ANDAMAN DIARIES

 My request for posting to Leh was turned down because of Regional shuffling issues this year. However they sent me to Port Blair instead despite the fact that I love mountains and not the ocean that much. But alright, its okay as Iroh says, "Life is there wherever you are". 

The Andaman, whatever I have seen till now, has provided me very good shots, despite the fact that I am very new to this "Ocean" of Photography. Clear skies, clear sunsets which you can not see anywhere else (may be).

This post will be about Kirti Kashyap in Andaman and not an Officer of IOCL  in Andamans (that quite frustrating, you will just hate to hear it. Eg its 6 days a week and only 10 official holidays). Let us begin, it will be updated with time, the more I explore it, the more further it will go :

This one is unedited. so spectacular

Just a bit of modification with the temperature of photograph, loved it. But I got to tell you, the sight with naked eye was even better. Could not capture the details very well in the normal mode

                   

Bhaiya, Teen Khunti !!

Although my career after my formal education ended in IIT Delhi started with Larsen & Toubro but I never count it because I never became its official part. I quit from L&T in 5 days. After that I landed in Mumbai Refinery, HPCL with an additional offer to join the Integrated Margin Management, HPCL which was about my hobby, i.e., Stock Markets. Although I liked Mumbai Refinery and wanted to switch to IMM as I had an opportunity to work directly under the Executive Director of IMM, HPCL, I still switched to IndianOil, a giant which was not that professional like HPCL was. I don't know why I switched to IndianOil, although I liked HPCL as I was offered a better role which generally a new officer is not granted. The only reason I can understand is that I had to prepare for Civil Services and everywhere people told me that in IndianOil, I will get ampid time which actually turned wrong. In HPCL. I was in Mumbai and in IndianOil, I was sent to Khunti, yes Khunti.

Among Indians, hardly anyone knows the name of this place called KHUNTI. But the security agencies are quite aware of this name as it falls under the dreaded "Red Corridor". As per a report of Election Commission of India in 2014, Khunti is one of the most notorious when it comes to Left Wing Extremism. Due to its extreme naxalite movements, it was carved out from Ranchi and made a separate district in 2007. When I saw my joining letter I cheered because I was asked to report at Ranchi. I have a likeability with Tier II cities and Ranchi falls in that category. I just said to myself , "Thank God"!!. Only moments later I realised that I was posted not in Ranchi but in Khunti, which was essentially nothing but a village.

With some heavy heart, I left for Ranchi to subsequently join Khunti. I joined Khunti along with two of my batch-mates. We were neither happy nor sad. We were not happy because all three of us had thought that we got Ranchi but it turned out to be Khunti. We were not sad because we calculated and found that we will be able to save a lot of money because there is nothing in Khunti to spend about. I was specially more happy because I knew that I will be able to set-up a very good SIP (Systematic Investment Plan). 

Everyday for Khunti

We decided to settle somewhere between Ranchi and Khunti as Khunti was our workplace and Ranchi could become our leisure. Ranchi to Khunti was somewhere around 45 kilometeres and we had settled just in between at Vastu Vihar, in Hardag. The house which we had rented in Vastu Vihar was a two-floored structure and was quite big for us. It had balcony and "no landlord", a perfect fiefdom for a bachelor. It was quite affordable as we had to pay combined Rs. 5000 as rent which was too good deal for us. We hired a maid and got our things in place. Everyday we used to get a bus which would drop us at Khunti and from there we used to hire a shared auto which would drop us at our work place.

Our bus conductors had recognized us as we used to ask them for three tickets to Khunti in the same tone, " Bhaiya, Teen (3) Khunti !!" Although the distance from our house was 23 km but it usually took us 50 minutes to 1 hour to reach the office. Our job was also interesting. It actually had nothing substantial but a lot many things to do. Everyday we used to board a bus and do our job and then return back following the same mode of transportation. When we got fed-up with the daily bus pick-ups, as the buses were very tiresome since we usually used to travel in bus in a standing position. SO subsequently we decided to move to lion's den against our peers advice, we decided to move to Khunti.

When we moved to Khunti, our "Bhaiya Teen Khunti" got a break and we were very happy with that since we were not only able to save our time by as high as 45 minutes from one side but we were also able to get away with our tiresome position. Khunti was just like a village with a very small portion of town where we were living but still very close to nature. More than half of the geographic area of Khunti was covered with forests and population density was very less. Khunti was better than I had expected and although it ended our favourite and the most hated part, "Bhaiya Teen Khunti", but still the lessons learnt and the reality perceived were also not less.

People asked me that why I am here, in an area which nobody knows, I just want to tell them, come and see yourself because "Though shalt watch and observe himself/herself". The project which I am working in, with whatever stint I will work on, 1 year, 2 year or whatever, it will always make me proud because serving in Khunti is what makes me feel like my designation of a Public Servant. I am only trying to be a better and bigger public servant.

The Grand Indian Marriages

Marriage in India is not practically a marriage, its a filtration process, a process which is in every religion and no one, I mean no one, whether love marriage or arrange marriage, is immune from it. The point is this, that marriage in India is not a personal concept at all, its a social concept.

"Look her, she got married at 23 itself !! Such a happy Lady.... Don't you think that you should too??"
"Look at him, he got married at 27 itself, just after he finished 1 year after an MBA. Don't you think you should too??"
"I am about to die, let you keep my last wish alive. I want to see my granddaughter/grandson married. I want to hold my Grand-Grandchild in my arms".... So lovely,, isn't it??

From the above para, as you can see, these are religion-less comments, in other words, universal and eternal..... 4 years of age gap is welcome since ideal age is 23 and 27. So nice... Dear Reader, you must understand that these standard ages had some social amendments. In earlier days it used to be 16 and 21, 5 years to 4 years.

Now we should look upon the filtration process. When it comes to water purification, generally there are three different methods : RO filters, Aqua-guard and Simple Candle Filters. One day, few men and women of some Indian society, combined them all in a step by step sequence. The RESULT : They got MILK from WATER !!! Waaaaaaawwwwww....

They used their head now, knocked it and knocked it many times. Then they came up with this idea : If water can produce milk then what men and women will produce if they are also subjected to similar process. One of them argued that they will produce Super Childs, his argument was a welcome. But then one intellectual argued : " Since water which is considered at par with milk, has produced actually milk, therefore, the men and women will actually produce GODS since Children are incarnation of Gods (if we subject them through this process)." Everybody was like : "Hmmmmm"

And hence began the quest of this process. What should be the process? The priests from every section like Hindu, Muslim, Christians, Sikhs etc. were appointed, Religious books were "bought" (and I think they must have been read too) and ideal and suitable places were identified. And the results were as follows :

Religion         Filters (the numbers 1,2,3 etc. represents the sequence of filters to be used)

Christians :    1.Vatican Sect/ Orthodox Sect                3. Tribal/Non-Tribal
                      2. Roman Catholic/ Protestants
                     
Muslims   :    1. Muslim                                                3. Pathans/Qureshi etc.
                      2. Shia/Sunni  
                     

**Hindus thought that they are oldest, so they need a better filter, hence they came with six filters :

Hindus     :    1. Hindu     2. Caste   3. Subcaste   4. Gotra  5. Kul-Devta (neglected nowadays) 6. Kundli (this is an adjustable filter)

Hmmmmmmmmmm............. Similar is the case of other religions, you can add in the comments. Well, in the end, I must admit, it was a significant achievement by our ancestors and marked a clear cut chapter in our Indian Heritage and Culture. We must carry onto these traditions and make sure that the Holy Soul of our ancestors are happy and enjoying their eternity......