A special evening with Gill Hicks

Dated: 2nd October 2007

There she was sitting at the other end of the room as she was being introduced by an elderly lady staff of Initiatives of Change, the organization that hosted the Greencoat Forum with Gill Hicks. I listened with absolute attention as words poured from Gill's mouth telling about the day that completely changed her life's direction. It was 7th July 2005, the day when a terrorist suicide bomber detonated his bomb inside the Piccadilly line tube train between Kings Cross and Russell Square stations.

To my great delight and amazement, Gill was a person with such a radiating positive energy that it was hard to believe she was one of those critically injured who lost both her legs due to the explosion. She narrated how she found great inner strength to fight for her life after the horrifying blast.

In her words, "As I lay waiting, trapped in what resembled a train carriage - but was now a blackened, smoke filled indescribable 'room' of destruction and devastation - I was able to think. This period of time, some 40 minutes, was to prove to be the most insightful and blessed gift that I am yet to receive, apart from the ultimate gift of a second chance at life. As the blood poured from my body (despite the scarf I had tied on each leg as a tourniquet to stem the flow) I felt incredibly weak, fighting to hold on, to survive. There were two voices holding a very powerful, conflicting conversation in my head – one voice willing me to hold on, to remember those who love me and need me here, the other calling me softly to let go, to drift away into a peaceful deep and permanent sleep. Both sides were stating their case – asking me to choose between life and death. I thought about all the things that mattered to me –my then partner and now husband Joe, my brother Graham, my family, my dear friends – I wanted to spare them this pain. They gave me the strength to choose life. I made a decision and the conversation ended. I wasn't going to die in the carriage, not there on that day; I had to wait for a light."

An Australian, Gill was formerly the Head of Curation at the Design Council. Now she is the Ambassador for Peace Direct, a UK based charity supporting local peace builders in conflict zones around the world.

Gill's book, "One Unknown" is sure to touch the hearts and minds of many. She is a person with so much love in her despite of what happened and it is this uncontrolled amazing love inside her that keeps her going. She says “The cycle has to stop – I cannot hate the person who has done this to me".

I went to attend the forum with a hungry stomach and did not know who Gill Hicks was. By the time she started talking, the evening rolled on and I didn't quite want it to end. I left the place after shaking her hand (of love and peace) feeling full...full of strenght in my belief that good things of great magnitude still exits in this world. Things that will shape this world for the better.

Thank you Gill.


Initiatives of Change (IofC) [http://www.uk.initiativesofchange.org/home/] is a diverse, global network committed to building trust across the world's divides. The London office is at 24 Greencoat Place, SW1P 1RD. It was formerly known as Moral Re-armament (MRA) having its branches worldwide, and one in Shillong as well. I got involved with MRA Shillong way back in 1994. The people and personalities I have known in MRA, now IofC, have enriched my experience.

In London

Dated: 20th September 2007

The famous London Bridge by night. To me lighting is an art that redefines the way we perceive things. I have seen the bridge by day and it was not even half as beautiful as it was by night.





The Tower Bridge, another monumental landmark of London. This one however did look quite impressive by day too, though it looks more grand at night. I love the night...

Dated: 2nd Oct 2007

Westminister Abbey, a grand structure standing seemingly almost aloof.

Dated: 9th October 2007

The Millenium Bridge spanning across the Thames.

A boat speeds away along the Thames and the castle in the backdrop presents a good view.

A view of the Thames in the evening.

Modern architecture.

A pretty flower basket hanging on the wall.

Buckingham palace.

Dated: 2nd November 2007

The magnificient Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner beautifully lit up by lights at night.

Dated: 19th December 2007

Picadilly Circus at night wears a dazzling look. A favourite meeting place for us.

In Berlin

Berlin, Germany

26 Aug-7 Sept 2007

The combined group consisted of students coming from 29 different countries and comprising 29 Erasmus Mundus, 14 tropEd and 3 DAAD students, including the facilitators of the International Health Summer School. We had our classes at the Humboldt University, Berlin and it was an exciting and interesting experience.

The TV Tower is an impressive structure standing 368.03 metres tall and situated in the centre of the city near the Alexanderplatz train station. The lift took us up to a height of 203.78 metres which gave us a bird's eye view of the city. It was great being up there and surveying the beautiful city. Towers around the world has always been associated with pride and achievement and this will always remain so.

Albert Einstein's house is located in a quite and serene hill overlooking the pretty town of Caputh. Simple in design and perfect as a getaway resort for the great man of science.

In front of the Studentendorf Schlachtensee, the student hostel where some of the Erasmus Mundus students were accommodated during the Summer School period. It was pretty far from the city centre but has its own charm. I remember the breakfast time before rushing to catch the bus to Wansee and then the train to Freidrichstrasse station which is near the Humboldt University. I also remember Sebastian and I taking a 15 minutes walk to Schlachtensee station and then taking another train to Freidrichstrasse. Good moments well spent.

My dear friend Sebastian, a medical doctor from Chile with a good sense of humour, seen here reading a Spanish novel on our was to Freidrichstrasse. He's pretty good with his Nikon camera and some of his shots are worth putting on display. I wish him the best in his track (health policy and management).

The Argentinian beverage Mate. Sebastian offered me a drink and I like it instantly. The shapely carved wooded cup and ornamental steel straw added to the charm. It tasted like herbal tea and is actually an infusion based on the herb Yerba Mate. Mate is usually taken with hot water. The drink is also common in other parts of South America.

This is a Turkish meal and it was definitely one of the most fulfilling meals I had in berlin. Each item on the plate has a distinctive flavour that tickles the taste buds resulting in an expression "Hmmmm,ummmmm.." each time the food is chewed upon.

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And finally after a hard day's work, time for bliss.

School Drawings

My school drawings at the time when I was in Class 7 and 8. Though I also drew from my own imagination, I also could replicate other pictures I see. Below are replications I made from various sources.

Stallion

It was from an old cowboy comic strip that I saw this picture. Actually there were few horses but I picked to draw this one, as it was leading the rest. I used pencil and sketchpens.

Lioness chasing antelopes
This was from a Tarzon comic strip. I used pencil and watercolours. Hopefully one fine day I would see such a scene somewhere in the African wild.

Anaconda attacks a mule
This was from some adventure comic strip. I just used pencil and sketchpens. I like to follow stories of these giant snakes in National Geographic or Animal Planet whenever I get the chance.

Obelix putting his menhir to good use
Definitely one of my favourite comic strips. Obelix doing what he does best. If anyone knows where to get a good deal for Obelix and Astrix comic strips, please let me know.




Kite flying
This drawing was incomplete. I was yet to colour the background or mountains and sky.




Ready to draw
One of those cowboy comic strips again. This chap was a good guy and pretty damn good with his gun too. So he was still seen till the end of the comic strip.




Gun battle
The lone chap was a good guy in the story. He was on a revenge path after his wife was killed by 'them scums' seen here biting the dust. Actually there were six of them and the good guy had just six bullets, one for each scum. He managed to kill 'em all. Thats the law of the wild west.

Those Good Old Days

My sister and brother were in school while I was still at home till I was 5 years old. Sis was in Loreto Convent School from the start. Bro was in St. Joseph School then but later went to St. Edmund's School.

It was our sister's birthday this day. I was in Kiddies Corner School then. It was the second school I attended after Seven Set School where I completed my KG2. I joined Kiddies Corner School in 1984 where I attended Class I. I finally went to St.Edmund's School in 1987 when I was in Class IV.

With our cousin, Balashonshap. He was a bundle of cuteness and we love to take him around. Now he is 80 kgs, fair and handsome and its impossible to even think of carrying him.

My sister with her Santa Claus. It was winter and Christmas was approaching then, so we had those woollen sweaters on. Also notice the bell bottoms my brother and I wore. I guess I was feeling rather shy then and did not face the camera.

This was in one of the beaches in Goa when we went for a family tour of South India. It was the year 1988 during the winter.

My sister during a Walkathon in which she participated and won in her age group. She walked a few kilometres and dressed in her jainsem. We were pround of her and still are of her achievements.

I was 8 years young then and our cute cousin Shap was 2. We were standing at the entrance to our house. For some reason Dad made me hold the placard announcing in big words that I had turned 8!

Light at the Edge of the World

Wade Davis was in Delhi and we made sure we did not miss his programme. It was April 21st 2007 and by 7 pm, we were already seated inside the Gulmohar Hall at the India Habitat Centre. I did not know about Wade Davis until that evening. This celebrated anthropologist, writer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence was on tour to promote his film 'Light at the Egde of the World' a 4 series film on cultures in struggle in the face of modernization.

His voice was smooth and strong with conviction as he spoke about his work and the film he made. He said that 'power' was threatening to wipe culture away, but that just as we humans can wipe away cultures, so can we nurture them. By power, he was referring to the social, economic, political and spiritual forces of the 'modern/civilised' world that are impacting and destroying other cultures that are (viewed by the modern/civilised world as) not 'modern' or 'civilised'. Davis pointed out that there was also a significant part played by missionaries who were brought by the European explorers, which contributed to a rapid erosion of unique cultures. He gave the example of the ancient Polynesian civilization that was subjected to these external forces to the extent that within one generation, almost the entire ancient practices and customs of people slipped from history into the realm of myth and ultimately disappeared.

After his talk, there was an exclusive screening of his film 'The Wayfinders'. The film is about the Wayfinders of Polynesia who inhabited the largest culturesphere in the human history, spanning 1/5th of the surface of the planet. Navigators of the sea, Wayfinders used wave pattern 'fingerprints' and the stars to travel thousands of islands. However this culture that once flourished over 25 million square kilometres of ocean has seen mush of its history and tradition die out. The film also tells about one Hawaiian native trying to preserve and learn this art form of Wayfinding, and designing a traditional Polynesian canoe (Hokule'a) to sail across the islands.

Hokule'a, the Polynesian sea-faring canoe.

(Picture taken from http://www.pbs.org/wayfinders/polynesian8.html)

The pictures below were taken from the website:

http://www.theconnection.org/photogallery/wade

The front cover to "Light at the Edge of the World," by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis, published by National Geographic Books in February 2002.

National Geographic Exlorer-in-Residence Wade Davis.

The eyes of Rara at the town of Desdunnes, Artibonite Valley, Haiti.

A Yagua shaman from the northwest Amazon region of Peru.

Note: The other 3 film series in 'The Light at the Edge of the World' are:

-> Hunter of the Northern Ice: About the Inuit of Canada and Greenland who have survived for thousands of years in the harshest climate on earth. But will global warming bring an end to the Arctic hunt and the Inuit way of life?

-> Sacred Geography: Wade accompanies villagers from the town of Chinchero, Peru, as they make the trek to the annual Qoyllur Rit'i festival, which attarcts more than 25,000 people a year across the Andes mountains. A rich illustrations of beautiful rituals dating as far back as the ancient Incas and Spanish Conquistadors, this festival showcases the cultural fusion of pan-Andean culture.

- > Science of the Mind: Wade goes on a spiritual trek through the Himalayas of Nepal, looking at Buddhism as a science of the mind.

Learning to Ski

Vacation time is back. My elder brother arranged another trip, this time to Auli, the ski resort at Uttarakhand. We stayed at the Clifftop Club from 6th - 11th April 2007. The journey - a train from Delhi to Haridwar (the Mussoorie express taken 10 hours and the Shatabdi takes 4 hours!), then by hired jeep from Haridwar to Joshimath (another 9 hours). From Joshimath the cable car takes people 4 kms up in 15 minutes. Too bad for us, it was undergoing annual maintenance, so we had to take the jeep up for another 14 kms. The road for the entire 14 kms was bad and we kept bouncing like dolls as the jeep rolled up along undulating mountain terrain. But the journey was worth it.

Brothers and sister are all smiles. Happy to breathe fresh mountain air at 10,000 feet elevation.

Learning to ski. For me the balancing was not difficult, but how to turn while skiing was the tricky part. It was great fun...Can't wait to go skiing again.

One of those moments when a clumsy fall suddenly arrests what seems to be a good attempt at skiing. You get up and start laughing at yourself, half amused and half embarrased. But it's ok...thats how you learn.

Jane Goodall - The Legend

Jane Goodall (rather Jane 'All Good') is a woman of great character and patience, a woman of grace - A living legend whom I admire immensely. She visited Delhi in January 2007 as part of the British Council sponsored 'Wildscreen International Wildlife & Environmental Film Festival'. Though I could not attend her lecture, I asked my friend Amitangshu, who got to attend the event, to take her picture and video-record her lecture.

She spoke about her journey to study the chimps in East Africa. How in the summer of 1960, when she was 26 years old, she arrived on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa to study the area's chimpanzee population.

At that time, it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the wilds of the African forest, but for Jane Goodall the trip meant the fulfillment of her childhood dream. Jane’s work in Tanzania would prove more successful than anyone had imagined.

Her favorite books as a child included The Story of Dr. Dolittle, The Jungle Book and the Tarzan series. By the time she was 11, Jane dreamed of going to Africa in a time when it wasn't thought the proper thing for a young woman to do. But Jane's mother Vanne told her, "Jane, if you really want something, and if you work hard, take advantage of the opportunities, and never give up, you will somehow find a way."

What her mother said is amazing. It can make any child be a the most accomplished person in life.

Below are photographs that depict Jane Goodall's life and mission. All the photographs and captions are taken from the Animal Planet website:
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/janegoodall/jane/bio/slideshow.html

The First Chimp

When she was just over a year old, Jane's father gave her a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee, which she still has to this day.

Jane's Tea Party

Jane entertains her stuffed toy animals. As a child Jane's favorite books included The Story of Dr. Dolittle, The Jungle Book and the Tarzan series.

Puppy Love

Even as a child, animals were an important part of her young life.

The Right Stuff

In Jane, Dr. Louis Leakey, the legendary paleontologist, found the right person for the job. He needed someone with maticulous observational skills and a lot a patience.

Mother and Daughter

British officials refused to let a young woman venture into the African jungle by herself, so Jane took along a companion, her mother Vanne.

Getting Close from Afar

Once in Gombe observing the chimpanzees proved difficult and they fled when Jane tried to get close.

Patience, Patience

After a few months, the chimpanzees began to accept Jane's presence in their world.

Patience Pays Off

A male that Jane called David Greybeard was the first to venture into her camp.

Life's Work

Jane Goodall's work in Gombe was has become one of the longest uninterrupted field studies of any animal species in its natural surroundings, and research continues there to this day.