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[They inform us, they amuse us, they entertain us, they exasperate us — all this, in 140 characters or fewer. The biggest benefit of Twitter has been to democratize information, insight, humour; to take ‘content’ out of the hands of the ‘traditional’ media, and to create/empower a community of ‘curators’ through whose filters we increasingly see the world around us.
It is a vast, vibrant community — and ‘140 Characters’, a new series on Yahoo! India Blog — is an attempt both to sample that community, and to pay it the homage that is overdue. Ever so often, we bring you one ‘Character’, one person on Twitter we like and recommend that you follow, as these are people who will enrich your life for knowing them. So — drumroll — here’s ‘Supergirl’:]
In the real world, acquaintance begins with a name; over time, we gather more detail and, as the person’s ‘profile’ gradually fills out, our reactions to the person — like, dislike, indifference — crystallize.
It’s different in the online world, where often, the reaction comes first. We ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ someone based on a whim, a fancy, a nicely done display picture or mind-tingling tweet, and we decide to ‘follow’ that person. Our ‘acquaintance’ is constructed of random, unconnected bits and pieces, all coming together in a patchwork-quilt ‘profile’ as incomplete as it can be startlingly intimate.
Take the person who, on Twitter, is known by the handle MumbaiCentral. [You can follow her here]. When that handle first surfaces on your timeline, god knows how, you deduce the person lives/works in, or has some core connection with, that area of Mumbai. On a whim, you hit the ‘follow’ button, and you think no more about it.
And then, over time, random posts float by. Like this:
Ah, so: ‘Mumbai Central’ is female, and married; she likes fine-dining and is possibly romantic in nature; she is not too hung up/snobby about the fine-dining bit, though, since she seems well-versed with the crowded cafes of the Matunga region; she keeps cheese — fine cheese, not those cheesy Amul cubes — in the fridge and is possibly fond of wine — possibly fine wine — to go with it…
It’s like doing a jigsaw where you don’t know what the finished image looks like. You fit a piece here, a piece there, constructing an image that may, or may not, bear some resemblance to the original; you keep slotting in the pieces as they surface in random order, and you end up liking the finished portrait. Or not.
Earlier this week, a series of posts surfaced on Mumbai Central’s timeline. Like, so:
That first post, about the Mumbai police, skims by unnoticed; it will acquire relevance only in light of subsequent revelations. What is Twitter for, after all, if not to crib — about the weather, the government, the batsman who cannot score runs or the bowler who cannot take wickets, to rant at life itself?
But as the posts accumulate in rapid succession, more pieces to the puzzle come to hand; the portrait begins to gain depth, dimension. ‘Mumbai Central’ is a lawyer. She is combative, feisty, and — remarkably in a world where we step around a stricken person on the street and go our way rather than get involved — she is prepared to go the extra mile [Mumbai Central to Chembur, at rush hour, during the monsoon, is a lot of extra miles] to fight injustice.
Within those first few tweets, we are riveted by the sense of a developing story; we constantly refresh our own timelines for updates. Where till moments ago ‘Mumbai Central’ was just another handle floating past on a crowded timeline, she becomes the handle we seek as we refresh, and refresh again.
By now dozens, possibly hundreds, of us are totally into the developing story; some asking for clarifications, others offering directions, yet others offering unspecified help. And all this while, ‘MumbaiCentral’ is battling the city’s insane rush hour traffic; frustration shows in an expletive-laden update on the jam at Priyadarshini Circle, a notorious choke-point on the Sion-Trombay Road just before you enter Chembur proper. And then, this:
The original audience has by now grown exponentially, thanks to dozens of re-tweets. Some of us discuss the propensity of the police to disregard all norms of procedure; others tell of their own experiences with authority. Thanks to a young woman, we have suddenly become, albeit momentarily, a community with a commonality.
Congratulations and complements flood ‘MumbaiCentral’s’ timeline in profusion. And the feisty lawyer who without thought had set off on a crusade against the Mumbai cops turns into a somewhat shy young woman, unwittingly caught in the spotlight of mass attention and unsure quite how to handle it. Her reaction is typical of those the spotlight has to seek out, rather than those who seek the spotlight: an expletive-inflected post that marvels at her ow reaction to praise; immediately following, a polite thank you couched in the stilted vocabulary of the suddenly shy.
The saga is at an end — but this one has shelf-life, an impact beyond the immediate. Through three hours of a rainy Tuesday evening, ‘Mumbai Central’ has grown to a greater understanding of how much the rule of law means to her; of what she is capable of if she puts her mind to it. The realization, one suspects, will infuse her work, and her life, from here on.
And those of us who followed her crusade, fingers crossed for her to come out of it safe, have grown with her — to a sheepish, somewhat shame-faced understanding of our own apathy and to a realization, however temporary, that when confronted with injustice it is necessary to do more than frame it in 140 characters; the awareness that sometimes, the choice is between getting our hands dirty in the fight or losing a little bit of our soul to apathy and indifference.
And in course of this shared journey, ‘MumbaiCentral’ has somehow gone from being a handle to being a friend you respect and are glad to know. You still don’t have a name for her, or a face. Unless she looks like her display picture , you wouldn’t be able to pick her out in a crowd to say hello to, to congratulate [oh by the way, if you are her Twitter friend, don’t presume on that to hug her when you first meet her in person — she doesn’t like that; another fact gleaned from a passing tweet].
You don’t have any of the details that are the early building blocks of an offline friendship — but in the online world, somehow, none of that seems to matter.
Here’s MumbaiCentral — go make a friend.
Also read: #1 of 140 Characters: Ramesh Srivats
“The proper study of Mankind is Man…”
How true the quote is! If I’m asked to give a poetic touch to it, I’ll say that ‘You can see a world in one’s eyes’. While capturing the landscapes, I’m often left with awe at the artistic work of the great Creator, something that elevates me. Still, I feel there is something more enigmatic about His most wonderful creations – human beings. A child, or an old man, or even the lone ranger, they all talk of life, of different emotions – innocence, pain, angst, longing…
Sometimes the best feelings are left unsaid, but what words can’t say, pictures do. Here are some wordless stories:
(Text by Princy James)
Daya Nayak can now heave a sigh of relief as The Supreme Court has annulled the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) and other cases against the former encounter specialist of the Mumbai Squad. It was ironic that a man who once was the nightmare of wrong-doers himself came under question in the eyes of the law after being accused of possession of disproportionate income, accepting money from mafia bosses and also for allegedly having links with gangster Chhota Shakeel.
I started this blog because I could only see rank injustice, but the outcome has completely reaffirmed my faith in my country’s judicial system. I started it because the truth needed to be told, and now the truth has been proven, entirely and without question. I started it because an innocent man—unjustly accused—needed support, and you all gave it. Daya Nayak is free, finally.
Take a closer look at Daya Nayak’s life, and you will find enough stuff for a typical gangster-cop Bollywood flick. A sub-inspector with the Mumbai police force, Daya’s life changed after taking part in the operations of Mumbai Encounter Squad. He annihilated a whole bunch of gangsters after joining the Squad formed by the Maharashtra government to tackle Mumbai’s underworld. It’s estimated that he killed 86 gangsters during his term.
Ketan Tirodkar, Nayak’s estranged friend and an ex-journalist, who himself is facing trial for his alleged involvement in underworld activities filed a complaint accusing Nayak of accepting money from mafia/underworld bosses citing his alleged links with Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel. Read Tehelka’s report on Ketan Tirodkar here.
On February 2006, Mumbai Police Anti-Corruption Bureau declared Nayak absconding. Nayak voluntarily surrenders at the court, where he is arrested on a non-bailable warrant. The anti-corruption officials raided his house and the Sessions Court issued a non-bailable warrant against Nayak. Without charging any file sheet, he was kept in prison for 60 days and was later released on bail. A close friend of his, P. Manivelan, was also kept in custody without any evidence. After their release, Manivelan filed a case with the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for his unlawful detention which he later won. After facing these humiliating ordeals, the Maharashtra Government suspended Nayak and he remained in suspension for 3 years suffering great mental trauma and disgrace.
Flimsy allegations and suspension have put Nayak’s career and image under shadow. Once being hailed as a super cop, there were many films based on Nayak of which the most famous is ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ (2004) by Shimit Amin where Nana Patekar enacted Nayak’s life on-screen. N Chandra’s ‘Kagaar’ and Kannada film ‘Encounter Daya Nayak‘ were also based on his life.
His life has taken him through many phases – he lived the life of a hero and villain at the same time. Now with the SC judgement paving the way for Nayak’s reinstatement soon, he seems to be happy again – just like a Bollywood flick ending on a good note.
Making the rounds in social networks these days is a new acronym: LDR. Short for Long Distance Relationships.
This afternoon, I was reading a post called 10 Reasons Why Long-distance Relationships Just Don’t Work by Tom Scheve. Scheve has listed 10 pretty compelling reasons why distance in a relationship is ultimately ill-fated. But, just the fact that I have seen so many LDRs cope and thrive under pressure has forced me to think otherwise.
Agreed, communication levels have increased many fold these days. I also agree that, as the author puts it:
…these forms of communication often don’t pay off with a truly fulfilling interaction. Whereas it was once easy to chat in person, now those normal, daily interactions are severely curtailed. It requires real effort to keep in touch and feel connected.
True.
But if that is true, then it’s also true that your relationship is not working. Dr. Paul R. VeHorn (or the Love Doctor) is a relationship expert and author and writes several online blogs. Take a look at his take on the signs that your long-distance relationship is not working, on eHow.com.
VIDEO: How to Determine Whether Your Long-Distance Relationship Is Working
The relationship rule
Shyma (name withheld on request), a good friend, and Ritesh were seeing each other for over a year. Last year, because of parental pressure from Ritesh’s side (they didn’t approve of Shyma), they decided to leave town to start a new life, and hence start applying for jobs together. The plan was, he would go first, she would follow.
Now, here’s the twist. Armed with her relatively higher work experience, she got a good offer immediately. But he didn’t. Promising to get there as soon as possible, he sent her off. And so began their LDR.
Ritesh tells me, “Shyma and I talk almost 6-7 times a day. I know it might sound cheesy and crazy to people. Some friends ask me, “What do you guys talk about?”‘ with exasperation. But, I know hearing her voice every now and then keeps me happy. It cannot, of course, be compared to her physical presence; but if that’s the best we can do, well, we do it.”
The couple also has a ‘rule’. Shyma says, “We have made it a point to meet up every month. So whether he makes a trip here, or I make a trip there, we make sure we have the monthly date night.”
But what is it that makes this couple tick? According to Ritesh, “We both have decided that this long-distance thing is just temporary. I am still trying for jobs there, so once that happens, I’ll move.” Shyma adds, “…and if he doesn’t get one in the stipulated time, I move back.”
My good friend and sports journalist Kartik moved to Oman from Mumbai, when he got a job as a sports reporter in one of Oman’s popular dailies. “The offer was better, and so was the money, so I moved for us, Priya and I,” he says. Also one of those men who call every day, Kartik tells me, “We text, chat online, but I make sure I call every single day. It’s what keeps us going. Basically it’s a test of nerves when you are that far apart.”
Now, with his annual leave coming up, Kartik is ecstatic. “I can’t wait to come back to India.” But what about future plans? “I have to sit down with Priya and discuss,” he says.
Dr. VeHorn, in this next VIDEO, gives his tips on How to Make a Long-Distance Relationship Last. Take a look.
Agreed, the cons somehow far outweigh the pros of a LDR. And yet, somehow, couples endure. How?
A couple, both friends of mine, Ahmad and Amreen, had a long-distance relationship for four years before they got married three years back. “No one should ever go through a long distance relationship,” says Amreen. “There are too many cons surrounding it.”
So what, I ask, helped them cope? According to Ahmad, a couple of things are very crucial.
Maturity levels: To overcome all the cons, one needs to be practical. Along with an LDR comes a variety of negative feelings; frustration, possessiveness, even trust issues. And to make sure these don’t creep into your relationship and ruin it, you and your partner need to have a sensible head on your shoulders.
A goal: A relationship is not child’s play. And especially in an LDR, a couple needs to know where they are headed to make the distance tolerable. Amreen says, “It’s always a good idea if the parents know. It gives you direction.”
Optimum communication: “Not too much. Not too little,” says Ahmad. Too much communication can end up in jealousy and possessiveness. Too less communication can end up in, well, frustration.
Jharna and Manan, another LDR couple (now married) also went through some struggles with their relationship. “Time was a major factor. He was in the US and I was in Mumbai. Also, the relatively free of the two might just think the other is not giving enough time,” says Jharna. “But since my mother knew about our relationship, and we had planned for a solid future, the interim period of being away from each other seemed okay.”
So my question is, why is there is a blanket statement doing the rounds that a long distant relationship is doomed from the start? Why are there so many stories of couples NOT making it?
Does a Long Distance Relationship really work? In my experience, I have seen only positive ones. In my own family, my sister has been seeing her boyfriend for eight years, out of which, six were long-distant! And I cannot help but believe, that with the correct ingredients, an LDR can be endured.
What do you think?
(Some names changed on request)
Follow me on Twitter (@KhrisBlogs) to connect with me. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Make sure you catch my earlier posts:
For the rest, click here.
Apple’s iPhone 4 was labeled as the smartest phone ever. But it might not be for everyone. If you are not going the Apple way, then there are plenty of other options that you might want to consider. iPhone 4 isn’t in India yet, but the earlier version is available and is priced around Rs 35,000. Not all phones listed here are launched in India, but the ones that are, are definitely a lot cheaper than even the iPhone 3GS. Here are a few alternatives to iPhone 4 (when launched in India):
Left: Nokia N900 and Right: Motorola Milestone
Motorola Milestone
Milestone is sure to grab the attention of camera lovers with an 8MP sensor and a multi-touch screen. With a 3.7 inch wide-screen, you can also watch your favourite movie (the resolution is just superb!). Specs wise, Milestone seems to be the frontrunner featuring an Android OS, full slide-out Qwerty keyboard – with five-way navigation key, a powerful ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor. It is expected to be launched in India soon.
Nokia N900
Move on from Android. The N900 is the first phone from Nokia, which runs on Maemo 5, a new OS that competes with the best Smartphone available today. The N900 is a touch screen, full Qwerty slider phone and one of the most talked about members of the N-Series recently. The phone has an impressive array of features which include powerful ARM Cortex-A8 600MHz Processor with 256 MB of RAM and a 3.5 inch 800×480 pixel resistive touchscreen display. It has 5 MP Camera with Dual LED Flash. With 32GB internal memory, you can’t crib about storage. So here is a fascinating device which is cheaper than iPhone 4 and is available in India for approximately Rs 30,000.
Left: HTC Legend, Right: HTC Desire
HTC Desire
With a 1GHz processor, 3.7-inch screen and Android 2.1, this is every inch an iPhone 4 battler. It has a micro SD card slot which has scope for a lot more memory storage than the iPhone 4’s 16 or 32GB fixed space; depending on how many cards you can buy. It has a 5 MP camera with LED flash. It can’t shoot HD (1280 x 720) videos like the iPhone 4, but rather shoots at DVD resolution (720 x 480). The Desire also has an optical track pad. It is expected to launch in India soon.
HTC Legend
Now, the HTC Legend can be called the smart hero. In terms of looks, this surely matches the iPhones with its shiny aluminium body. Now, this is HTC’s first android 2.1 device and with a much better UI than its predecessor, the HTC Hero. The Legend will work with Android updates.
Left: Samsung Galaxy S i9000, Right: Samsung Wave
Samsung Galaxy S i9000
Samsung Galaxy S is a worthy alternative to the iPhone4 with its 4 inch wide screen and a super AMOLED screen. An Android based Smartphone, it has a 1GHz processor and is running on Android 2.1. It has a 5MP camera, HD (720p) video playback, and up to 16GB of onboard memory. It is priced at approximately Rs 28,000.
Samsung Wave
It is definitely creating waves in the tech world with already 1 million phones sold last month in India. Again no Android, Samsung launched its own OS ‘Bada’ in Wave. The Wave has the world’s first Super AMOLED display on a Smartphone and benefits from a superb 1GHz processor which offers users the best performance. It is also first to support Bluetooth 3.0 in India. Now, aggressively priced at Rs 18,000, this phone is the best bet for a good Smartphone.
Read more on gadgets:
In a significant step towards peace in the region, Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers have met for the first time in a bilateral summit in Islamabad since 26/11. This follows a decision taken earlier in Bhutan by the Prime Ministers of both countries to normalize relations.
The question is how often has India done its part to revive relations with Pakistan, only to be snubbed? The Pak government has, so far, only made a lot of promises, most of them half-heartedly, only to back-track later. Even the ghastly 26/11 Mumbai attack and the ensuing international outcry that followed didn’t get Pakistan to shut shop of its terror patronage and arrest its leaders.
Here’s a look at all that has transpired in Indo-Pak talks since 26/11. The timeline:
Dec 2008: India accuses Pakistanis for carrying out the 26/11 attacks. Tensions rise between the two neighbours.
Jan 2009: Pakistan seeks resumption of the peace process and says it was committed to bringing the Mumbai perpetrators to justice.
Feb 2009: India welcomes Pakistan’s investigation into the Mumbai attack. Pakistan admits to 26/11 attacks launched and partly planned on its soil.
June 2009: Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Asif Zardari meet in Russia on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
February 2010: India renews offer for talks with Pakistan, this time at a diplomatic level.
July 2010: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna along with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao reach Islamabad to revive talks with Pakistan.
July 16: However, a day after the talks begin, the strain in the dialogue process was apparent. A headline reads ‘Pakistan accuses India of selective focus on terror’. Here’s an NDTV report on ‘How Pak media reported Indo-Pak talks’. Reports of a breakdown in the talks began to surface soon after.
Amid the reports of the talks collapsing, one man who’s brought to the forefront is Union Home Secretary GK Pillai. The BJP voiced that SM Krishna should have defended Pillai when Pakistani FM Qureshi criticised him. The Hurriyat, it seems, were also waiting for a positive outcome of the meeting and that the failed talks left the Kashmiris in the lurge.
Here’s the detailed timeline.
Related links:
Discussion board on Pakistan Defence site details how media bias and lack of information sharing has led to Pakistan’s noncommittal response to the peace process so far.
Amid hopes, foreign ministers of India and Pakistan extend talks.
Circa 2008, India was in a state of shock when it witnessed Mumbai being held at gun point by terrorists for three days. In the aftermath, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this attack was the first of many – the only unanswered question was, when would the next attack come, and where would it strike?
That dreaded attack has not materialized, if you discount the German Bakery, Pune blast of earlier this year. And this in turn has led the government of India to repeatedly suggest that India is safe.
At an Intelligence Bureau Endowment Lecture recently, Home Minister P Chidambaram asserted how India had remained incident free for nearly 14 months. “Honestly, it is because of dame luck that there has been no terror attack,” the minister replied.
What is interesting is not the response, wherein the man responsible for the country’s safety pinned his bets on “luck”, but the framing of the question itself: Why are we safe, Chidambaram was asked – a question that presupposes that we are in fact safe.
Are we?
Responding to a Right to Information question, the home ministry recently said that there were 1,737 terrorism-related deaths in 2007; 1,769 in 2008; and 2,372 deaths in 2009.
Those numbers should give us pause; it should make us ask the question: are we as safe as the government suggests we are?
Clearly not – so where does the pervasive presumption of safety come from? Simply, it stems from the fact that in public perception, terrorism is counted as such only when it involves the “foreign hand”. That is the sort of parsing that might suit the keepers of governmental statistics – but for the mango man, terrorism is defined far more simply: it is the random killing of the innocent.
If you accept that definition of terrorism, the picture looks altogether grimmer. Consider this fact: 439 people have been killed in various acts of terrorism between January and May this year alone. Consider another: as many as 178 identified terrorist groups operate across the ground in India today. Here’s the breakup:
Assam: 36 terrorist outfits
Jammu & Kashmir: 32 terrorist outfits
Manipur: 39 terrorist outfits
Meghalaya: 4 terrorist outfits
Nagaland: 3 terrorist outfits
Punjab: 12 terrorist outfits
Tripura: 30 terrorist outfits
Mizoram: 2 terrorist outfits
Arunachal Pradesh: 1 terrorist outfit
So clearly, Mr Chidambaram’s perception of a safe India is some miles off the mark. The question really is – why is the country drenched continually in innocent blood, and what needs to be done to turn the tide around.
Where does this link go? An article in Forbes’s Business states:
One of the most important reasons for insecurity of the average Indian is the acute shortage of police personnel. The numbers tell the story: today, India has 145 policemen for every 100,000 people, which is a fraction of the ideal ratio. In fact, India ranks number 47 worldwide, in police: public ratio
Not having enough police personnel [the United Nations mandates 222 policemen for every 100,000 population] is bad enough; in India the problem is compounded by the fact that on most days, a sizeable number of available personnel are deployed on what is called “security duty” – that is to say, ensuring that our politicians are not bothered by the people they purportedly represent.
If personnel are inadequate, leadership is even more so: the current deficit in the Indian Police Service cadres is pegged at 17 per cent. And in a further touch of irony, the states with the most pressing security concerns are the worst placed in terms of capacity. Orissa, for instance, has a sanctioned strength of 207 officers, but only has 97.
The intelligence bureau bears a large part of the onus on terrorism-prevention – and here the situation is much worse: the IB is estimated to have only around 3,000 officers available in the field to actively collect intelligence, even though its strength is estimated to be 25,000.
Strengthening the police force and improving the quality of their equipment is only one part of the solution. It is commonly accepted that domestic terrorist groups, particularly the Maoists, find fertile ground for growth among the country’s marginalized communities, the ones untouched by the much-vaunted economic development.
Timeline: Red Terror
Even as India prides itself on its growth rate and on how it is fast becoming one of the most important economy in the world, an important facet of that development remains skewed. Dr Walter Fernandes, an expert on skews in development, in a study estimated that in the period 1947 to 2004, over 60 million people had been displaced/evicted from their natural habitats, spread across 25 million hectares. 40 per cent of those displaced are tribals, and only 27 per cent of the total number of people displaced has ever been rehabilitated.
Look at it another way: in the name of India’s development, hundreds of thousands of people annually lose their homes, their habitats, their livelihood – and form a pool of festering discontent that feeds terrorist groups with a growing pool of recruits.
Compounding the problem is the fact that successive governments have been less than proactive about identifying problems and solving them before they fester into widespread crisis. Take the Maoist issue: Naxalism first surfaced around 1967, and has systematically spread its tentacles since that date. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared last year that the Maoists were the most serious threat to India’s internal security, he was referring to the fact that in that year, the Naxals were estimated to be active in 220 districts across 20 Indian states, controlling a stunning 92,000 square miles of territory in what is commonly known as the Red Corridor [an area of crippling poverty and social unrest that stretches across Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
On April 6, 2010, when Maoist terrorists killed 76 CRPF personnel in an ambush in Dantewada, the government spoke of “needing to find a solution”, of “considering its options”. It is perhaps the most telling indictment of the government – in fact of successive governments – that a problem the country has lived with for the better part of five decades has only now, and only in the wake of a horrific massacre, reached the stage of “considering options”.
That is symptomatic of how governments have operated in India. As long as the disaffected do not thrust themselves into the public consciousness – and violence is the only means they have to signal their displeasure – the government is perfectly happy to ignore them, oblivious of the fact that small problems, left unattended, can metastasize to cancerous proportions.
The government, at the center and in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Chattisgarh in particular, need to engage with the rebels and, more importantly, address the reasons for the widespread disaffection in those regions. If economic development spread across those territories, there would be less reason for the populace to feel alienated; however, the area remains among the most neglected in India.
But why blame the government alone, when we the people, and our mouthpiece the media, have been equally complicit? The plight of the disadvantaged is never our business; we do not care as long as we ourselves are the beneficiaries of India’s famed ‘development’. Since it is not an issue for us, the media ignores it as well, unless a Dantewada happens and we get an outbreak of noise on TV for a couple of days, to be promptly forgotten as we shift our focus back to the next Bollywood starlet or next high paid cricketer.
To circle back to where we started – we are not safe, and the reasons for that are systemic. It then follows that unless that problem is addressed systemically, we will merely continue to bask in illusory safety, until the next massacre. And the next.
Amsterdam, the capital of Holland (aka The Netherlands), is better known for its legalized drugs, sex tourism, and more recently for its ardent football fans.
These apart, there is much more to Amsterdam, a city whose name stems from a dam built on the Amstel river. Amsterdam, located in the northwest of The Netherlands, is also the cultural and financial capital of the country.
The best known cultural trait of the Dutch, particularly in Amsterdam, is their live and let live attitude. Hence it’s no surprise that the tourist inflow into the city annually is thrice that of the city’s population and the number is steadily increasing. Amsterdam has it all – from museums, churches, striking bridges, building of Gothic and Renaissance architecture to zoos, breweries, open-air markets and not to forget, the canals.
Thought only Venice was thought to have picturesque canals, canal-cruising in Amsterdam is said to be an experience one cannot afford to miss. There are 3 major canals that form concentric belts around the city – 1) Herengracht (it has the famous Golden Bend Part), 2) Keizersgracht (second belt & the widest) and 3) Prinsengracht (the longest canal).
These included, there are a total of 165 canals spread over one hundred kilometers. En route the stretch, you will find 90 islands and over 3000 bridges and monuments. There’s a popular annual musical festival that’s held in the backdrop of these beautiful locations (this year it’s from 14-22 August) called the Grachtenfestival.
The city also has its share of museums, over 50 of them. The popular ones are:
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam – This Dutch national museum has elements of Gothic and Renaissance in its architecture. Inside, there’s a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden era, which include some authentic Asian art as well.
Van Gogh Museum – As expected, this one has a large collection of the Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh’s works. The museum became famous worldwide after the sensational art heist in 1991 called the The Van Gogh Museum Robbery , when two thieves stole 20 paintings, each valued at 10 million dollars.
Stedelijk Museum – It has a collection of 90000 items made since 1874, including paintings, sculptures, prints & drawings, photographs and artist books.
Anne Frank House – This museum serves as the exhibition of the life and times of the Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank, who was hiding here with her family from the Nazi persecution.
Besides these, there are also the sex, vodka and cannabis museums. The city is also unique for its legal sex tourism and cannabis coffee shops.
Sex tourism – The red-light district in Amsterdam houses the sex industry, one which has sex shops, strip clubs and adult theaters.
Cannabis coffeeshops – In these shops, cannabis are sold for personal consumption. As per the Dutch drug policy, the sale of cannabis in small quantities is permitted in these shops along with food and non-alcoholic drinks.
The selling of cannabis in places other than these are illegal but funnily not punishable; basically as long as there is no advertising, sale to children, hard drugs on premises or causing public disturbances – the law will not be enforced.
It’s another argument whether legalized brothels and sale of drugs has helped the crime-scene is Amsterdam, which is almost negligible.
Amsterdam however is not all about adult entertainment as there are many places for families and children. You have the Madame Tussauds wax museum, the spooky Amsterdam Dungeon, Magere Brug (a double-leaf bridge), and Artis, the Amsterdam zoo. Artis also has botanical gardens, a geological & zoological museum, and a science center NEMO which also houses an urban-beach in summer – Amsterdam has many such city beaches.
For the city backpackers, you have a weekly book and art market, some lively shops between Kalverstraat and Spui alongside dining quarters called the 9 streets . You will also find hordes of tourists feeding birds in the Dam Square, the heart of the city.
Now for some FAQs –
What does the colour ‘orange’ have to do with a country whose flag colours have red, blue & white?
Orange is the colour of the Dutch Royal Family and it dates back to Willem van Oranje (William of Orange). Over the years, this symbolism has been developed to signify Dutch patriotism.
Why are people of The Netherlands called the ‘Dutch’?
The word Dutch comes from the ancient language Dietsch, from which languages like Dutch, Flemish and German have originated. The ‘Dutch’ are often mistook for the ‘Deutsch’, the German word for Germans.
How did the phrase ‘Go Dutch’ come into being?
Going Dutch is part of the uncomplimentary expressions developed by the anti-Dutch fraternity in England, courtesy the many Anglo-Dutch wars. In urban terms, it means when on a date or a group outing, no one treats the other; instead each pays for himself or herself.
This post is dedicated to all those Dutch fans whose team lost out in the World Cup finals. Time you visited Amsterdam and let go of all your disappointment.
Weekend getaways are fun and don’t need elaborate planning to go on a road trip or spend one night in the forest. Just take the bare minimum and start your car!
Almost all the forests in India have their own story to tell. A carpet of green soothes your eyes. Being an avid weekend traveller, I’m starting a series on great weekend getaways in and around Bangalore, my first being Nagarhole, a forest in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is nearly 220km from Bangalore. Far from the mad traffic; it took us nearly 5 hours to reach our destination, thanks to bad roads. It is better to leave early to avoid the city traffic. The journey is smooth except for the humps that can kill the joy of your ride.
Along with Bandipur, Mudumalai, Wayanad, wildlife sanctuaries which are found in the 3 states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively, Nagarhole is home to tigers, elephants, leopards, wild dogs and other animals besides several varieties of birds and reptiles. Spread across Coorg and Mysore districts, the river Kabini flows here dividing the Nagarhole and Bandipur forests.
How to Reach Nagarhole?
The best way is to drive from Bangalore towards Srirangapatnam and then proceed towards Hansur. We were advised to avoid night-driving on this stretch.
Inside the forest:
We left Bangalore early around 6AM to reach around afternoon – surely not the best time to spot animals. The forest authorities organised two safari rides during the day, (if only we could avoid it and use our own vehicle to explore the forest!). The noisy van which is used during the safari to travel ensure that no animals come out of the dense forest, another disappointment.
The best time to spot animals is either late in the evening or early in the morning. We decided to just drive in the forest after 6PM to see if we could spot any tigers. But to our bad luck, all we could see were herds of elephants and deers.
The next day morning we again tried our luck to spot a tiger only to find these deers and an occasional peacock.
I followed these pug marks that we found, but was unlucky – I couldn’t spot even one tiger. But every few meters we were welcomed by a hoarding which said “This is a TIGER ZONE”. The water birds were largely herons and egrets besides cormorants and a variety of ducks. And our ancestors never cease to amaze – they can get us gold medals in Olympics for sure :).Pics below.
Accommodation:
We stayed in a small village called Kutta, (some 8kms from the forest). There are resorts where you can stay. But the best value for money are the home-stays.
So after a night’s stay, I couldn’t spot Mr Tiger, but enjoyed being in the lap of nature. Nagarhole is a perfect weekend getaway and a haven for wildlife lovers.
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