Capturing the moment

These are two poems which came with the school newsletter and for me they capture, in part, some of those special moments that happen almost daily here when you know what you have just seen, heard, or smelt is just so different and remarkable yet hard to put into words or contain in a picture.

Condensed
In the dusty dawn, it drips
From the slant-topped tent roof
of the South Delhi taxi stand,
Where a dozen drivers sleep,
Cheek-to-foot and sweating,
Months and miles from their families,
And feather-skied farms.
As it falls, it gives off a faint odor:
part diesel fuel,
part corn roasting on coals,
as smelled by men who have fallen asleep,
recalling the taste of food,
prepared by loving hands.
~ Michael Creighton

Muliebrity
I have thought so much about the girl
who gathered cow‐dung in a wide, round basket
along the main road passing by our house
and the Radhavallabh temple in Maninagar,
I have thought so much about the way she
moved her hands and her waist
and the smell of cow‐dung and road‐dust and wet canna lilies,
the smell of monkey breath and freshly washed clothes
and the dust from crows’ wings which smells different –
and again the smell of cow‐dung as the girl scoops
it up, all these smells surrounding me separately
and simultaneously – I have thought so much
but have been unwilling to use her for a metaphor,
for a nice image – but most of all unwilling
to forget her or to explain to anyone the greatness
and the power glistening through her cheekbones
each time she found a particularly promising
mound of dung.
‐ ‐ Sujata Bhatt

Karva Chauth- a new one for me

The month of October in India is full of festivals and celebrations.
This one which is being celebrated on the 7th of October really took my fancy.
It is called Karva Chauth and it is when married women, young and old, fast to ensure the long life of their husbands! Yes I know a novel concept for us all in the western world but I leave it up to you all to decide whether you too will be fasting to ensure your husband’s long life this year or even next… I would love to hear what you decide.

They henna their feet and hands and wear special outfits. They wake before dawn and have water and sargi, various gift foods often sent by mothers the previous day. They fast all day. The fast is broken after sunset with the sighting of the rising moon. Some husbands show solidarity to the cause and fast with their wives. They will of course go to Indian heaven after their long life on this planet.

Bhimbetka A wonderful site of prehistoric rock art

I don’t really know why I found this site so impressive but it is hugely so-Perhaps it was the size of the rocks, perhaps it was the sheer enormity of time; from the time these rock drawings were made to when they were discovered in 1957. Perhaps it was the way they had been sculpted into shelters and sanctuaries by the elements over thousands of years.

It is a world Heritage Site. Well worth the trip. The earliest rock drawings date back 10,000 years ago. More drawings were made during the Stone Age, some 8000 to 5000 BC. The light was fading and the earthy colours were not easy to see but there was real sense of excitement as we spotted herds of deer and bison, but also elephants and tigers.Finding the figures, some almost like stick people, others fleshed out. They used ochre, the pigment from the earth, and a green pigment maybe from plants, to denote their lives, their hunting parties and all that mattered to them so long ago.

Pachmarhi A hill resort in Central Province

One of the bathing pools


At a stunning view point



One of the flowers in Golf View



Yes, it took a while to get there with the combine harvesters all out on a field day or should I say road day but we reached this hilltop resort found by Captain James Forsyth and his Bengali Lancers in the 1850 s. It became the summer camp of all the central provinces complete with colonial housing, churches, graveyards sanatoriums and polo pitches.
We stayed at Golf View which was a pretty colonial style hotel set in some lovely gardens. There are lots of viewing points, caves, treks and other activities but a lot of the signs are in Hindi and less English is spoken here. We were the only westerners and the local tourists, sensibly perhaps, hire local guides in little jeeps who whizz them around the places of interest. Having spent several hours in a car on a horribly congested road we were keen to walk so we set off …
We got caught in a tropical downpour and saw the rain lashing down from under a leafy tree. A and I got a lift back with some very nice Indian tourists from Mumbai who took us to some caves which were quite spectacular. C walked back in the wet.
Dinner was different. The rain had brought over the power lines, so the generators were on for a while and then it was candlelight. We were brought breadsticks to eat and I said they had cumin in them but in fact it was an intense smell of mothballs which were everywhere- in the big Jacuzzi style bathtub in our bathroom, in the shower, in the cupboards and in any drain. So a romantic dinner and early to bed seemed fine.
Waking up the next morning I was looking forward to my shower but alas no hot water as the lines were still down and anything powered by electricity on the first floor, read toilet flush, water supply, a/c and fans simply did not work. The flashy Jacuzzi and the multi jet shower compartment were like a lot of things here, installed without much thought as to their usage and practicality.
However my day only got better because dirty and dusty I could enjoy scrambling down the path several kilometers to a spectacular view point Rajat Prapat,and see the falls and then watching the men bathing in pools further up called Apsara Vihar. Not done for women to undress publicly.
Then having enjoyed some of the landmarks of the resort we headed down to the plain and as it was Dushehra the whole road was taken up with gods and goddeses heading for water where they would be immersed until the next year. Truckloads of youths, processions with drums and even paint throwing parties greeted us along the way back to Bhopal.
The best came last – more of that in my next blog

The day of the Combine Harvester

How can I put it – there must be something more behind an invasion of combine harvesters but regrettably I did not discover what it was. On the road to a lovely hill resort called Pachmarhi in Madya Pradesh the road was completely taken over with these enormous bright green, orange and red combine harvesters. There was always a considerable contingent of young men sitting atop them and they always had one motorcycle strapped to their front.
Off on a collective combine harvester puja? Enjoying a day out on the roads rather than the fields? Who knows! It made driving in between them a bit like a bit like an ant trying to overtake an elephant but we got there in the end. More on the Hill resort next.

Madhya Pradesh

We took the opportunity of being in this state to explore further than the capital and it was a wonderful experience.

We visited three places of note:

Sanchi Sitting on a hill –top the great Stupa is one of the earliest religious structures in India and a World Heritage site. The stupa is surrounded by some of the richest sculptures you will see; a place of serenity and calm dating back to the 3rd Century BC.
It became a place of pilgrimage during the reign of the Emperor Ashoka. It was surrounded by monasteries but later was deserted until Sir Alexander Cunningham unearthed two soap stone relic boxes containing bone fragments of two of Buddhas closest disciples. The discovery made Sanchi a place of worship once more and the caskets are displayed in the new Buddhist temple that was built on the site in November each year.

The stupa is central to Buddhist worship. It was Buddha’s way – he took his begging bowl, staff and cloth and arranged them using the cloth as a base and the upturned begging bowl and the stick as a spire. Originally they were simple burial mounds but then they took on immense symbolic significance.

The great Stupa is surrounded by four gateways called “toranas” which were added around 450 AD. They are amazing sculpted gateways where the depictions are exquisitely presented and all different. We could recognize animal processions, warriors, Greeks who had curly hair, mythical animals, again possibly Greek and beautiful women with diaphanous saris and intricate hairstyles.

Bhopal Part II

The Darul Uloom Tajul Masajid Mosque

The dancing circles

A beaming C

A fine four legged friend

Bhel Puri delicious