Kaivalya

( Notes written some years ago- found recently.) Gandhi, who studied law at London, was based in South Africa- when his elements of his war against the English started to build up. His instinct when being thrown out of the compartment on the train, to hit the constable is well known (popular). After being thrown in jail, he had the opportunity to read among many essays- the Civil Disobedience by Thoreau. This would be a lasting impression on him, along with other influences like Tolstoy etc.  He was participating in the activism in South Africa against the racial inequality. Back in India, the weapons of Gandhi were his somewhat 'faith' oriented concepts of Ahimsa, Satyagraha which he vouched for and moved into the masses. In fact, the foreign origins of these tools like Tolstoy's advocacy of peace against war into Ahimsa, Socratic dialogues into Satya and Thoureau's Civil Disobedience were successfully employed by Gandhi. With these and the unquestionable discipline he...

 Part 2: The Arabian Sea Day 7: 11- Jul- 2001 It was not until 5.00 AM in the morning that I woke up. Then as usual after my ablutions, I woke up others and everyone was ready by 6.30 AM. I was expecting the train to arrive at Londa by 7.00 AM. Right it was!! We got down in the station. Actually, I thought Londa a so-called junction at the borders of Karnataka and Goa would be no less than our own Kazipet station. But it was my turn to get bewildered at the very look of the station. It was so remote a place that the TTE would actually beg for the passengers. However, it was richly greener and that made the secluded village a good spot to breathe air for a while. We got into the bus shelter, which was a 10-min walk from the station. Here we found so many folks and breathed a sign of relief, as it confirmed that we were on the right path. We met a couple of guys from California making their tour in India. Soon, the bus arrived. We got hold of the bus and had our luggage thrown beneat...

 Part 1: The Nilgiris (Written July 29, 2001) Day 1: 05-Jul-2001 Waking up in the early hours made me feel easy today. I was almost as ready by about 8.00 am. I helped my mom pack things for me. I couldn't feel anything right now because I was in the trance of my journey's fantasies. I started my journey on my own, with a first but short walk to Suman's house. There, I collected him and his friend Sandeep and here we were- starting our first ever trip. We were at the  [Warangal] railway station by 10.00 AM. We started our first waiting for Thota Suman who hereforth would be known as Thota to avoid ambiguity. So, we waited for Thota till 10.30 AM and found him near the stairs. [No cell phones at that time]. It wasn't much time that elapsed that we were already on the train. The train (Golconda express) was luckily empty. We occupied enough seats as to let our friends Karun, Satish and Ramesh get their accommodation; soon we caught them in the Kazipet railway station. ...