சில தினங்களுக்கு முன் பாலகுமாரன் எழுதிய "பேய் கரும்பு" புத்தகத்தை படிக்க சந்தர்ப்பம் கிடைத்தது (நான் தீவிர பாலகுமாரன் ரசிகனோ, இல்லை இது போன்ற புத்தகம் படிக்கும் பழக்கமோ என்னிடம் கிடையாது). இந்த புத்தகம் என்னை பெரிதும் பாதித்தது.
பட்டினத்தாரின் வாழ்க்கையை சொல்லும் கதையில் நம் வாழ்க்கைக்கு நிறைய பாடங்களையும் சொல்லி கொடுக்கிறது இந்த நூல். முதல் சில பக்கங்களிலேயே பாலகுமாரன் நம்மை கவேரிபூம்பட்டினத்துக்கு கொண்டு சென்று விடுகிறார். கடல் வாணிபத்தையும், அதன் சூட்சமதையும், அதில் உள்ள ஆபத்துகளையும் மிக அழகாய் நம் கண்முன்னே கொண்டுவந்து தருகிறார்.
அந்த கதையின் முதல் பாதியில் பாலகுமாரன் என்ற எழுத்தாளனின் படைப்பு திறன் வெளிபடுகிறது. பாலகுமாரனின் பொதுஅறிவு, எழுதும் விஷயத்தில் அவருக்கு இருக்கும் ஆழ்ந்த ஞானம் எல்லாம் என்னை பிரமிக்க வைத்தது. கடல் வணிகத்தின் அத்தனை விஷயங்களையும் ஆராய்ந்து மிக அருமையாக கண்முன் கொண்டுவந்து கொடுத்துள்ளார்.
பூம்புகார் நகரத்தின் அழகு, அங்கு வாழ்த்த மக்களின் வாழ்க்கை முறை, அவர்களின் பண்டம் மாற்றும் முறை என்று எல்லாம் என் கண்முன் நடந்தது போன்ற உணர்வை பெற்றேன். இதற்கு முன் சில புத்தகங்களை படித்திருக்கிறேன் ஆனா இந்த அளவுக்கு ஈர்க்கப்படவில்லை.
அந்த கதையில் வரும் மருதவாணர் ஓலை சுவடியில் " காதற்ற ஊசியும் வாராது காண் கடை வழிக்கே" என்று எழுதி வைத்து விட்டு சென்றதும் பட்டினத்தார் வாழ்கையில் ஏற்படும் மாற்றங்கள் மற்றும் பட்டினத்தார் வாழ்க்கையை பற்றி புரிந்துகொள்ளுதலையும் மிக அருமையாய் படைத்தது இருப்பார் பாலகுமாரன்.
என்னை மிகவும் கவர்ந்த இந்த நூல் என்னுள் சில கேள்விகளையும் எழுப்பியுள்ளது. நன்றி பாலகுமாரன் அவர்களே.
Tuesday 27 May 2008
Trip to Heaven – Part 3
As planned we got up @ 4 .00 am on Sunday morning and came to breakfast table by 5 .00 am. We booked our cab by 5.20 so that we can get the ticket to Jungfrau and catch the Golden pass train @ 6.05 from Interlaken OST.
All went well as planned and we all got into the Golden pass train from Interlaken OST. After about 1 hr of journey we reached a place called “Lauterbrunnen”. We had a connecting train (a narrow gauge) from this place to a place called Wengen. It was a wonderful journey and very scenic all thru the way. We took another connecting train from Wengen to Jungfrau and the travel from Wengen to Jungfrau is awesome.
The travel from Wengen to Jungfrau is worth a mention here. It is close to 40 miles travel and all the way the track run into mountain and you will never get a chance to look the outside world. I wonder the construction and the time it was constructed. They started this work way back on 1902 and completed the entire work by 1916. We reached Jungfrau after 1 hr journey.
Jungfrau is the top of Europe and it is at a height of close to 3700m (11ooo feet). They have a observatory at the top of the peak and a ICE palace. You can see the entire Alps mountain range from Jungfrau and it a treat to watch. One of my life time dream came to true on that day. We went to place called “Plateau” and felt like we are somewhere in Artic or Antartic (the temperature was close to -20 c) and the wind did rest of the damage. We couldn’t manage to stay there for more than 5 mins continuously.
We spend around half a day in Jungfrau and then decide to start to the next destination “Schilthorn”. You have a revolving restaurant at this place and at an altitude of 2969m (close to 9500 feet). We came all the way to Lauternbrunnen and then took a Cable car to a place called Murren. We then took a train to Murren station and then walked for 15 mins to reach another cable car station in Murren.
We took 2 more cable car ride and finally reached “Schilthorn”. The restaurant in Schiltorn is a 360 revolving restaurant (costlier) and it takes one complete rotation in 1 hour time. We heard that this place came in some old James bond movie.
We reached Interlaken OST by 7 pm in the evening after a satisfying day. We then finished our dinner in the so called Indian restaurant (Shalimar). Our plan for Monday is to visit Mt Titlis, Luzeren and Mt Pilatus. We planned for our next day trip and then went to sleep by 10 pm.
To be continued…
All went well as planned and we all got into the Golden pass train from Interlaken OST. After about 1 hr of journey we reached a place called “Lauterbrunnen”. We had a connecting train (a narrow gauge) from this place to a place called Wengen. It was a wonderful journey and very scenic all thru the way. We took another connecting train from Wengen to Jungfrau and the travel from Wengen to Jungfrau is awesome.
The travel from Wengen to Jungfrau is worth a mention here. It is close to 40 miles travel and all the way the track run into mountain and you will never get a chance to look the outside world. I wonder the construction and the time it was constructed. They started this work way back on 1902 and completed the entire work by 1916. We reached Jungfrau after 1 hr journey.
Jungfrau is the top of Europe and it is at a height of close to 3700m (11ooo feet). They have a observatory at the top of the peak and a ICE palace. You can see the entire Alps mountain range from Jungfrau and it a treat to watch. One of my life time dream came to true on that day. We went to place called “Plateau” and felt like we are somewhere in Artic or Antartic (the temperature was close to -20 c) and the wind did rest of the damage. We couldn’t manage to stay there for more than 5 mins continuously.
We spend around half a day in Jungfrau and then decide to start to the next destination “Schilthorn”. You have a revolving restaurant at this place and at an altitude of 2969m (close to 9500 feet). We came all the way to Lauternbrunnen and then took a Cable car to a place called Murren. We then took a train to Murren station and then walked for 15 mins to reach another cable car station in Murren.
We took 2 more cable car ride and finally reached “Schilthorn”. The restaurant in Schiltorn is a 360 revolving restaurant (costlier) and it takes one complete rotation in 1 hour time. We heard that this place came in some old James bond movie.
We reached Interlaken OST by 7 pm in the evening after a satisfying day. We then finished our dinner in the so called Indian restaurant (Shalimar). Our plan for Monday is to visit Mt Titlis, Luzeren and Mt Pilatus. We planned for our next day trip and then went to sleep by 10 pm.
To be continued…
Monday 19 May 2008
வேதனை
அரசன் அன்று கொல்வான்
தெய்வம் நின்று கொல்லும்
நீ என்னை ஆளும் அரசி
நான் வழிபடும் தெய்வம் ஆதலால் தான்
என்னை ஒவ்வொரு நொடியும் கொல்கிறாயோ?
தெய்வம் நின்று கொல்லும்
நீ என்னை ஆளும் அரசி
நான் வழிபடும் தெய்வம் ஆதலால் தான்
என்னை ஒவ்வொரு நொடியும் கொல்கிறாயோ?
Tuesday 13 May 2008
Trip to Heaven – Part 2
By 7.30 am the Airbus A720 took off from T5 and gained altitude steadily. I felt asleep as soon as I enjoyed the take off. After about 1 hour time I was awaked by my friend to have my breakfast. I usually won’t have anything in flight except cookies. I just had coffee and slept for another 30 mins before we got a announcement about landing. It was a short fly to Zurich, about 1 hour and 50 mins. We had a safe landing in Zurich at around 9.20 am local time.
We took an underground train to reach the immigration area which is one station away from the landing area. We cleared the immigration without any problem and were out of Zurich airport soon as we don’t have any bags checked in. As per the itinerary we went to the Zurich railway station which is just opposite to the airport immigration point and took a Swiss rail pass for 4 days. In Swiss all the places are accessible via train and cheapest way to get along is to get a Rail pass. You can go anywhere in Swiss using this rail pass and some places you may be asked get tickets additional to your rail pass however you will get 25 to 50 % concession on those tickets.
It will work out very cheaply if you get a group rail pass for 4, 8 or 22 days accordingly to your travel plan rather than getting tickets for individual journeys. Our plan for day one is to visit Rhine falls which is the Switzerland’s largest waterfall and then travel to Interlaken where we booked our hotel for 3 days. We took a train from Zurich airport to a place called “Winterthur” and from there to Rhine falls.
We were amused to see the quality of the trains in Swiss. There are 2 decks and a restaurant in almost all trains. Cleanliness is the other name to Switzerland. One more important thing to mention about Swiss train service is their punctuality. All the trains start dot on time and will reach the destination (all the stations in between) on time without a delay of even half a minute. If your station is expected to arrive at 6.52 pm then you can get down from the train @ 6.52 pm without even seeing the station name (Provided your watch is set to local time correctly).
Coming back to the waterfall, we heard the roaring sound of the falls once we got down from the train and we started walking towards the falls. It was really a wonderful sight of seeing one of the biggest waterfalls in Europe and we all thoroughly enjoyed the scenic view of that place. We took a boat ride in that falls and had nice time in Rhine falls. The climate was too good on that particular day. It was bright and sunny so we had a great view of the falls and entire place around the falls.
After having spent more than 3 hours in the falls we decide to head towards the hotel which was 2 hours travel from Zurich. We came all the way to Zurich airport and then took a train to central railway station. We got all the connections trains as planned and reached Interlaken by 6 in the evening. We got down one station before our actual destination (thanks to the female who gave us wrong direction and special thanks to Umesh who wished to explore Swiss by walking all the way to the hotel) and walked more than 3 miles to reach the hotel by 7 pm in the evening.
We checked in and refreshed ourselves before rushing to the dinner table. After a good dinner we planned for the next day sight seeing places and hit the bed by 11 pm. We decided to catch the 6.05 am train to visit Jungfrau next day.
To be continued…
We took an underground train to reach the immigration area which is one station away from the landing area. We cleared the immigration without any problem and were out of Zurich airport soon as we don’t have any bags checked in. As per the itinerary we went to the Zurich railway station which is just opposite to the airport immigration point and took a Swiss rail pass for 4 days. In Swiss all the places are accessible via train and cheapest way to get along is to get a Rail pass. You can go anywhere in Swiss using this rail pass and some places you may be asked get tickets additional to your rail pass however you will get 25 to 50 % concession on those tickets.
It will work out very cheaply if you get a group rail pass for 4, 8 or 22 days accordingly to your travel plan rather than getting tickets for individual journeys. Our plan for day one is to visit Rhine falls which is the Switzerland’s largest waterfall and then travel to Interlaken where we booked our hotel for 3 days. We took a train from Zurich airport to a place called “Winterthur” and from there to Rhine falls.
We were amused to see the quality of the trains in Swiss. There are 2 decks and a restaurant in almost all trains. Cleanliness is the other name to Switzerland. One more important thing to mention about Swiss train service is their punctuality. All the trains start dot on time and will reach the destination (all the stations in between) on time without a delay of even half a minute. If your station is expected to arrive at 6.52 pm then you can get down from the train @ 6.52 pm without even seeing the station name (Provided your watch is set to local time correctly).
Coming back to the waterfall, we heard the roaring sound of the falls once we got down from the train and we started walking towards the falls. It was really a wonderful sight of seeing one of the biggest waterfalls in Europe and we all thoroughly enjoyed the scenic view of that place. We took a boat ride in that falls and had nice time in Rhine falls. The climate was too good on that particular day. It was bright and sunny so we had a great view of the falls and entire place around the falls.
After having spent more than 3 hours in the falls we decide to head towards the hotel which was 2 hours travel from Zurich. We came all the way to Zurich airport and then took a train to central railway station. We got all the connections trains as planned and reached Interlaken by 6 in the evening. We got down one station before our actual destination (thanks to the female who gave us wrong direction and special thanks to Umesh who wished to explore Swiss by walking all the way to the hotel) and walked more than 3 miles to reach the hotel by 7 pm in the evening.
We checked in and refreshed ourselves before rushing to the dinner table. After a good dinner we planned for the next day sight seeing places and hit the bed by 11 pm. We decided to catch the 6.05 am train to visit Jungfrau next day.
To be continued…
Thursday 8 May 2008
Trip to Heaven – Part 1...
May 3rd is one of the memorable days in life. One of my life time dreams came true on this D day. I never dreamt of this happening so soon. It all happened just like that and I am still surprised and in cloud nine.
My dream was to see Switzerland in my life time and it came true last week. Yes I was holidaying in Switzerland for 4 days and enjoyed thoroughly. We (I & My friends) started casually talking about holidaying in Switzerland in the month of May without any big plans or even idea about what to see, where to go and stuffs like that. The very thought of going to Switzerland made me feel like flying and I asked one of my friend to book flight ticket so that we can take of the rest after.
My friend mailed me the itinerary on first week of April and I was thrilled. We then slowly started preparing our overall itinerary. We completed the whole process of planning our trip and booking hotel just one day before our trip :). One of friend is staying in Lester came to my home on Friday night (May2nd) so that we can reach the airport on time without any fuss on Saturday morning.
The plan is to reach Swiss on Saturday morning and visit few places that we already planned for next 4 days and come back to London on 6th (Tuesday) night. Honestly we didn’t plan anything expecting knowing the names of the place to be visit. We hit the bed very late in the night after packing our back packs and last minute discussion on do’s and don’ts.
I set the alarm for 3 am so we can reach airport on time. We all had hardly 3 hrs of sleep. I have already done an online check in and printed our boarding pass so we had plenty of time in airport. We reached Heathrow T5 by 5 am and our flight was @ 7.20 am. We cleared the security and did some shopping at the duty free shops and boarded the A720 BA flight to Zurich by 7.00 am.
To be continued…
My dream was to see Switzerland in my life time and it came true last week. Yes I was holidaying in Switzerland for 4 days and enjoyed thoroughly. We (I & My friends) started casually talking about holidaying in Switzerland in the month of May without any big plans or even idea about what to see, where to go and stuffs like that. The very thought of going to Switzerland made me feel like flying and I asked one of my friend to book flight ticket so that we can take of the rest after.
My friend mailed me the itinerary on first week of April and I was thrilled. We then slowly started preparing our overall itinerary. We completed the whole process of planning our trip and booking hotel just one day before our trip :). One of friend is staying in Lester came to my home on Friday night (May2nd) so that we can reach the airport on time without any fuss on Saturday morning.
The plan is to reach Swiss on Saturday morning and visit few places that we already planned for next 4 days and come back to London on 6th (Tuesday) night. Honestly we didn’t plan anything expecting knowing the names of the place to be visit. We hit the bed very late in the night after packing our back packs and last minute discussion on do’s and don’ts.
I set the alarm for 3 am so we can reach airport on time. We all had hardly 3 hrs of sleep. I have already done an online check in and printed our boarding pass so we had plenty of time in airport. We reached Heathrow T5 by 5 am and our flight was @ 7.20 am. We cleared the security and did some shopping at the duty free shops and boarded the A720 BA flight to Zurich by 7.00 am.
To be continued…
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