking my nephew Master Mayank what he liked about Dharamshala visit, he sent to me a video of cows coming out of a labyrinth of foliage. I encourage children to write a few lines about their visits. When one writes, one has to think about the issue in a much different manner. I remember my own visit to Dharamshala in 1998 , (ages ago. walks to Tushita monastery,St John in the Wilderness and Bhagsu Nag temple. They represent three important spiritual traditions of India.

WRITING WORKSHOPS WITH MAYANK

Once again..

Remembered visits to Taj Mahal and his father’s college. I nudged him towards awareness of different architecture trends. I have a photograph of the family in front of some Indo-Sarcenic Gothic architecture in Mumbai region, visits to different museums.

“The last time we went on a train trip was with Mummy” my sister told me over remembering the pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi April 2011. One year before in 2010 they had visited Shimla.

See blogs

STUART JASOLA

Stuart Jasola

What will the mouse Stuart Little do if he is in Delhi? This question sparked

an interesting journey with my nephew Mayank.

FREEDOM IN EXILE

Still waiting…

I am still waiting for Master Mayank or his busy sister Divya to write a few lines about their personal experiences of the trip to Dharamshala. Meanwhile I re-read the Autobiography of Dalai Lama (presented to me by Dr.Rajiv Tandon..when he was in Tripoli and became a member of the reading group).

The book is a window into the life of Diaspora and can be read at many different levels , wearing different hats.

WESTERN SOCIETY…Dalai Lama’s comments on Western society are worth thinking about.

“Overall I found much that is impressive about western society. In particular I admire its energy and creativity and hunger for knowledge. On the other hand , a number of things about the western way of life cause me concern. One thing I have notices is an inclination for people to think in terms of ‘black and white’ and ‘either, or’ which ignores the facts of interdependence and relativity. They have a tendency to lose sight of the grey areas which inevitably exist between two points of view.”

END NOTE

The trips made one remember similar trips of yesteryears

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Musings with Tortoises

Posted on May 7, 2015 by prashant bhatt

“ A process journal is not a diary, which means instead of recording history, I will use it to plan, record meetings, explore –store-reflect on ideas and work is well illustrated at the different stages of the project.”

From the process journal of my son-who did a project on Chelonians.

Following a project over a period of time makes one examine an issue in greater depth from different aspects.  This made me ask whether he has met a practicing naturalist.

A true conservationist is
a man who knows that
the world is not given by
his fathers, but borrowed
from his children.

– John James Audubon

South Peel Naturalist Club http://www.spnc.ca/Index.html

Other questions which came out of reviewing the process journal are

1.Go through the process journal again, and see how this project  changed your approach.

I know that I should not do work just before it’s due because then I will have too much to do at a time and not do it very well as I will be in a hurry. Reading the process journal reinforced this to me.

  1. Name any project have you participated in before this?

Invention Convention.

  1. In future, if you take part in a project, what points will you improve upon, based on the changed approach, having gone through this experience.

After reading the process journal, the idea that you should always choose topics with care was reinforced to me to avoid changing the topic repeatedly.

PROCESSES

The petition has got over 800 signatures.

turtle

The legal battle started when Gilead Power Corporation, a renewable energy development company, received approval from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to construct a wind energy park in Prince Edward County. Naturalists from the area weren’t happy with this decision, because Ostrander Point, where the wind energy park is planned to be built, is a place the Blanding’s turtle, a species that’s already endangered, calls home. The Environmental Review Tribunal supported them and overturned the Ministry of Environment’s decision, but the corporation was supported by the Divisional Court of Ontario. Gilead Power hopes that a decision in its favor is reached soon, so that it can start its inhumane destruction of an untouched land that’s greenery has been enjoyed by many, and of an animal that’s lived there since before humans ever existed.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/836/423/358/save-an-endangered-turtle-from-a-canadian-wind-project/

A PERSONAL NOTE

Mathew gave me the first tortoises..when he was going on a holiday to India-2008

Whenever I see them, my thoughts go back to the  many times I have spent with my friend Mathew, the trip to Gharian searching for the Anti-Gravity point  (which we never located), the trip to Ghadames, (2004) watching sunsets over the Sahara, the fishing at Tirq Shaat feeling the gentle Mediterranean breeze.

The lovely chicken curry he makes-Farnaaj and Ghadames evenings. The Pakoras at Bengashir. The desert tortoise which he has given to me, to keep in my back terrace.

http://prashantbhatt.blog.co.uk/2009/03/13/mathew-5748093/

 2004 sunset sahara

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Joint Journals -March 2015

Posted on April 16, 2015 by prashant bhatt

How would a family journal like this look like in a 100 years from now?

To answer this question, one can try
Looking at how a family journal
would have looked 50 or 100 years ago.

LABELING PHOTOGRAPHS

I got some old black and white photographs (collected from Palam Vihar)

and made a file. Then sat with my sons and labeled them- the year (approximate)

for old photographs, the persons, place, and themes. Seeing old photographs

made us get the perspective of what has happened in the lives of these persons,

and their children, grand children over the decades

BHATT BROTHERS...1967. A 20 year window gives us many nuances of how life shapes up

BHATT BROTHERS…1967. A 20 year window gives us many nuances of how life shapes up

1958... My grandfather, in Karachi days, Ministry of External affairs, India

1958… My grandfather, in Karachi days, Ministry of External affairs, India

CHILDREN GROWING

Seeing the different phases of life, through the lens of a child growing made

for another theme in our joint journal.

“Who will take me to the zoo” said Mayank in 2008, the only one disappointed

that I had found my lost passport and could now travel

2004 ..Grandchildren are the future which we will not be able to see physically

RAWATS 2004 ..Grandchildren are the future which we will not be able to see physically

2003 Jasola Delhi

2003 Jasola Delhi

WALKS …Indian diaspora

The joint journals have nuances and discussions regarding Walks and readings done in different regions.

Looking back at some characters through post colonial perspective, or putting on

a feminist thinking-hat helped make for rich memories of walks done over yester years

2012 JUNE- FATHER'S day walk..Many currents across generations of the Maltese Indian diaspora community

VASWANIS 2012 JUNE- FATHER’S day walk with the Vasvanis .Many currents across generations of the Maltese Indian diaspora community

Maltose Indian diaspora The Yoga Group with their certificates-Sukh Sagar Indian Community Centre, San Gjwann, Malta

Maltose Indian diaspora
The Yoga Group with their certificates-Sukh Sagar Indian Community Centre, San Gjwann, Malta

ART

Another joint journal theme we kept was- Art as a way of life.

Went through some guitar recordings and memories of Orlem-Malad

SCHOOLS

Memories associated with schools give a flavor of different aspects of life

READINGS

Have a reading at the end of the day..(and also in the beginning) is a wonderful

way to enrich one’s life.

…

These were some of the themes on which we build four separate journals

sitting together in Mississauga, last month

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