slowly down the hooghly

I am about to collapse over the keyboard at the internet cafe... I packed as much as possible into my sightseing day in Calcutta.

 

I got up early and made it out of the hotel just after 8. Walked down Park Street --- all empty on this Sunday morning --- and visited the South Park Street Cemetary... housing the ruined and warped mausoleums of the British dead. Sad and poignant and beautiful... Then on the Flury's --- an Art Deco tea room, and like so many other things in Calcutta, a legacy of the British. Chocolate croissant for breakfast, and a strong cup of tea --- not chai!

 

Before I went to the cemetary, I encountered a man who seemed like he had wandered out of an Amitav Ghosh novel (I'm sure there are many such characters in this city). Older, fair-skinned, obviously working a "scamming money from tourists in a genteel and interesting way" scheme... "If you have no connections and have not the caste, you cannot find work in this city. I came here 28 years ago from Bihar. My father was English. My mother, Burmese. I am a mix, you see... I live here on this corner with my friends." He certainly didn't look Bihari, and I don't doubt that his heritage was true... I wished him good luck and went on my way.

 

I then took a long, long walk. Long. Long. Past the Maidan, the vast expanse of green in the middle of the city, where boys play cricket and wedding carriage horses graze --- along with a herd or two of goats. Made my way past many monuments, in and out of privilage and destitution... the only way yo see a city is on your feet. Eventually I made it to Babughat, where I got on a rusty and decrepit but almost empty ferry for a leisurely ride down the Hooghly River to the other side, near the train station. Once there, I walked across Howrah Bridge back to the side I came from, stopping for a drink of fresh cocnut water on the way. At the bottom of the bridge is the flower market and so I plunged in there, furiously taking photos of the riot of colours --- and the occasional flower vendor as well. Stopped at a ghat near the market and delighted some naked children (fresh from their "bath" in the river... I put bath in quotes since the water is wet but very dirty) by taking their photos.

 

Then through the mostly empty streets. What was nice about doing my tour on a Sunday was that I could wander without being jostled... the business area surroudning BBD Bagh was all shut up (as weere most of the shops on Park Street). I admired the colonial architecture, thought of what it must of been like once. I admired the rusty trams, thought of what they must have been like once! After stopping in St Andrew's Church (once the Scottish church) and reading the memorial stones of more dead British people, I hopped in a cab. Another benefit of a Sunday was that there was no traffic! Usually, traffic is a mess here. (It was on the way from the station yesterday.) Hurtling down the empty streets in the old 1950s style yellow cab, we reached the posh neighborhood I was heading to shortly --- the Forum Mall on Elgin Road, where I would find an Anohki store and a restaurant called, yes, "Oh, Calcutta!"

 

The mall was... a mall. A small mall, filled with prosperous and often chubby people enjoying their Sunday. A movie theatre was there, scent of popcorn in the air. After a little browsing I took my seat in the fancy restaurant, where the lunch buffet was fantastic (about rs 500, which is about $10). A wonderful assortment of yummy Bengali food to try... I've forgotten the names, but it was really good and gave me a chance to sample lots of different things.

 

Then I ran off by taxi to the Victoria Memorial, which was grander than I expected... a beautiful building in lovely groomed gardens, with some really interesting exhibits, especially the one on the history of the city. One thing that did seem strange to me is that most of the history exhibit was only in English --- not in Hindi and Bengali as well. But at least I enjoyed it!

 

Then, the memorial closed with lots of clanging of bells and we were ushered out into the dusk. After hanging out in the gardens a bit, I headed off to finish my shopping. And, as I often seem to do, I decided to walk rather than get in a cab, even though I was tired. And though it might have been more sensible to get a cab, walking allowed me to:

 

Happen upon what I assume is the main arts complex, with a performnce hall (crowds outside waiting to get in to see a play) and a fine art gallery with several shows by local painters

Stop into the main cathedral (forget the name!). More British dead.

Walk past the plantarium, which looks like it was modelled on Sanchi.

Stop in at the famous Haldiram snack sellers and buy an assortment of barfi. And get a gigggle when I saw that their slogan is "a taste that is a hundred years old". The gloomy looking barfi-selling boy also got a giggle once I pointed out how it sounded like their sweets were 100 year old.

 

And then I got to Fabindia, my destination. Some shopping, a taxi back to Park Street. Off to have kathi roll and then to bed. I fly to Agartala to meet up with the troupe tomorrow.

 

x m

oh kolkata (sorry, couldn't resist)

i'm sitting in an internet cafe on park street in calcutta. i arrived this afternoon after an overnight train journey from raipur and i already love this city. after a shower, i have been taking an evening stroll along the main shopping drag and really feel like i'm in a city that isn't too far away from a city in someplace other than india. i guess that is hard to understand if you haven't been to india, but those who have (and especiall who have been to calcutta) will know what i'm talking about, i think.

 

suffice it to say to those who are not familiar with calcutta: yes, there is poverty (and the street i am on also goes by the name mother teresa street) but calcutta is also a highly cultured and easy-going place, filled with bookstores and poets and crumbling old colonial architecture. 

 

my trip since my last email has truly been an experience of a lifetime. i'm afraid i just can't write about diwali in the village and do it justice at this point. but i took lots of photos, and i'll definately post some of them once i get back. but lets just stay that the village i was staying in was like something out of central casting for "atmospheric indian village that makes you long to leave the city (at least for a few days)". a clean place, very small, 2 kms walk through the fields and a dirt road to the nearest bus, with little winding lanes of mud houses, painted white and blue. uday's family and the whole village welcomed me, and tried as much as possible to include me in the innumerable pujas that occured (which included getting a smudge of cow dung on my forehead at one point...).

 

on tuesday, we all left the village (uday's family only comes back for the holidays and otherwise live in bhopal or raipur) and once we reached the local "big" town of rajnandgaon, i got on the absolutely oldest bus i've ever been on for a four hour ride to kawardha, where i would be met by sunny from the bhoramdeo jungle retreat. the ride was not the best, given that the glass in my window did not exist and once the sun goes down it gets very chilly in chhattigarh this time of year. the lights on the bus also went out about 45 minutes before we reached our destination and we had to very carefully make it into town being led by the lights of an obliging motorcycle.

 

i was greeted at the bus stop by sunny's very cheery and chubby brother sanjay, who was in town for the holidays and usually lives in ahmedabad where he runs a water purification business. sunny was waiting by the car --- as skinny as his brother was chubby, but just as cheery. off sunny and i went in a jeep, out into the country, where a fire was waiting out in front of the bungelows. had a delicious dinner, a shower and gratefully fell into my double, full-length bed (having spent the past fur night sleeping on a charpoy --- otherwise comfortable, but about a foot too short for me.)

 

slept late in the morning and finally made it out of bed to see the maikal hills surrounding me, an ancient crunbling hindu temple in the distance, cow bells tinkling in the fields next door, and an omelette and fresh fruit waiting for me in the open-air dining room. (also something to be grateful for: i had been eating rice for breakfast lunch and dinner.)

 

that day i took it easy: visited the main part of the bhoramdeo temple complex with sunny --- dating from the 14th century, i believe, and having erotic art similiar to khajurao --- though much smaller... just one temple in the main part. after another delicious lunch, and a bit of time lazing about reading amitav ghosh's excellent "sea of poppies" sunny delegated sanjay with temporary guide duties, since a forestry official had dropped in for lunch at BJR. so off we went on sunny's motorbike, through the beautiful countryside, with sanjay telling me tales about how he and sunny used to ditch school and go swimming in the river when they were kids. 

 

we went to a small vegetable market which was not too interesting, since it was not a predominantly tribal market. but the ride there and back was lovely and sanjay very funny!

 

that evening, sunny and i sat out by the fire and had a beer and talked about big issues like what is important in life: doing good, living simply, enjoying what you do. he's a great guy, who does a lot of work helping the tribal people who he considers to be his dear friends. he started out as a guide at kanha national park after he finished school and then started BJR 3 years ago. he has quite a nice set-up for himself... all he is missing is a bride --- someone who could be a true partner with him in his work, so (like half of kawardha) i'm putting out an APB: anyone know a nice indian girl, caste no bar, who loves nature, tribal people, entertaining foreign tourists, helping others, and having a good time while doing it? please let me know if you do... he's not only nice and funny, he is quite cute.

 

the nest morning, got up for breakfast at 8 and then we set out in the hills... beautiful teak forests and gorgeous views. we had lunch at the home of a doctor in a village about an hour's motocycle ride away from bhoramdeo. a lovely family, who work with several "tolas" --- the small settlements of a few houses that the baiga tribal people live in --- as well as with the gond tribals who are more assimilated into the "regular" indian community. we visited the primary school where the doctor's son teaches --- the kids were excited to see me but also completely speechless that i was there --- and then headed on to a local haat or once-a-week market.

 

not much to see in terms of what was being sold: mostly vegetables. the baiga do not have the same artistic traditions of many of india's other tribes... they are known as the gentle people of the forest, with a great knowledge of the natural world and a resistance to farming with plows, as that would be the equivilant of cutting your mothers' breast. but they themselves are often works of art: women sport beautiful, simple tattoos on their faces as well as their legs and arms (baiga women wear knee length saris) and men wear their hair long and either tied in a side-of-the-head ponytail or wound up in a knot right above their forehead. people at this market, which was being held in a good-sized town, were friendly and generally outgoing --- and often eager to have their picture taken and delighted to see it on the digital screen. sunny oftens brings people copies of their photos and one elderly woman who was incredibly striking looking (don't know if she knew that, but she had the look of a woman who had been a great beauty in her youth, so she probably did!) insisted i take her photo and insisted i give her a copy --- and kept insisting until she was completely reassured i would not renege on out agreement!

 

we got back to the retreat at about 3 and i lazed about reading  and listening to music on my ipod and enjoying the sunset and then the stars... then sunny and i sat by the fire again and had a beer and i told him about habib sahib and the naya theatre (he had never seen their work but of course knew of them). dinner by the fire... and then to bed.

 

the next day we also set out around 9 for the countryside. about an hour and a half journey away (through lovely little villages and past beautiful scenary) we reached a haat that was really in the middle nowhere. we got there early. only a few merchants had arrived... but eventually people started coming... some of them literally walking out of the forest... after watching for a while, we drive down the road a bit and had a picnic underneath a big mahua tree (a flowering tree with a raisin like fruit which is used to make tribal liquor). then back to the market, which had now gotten going. the people there were different than at the previous market... much more shy, much less a part of "mainstream" society. i unfortunately made a lot of little children cry just by showing up...

 

it was really an incredible experience. beautiful people --- and gentle people.

 

back on the bike and back to the retreat... only to have to reluctantly pack and head into town. first we stopped off at sunny's house where his mother fed me (of course) and he and sanjay showed me their neighborhood. and then off by myself in a car with a very trustworthy driver for the 3 hour jounry to raipur to catch the train.

 

train journey was fine, except that i had the worst berth in the 2nd AC car: upper berth right by the door and a few inches under the AC vents! at least an over-ACed american could handle it.

 

Made friends with a young woman who is an officer in the air force and we had a quick lunch in howrah station before going our separate ways... and then, here i am. sad to have left the peace of the country... but i am a city girl and was thrilled to be walking along the bustling streets this evening. tommorrow, as much sightseeing and shopping as i can fit into a day and then a flight to agartala on monday to join up with the troupe.

 

now i'm off to find some dinner...

 

m

crazy crackers

the diwali festivities have begun and very loud firecrackers are being set off in jagdalpur town.

 

i'm sorry i do not have time to write about my trips to the tribal markets and craftsman... my schedule has been jam packed, and i am very hungry at the moment! tomorrow i am off to spend diwali in one of the naya theatre actors' village... that should be more quiet and very interesting... and then time at this place:

 

http://www.baiga.in/bjr.php

 

then calcutta, then agartala, and then home... and then i will post many photos, because they are worth a thousand words.

 

but before i go, just a few words:

 

live red ants served on a bed of white any eggs in a leaf bowl. a favourite snack of the local tribals, only 5 rupees, and on sale at every market!

 

x m

suburban bhopal days

Sitting in an internet cafe in the green hills of Bhopal...

On Monday, I arrived in Bhopal, the city in central india where the Naya Theatre is based and my dear friends live. Manoj picked me up at the airport; since I last saw him 7 years ago, he has gotten a wife, a baby son, a car and a house in the suburbs. A family man! Though he continues to run his mime troupe (yes, white-faced mime... it is very avant garde and quite successful in Bhopal) and also teaches theatre at a school. His house is way out of town... very much the Indian equivelant of a new development of townhouses... only with a dirt road and cows and a little tin and brick hut where the caretaker lives. His wife Smita is lovely and also an actress... and completely fluent in English, which was helpful. Their little boy Anhad is extremely sweet... and the house very nice.

I spent most of the next two days at the house during the day time. Unfortuntely, Manoj had to go to work and so I stayed home with Smita and baby. A little boring... but also interesting to just observe daily life and it's much less rushed pace. Smita's parents arrived from Kerala (where both her family and Manoj's are originally from) on the second day... very nice and spent some time in Cincinnatti when their son wrked there. Apprently, they spent each day in the library while he was at work. For 2 months.

In the evenings I went to rehearsal... it was wonderful to see Nageen and all the troupe again! The first night they were rehearsing Habib Sahib's translation of Midsummer NIght's Dream... Manoj made an excellent Puck and the actors who played the mechanicals were fanstastic.... as rural people themselves they totally get the characters. (For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, google "Naya Theatre Habib Tanvir"!)

On Thursday night it was Anhad's big first birthday party. A tent was erected outside of Manoj's house and caterers prepared all sorts of party food: masala dosa, channa batura, dahi vada, chow mein... Archana, a wonderful and vibrant artist friend of Manpj's who I had met before, eventually got everyone (or at least a good amount of people... maybe ten out of the 150 who were there!) dancing, something a bit unusual in India. I did my duty as the star attraction (apart from Anhad) and danced as well!

The next day I left Manoj's house and am now staying with Nageen, which is lovely and feels just like home... but an empty home without the presence of Moneeka and Habib. Nageen is very happy to have me and I wish  could stay longer... but my lans have been made and I leave for Raipur on the night of the 12th by overnight train and then straight on to Jagdalpur the next morning. And then: tribal India! A dream of mine coming true...

x m

in delhi

I'm in India! I'll be here for a month, mostly travelling with and staying with my friends at the Naya Theatre in Bhopal... and sending out some emails along the way...

I arrived in Delhi on Friday night. Flight was smooth; finding my guesthouse in Lajpat Nagar, South Delhi was not... the taxi just could not locate it and we kept going around and around. Eventually I realized that he was being, well, quite stupid about it. Even with the guesthouse on the phone, he couldn't find it. Even knowing it was in A block, he went tearing off to M block. Finally, I insisted we go back to A block and do a systematic search: i.e., look at the numbers. Voila: there it was. Not too hard after all.

My guesthouse, Likir House, is run by Tibetans and is associated with a monastery in Ladakh. Very comfy and laidback, in a nice neighborhood away fom all the tourist craziness. On Saturday --- battling jetlag --- I went shopping in nearby Central Market and then went to see a play at the Delhi International Arts festival, directed by an old acquaintance I met through the Naya Theatre, Arvind Gaur. So nice to see Arvind...

On Sunday, I took the metro up to the Tibetan colony at Majnu ka Tilla. The metro is incredible... clean and air conditioned and huge. You buy a pastic token which is read by the machine going in, and then inerted into the going-out machine. The voice amking announcements is very simliar to the woman on the London tube, though the London tube does not have her advising passengers to kindly not sit on the floor of the train.

Majnu ka Tilla was interesting... a very warren-like collection of alleys where many Tobetns live. Had some momo soup at Wongdhen House (a popular backpacker guesthouse) and wandered around a bit before catching a cycle rickshaw back to the metro. Then on to more shopping in Khan Market and Dilli Haat. Khan Market is a fancy market popular with ex-pats. Dilli Haat is a big open-air "mall" where you pay a small entance fee and there are craft booths from all over the country. And then back to Lajpat Nagar... to the Cafe Coffee Day next to the Vdaphone store, to be precise. I bought an indian SIM card, but am having trouble getting reception anyplace except right around the store where I bought the card! I think it is because I am on an American cell phone... I knew I might get less reception, but this is absurd! I might have to spring for an Indian "handset." Had a nice chat with my friend Geetali in Shimla and touched base with my friend in Bhopal about my arrival there Monday evening.

Today I went to a place I thought i'd never go again: Paharganj, the backpacker mecca of Delhi. As dirty and tout filled as ever... but this time I was there because I was going on a walk prganized by Salaam Balaak Trust, an NGO that helps street children who live near the Delhi tain station, as well as the at-risk kids of migrant workers who also live near the station. I went on the walk with a very nice English couple, and our tour guide was 20 year old Anil. He lives with his mother in a small house along the tracks, and has been educated (is now attending college) through the intervention of Salaam Balaak. We saw the different "contact points" where the street kids can come and hang out, get medical attention, a little schooling, and the opportunity to perhaps go and live in one of the Trust's "shelters" (ie, orphanages) or be reunited with their families if thy so desire. We also saw a little school near the migrant settlement where kids can come before and after school for extra instruction. The tour finished up with a short walk around the back streets of Paharganj, seeing a lane where the potters work, and then a stop at one of the shelters. I had a short meeting with the director; the Trust has a very active theatre program, so she was telling me about that.

Then Charlotte and Andrew (who had just arrived in India) came with me (again by metro) to the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan Canteen for lunch. I ahd read about this place online and it was fantastic! Rs 80 (less than $2) for an all you can eat vegetarian "thali" (meal). Spicy and delicious and when they say 'all you can eat" they really mean it --- you have to fight off the men trying to put more eggplant and dal and rice  and sambar on your plate! Truly a fun, "old-school" Indian experience. (As opposed to, say, talking on your cell phone in Cafe Coffee Day while having a mocha latte...)     

It was raining yesterday and today, which has mae the waether nice and cool, though also, well, a little wet. I'm leaving in about an hour for the plane... away from dirty Delhi... dear old dirty Delhi...

x m