Mental Excursions

Log off 2023, restart, log in 2024! For a few of us imperfect humans, it is time to make the promise of turning a new leaf, to plan, and to intend eventually to look at improved versions of ourselves when we look at the mirror 366 days later. Whether it has been a long time wish which we have forever wanted to make true or an ambition that we strive to turn into reality, the new year resolution-implementation works in two ways- jump right in on the 1st day of the new year or progress in a phased, planned manner each day for 365 days. My experience says the first generally applies to giving up or beginning something e.g., resign from your job to prevent sacking or foolishly resolve to give up nicotine/caffeine/alcohol/ impulsive buying/stress eating/saying yes under social or emotional pressure/watching You tube videos endlessly/sleeping in till late. In a phased manner one could choose to eat/live healthy, work harder, follow passions/hobbies, learn a new skill/language over th...

Their hearts beat for Shoh Rukh Khon Uzbek Diary V Last The high-speed train from Bukhara which I had talked about in my post last Saturday, brought us to Samarkand in less than two hours, around 5.00 p.m.   We went straight to the hotel which promised us a luxurious stay. My understanding is that with increased focus on tourism everywhere, new hotels are coming up, but the staff are not exactly prepared or trained for that. Checking us in took a very long time although we were the only guests in the huge hotel. Then, getting the wi-fi password ended in us being exhausted and the staff frazzled because they simply could not do it. We had heard about the lighting of the Registan Square at night, so to make the most of whatever was left of the evening, we decided to go there. Before you complain of Uzbekistan fatigue, let me assure you that this is the last of the series and then I go back to my usual random topics. Believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities of Central A...

Bukhara, the centre of Silk Route Uzbek Diary IV Photo: Researchgate I had talked about our visit to Khiva and the dried-up Aral sea in my earlier posts. After spending two nights there, we took the 9.00 a.m. train for the seven-hour Khiva- Bukhara journey. As far as eyes could see on the dry, brown land all round, stood twiggy bushes topped with little fluffs of cotton. Uzbekistan is known for its cotton cultivation and if you recall, it was the greed to grow more of this ‘white gold’ that had caused the Aral Sea to dry. Photo: Kun.Uz In our cabin were two Hungarian gentlemen in their forties who spoke excellent English. They told us that they backpacked without family to inexpensive destinations once a year. We also came to know that one worked in the railways and Mani, who had presumed that the journey would be dull, with him being stuck with only me to talk, had enjoyable conversation with him. Later while Mani napped, the three of us talked about places to visit on our wishlists...

Similarly dissimilar my friend, rekhmat ! Uzbekistan diary 3 Liquor shop at a petrol station Last Saturday I had posted about our visit to dried-up Aral Sea in Karakalpakstan and the abandoned ships lying there for decades now. We had arrived in Khiva by an overnight train (Uzbekistan Railway) from Tashkent the morning before. The train body was narrower than those in India with four passengers in a cabin and no side berths. One railway employee deployed in each coach was the attendant, cleaner and ticket-checker, everything. There was a narrow compartment near the door of the coach in which burned a coal fire to heat the whole coach as well as water in a small container with a tap from which you could use water for tea. Two sachets each of green and black tea and four small packs of sugar cubes were provided in each coupe. The train brought us to the quiet Khiva station right on time at 10.55 a.m. Khiva, a nearly 1500-year-old city, was a well-known market of Persian and Russi...