Travelogue: Boating in Moti Jheel, Motihari, Bihar

 

Travelogue: A Govt Office in Patna, Bihar

 - Rahul 

Hindu Temple: Mahavir Mandir, Patna

 

Mahavir Mandir, Patna, dedicated to Hanuman ji. 

- Rahul 

Hindu Temple: Panchrupi Hanuman Mandir, Bailey Road Patna

 

Panchrupi Hanuman Mandir, Bailey Road Patna

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Khadi Mall, Goshala Road, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Khadi Mall, Goshala Road, Muzaffarpur, Bihar 

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Radha Krishna Mandir, Harisabha Chowk, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Radha Krishna Mandir, Harisabha Chowk, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

- Rahul Tiwary 

Travelogue: Devi Mandir (Shri Raj Rajeshwari Devi Temple), Club Road, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

Devi Mandir (Shri Raj Rajeshwari Devi Temple), Club Road, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Gurudwara, Club Road, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Gurudwara, Club Road, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Some Pictures from Motihari, Bihar

 

Clockwise from top left: Zila School, Head Post Office, District Hospital, Mai Sthan (Chandmari), LND College gate (Lakshmi Narayan Dubey College), Indu Villa (a heritage building since 1937), Motihari, East Champaran, Bihar

- Rahul Tiwary 

Pictures: A Bird Story

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Office Garden

 

- Rahul 

Thoughts: "When you grow up, your heart dies"

I happened to watch a 1985 film named "The Breakfast Club" only now, which is a story of five teenage students. The teenage students are discussing how bad their parents are, how they fight with each other, how they put too much pressure on the kids, and then this quote comes, "When you grow up, your heart dies"

Obviously, the brutality of this quote made me stop for a moment. 

Now, I am way past the teen age, and I do not feel I have grown up to the point where my heard is dead, but of course I am "grown up" to some extent and the fact that this quote startled me also tells that I could understand it better.

This idea is true to a large extent. If we look at the evil grown-up people, certainly they were also innocent till some point of their life, certainly in childhood and many times also till teenage. But the reverse is not definitely true; and we can't say that everyone who is innocent and fair in teenage would become a bad person once grown up. There are all kinds of grownup people, good or bad, as there are all kinds of teenagers too, good or bad. But one thing is certain: the grownup people react to same things differently. 

I think there is one thing that these teenagers in the movie would never comprehend, and it is that growing up is painful. Every grownup person carries certain pains inside one's heart, and most of those are unexpressed. Quite often, the grownup people take those pains to their ashes. And it is no funny matter. 

Given a choice, many grownup people would also like to act and behave in the same idealistic, righteous and reckless manner which is trademark of the youth; but most of the time there is no choice. The burdens of expectations and responsibilities of the practical life weighs down people's hearts and souls. It is very easy to say, "when you grow up, your heart dies", but the process of a dying heart is more painful than the realization that it is dead. 

This age-based conflict in human society is one more interesting aspect to our social life. Everyone thinks that only he is right, and the other person is wrong; while the truth is that everyone is both right and wrong at the same time in their own ways. All said and done, we all need to keep a tab on ourselves, even if we can't do anything about it.  

- Rahul 

Thoughts: What is With Children and Water?

This morning, besides a very busy road, I saw a small girl. The road was not good, and it had cracks through which water from was flowing, perhaps thrown by some nearby shops. The little girl who was alone was carrying something; perhaps having bought it from some shop and returning to her home. She had stopped and was dipping one of her footwears in the stream of water. She was completely lost in thought, not bothered by the chaos of busy traffic and neither caring for safety or any concerns. She was totally focused on ‘understanding’ water. That moment and her state of mind felt totally like ‘nirvana’ to me.

A few months ago, I saw a similar scene where a small boy who was going somewhere with his grandfather, had also stopped and was completely immersed in thoughts and focused on a little ‘pond’ of ‘water’ on the road.

I wonder what was so special about these scenes that I paid attention? It is not that I was wandering around in an observation mode; I was actually riding and moving. But these moments got captured in my mind like still photographs. I think first, these moments were so ‘out of the ordinary’. In the adult world, we are so used to doing things on purpose and we are always on to something, that such moments of pure carefree indulgence feel strange. Second, I got curious also because I thought about the ‘state of mind’ of these kids. And I could not name it or could not find words to describe it. It was like a ‘blank slate’; and anything blank is so precious in the modern world because it is full of possibilities.

I hope that out of the many things frozen in my memory, these too remain safe and secure. The little kid checking out water on the roadside – what is with children and water? Perhaps it is better never to figure out.

- Rahul Tiwary