Diwan-e-Khas

Diwan-e-khas is an exotic marble chamber with intricate artwork inside the Red Fort where the Emperor held private meetings with “Khas” (important) people. The famous Peacock Throne adorned this magnificent hall before Nadir Shah carted it off to Iran in 1739. Perhaps the Persian inscription on the ceiling of the Diwan-e-Khas (Hall of Nobles) in Shah Jehan’s Red Fort fired Lutyen’s imagination.

The poet, Firdaus, extravagantly claims, “If there be a paradise on Earth; it is this, oh it is this, oh it is this”. Certainly echoes of the paradise, in the form of architectural style, details and materials, are found in Lutyen’s neo-classical design for the new city. Thin marbles lattices separate the Diwan-e-Khas from the Khas Mahal, housing the Emperor’s sitting room, prayer room and bedroom. The king would grant audience to important people.

Opal Odyssey’s Diwan-e-Khas- meant for those who wish to keep track of my fancies and fallacies, activities and amusements..

 

Push the Envelope

“Push the envelope” is used figuratively to mean “stretch the boundaries”. The image is not of pushing a mailing envelope across a desk: those who push this sort of envelope do it from within.

The phrase has its origins in the world of aviation, where ‘envelope’ has, since at least the late 60s, had the meaning ‘a set of performance limits that may not be safely exceeded.’ Test pilots are often called on to ‘push’ a new aircraft’s performance envelope by going beyond known safety limits, as in determining just how fast an airplane can be flown. In 1979 Tom Wolfe’s best-seller ‘The Right Stuff’ vividly described the life of test pilots during the 50s and60s, and it appears that this book, and the subsequent movie, did much to popularize the notion of pushing the envelope.

Opal Odyssey’s extension Push the Envelope deals with the recent socio-political happenings around the World, and discusses ways and means to attempt to change certain over-bearing systems and practises which have done much to hinder the progress, peace, and prosperity of Nations.

 

Melting Pot

Globalization has become the most-used buzz word in socio-political circles, and with the resulting amalgamation of the cultures and civilizations of the World into a Global Village of sorts, each of us has now metamorphosed into a Citizen of the World.

The luminescence of long by-gone civilizations shimmers through the cultures and traditions of the Citizen of the World- he is formless, transcends borders, and can indulge with equal ease and enjoyment in activities which were once restricted to geo-political settlers-a Dim Sum culinary treat in Japan, a snow-skiing lesson in Alaska, a desert safari in the Sahara, learning about the boa in the Amazon, shopping in Milan, sleeping on hot stones in the freezing Gobi…

A Citizen of the World’s views on culture and its obelisks-Melting Pot

 

In black and white…

Tulsi, Parvati, Kesar, Kusum, Kajal, Kasish- if these names seem painfully familiar, then you may be yet another, rather bewildered, victim of the Great Indian Soap Saga-where heroes never die-they just get their cars blown to shreds, are pushed off cliffs, kidnapped one-too-many times, poisoned by ‘beautiful’ vamps, suffer from amnesia, get plastic surgeries done, and in the worst possible scenario: dissappear for a few weeks from the screen owing to them being ‘dead’ only to be resurected thanks to public demand! (Yumraj ji-are you listening?!)

There was a time, not too long ago, when Doordarshan ruled the roost. Many generations, including mine, grew up on Chitrahaar, News Bulettins @ 2000hrs and the eagerly-awaited Sunday movies…

A cursory flick of the remote landed me to the present-day Doordarshan a while ago- it has obviously changed quite a lot, perhaps catering to the hysteric K-brigade fan following! But that familiar DD logo triggered off a wave of bitter-sweet memories from yesteryears, so this week’s Memory Lane will attempt to take you on a walk down memory lane-in black and white…

 

Nostalgia…

The Future reveals Her Beauty to those who remember Her Past and rejoice Her Present.

Memories of childhood are sweetened by revelling in that innocence which once over-flowed from our hearts- snapshots of mine are right here..!

Presenting Memory Lane-an extension of Opal Odyssey..