Habitat for Humanity
The second-leg of our journey through the desert began. The distance from Start’s Well to Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse is 164 kms. Even though there was hardly any traffic on the highway, driving through the desert needs focus and complete concentration. There were two drivers and they were taking turns. Once one finished, he went right at the back of the bus where there’s a nice bed for him to take rest. And the other driver took charge.
My Australian sojourn last month would have been far from complete if I hadn’t visited Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in central Australia.
The Qantas flight from Adelaide (three hours and fifteen minutes) landed at Alice Springs airport, a sleepy town about 500km from Uluru at 12.30pm. We took a bus from the airport and reached Desert Palms Resort around 2pm. Located in Australian outback, the hotel offers a tropical oasis in the middle of the desert. The setting of the resort is stunning with palm trees all around.
David Wells, the curator of Bradman Museum, feels extremely honoured to be associated with an institution that bears Sir Donald’s name. “Don is an inspirational Australian and much can still be learned from studying his life and the game he loved,” says David.
“We are working tirelessly to interpret not only Don’s history but also that of the game worldwide in as many engaging ways as possible.”
“In the twilight of a long and happy life I still think cricket is the finest character builder of all our sports. And in the years ahead I trust that the Museum in its lovely setting will be the catalyst to encourage and inspire the young people of Australia to serve their nation with courage, honour and humility.”
Sir Donald Bradman AC, 1996
As the morning sun caressed the lush green pitch of Bradman Oval, it created an atmosphere of quiet grandeur and timelessness. Here in Bowral, cricket’s ultimate place of pilgrimage, all-time great and legend Sir Donald George Bradman (1908-2001) spent most of his cricketing years! This is the ground where Sir Don scored his first century in Grade Cricket.
Just 115 km south-west of Sydney, Bowral is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales and the main business precinct of Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands.
Hong Kong-based Indian yoga teacher Yogaraj C.P. has set a new Guinness World Record by performing more than 1600 asanas for 40 hours and 15 minutes – without a break. He began the Maha Yoga Sadhana on February 13 and performed yoga on successive nights of February 13 and 14 before achieving the incredible feat on February 15. Yogaraja, who has been teaching yoga over the past 20 years and took a proactive role in popularizing yoga in Hong Kong, decided to create a new world record after the India-led resolution for declaring 21June as the International Yoga Day was passed at the UN last year.
President Barack Obama’s signature legislative initiative– Affordable Care Act—completed five years of its meaningful existence. The President signed the epoch-making law on March 23, 2010 which has transformed the lives of more than 16 million Americans.
Prior to Obamacare, the U.S. was one of the only developed nations that didn’t have a national health program.
Every Indian, I’m sure, has an incredible romantic railway memory. Remember the scene in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955), the breathtaking milestone of world cinema, where we see the boundless joy on the faces of Apu and Durga when they are sprinting through kash fields to see the oncoming train? The sight of the train filled the brother-sister duo with utter delight. The portrayal of the kids’ wonderment has been Ray’s master stroke and a cinematic tour de force.
Well, the memories of happy journey have faded into oblivion after successive central leaderships have jerry-rigged things resulting in a massive mess for the ‘nation’s lifeline’.
Thanks for stopping by.
