Of Punjab, Patriotism and Popcorn

From Ahmedabad to Amritsar was the plan. And so the plan went ahead without any glitches. Everyone at some point would think Indian trains would delay and guess what, they didn't. Ok..maybe once. But in a span of 15 days with only one mistake? We can afford that, can't we.

I loved Punjab! I found it colorful. There was so much happening. And every other dude wore a turban. hehe.

After having been picked up by this driver to the hotel, which for some reason had a miserable water heater. 24 hours hot water supply we were told, but turned out to be something else altogether. After a quick shower, it was a ride to Wagah Border. 

Talk about Indian Patriotism...

I witnessed it first hand at the at the India-Pakistan Border otherwise known as Wagah Border. One side was cheering for India screaming "Hindustan Zinadabad" and on the opposite side of the gate there were the Pakistani females screaming "Pakistan Zindabad".

Pakistani Crowds

It was interesting to notice that the Pakistani female exuded way more enthusiasm then their male counterparts did. Whereas, where we were on the Indian side, the entire crowd never stopped to take a breather between their "Vande Maataram" and "Jai Ho".

Initially what I assumed to be National songs but were actually just songs related to Patriotism kept playing on and on. Some of the Indian women sitting at the stands were invited to dance in the middle. Women of all ages went forward to showcase their rhythms.

The dancers

Some women even volunteered to carry the tricolor and ran with it to and fro from the border gate. 60 year olds in their saris, mothers with their kids all running with the tri color - Truly Impressivo!

Once the flag is ended over to them, the women can hardly stop smiling. even this particular elderly woman who jog-walked her way with the flag without expressing an form of weary. She was fairly old.

I am not very patriotic when it comes to my own country. I never felt the need to feel connected to where I was born and bred. Hence it was truly a different experience to see the Indians and their love for their nation.

I did consider volunteering to run with the flag and later decided against it, for I assumed only Indian nationals were allowed. Which I realized was not the case when I saw a white lady partake in the celebrations whilst I could have done it too.

I can pass for an Indian. Most certainly can.

And thats how they make popcorns in India

Whats Amritsar or even Punjab if one hasn't witnessed the famous Golden Temple?

That will be in the next post.

Adios!

An Inconvenient Truth

While walking the Streets of New Delhi, in search of this particular cafe which owns itself to this qoute:

"Alot can happen over coffee". 

As much as we remembered the slogan, the name of the coffee house was not so much embedded in our memory. Least not mine.

The thing about walking on the streets of India, if you are not brown, you invite alot of attention. Some are curious and just eager to be your friends. Others are just trying their best to appear cool.

I was not walking alone but with two other friends who were Australian females and one of them was actually 6ft!

As this guy in shades and bright orange shirt passed between me and the tall girl, he really had to say

"What's up Babe!".

Now all there was to break that otherwise purely casual remark was the heavy Indian accent that came with it. He could have gone with a regular hi, but the whole swagger was just...You do the math.

When we finally managed to get into a rickshaw

And Just when you think, guess that was all the attention there was, comes another curly haired dude enquring if the tall girl was German cos she was just so tall.

"Vhere are you from? German?". 

And since we kinda lost and need directions, and this guy was already making conversations, the supposed "German" decided to seek his help.

Was that a bad move? Not exactly. But he never stopped talking and never left us till the very end!

"Oh Oh! You can't go there today, it is closed for protests march. There is a tourist help point ahead, you can seek them for a map. Do you like our country? I vill help you then vill you only know that aver country and its people are nice. Vill you then go back and say nice things about India."

And she was nodding head and walking really quickly I was finding it hard to keep up. The more she tried to veer away from him and his conversation he would start repeating,

"Hello! I am not expecting anything. I just want to help so you get good feeling about India".

He honestly was trying to help. Just a little too enthusiastic.

Some political protests and vehicles were blocked. 

The conversation, to me, as a spectator was entertaining and amusing. For the many times I visited India, I never realized how foreigners were being approached. I look Indian so hardly anyone ever walked up to me and started making random conversations.

The fact that I appeared Indian was further reiterated, albeit in a not so flattering manner, when the guy finally decided to leave before turning to say to me

"You're Indian na? Vhy I am saying this is, you look like me."

Jami Masjid, Ahmedabad

From Dwarka, the next stop was Ahmedabad still within the larger state of Gujarat.

Now this time the journey was both tiring and perhaps a mild stench was emanating for some of us haven't had a chance to shower in two days. Well, if we all smell the same way who cares right?

I can explain where the people have disappeared. It was early morning.

From the train walked to the first class waiting area, dumped our bags headed to explore the city with that couple of hours we had. First stop, Jami Masjid in the heart of a bustling city.

From afar, it appeared as if the Hindu Sadus were at the mosque clad in orange.

Carvings on the wall

It ends at some point.

Entrance

Take a good look at the following shot. What do you see?

Arabic Calligraphy

Before someone tells me that the Arabic calligraphy ought to be rotated and is displayed inaccurately, allow me to clarify. You are right. I deliberately shot it that way. For to view the original writing you have to tilt your head to your left. However, in the position it is now displayed it resembles a picture. 

Does it not look like a person, preferably a waiter carrying a tray and floating towards your left? 

Casper Style.

Krishna's Dwarka

As we boarded the first train, that would officially kick-start the Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge 2011, we were all set to leave Mumbai towards Dwarka; amongst the dry lands of Gujarat.

Largely undeveloped, this part of India depicted a stark contrast to the technology improvements that cities such as Bangalore or Hyderabad have embraced. Small streets narrow streets, houses amongst empty lands, and foreigners were looked upon as aliens, In a good way.

Hardly anyone visits this part of India and it was visible from the handful of motels and lack of any elaborate restaurants except small shops and streets. There was this one street which just uber crowded from the desolete surrounding areas. This area sold a whole range of things and there was a particular crowd that were dancing to music and carrying baskets of flowers.

Holy Bollywood Grooves

It was a procession heading towards this immaculate and beautiful Krishna Mandir. Having caught amongst the parade, one of us (Emily) had the chance to carry the flower basket on her head and groove to the tunes that came out of sound systems that could very well go with the term ancient. These baskets filled with a type of yellow flowers were considered sacred and held the flag to the Krishna Temple. Having the opportunity to carry it for a distance is considered lucky among the devotees.

The procession

Every two hours, the basket changes hands for another would be endowed with the same chance to carry the basket.

A brief history about the temple that the devotees of Dwarka were so attached to:

Krishna Mandir

The temple was constructed on the idea that after Krishna killed his maternal Uncle (for a particular reason that the driver who was with us had difficulty comprehending) he settled in Dwarka. I'm assuming the temple was built as his homeage to this place. A sign to signify Krishna's permanent migration to Dwarka.

Upon entering the Mandir, I realised how different the idols were compared to the depiction of the same Lord Krishna down in South India. I would have never been able to guess this was a temple for Krishna if I was not informed. 

Pretty miserable Indian roots I carry with me.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

Introduction

16 others I have never met before. All with the same purpose: Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge 2011. Witnessing events, people and passing through 180 cities. Literally crashing into millions of Indians, of varying shades of brown (not racist being here, I blend in pretty well actually), language and traditions. No doubt diversity equates to India.

The Indian Chauffeur

Mumbai Taxiwallah: Mr. Sushant Singh

Could it be a marketing gimmick?

Mr. Singh actually said, my stuttering, grammatically incorrect hindi, randomly strung words from Bollywood hindi was impressive. 

Unless, like I said my understanding of the language was so poor the comment he gave with a smile sounded along the lines of 'impressive'.

2 days later I learn, I was ripped off. I paid 450 rupees for a 200++ trip from Santa Cruz to Churchgate. There I was all excited to explore one of the most densely populated cities of the Indian subcontinent only to be cheated on my arrival itself. 

On a positive note, he never failed to point out sights that I might have otherwise missed. Yeah, yeah I hear you go an extra 200 bucks for pointing out sights is largely over rated. Lets just say, I would like to think I was not cheated and that probably Sushant is an otherwise honest man. 

I forgive that dude.

Reached Chateau Windsor, where it was fully booked and I ended up hanging at the roof top terrace with my newly made friends and travel companions for the next 17 days.

All 17 squeezed into a single cabin (Image by Troy Floyd)

Pre-trip pose with half the gang (Image by Troy Floyd - the dude in the front)

Drama Begins

We were greeted to a band organizer by our own Ryan, a Mumbai native, and an unofficial guide for us. The band started playing Indian film songs that (I think) was pictured with  trains in the background. 2 songs and the trip's organiser, Mark, started showing his Bollywood moves. What next? A crowd had formed around him and the band.

Mark with the band

Soon, a man wearing khaki uniform joined the crowd. Not to dance, but to stop it.

"Not allowed to play music!" 

He was the Railway Inspector, and apparently dancing at the entrance of the railway station is not allowed. While he was making his point across, some of us had started taking videos and photos of the drama which prompted him to wave his arms at us to stop recording the scene.

Funny how location matters for dance and music, considering this was India. Interesting.

Reluctantly, the crowd and us together with the band were beginning to disperse when Rachael showed up. She was the reporter from Times of India covering the trip. There she was with her professional photographer. 

Now, how do we get the Inspector to believe that this girl was actually writing for Times of India? She was English.

Either way, we managed to get a photo shot for the paper (which never appeared for some reason), together with the crowd, and the now silent Band.

Pretty eventful.

Now the 150 rupees shouldn't go to waste right, the band was herded towards the exterior of the station, far from where the uniformed men were. Settled somewhere along the roads, right infront of a parked bus, the band started playing. Stares we invited many. Crowds we invited many.

Mark was urging us to join in and dance as he was already grooving to the trumpets and drums, while the remaining dudes and dudettes were busy with their cameras. 

Don't you love their uniforms?

The Kashmiri

Face of Kashmir, India

As I took her photograph, not once did she flinch or blink. She stared right into the camera. One of my favorite shots of the many I took during my stint in India last month.

A Leap Of Faith

Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge was an idea Mark Lester from UK came up with to raise money for the Railway Children. 

Two weeks. On the Indian Trains. From Mumbai - Dwarka - Amritsar - Udhampur - Dhemaji - Ledo/Tipong - Delhi - Darjeeling - Kolkata - Chennai - Kanyakumari - Rameshwaram - Mumbai.

Among the massive amounts of people and the unpredictable trains, 30 odd people from around the world are gonna get together on this epic train journey, all for the above cause. The event begins on Feb 18th 2011 and ends Mar 5th 2011. 

So, being one of the many 30 who are gonna attempt this helluva ride, I request you guys to check out the site and perhaps drop a donation? ;-) No worries it's just a suggestion or you can also join the facebook group that advocates the cause and the trip.

Thank you in advance.

Hidden Worlds

I am a documentary addict. I will watch any documentary provided it keeps me glued to the screen. There I was flicking through the channels while waiting for the water to boil. My parents use traditional kettles to heat water so yea, there is a certain while to spare before the water's temperature reaches boiling point. 

Anyway, that's not the point.

This documentary was about Transvestites from two different regions in Asia. 

Both the regions were covered alternately. But I'm not gonna go back and forth of course. The first region was from this particular place called Koovagam from Tamil Nadu, South India. This area was famous for its large population of Transvestites or Hijras/Aravanis. They are often referred to as the Third Gender. I am assuming this reference is within the Indian population. Correct me if I'm mistaken. These people pray to a particular Hindu deity called Aravan which probably was the origin for the term Aravani. Why you may wonder, that they pray to this particular God and not to the well known Shiva or Elephant God. 

Apparently the reason goes back all the way to the Ancient Indian Scripture, Mahabharat. Aravan deity was looking for a bride and many refused to marry him. Seeing his plight, the Lord Krishna, took the form of a female and married Aravan. Funny how they choose to pray to Aravan and not Krishna. Hmm..The Anthropologists who were interviewed didn't clarify this choice either. 

So, one of the many rituals that these Hijras look forward to is the day when they will be married to Aravan. On this particular day, the "females" dress themselves up, purchase the sacred Mangalsutra and head to the temple of Aravan. There the priest ties the holy thread around the Hijras, to signify the sanctimony with their God. And only the Priest of that particular temple has the right to tie the knot. These brides remain brides only for a day. The next day the thread is cut, their bangles are removed and they are widowed. "This is the only way and Aravan  is the only person we can be married to", says one of the Hijras who was recently "widowed".

The other community were the Bugis people  from Sulawesi Islands, Indonesia. Many or at least the majority of the human race on Earth and the mentality we have been nurtured with is that 'there are two genders in this world'. What the Bugis men believe is that, there are not 2 but 5 genders in this society. The first two are the traditional male and female roles. The other three refers to males who are brought up as females, females brought up as males and finally a speciel group of male priests who are capable of being male and female concurrently. Strange would be an understatement. It is both interesting and baffling to learn about these communities.

Initially I thought these priests were being similar to bi-sexuals. But not exactly. The priests grow beards like males, they dress themselves up as females. They use cosmetics similar to that of females. A particular ritual meant requires them to prove that there is a spirit present in their body; a good spirit I'm assuming. To prove the presence, they use a traditional Indonesian knife or Kris and stab themselves in the palm, cos the hands are used to touch things. The throat, cos food enters via the throat and finally the stomach cos thats where the journey of the food ends. Their knowledge on digestion is not thorough but thats besides the point. 

These priests are the ones who also hold rituals for the two other genders apart from the conventional males and females.

I learn something new everyday and people amaze me every other day as well. I am impressed with the world I inhabit. 

Ice-cream Zindabad!

This was the banner outside the newly opened Haagan-Dazs in Delhi, India. The India based outlet is run by an Indian man.

However, it is only opened to International Travellers!

Let's say you have an international passport but you look very much like a local Indian, you ought to show your passport...

ALL FOR A CUP OF ICE CREAM!

Customer: Hi, can I have a chocoloate...
HD: Sorry ma'am, gotta stop you right there. Passport please?
Customer: Huh..
HD: V(We) cannot serve you ma'am. No Passport. No Ice cream.

Note: After a mini uproar by the locals, the franchise in charge was later asked about this and he denied. 

Casting off Caste

US Human Rights Watch have urged India to recognize caste segregation as a form of discrimination. Given the fact that the basis of the whole nation indirectly rests upon the ancient caste system, will India acknowledge it? The official documents carry the column for caste status. If India does agree it is a form of discrimination, it will have to make major amends and eradicate the system. Will that be possible? If not for the urban areas, the rural areas are still heavily dependent on the caste system. According to this documentary, a middle aged villager; father of a 4 year old was saying that his daughter will be married off to someone of a similar caste when she is 12 or 13. The world's largest democratic nation has some thinking to do...

Lying in Pain

I watched the movie "Before the Rains". It was set in 1936, Kerala, Southern India. There was this particular scene where the accomplice of the lead character was put through a somewhat "lie-detector". This is how the "lie-detector" works: A large sort of ladle is heated and the suspect will have to lick the ladle thrice. If no scars are left on his tongue, he is acquitted. Anything hot on your tongue will leave a scar or at least a temporary mark. I don't see how valid this system is. I hope the system has ceased to exist in the present rural areas. Or any other methods that might require one to inflict pain on the self just to prove innocence.

Can you relate to this?

Summer holidays

Its the summer holidays here. Since, I have decided to spend the summer here (without heading back home) I have loads of time on my hands. Feels like 48 hours per day but no I am not regretting it; I am enjoying it.

Yesterday, went to Shanghai city centre to catch the late night show of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was not exceptionally great neither was it a terrible one It was not bad .It was definitely WAAYYY better than Angels and Demons. Though yes, the director of Harry Potter did leave out chunks of information from the J.K. Rowling's book, he added a few newer details that compromises for the missing bits. I won't say it was the best of the Harry Potter series thus far but it is worth a catch. There were some really cool chase sequences and Ron ( my favourite) as always lives up to his character.
3 stars outta 5 on Usha's movie scale ;)

Another recommendation is the movie titled Once starring Glen Hansard (vocalist of the Irish band Frames) and Markets Irglova (some Czech Singer). It is story of two musicians, their love for music, the lack of opportunities and unrequited love. It was REALLY GOOD!! Siras would like the movie but she would probably tear ;) It was not a typical tear jerker but a low budget independent film that conveys the message intended in a simple way. Anyone will understand the story. One information I read was during the shooting of the movie on the Dublin streets the director used long lens, natural lighting to keep the scene real. In fact, many of the passer-bys were not aware that a shooting was taking place. Pretty cool huh.

Away from movies, onto a little news that I read: Delhi Highcourt legalises Homesexuality. Never did I thought India would be one of the countries to legalise it given its conservative nature. Nevertheless, that was a great decision made by the Delhi High Court. Homosexuals can now live their life and not feel like outcasts. They are not involved in anything illegal; officially now! Democracy in its true sense. :)

Wassup maite?

Whats the matter with Australians and their uncalled for racist remarks against Indian students?

Racism has been long present in Australia. However, from what I heard from friends it was the Chinese that were bullied. And now the targets are Indians. Indian or Chinese, Racism is one and the same and will not be tolerated. With globalization taking over most of us are Global citizens! Was I wrong in assuming that Australia was a developed country. Maybe I made a mistake in the development of the mentality.

An Indian politician at the Singapore Water Week Conference mentioned that he was subjected to racism as well. That too within his country, India. OK..That was news for me. I rarely read news about racism in India. Religious riots yes, but not racist remarks. The example he gave was that he was from East India and hence people often do not believe that he could be an Indian. Firstly, I don't see how related this is to the Water Conference. Secondly, that was not a racist remark. Yeah perhaps, some of the Indians he came into contact with were kinda ignorant about their own country mates. But come on, his nationality was questionable perhaps cos of his appearance. I personally don't think that was a racist remark. (If I'm wrong, please do enlighten me.)

There are so many who are criticised for belonging to the minority and for various other reasons. Australians, OK maybe not Australians as a whole but, Melbourne nites who have been recently making news, need to look beyond the race of their foreign guests. They ought to broaden their horizons and be accepting. Every remark made is gonna reflect their nation in a bad light. And some damage has already been done!