Mondays, mountaneering and a trip to Heaven

Mondays are always hard to deal with when you get back to office. The cobwebs in your mind which have accumulated over the weekend, the stiff limbs, the mountain of work awaiting you (especially if you are catering to clients in a different time zone) etc. Last Monday however, something seemed different. I did have a large stack of work (it was going to be the busiest week in the past couple of months). But I did not feel depressed by the prospect of insurmountable work; neither did I feel the Monday blues. As I now sit down and contemplate what was so different about that Monday, I can come up with only one answer: my trip to Lohgad. But then, I said to myself, how is it that after such a long and harrowing trip – being the smartasses that we are, we had gone on a Sunday and returned home at 2 a.m. the next day - instead of feeling drained and tired, I am feeling fresh and energetic. I know that most people will gape at me and wonder what is so tough about a mountain trip to Lohgad (it certainly can’t be called a trekking trip). Well, all I can say is that for someone like me who thinks that taking the stairs to my sixth floor office is a form of exercise, this was like climbing Mount Everest.

I would like to make a confession first. I am not too fond of climbing mountains. I don’t have a fear of heights, but somehow I feel much safer at sea level. I like to go on beaches. The vast expanse of the ocean always fascinates me. Sitting on the beach, reading a book, going for a swim in the sea, or just frolicking around; that’s the life for me. But as far as climbing mountains is concerned; well…to be quite honest, on my entire journey to the base of the mountain, all I can think about is how I am going to approach the climb. When I am climbing, I prefer not to talk as it may give away my nervousness; and when we finally make it to the top, all I think about is the routes that I am going to take while climbing down (especially at the stretches where we had a tough time climbing). I may cheer up a bit when we are taking lunch and stuff (Who doesn’t!!!), but all in all I can’t remember a single mountaineering experience where I have enjoyed myself completely. Somehow, I am just not sure of my footing and balance. It’s pathetic really, but true.

Now for those who don’t know, Lohgad is probably the easiest mountain to climb. Unless of course you want to be a bit adventurous and try to find new innovative routes up to the peak – which is the only way you can get some trekking done on Lohgad. You can take your car up to the base of the fort. This reminds me that I haven’t mentioned anything about Lohgad itself. Lohgad is a fort based near a small village named Malawali. It is one of the many hill forts that belonged to Shivaji. The actual fort begins in a village called Lohgaon. After climbing some 500 steps you can get to the very top of the fort. For more details on how to get there, please log on to Google maps or Wikipedia.

I won’t talk of any adventures that happened to me, because frankly speaking, there were none. My other friends had adventures; I was just a silent spectator making my way using the best possible routes. The one good thing about that day was that there was plenty of rain. I like rain when I am not in the city. A rainy day in the city is filled with dirty potholes, travelling in trains packed with wet, sweaty human beings, going to office with your jeans or trousers rolled up to your knees and several other detestable things not worth mentioning here. But a rainy day anywhere outside the city is a blissful experience. Taking in the smell of the earth, seeing the nature without the layer of dust on it, shedding all our inhibitions and getting wet in the rains; this is something which cannot be equaled even by a raise offered at our workplace. Add to that a cup of hot tea and piping hot vada pav, and my day is made.

But the one lasting memory in my mind is not the rain, the chai and vada pav or the constant anxiety that follows me every time I go for trekking. It’s the magnificent views that I got to see that day. Half way through our walk to the base of the fort, we came across a plateau which afforded a view of the surrounding mountains and the fort itself. With the clouds covering the peaks the view was indeed breathtaking. There is huge mountain right opposite to the fort – I can’t really remember its name – that was covered with clouds with only the front portion peeping out like the prow of a huge and ancient ship. But the finest view was seen from the top (isn’t it always?!). When we reached the top, it was all misty with the cloud cover giving everything an ethereal feel. There was a moment when the clouds broke apart and sunlight rushed through to reveal a magnificent landscape surrounding the mountain. It was like the nature had turned a magician that day and it had kept this final and the most spectacular trick till the last moment when the spellbound audiences would have thought that there are no more tricks in its bag. I am not sure whether there are such places as Heaven and Hell - if there are, then I am certainly going to Hell; for reasons I won’t go into. But I can say one thing for sure; Heaven cannot be more beautiful than this. I know there are many people who will say that they have seen much more beautiful places on their trekking trips; but being an amateur in this regard, I can only say that I haven’t seen anything better. And who knows, maybe this experience will encourage me to go no to better views.

I have uploaded a few pics taken by my friend and am sharing them here:

Lohgad pics

Book Review: 'The Interpretation of Murder' by Jed Rubenfeld

Jed Rubenfeld has made a bold attempt at writing a psychoanalytic thriller, something which few authors have tried to do; and what’s more, he nearly pulled it off. This book is based in 1909 when Sigmund Freud, the neurologist famous for his theories on psychoanalysis, visited America for the first – and only – time. This is the first fictional book that I have read where an actual living character plays such a major role. Though of course, if the book was going to be based on psychoanalysis it would have been a criminal offense not to include Freud in it. It has been written for the most part as a first person account of Dr. Stratham Younger, a fictional character created by the author.

The story starts with the day Freud arrives in New York, America along with two of his followers Carl Jung and Sandor Fereczi to lecture in the Clark University. The same night, a young girl of 17 is murdered in her plush apartment in the same city. The murder is even more gruesome because the girl is tied to the ceiling and whipped mercilessly. The very next day a similar attack takes place on Nora Acton, another 17 year old in her own house. She manages to scream out before the murderer could finish his work, and so the murderer has to flee. When the police attempt to interrogate the girl, it turns out that she has lost her voice and cannot remember anything that took place the previous day. That is when the Mayor of New York on learning that Sigmund Freud is in the city invites him to have a look at the girl. After examining the girl, Freud tells Younger to take over the case and helps him solve it. While Younger runs psychoanalytic treatment on Nora, Detective Littlemore attempts to trace down the murderer based on the clues that he finds on the body of the murdered girl before it mysteriously disappears. As expected, there is a romantic angle introduced with Stratham Younger and Nora Acton as the protagonists.

The story, being set in the early 1900’s New York, describes the architectural and the industrial revolution taking place at that time quite vividly. Also, the author has described the social strata and the general mindset of the people during that time quite succinctly. This was very important because it explains why the parents of the victim are so eager to cover the assault on her.

The book touches with a lot of psychoanalytical theories prevalent during that time. But, it mainly deals with the Oedipus complex theory which was propounded by Freud. This theory deals with the feeling and desires of any person to possess the parent of opposite sex and eliminate the parent of the same sex. The main plot – and several sub plots – deals with this same theory.

Most of the fictional characters described in this book are well sketched. However, their behavior is not quite consistent throughout the book, which makes you wonder whether the author changed the climax at the last moment. The behavior of other characters ofcourse is based on their real life counterparts. While Freud, Jung, Ferenczi and a few others existed in real life too, a few characters have been based on other real life characters. Quite a few events described in the book did take place in real life too; like the parting of ways between Freud and Jung. However, while in reality this event took place a few years after 1909, in the book this event has been shown as having occurred during their visit to America. There are a few other events which have similarly been postponed or preponed in order to accommodate them in the book. However, since these are related to the main plot of the book, I will not mention them here.

The biggest fault with the book is that the flow of the book is all confused. One moment you will have Younger having psychoanalytical sessions with Nora Acton, the other moment you will have Littlemore struggling on to find the murderer. The scenes tend to change with each paragraph, which is not something that you really want. Most readers would prefer a particular scene to go on for atleast 3-5 paragraphs. It’s almost as if Jed Rubenfeld is trying to create too much of mystery. And there he lets the reader down. Basically such books are supposed to be read while travelling and other hectic activities. However, the haphazard structuring of the book means that you can get lost easily. In fact, I would strongly recommend that you read this book only if you have time on your hand. If you plan to read this book haltingly, with a break of say a 4-5 days between two readings then it may be hard to keep up with the plot. Another fault, as I mentioned earlier, is that the characters are not consistent throughout the book. What I mean is that, during any character’s interaction with any other character, there is no hint given that he/she may turn out to be different. This is an error most mystery writers try to avoid since the surest way to lose readers is by creating a mystery so unfathomable that the reader cannot guess the solution by himself at all.

All in all, I would say the ‘The Interpretation of Murder’ could have been a much better book than it eventually turned out to be. Should you read it? Well, as I said, read it only if you can keep up with the confusing storyline, or else just give it a skip.