HBD KRUPAKAR

Many Happy Returns.
Enjoy the trip

50th Anniversary of a dream

Tomorrow, the 28th of August, is the day in 1963 when Martin Luther King gave the famous speech "I have a dream".


I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"


Has the dream been fulfilled? 

I request views on that as well as a view of India in a similar situation (not the same)
 

Happy Birthday Amma!

Vasudha, Swathi, Lavi, Harika, Srikanth, et al -- at Ranga Babai's.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113116853867637584522/VasudhaSwathiLaviEtAlAtRangaBabaiS?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2OqsH9paqJ9AE&feat=directlink

HBD KRUPA

Many Happy Returns of the Day.

4 days in Paris (not just an evening...)

Here is the next part in the series, Paris.
We continued our European journey by taking the high-speed TGV train to Paris, reaching the Gare de Lyon station in Paris at around 1 PM.

Day 1: Rest Day
The Paris station could not have been more of a contrast to the ones in Switzerland. It was crowded, chaotic, comparatively dirty, feeling a lot like Chennai central. We grabbed a couple of taxis and got to our hotel Des Ducs D'anjou. A purported 4* hotel, it was a converted town home, which meant the rooms were small and cramped, standard fare for a central Paris hotel. We got the "Blue Suite", which is the glorified attic, but the location can't be beat for access to all Paris sights. Aditya loved his personal bed with curtains.

The first night in Paris was a night for relaxing and getting our bearings. That is also the night when we discovered the definition of "Close" in Paris terms. We were told Louvre was "close", so we started walking in that direction on Rue di Ravoli, only to find that we arrived at the tail end of the museum away from the entrance after a 40 min walk.....Giving in to the whines of the kids, we took the metro back, reaching our hotel in exactly 8 min.

After a dinner consisting of excellent Onion soup, Toasted Goat Cheese (my new favorite cheese, so smooth, so creamy) and Chocolate cake overlooking the Pompidou Center, we turned in for the night.

Day 2: Versailles and Musee d'Orsay
The next day dawned bright and early, again finding me on my morning wanderings while Adi and Srinivas slept. I found the local grocery stores Monoprix, Franprix, a creperie for breakfast and a Starbucks for the unadventurous in our party.

Once everyone was ready, we got on the metro towards Versailles, home to the famous Palace of Versailles, seat of the French Royalty until they were overthrown during the french revolution.  Arriving before the palace opened, we were one of the first few folks to enter, and we were able to enjoy the place with relatively fewer crowds and hardly any lines.

 The sheer magnitude and opulence of the palace was shocking, that too considering the fact that a majority of the possessions in the palace such as furniture and art was burned during the revolution.

The paintings, the decorations, the bed chambers of king and queen, the walls, the ceilings, the gardens and the grounds were vast, imposing, beautiful, opulent...you can add your favorite choice of adjectives and they would not do justice to this place.

The king's bed, with a lady statue representing France, watching over the king

Queen's Bed Chamber, where Marie Antoinette escaped the rioting crowds via a secret door

Hall of Mirrors, where the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I and that caused World War II was signed

The famous painters and sculptors whose works I was able to view are too numerous, and in fact, they deserve their own post and I will chronicle their names from our visits to the various palaces and museums in Paris and London, so I shall refrain from referring to their names here.

After grabbing lunch again consisting of Onion Soup and Goat Cheese for me (I really liked those two...) Pizza etc for Aditya and Srinivas, we rested our weary legs on our way back to Paris on the metro.

Arriving in Paris, we ambled over to Musee d'Orsay, home to some of the most famous Impressionist paintings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism
By any token, our family is novices when it comes to art, so I was quite pleasantly surprised by the level of interest Aditya displayed in the various museums, which admittedly at 2 hours was less than what a connoisseur might feel is worthy, was beyond my expectations for him and Srinivas. It did help that I bought a few history/culture books for him earlier, which meant he was familiar with most of the artiste names, and even some of the works, dragging me across the gallery excitedly, to show me those....

Famous works at d'Orsay:
 Starry Night by Van Gogh
Dance in the Country by Renoir
Lunch in the garden by Monet

Day 3: le Louvre and le Tour Eiffel
The day started spectacularly, with a Mont Blanc Pastry and Chocolate Chaud(hot) at Angelina's, a world famous Parisian bakery on Rue di Ravoli. Again getting there early helped us save the trouble of standing in line to sample the wonderful delights of this place. We then met our tour guide for the museum and made our way to the Louvre pyramid entrance, walking across the Tuileries gardens and, under the Arc du Carousel (may I suggest a refresher to the Davinci Code?).

Of course, the guide started her tour stating unequivocally that no one is buried under the inverse pyramid and the Louvre pyramid is not made up of 666 glass panes (trust Aditya to know the significance of 666).

We then made our way through the museum to see the 3-famous ladies of Louvre: Nike aka Winged Victory, Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. Having seen reproductions of these famous works many times, seeing them in person raised goosebumps on my arms.

      

We also saw a few other famous works : Da Vinci's Madonna on the Rocks, Napolean's coronation, Sculpture of a slave by Michelangelo etc in the European section before  moving on to the Egyptian wing for a glimpse of the Sphinx from the Valley of Kings in Egypt. From there we made our way to the Mesopotamian wing for the Stele of the Code of Hammurabi, the first known human laws ever made.

Spending 4 hours, we barely covered a tiny fraction of the huge museum and in fact, I would love the opportunity to come back and visit this museum again, sampling few more of the historical artifacts on display here.

We then made our way to visit the Eiffel Tower, another if not THE iconic landmark of Paris. While no longer of any significance when talking tall buildings (the current world's tallest is almost twice as tall), it was a beautiful and imposing structure, offering great views of the Seine river and city of Paris from the top.

Our drive to le Tour Eiffel took us along the famous Champs Elysee, from the Egyptian obelisk at Place du Concorde to Napolean's Arc de Triomphe, barricades from the Bastille Day military parade of the previous day still intact. An early dinner was in the works, followed by a good night's sleep, as tired out from the day, we decided to skip out on our plans to visit the Eiffel Tower again in the night.

   




Day 4: Notre Dame Cathedral and Latin Quarter
With scarcely  half day left in our Paris stay, as we were catching the Eurostar that evening to London, we packed up our stuff, and walked over to the Notre Dame (Our Lady) Cathedral, immortalized by Victor Hugo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cathedral is built in the Gothic architecture, unlike the majority of cathedrals following the Romanesque style.

  

We arrived in time for the afternoon Eucharist mass, our first ever mass attended.

                                                      
Already familiar with the ceremony of Eucharist, or the Holy Communion, a reenactment of the last supper, I explained its significance to a fidgeting Aditya, who started giggling at the rendition of "Hallelujah"  , remembering a recent Mr.Bean episode he watched.....

Notre Dame is a beautiful church and it's treasury holds the "Crown of Thorns"-  purported to be the original Crown on Jesus's head, as well as a fragment of wood believed to be from the original cross and a "Holy Nail".

The crown of Thorns

It's a building rife with history, where Napolean was crowned king of France, where Joan of Arc was canonized (a statue of her is visible in the collage above) and is the home of the famous gargoyles and chimeras that spawned a new architecture style.

After our visit to Notre Dame, we walked to the Latin Quarter, home of the Parisian artist community, but more importantly Paris food scene, grabbed our final lunch in Paris and walked back to our hotel.

Collecting our baggage, we left for Gare du Nord(North Station), completed our immigration formalities for entering the United Kingdom and boarded the Euro Star for our Chunnel ride, landing in King's Cross station after an uneventful journey.

Me and my "French": Through my years of Agatha Christie and 8 years of Actel with French colleagues, I surprised myself at how much French I absorbed:-) In a supposedly rude country where people are downright nasty to tourists, its a wonder how much a "Bonjour" or a "Pouvez-vous m'aider sil vous plait" or "merci beaucoup" gets you. I used my broken french and their broken English to find out the location of a second elevator at the Eiffel Tower, translate the French translation of Code of Hammurabi into English at the Louvre, been asked  "French?" from a "garçon" after ordering "un evian, un confit du canard, sil vous plait" and answering "ce bon" to a question about how good the food was...It was extremely gratifying to be able to read a lot of the signs in a completely foreign language and understand what they meant :-)
Aditya also thoroughly enjoyed the experience, asking the waitress, "excusez-moi madame, Où sont les toilettes ?" and saying "merci beaucoup" to every one....

Switzerland Days 2& 3 Luzern and Pilatus; Interlaken

To spare the readers of the blog, I have decided to condense the 10 part series into 4 :-), so here is the rest of Switzerland :-)


Jetlagged, I awoke at 4 AM on July 11th. Unable to sleep, I showered, grabbed my camera and walked out of the hotel at 5:30 AM to explore the still sleeping city of Luzern.

Dawn view of the fountain and the square from our hotel room

The town was absolutely quiet, unlike the US, not even the Starbucks opened until 8 AM. I walked along the river promenade, across the most famous landmark of Luzern, the wooden Kapellbruecke (Kapell-chapel, bruecke-bridge; the chapel bridge), back to the Luzern railway station. Wishing Guten Tag to the folks unloading fresh fruits and vegetables to the restaurants, I asked the few morning walkers I encountered along the way to take a few pictures of me. 

In front of Kapellbrucke

I returned to the hotel in an hour, by which time Adi and Srinivas were up and ready. After grabbing a breakfast of Muesli and croissants with hot chocolate, both our families headed out back to Luzern central station to catch a bus to  Kriens for our "Golden Round Trip" to the top of Mt.Pilatus.

Almost all mountains in Switzerland have some form of transportation to the top that includes a combination of trains and gondolas. The Swiss transport system was wonderful, our "SwissPass" covering transportation via train, bus, boat, funicular and gondolas, making it easy to mix and match our travels.

Mt.Pilatus is home to the world's steepest cogwheel train(48% gradient). The round trip from Luzern involves traveling from Luzern to Alpnachstad via boat, getting on the cog wheel train to Pilatus-Kulm(peak), coming down from Pilatus to Kriens via cable car and taking the bus back to Luzern.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnh6X6IKkwU

On the cable car route, there is a stop at Frankmuntegg for an adventure park. We decided to beat the crowds by taking the trip in reverse. Accordingly, we got off the bus at Kriens and made our way to the cable car station. Singing "Akele Akele" I got on the gondola.

We made our way to the top, listening to the cowbells as the cows grazed in the open fields. Every house had a garden, even if it was a window box full of flowers.

 

The best part of Pilatus was the 1350 meter toboggan run, a thrilling ride down a steel tube with numerous twists and turns, a personal roller coaster. The best part, the speed control is in your hands!!!!!! For the first run, Aditya and Srinivas went together on a single toboggan, at a calm pace of 15 km/hr. For the second run, Aditya went alone, clocking a speed of 28 km/hr. For the final run, he was nipping at my heels, with a fast 40km/hr run........the two of us being the only folks in our party who made the run multiple times :-)

 

http://www.pilatus.ch/en/pilatus-active/summer/fun-action/summer-toboggan-run/

Toboggan Run Video

After the toboggan, we continued to the top on the gondola, but pretty soon, the whole mountain top was covered with clouds, robbing us of the promised spectacular views.

We spent some time on the summit, soaking in the fresh mountain air, before heading down in the cog-wheel train.

We then concluded our round trip by taking the boat back from Alpnachstad to Luzern, enjoying in the spectacular scenery along Lake Luzern.

After a quick evening nap, we went souvenir hunting in the local supermarkets Manor and Coop, buying packs of Swiss chocolate, cow bells and pencil boxes. We also sampled other local foods like semolina pudding, excellent Mango Lassi( a big surprise, finding lassi..) and Quark, a form of strained and thick yogurt, which Aditya fell in love with, eating it every day while we were in Switzerland.

Of course, a trip to Switzerland would not be complete without a fondue, so we stopped for dinner at House of Fondue for a traditional meal of Cheese and Chocolate fondues.

Unfortunately, the chocolate fondue contained pieces of Hazelnut, which made Aditya throw-up all the food he ate. At 10:30 in the night, I went in search of annam, having spotted an Indian restaurant in a back alley during my early morning wanderings. I was able to finally procure some plain rice, which tasted excellent when mixed with some plain quark. Aditya ended the day with Perugu Annam and Arati Pandu, and we turned in for the night, dreaming of the adventure we planned for the next day.....

Our 3rd day in Switzerland proved to be the most exciting day of the whole trip, as it involved paragliding in the alps. The day started with a train ride in a panorama car ala DDLJ to Interlaken, gateway to Alps, one of the most beautiful towns in Switzerland, and the location for many a song in DDLJ, including

Of course, there was no Shah Rukh Khan, only Srinivas and Aditya, but hey...I will take them any day :-)

After a picturesque ride through valleys, mountains and towns, we arrived at our destination, Interlaken OST(east) from which we took a van to the top of a nearby mountain for our paragliding take-off.

Interlaken is a town between two lakes, as its name clearly implies and its location at the foothill of alps makes it an ideal and safe location for paragliding, even for kids. Aditya was supremely excited, chattering non-stop to the top of the mountain, before getting strapped in with his instructor (we all did tandem paragliding with an instructor as we are not certified paragliders, like anna was). The instructors offered us a choice between a smooth ride and a thrill ride (obviously Adi and I chose the later).....

It was definitely one of the most exciting moments of my life, the closest to pure flying you can get, wind in your face, feet high above the tree line, adrenaline coursing through your body.

After paragliding, with time on our hand, we decided to make a trip up to the Alpine village Murren, a no-car town, since the only access up there involves a gondola and a train :-) It's the base to Schitlhorn and Piz Gloria 

http://www.schilthorn.ch/, location for many a 007 movies, including "Her Majesty's Secret Service". 

However, a ride to Murren and back to Interlaken involved many transitions via bus, train and gondola: Interlaken->Train->Gondola->Train->Murren->Gondola->Gondola->Bus->Train->Interlaken. We had a reservation on the train back to Luzern that evening and we were convinced we were going to miss that train and have to take a later one, since there is no way any journey that involves this many connections can be smooth.....

But in a big kudos to the whole Swiss transportation system, the connections were perfectly executed, each Cable Car/Train meeting the other in perfect connection, with just enough time to make the connection without feeling rushed.....

Murren was a wonderful little town, with great views of the Swiss alps and the glaciers and the traditional swiss chalets.

Red Currants

After our day at Interlaken, we got back to the hotel, packed up our stuff and left the next morning to Paris via Basel, taking the TGV train, reaching Paris on July 13th afternoon.

HBD Viswam

Many happy returns of the day.

HBD Gopal!

Many Happy Returns of the Day.

Many Happy Returns of the Day SSV and SUDHA!

A Great Day to Remember. Happy Anniversary.

A Short Stay in Switzerland - Day 1 Zurich

http://krupastravelogue.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/a-short-stay-in-switzerland-part-1-zurich/

My Europe Travelogue

So, I am back......to bore the masses, with details of my travels (or travails)....However, I have started a travel blog to chronicle my meanderings around the world, so I shall be providing links to those posts here. Please make your valuable comments (aka the appreciations, he he he..) there.

SBD conserving angular momentum

Amma had a good time when going round and round in the park on a runaway ride!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jfk4Y-85HI&feature=youtube_gdata_player