Mystic(al) musings ...

Draft from an earlier day

Finally making it's way ...! 

Day 3 - Mystic(al) Sea Port

Pure Enchantment !

Starting afresh today we were delighted by a random sweet gesture by our waitress. Me and my friend then headed to the museum Mystic Sea Port. Being my first exposure to a nautical museum I would say this place was indeed mystical as the name suggests. To get the best out of this place, I would suggest visiting this place during a weekday to avoid the crowd and explore the place in great detail at a comfortable pace . Which is what we did and I felt totally enchanted at the end of the day. I felt I could relate to this place a lot and couldn't help but compare the whale ship described below to present modern day ships I had sailed on as a child with my dad.
                                                                                 
          

Charles W Morgan

We first started exploring the Charles W Morgan whale-ship built in 1841, which is currently being renovated as part of a 4 year project and is expected to be set to sail again in 2 years time . The entire process of blubber extraction right from capture of whales to boiling the fat in a furnace(to extract oil) was explained in depth by the museum guide. Throughout my tour of this ship I could not help but recollect fond memories of sailing in passenger ships with dad and family, and draw comparisons to differences/similarities on how this ship had been built and operated. The major striking difference was that this being a sail boat did not need an engine room, fuel etc . It was indeed fascinating to learn how the sails were hoisted and how such a big ship was operated using sails . The bottom deck had rooms for captain, first mate, second mate etc and their wives. Seeing these rooms made me reminisce the time I had spent in my dad's cabin/ room during long voyages at sea.

Next we got to see how the printing press functioned in the 19 Th. century.  The museum guide patiently explained the entire process despite her busy schedule. It was interesting to observe how this process has evolved leading to present modern printers which has simplified the experience of printing to such a great extent.

The process of printing explained in detail by these pictures below. 

Wooden block print form used to print a picture

Rolling the ink

Pressing to get the imprint

Pulling the tray to get the printed paper

Lead characters placed in the required order

The Lead Character Set

               

Fun fact from documentary "Ancient Inventions" by Terry Jones, the Koreans were the ones who had invented the idea of using movable lead pieces for printing words on paper.

Final Output

As I type this blog post, changing colors, changing fonts, setting Italics and Bold on characters so easily within fraction of seconds, I cant help but imagine how tedious and meticulous it would be for me to do the same during the 19 th century.

Truly grateful to technology, indeed I am !

On a lighter note, Can you guess the amount of time it would have taken to create the printed paper on the left ? ;)

Though we missed the planetarium show by a whisker, we got to see the sailor's navigation room with models explaining these concepts on navigation.

• Round earth to flat map
• Direction n speed
• Measuring an angle
• Finding latitude n longtitude

Some more things that we checked out that made this museum visit a worth while one of a kind experience ...

Making of Barrels

                     The instructions in these pills were hilarious. They read something like "Consume until symptoms go away". It was evident that the doctors at that time were not aware of the concept of overdose. Also most of these had a considerable amount of alcohol in them.

Sailor's Drug Store

The rectangular box below is the water tank, and this engine used to be hand-driven by workers. Fire-fighting back then seems indeed strenuous besides it's risky nature.

19 th Century Fire Engine

                             

Horse Carriage Ride

Sailor's Reading room for recreation

A cute lighthouse

                            

We ended the mystical museum visit with an enchanting ride on a steam ship which is the last coal fired steam ship since 1908 consuming about 1000 pounds of coal per day ..



  Serene scenes from the ship ride--->                  

  The gentle ripples the steam ship created, made the water beneath feel like as if I was riding on a violet velvety satin cloth !

Must say, the detailed insight of the lives of sailors of the 19 Th. century that I got from this museum also made me better understand/imagine how my dad's life would have been while he was a sailor!  

 

We ended the day (true to every word in this sentence), by having the best pizza ever our lives at Mystic Pizza !

Fun Fact: A Julia Roberts movie was screened at this place Mystic Pizza

More colorful posts from the trip next ;) !...

Nurturing Creativity and the Gita

Frankly I have been appalled at the feedback I got for some of my doodling done in my free time out of interest. It was news to me that a piece of writing I write, or a picture I draw, or a video I put together out of love for my brother, all as a release of self expression could have an immense effect on the emotions of strangers and people close to me alike. Some of the feedback made me understand to a certain extent what this below quotation meant.

                             "The pen is mightier than the sword" ~  Edward Bulwer-Lytton


Comments like these also made me curious to drill in and research a little deeper to find out what exactly did the word "Creativity" mean.

"Superb vidya,U have a lot of creativity and humor in you" 
" You have got good talent, don't waste it" 
" You need to showcase your talents "
" You think different " or " You are different " ~ from conversations in projects/ social gatherings 
" You are damn good at this " 
 " I did feel a tear trickle down my cheek, but I felt some sort of unexplained positivity in me ". ~ comment from a blog post
" Good one. Had a good laugh. Now your mokai  poem touches a weak nerve somewhere "
" A very good strength of yours is that you think outside the box. You should never loose that ability"! ~ comment from my colleague during a review meeting

These are just some of the comments from friends, family and colleagues I have heard so far. They are all genuine and in a way they aim at motivating me/ driving me in making good use or expressing whatever people see in me as different or as talent. But there is a catch. What exactly does making good use mean. Or what exactly does it mean to "not waste it" . The last comment in particular from my colleague stressing upon to not loose this ability could in-fact put any sane person under pressure if not interpreted wisely.

It is indeed fascinating to read about the different schools of thought that associate creativity to different aspects of human life. A few causes that attribute to creativity are ( click on them if interested to read more )

1. Love
2. Mental Ilness
3. Being Left Handed
4. Forcing Creativity

Above all, it was very disturbing to come across a lot of negative attribution to creative types like writers , poets and artists to be stereo typed as depressed loners or romantics.

I agree that there is a fair chance of getting tired sometimes when so many ideas/ thoughts hit you and in not being able to have the energy or time to put all of it down to paper/fruition. Or even getting frustrated sometimes when a seemingly brilliant thought hits you at an inopportune moment only to loose the flow later when you have time to work on it. I am sure most of us would have felt this way at some point in time. But when this happens it is entirely up to us to either get overwhelmed and negative ....

or to be positive and create a phycological distance with these thoughts and handle them with a different perspective like how Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love) narrates in this inspiring TED talk on nurturing creativity.

What touched me most about this video was her concluding sentences that goes something like this.

Don't be afraid! Don't be daunted! Just do your job, whatever that might be. If your job is to dance, do your dance. Continue to show up for your piece of it. If the divine cockeyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed for just one moment through your efforts then Ole. If not, do your dance anyhow. Ole to you nonethless.

I believe it and I feel like we must teach it. Ole to you nonetheless just for the shear human love and stubbornness to keep showing up. 

When I was hearing these sentences all that resonated in my mind was the Bhagavad Gita's concept of Karma Yoga and Lord Krishna's teachings. 

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

This is what I feel like telling the prolific and inspiring writer Elizabeth

A poor attempt at snow Krishna 

"This age old concept has already been taught in ancient India as well, it just needs to be spread and remembered at all times by all generations to come. And yeah, the divine cockeyed genius as you put it in my case has been and will always be the divine lotus eyed all-attractive, most beautiful Lord Krishna ;) ". 

Life Gyan ...

An inspiring quote on my blog :) !

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. you just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back.

Dancing in the pouring rain, smiling until it hurts :) !

 

 

 

स्मृति ! aka That which is remembered

Reminiscing Crater Lake :)

There was a young woman new to the city

Though she was witty                                                                                   

She knew not many a friendly soul in the city

Then she met a very nice person

Whose friends welcomed her in warm unison
They took her along in their trip to Oregon 
And showed her for no fee
A piece of nature, she had not anticipated to see

The beauty of the scenery

Was a symbol of nature's grand finery

The sense of wonder, upon seeing the lake

Was a joyful memory in time, for her to take                                              

                                                               ~ "True Mocka Artist" Vidya 


While I am in the middle of writing about the recent memorable Boston trip, my mind drifted to the past and the memory of my crater lake visit with a bunch of enthusiastic people came to my mind. Reminiscing it's beauty makes me perceive to some extent the state of mind John Keats should have been while writing the poem A Think of Beauty is a Joy Forever . These thoughts led to an amateur's quick attempt at this above poem :).  

 

Cape Cod musings ...

 Day 2 - Beach via Bike


Enthused by the ghost tour trip yesterday night we started the day visiting the shore of Plymouth Harbor. This shore is the traditional site of disembarkation of Plymouth Rock  and the Mayflower Pilgrims. Note the Plymouth rock engraving of the year 1620 to mark the year the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth.

                                                 In the background Mayflower Ship Model

Next we headed to watch the whale tours. But as luck would have it, the tour was not operating today. Bummer ! So we chose a back up plan of biking along the Cape Cod Rail Trail to check out the Coast Gaurd Beach and the back up plan turned out to be more awesome . The Cape Cod Rail Trail follows a former railroad right-of-way for 22 miles through the towns of Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham and Wellfleet.

We rented bikes from a small local bike shop at Brewster, though I did wish I have been able to bike the trail on my Absolute 2.0 bike instead as the rental bike was no where near my baby . We started biking the trail from Brewster taking a detour at Salt Pond Visitor Center. The state of not knowing what lies ahead but yet being excited about it termed something as "adventure" in mundane words lurked in my mind. We chugged along the way and when we had almost reached the beach shore(which we were not aware of then) we contemplated heading back to be able to return the rental bikes on time. With no 3G signal coverage, we were lucky to meet 2 tourists in the lonely bike trail who enthusiastically gave us the good news that we were only 2 miles away from the place and that the view was definitely worth the effort .  Inspired we continued along the windy mysterious path ...

                                           .... Only to be spell bound by what we saw at the end .

                       

                                                                 Coast Guard Beach


Coast Guard Beach is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. A favorite among Outer Cape tourists, it is recognized as one of America's top ten beaches, as good as Hawaii or Florida.

Next we had a refreshing break way back at Hot Chocolate Sparrow. A famous chocolate/cafe shop of the locals. Our bike ride back was wonderful. More relaxed with the knowledge that we had enough time to reach the bike shop on time. These following words best describe my thoughts at that moment.  

Soaking in the environment of thick dense trees to the either side of us, tinges of orange/violet/unknown shades of color in some leaves(beautiful they were whether they were on a tree or had fallen to the ground), occasional appearances of ponds with rare glimpses of snow white ducks, coal dark geese, a mystical tunnel, winding roads with just the right amount of steep to make me feel curious, challenged, and above all rewarded !.

Experiencing these thoughts, I returned the bike with my friend and we headed to checkout the lighthouse near Coast Guard Beach by car. A small lighthouse operating though quaint in appearance, we saw. While we were searching for parking amidst dead ends and private homes a small distant wooden chair caught my eye. Curious was I as ever to see why it was placed there and what was lying ahead of it. After dealing with car parking logistics, I scampered towards it. As I approached the chair I realized that it was not one but a pair of wooden chairs . As for what the chairs were facing, am indeed at a loss of words to describe. A mental picture of this place will stay in my memory for sure but I reckoned capturing it in a camera is something that will benefit others who see it as well. Though the latter might not be as good in quality as the former, it is still something ... . 

                                                          

A day well spent !  More on rest of the vacation in further posts:) ! 

Plymouth musings ..

Day 1 - very first day of a going to be memorable road trip along Boston Area ( credits to an enthusiastic friend's attention to details :)

Today has been one of those rare days which begins with no big expectations and ends up making you feel so much wonder for the place you visited. The trip started with unexpected kindness from the enterprise rep who gave us a SUV upgrade for no charge in addition to waiving the additional driver fee .

Plymouth - A gentle introduction to American History

Me and my friend hurried from the airport to the hotel and bought tickets for the Ghost Lantern Tour at Plymouth. The tour is operated by Colonial Lantern company a pioneer in organizing a professionally guided tour narrating the history of this region. More info if interested at: http://lanterntours.com/ .

Frankly, I never knew such tours existed and though I was skeptical in the beginning ended up valuing being a part of the tour . I started the tour with another company and later joined back my friend and the Colonial Lantern  tour guide. Well, am not afraid to admit that I momentarily chickened out at the start of the tour deserting my friend to go by herself, only to join the tour again at a later stage with a brave spirit. I did create some excitement in the group of being "the missing person" in a middle of a cemetery late at night . 

The tour started at the foothill of burial hill.The burial ground founded in the 17 century which is the first Pilgrim burial ground.  This place is very rich in terms of American History and has been a witness of the Pilgrim's lives. The Pilgrims' story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and culture of the United States. .Plymouth Colony (sometimes New Plymouth, or Plymouth Bay Colony) formed by Pilgrims was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

                                                    The cemetery during the day 
The tour guide was enthusiastic and dramatic and did a wonderful job at creating a spooky environment/ mood to the audience. Since the group was large I guess I became brave enough to walk amidst the burial ground at night with a Lantern listening to hairy ghost stories. An experience which was truly one of a kind ! Beyond being mere ghost stories, must say this was a wonderful exposure to American History. As part of the tour we got a chance to see the burial ground of several notable Pilgrims and as well listen to many interesting stories such as those of Captain John Smith - the initial surveyor of Plymouth region for settlement.. Grueling stories around Kind Philips's war( one of the earliest Indian wars) in the middle of the night narrated passionately by a local tour guide walking down Leyden Street, (claimed to be the first street in Plymouth Colony).

                                           In the background, first church of Plymouth
A must visit for any one interested in American history etc.And yeah, the ghost tour would definitely be a A Walk to Remember !