Ah Travel!!

Image is God!! Image feeds Imagination (many a times), Image and pictures, no matter what monotheistic religions tell you, are hard to remove from our culture.

Standing in a long que for check-in, I could not help but notice this metal cut out, that preps weary travelers for excitement that they are about to encounter!!  Somehow there is no image of medical tourism.....well, because they know which images to use here!!

And yet, everytime I look at it, whether in image or in reality (I have seen this in more than one airport), it brings me a smile, and lights me with the thought that at the other end of the travel, I may have some adventures, or family reunions awaiting me!!

If Vogue Knew!!

The above and below picture are not of the same person....but taken at the same time, at the same place, October, 2012

Bhutan, October 2012

I found her breaking rocks by roadside in Paro town.  Her toddler was climbing on her back.  I walked up with my camera.  And tried to talk to them.  They all spoke 'mild' hindi.

Her eyes captivated me.   She noticed me smiling straight into her eyes and she looked away, giggling like a teenager. 

Please, may I take a picture of you?

She giggled and hid her face in her right palm.  Her clothes were old, the sweater seems old enough to unravel any minute, her hands were dry and coarse, tell-talling her hard life, but those eyes could not but reveal the untouched soul.  

It took me a while to get two photographs, because she just would not look at me.  After a few minutes I settled for two shots, neither which of has her eyes towards the camera.  She was simple and straight forward in herself-consioucsness and shyness.

Neither did I ask her name, nor did I pay her for this photograph, nor try to establish any emotional contact.  I was not sure how I felt around this soul, that oozed its essence in the simplicity that it embodied.  

Her friends giggled, and laughed at the attention she was getting.  Somehow, I feel that they knew that they could not give her that royal treatment she deserved!!  Looks, handwork, kindness, simplicity, all rolled into a short Bhutanese/Nepali frame!!  

As I walked away, I kept wondering, how long before that all fizzles after she works in sun and heat, cold and winter, breaking rocks day after day, as she feeds her child by the street.  A stray thought brought me a smile, 'Only if Vogue knew about her'

As the distance between these women and me got farther --I wondered if it was a blessing that Vogue did not know about her.  In that obscurity the woman had maintained an allegiance to authenticity--not to be found in fashion magazines!!  

May be that is why my feet stopped and I knelt in front of her to request for a photograph! 

Trädgård Lakäre!! Garden Doctors!!

The Garden Doctors!!

As usual, I had about a gazillion things to think about as I was walking towards the university.  I have to update the syllabus, after groups have been marked, have to respond to about 15 emails, I also want to go for a walk during the day, how shall we schedule it? wait, did I bring my  lunch with me, or do I have to buy it? Did I forget it on the table?

And in the middle of this check list, I stopped.  And truly paid attention to what was going on around me.

Two men, appropriately attired, had cut out large pieces of grass, and were fixing something around an electric pole.  And then just as quickly they were putting it back, knowing fully well that nature will claim its own, in a few days grass, urged by benign sun will grow back and there will be no signs left of the surgery they had just performed.

'Aha moment!!

I know--these men are the Trädgård Lakäre!!  the Garden Doctors!! 

I turned around and said it aloud.  The older one who was the first one to get the message said, 'Precis!!" and nodded heavily.

Precis, is the Swedish word for Precisely!!  I love the expression!! 

The younger one without a hat, chuckled.

May I please take a picture of you both and may I put it up on my blog!!

Absolut!! said the older one.

They both posed.  And here is the picture.

The Garden Doctors.  We are all doctors, teachers are soul doctors, politicians are nation doctors, doctors are doctors, and then those who make our garden look their healthiest, well,

Trädgård Lakäre!!  Garden Doctors!!