17-18/feb kathakali in fort kochi

I meet alessandro, from Florence, that bought a vespa in chennai, in the south of India, and is planning to spend 3 months touring india. Italian and vespa, of course! He has given me a book, a quite special present, from jules verne; ‘around the world in 80 days’, in Italian. Yes, still in kochi, twin city of ernakulam.
I walked around, updated my web pages, ate thaly… easy and nice day, meeting a few Indians, talking about football with them… The next day was a bit more active;

I rented a bicycle after a very good breakfast in a very nice place, and extremely cheap. I think that I still havn’t found any place in India with bad food; you can always find lots of tastes in each dish, and I guess that’s why they use a lot of spices. The only problem is that sometimes curries are too oily, and if you eat that everyday… I don’t think is that healthy. Anyway, in this place the food was excellent. I started pedaling, and I did a big tour around fort kochi, the historical area of kochi. First by the beach, following the famous Chinese fisherman’s nets, the ones I talked about in the backwaters chapter. After that, towards the fort, surrounding the sea shore. There are quite many Christian churches, muslim mosques, and hindu temples. But here, in kochi is also possible to find jewish synagogues. Jewish have stablished a big community here, a long time ago, the oldest in India. And so, there were many Israelis in town. And it is nice to see all these different religious buildings living together, and all those names of the streets, some of them hindu names, christian, muslims, jewish…as the most normal thing of the world. People should come and see, and learn about convivence. The western area of fort kochi it’s the rich one. A kind of urbanization, with big houses, very well-kept, cars… There’s not big poverty in this area. I’ve realized that in kochi, goats have taken the place to cows, but like these ones, they keep on eating the trash. Today, is Friday, and everything is very relaxed and quiet. Streets are semi-empty (if this is possible in India), and that’s why today is Friday… absolutely logic, isn’t it! Synagogues closes on Fridays and Saturdays, and the rest of ‘public’ buildings, closes on Friday as well. Just a few shops for tourists are open. So I guess I’ll have to wait till my trip to Israel to see a synagogue!

In the sunset time, I was looking for a good spot to take pictures to the sunset through the Chinese nets. In that waiting time, I met I guy from Israel, traveling also by bike, a royal einfield, a very very nice bike! And a man from England, that has been traveling for the last 3 years… wow! After taking the pictures, something more cultural. I was at a kathakali show. Jorge, the Portuguese guy told it was worth watching them. And so did I!

Kathakali is a dance-drama from kerala, from the 2nd century a.d., but popularized in the 17th century. Kathakali means story play, and at the beginning there were over a 100 plays. Now 30 of them are kept. All of them based in Ramayana and mahabharata, books talking about conflicts between gods and demons (many times under human forms), and about the exploits of Krishna. In this play, there are 2 men playing percussions, the actors, and the story teller. All of them have been studying kathakali for at least 6 years; First the story teller explains the bases and history of it. Then, the first actor appears, and following the rhythm of the drums starts defining the ‘alphabet’ of kathakali, how to say yes or no, feelings, animals, and different situations of life. Only moving the eyes, in a really amazing way, moving the muscles of the face, I would say all of them, moving the neck, head, hands, fingers, feet… He never speaks. Only men are allowed to play kathakali. So I guess that if you know all this very complex alphabet of kathakali, you can understand the whole play, but with a 10 minutes introduction is not enough. Plays used to long more than 10 hours, but this one is a special show for tourists… Our play goes about a nice looking warrior, jayanthan, than meets a girl, a very hot girl, lalitha, an avatar of the demon, under a human form. Nacrathundi is the demon. The play explains their meeting, how they get close, how they discuss, the moment he recognize the demon in lalitha, and the fight of jayanthan with nacrathundi. Not even a single word, and millions of precise movements with all those parts of the body, mostly the eyes, face-muscles and neck. During the show, the story teller is singing, and the drummers playing the drums. Everything together quite interesting, and takes you to another time. And what for me was more important; I’m not 100% sure, but I would say that this kathakali has influenced a lot, the Indian cinema, and video clips. The choreographies, the way men and women act… and always with music as a backgrond. So, I would say that:
Ramayana and mahabharata (2nd a..) – kathakali (17th a.d) –Indian movies (20th a.d)

After that, dinner with alessandro (33) and another Italian (52), quite surrealistic, artist and dreamer. The dinner went on till the restaurant closed. Very nice dinner, and very interesting people. It’s amazing to see how here, everyone has been everywhere!! All the continents, and even in very strange places…

24/2/05

16/feb backwaters 02 & matthew

Breakfast with Jorge, and then we took different directions. I decided to go to changancherry, an out of rout town, also in the backwater. And for that I took a local boat. RS 11, instead of RS 260, and only with Indian. I was the only foreigner. So the A9 boat was ready to leave at 1 pm to the labyrinth of canals. Only Indians, and after only one question I was one of them. Matthew sat next to me, to tell me that the trip would long 3 hours. And of course, that was only the beginning. We spoke for 2 hours, till the moment he reached his boat stop and home town. The landscape is like the one of yesterday, palmtrees and water everywhere, but more rural. It seemed also nicer to me, probably because I was in another mood, feeling as a pioneer again!!1 discovering new areas never explored before!!! I’ll be the connection to the world!!! … sorry, I use to have this problem everytime I see no tourists around! J
Matthew told me that those canals were below the sea level, like Holland, and that because of that (and I would add the latitude) they can not plant everything. People living here are fishermen or farmers. He complained about a bird that came from Cyprus, a black bird that is very good a fishing, and that is eating all the fishes!! He told me, close to my ear, softly, that with his brother in law they use to kill them. Even if they are protected. He is Christian, and sterilized, with one daughter and one son. In the ’70 and ’80, there were sterilization camps, were people was sent (willingly or not) to be operated to avoid the fast growing of the population. They got radios in exchange… The mafia (politicians include, of course) of the time was getting a great advantage of it. He thinks that was good for the country. And he don’t believe in condoms or stuff like that. And that’s because he’s extremely religious. From the Christian / sirian church. He told me that his ancestor arrived in India 2500 years ago, carrying this religion. They have been since then from the knanaya/Christian cast, only 10000 in kerala now, and he’s extremely proud of it. He is also very proud of the bright skin of his daughter. He doesn’t really like the dark skin (even if he’s quite dark). And as proud is he of his religion, that if his daughter or son wanna merry someone from another religion, they would never be allowed to touch or talk to him again. And of course, they could forget the heritage (?) (herencia). His race must be kept pure, like the one of his ancestors, he said. First god, that’s the reason to live, then the family, after the rest… But all this extremism was not easy to appreciate, as he had a very soft and sweet way to explain it. He spoke with the same passion about the plants, his other love. He has so many plants, and fruit trees, and palmtrees, and is growing lots of vegetables. He is also very familiar to alternative medicine, using plants and stuff. He told me many examples of plants curing epilepsy, dysentery, headache… Even snake bits can be cured this way. Like his ancestors did, he said. He said that he has been blessed by god in many ways, and one of them is that he can kill snakes; Cobras, king cobras… There seem to be many of those around the canals. And even if they are dangerous for people, mostly children, they are good for the harvests, because they eat rats. Harvests takes between 110 and 130 days.
He told me that Indians are extremely lazy, and that’s the reason why china is going to grow up faster and better. Indians accept everything. The minimum to live it’s enough for many millions of people. Chinese work harder, and control the population better. But… that’s India, he said before leaving the boat.
Now a second part, more contemplative, started. In this public boat, that is stopping every minute. But very silently. Everything here seems very relaxed. In the boat, men speaking and laughing with the women, without being mixed, ok, but communicating. Hard to see in bigger places. And this canal and its surroundings are full of people and life, that goes on quite slow, in another speed; Women washing clothes, beating them against big stones, children and grandmothers fishing together, lots of little churches… no mosques, nor temples. Only jesuschrist. Omnipresent. And full of color. Strange fruit hanging from the trees, and super-huge trees. People waving their hands to us, young and old, and green all around. Rice fields again. Everything is very suggestive!!! I had a couple of old ladies in front of me. Probably very old friends. I invited them to eat cookies. After accepting them, they had been offering me smiles during the whole trip. People going in and out, children coming from the school, revolutionizing the boat life for a while, the silence again… That was a great trip, much better than the other. After walking for a while in changacherry, I took the train to kochi (ernakulam station, twin cities again). In the train, the landscape was different, but the characters the same. Smiles and colors everywhere. More poverty. Loots of green. And children playing after the school, still with their uniforms, under the palmtrees. And beautiful girls living in dirty places, in poverty… like diamonds hidden behind the trash. And lots of mustaches!!! All men have mustaches here!! Always perfectly shaved. Once in ernakulam, noise and strees again. We have arrived to the city again.

19/2/05

15/feb backwaters

I bargain a little bit for the ticket through the backwaters. Instead of 300 RS, I paid 260 RS. 2 meals. The boat goes from Kollam to Allappuzha, 8 hours, and… only with tourists. It has been nice, but maybe a little bit monotone. Canals, lakes and lagoons, not that clean, with fishes, and lots of jellyfishes, and chinese fishing nets. The main advertise for this backwaters trip. There’s a squared net hanging on 5 points; the 4 corners, and the center. A wooden structure, quite big, that works at counterbalance (contrapes), and a light in the middle of everything. They use to fish at night, leaving the net on the water, and attracting fished with the light. After a while, they lift the net, and the fishes are flying, on the net. There are lots of canoes, and fishing boats, black painted, and with drawings of ‘oms’, eyes… They look like the Viking boats, more or less. And lots of little houses everywhere. There are no bridges, not even small ones. Bathrooms, are a kind of small platform, over the water, with plastics as wall. And they shit directly to the water. There are lots of small churches, and signs announcing Christian associations, crosses… Portuguese and I think that also French, stayed in this area for a while, and this must be one of the influences.
Everything is so quiet, the boat is not noisy, the water is flat, there is a little bit of breeze, shadow… but I have a thai woman, half thai half French, asking me questions all the time, and speaking quite loud… I had dinner with a couple of Australians, from Melbourne. There are quite many falcons, or little eagles, with white heads and brown body, flying very elegantly. I met a guy from Portugal after lunch. Jorge, writer, 28 years, and very ‘traveled’. He is always making allusions to his trips, maybe a bit too much, but he’s nice and interesting. He told me that he’s now in India collecting information about the Indian cinema; bollywood (from Bombay), kellywood (from kerala), tallywood (tamil nadu)… He is going to write a book about that. It was nice speaking to him. We decided to look for a room together, but his budget is higher than mine, so we decided to had dinner together.
Nice relaxed and peaceful day!

19/2/05

12-14/feb 'pareos' & natural churches

On the water again, I met a guy from the states, that has been coming for 9 months a year in India, during the last 9 years. The other 3 years, either Hawaii or California… He is here for yoga, ashrams…
I’ve been writing Arabic sea in the last posts, but it’s not correct I think. I think the right way would be Arabian sea. And I write this because I was having lunch on the cliff, with that amazing sight. The food was great, chicken curry (I can not become vegetarian from one day to the other!) and coconut rice… so tasty, and he nans. I love nans, more than chapatti, and as much as porota. All these 3 things are Indian bread, but very thin. Something like pizza, even if it has nothing to do with pizza. Only the shape. They are cooked in different systems. After eating, I spent a couple of hours reading on the restaurant. The shadow and the breeze were great. It was too hot to be down on the beach. And sun is strong here! Today I spent at least 4 to 5 hours on the water, and I’m very tired. After having dinner with the Spanish community, I went to sleep.

The pareo (sheet) it’s so useful here. You could live only with that. Sheet for the night, towel in the beach, pillow in the train, skirt after the beach, and decoration for the room, when I dried it. Today the sea was very flat, only with the clean and organized (but not very big) waves. After swimming a lot, I met neta, a girl from Israel that used to be air hostess. After that, I started creating the images website (blog). It took me a while to understand the way it worked. After dinner, I started thinking where to go next. The moon was growing, the food was great, Dylan as a background, and everything so quiet and peaceful. I could stay here for ages, but 6 days are enough. India and the world are huge, and fortunately, the only thing I have is time.

Breakfast with neta and her sister. They were also leaving today, but to munnar. I was at the beach for a couple of hours, last hours in varkala, this small paradise, where I still had time to meet an old british man, that explained me his trip, in the ’70, in Israel, working in a kibbutz, and then to afganistan through iran, turkey… He was shining while was talking… I decided to go to kollam, to discover the famous backwaters. From the train, landscape it’s great. Forests of trees, lagoons, or lakes everywhere, canals… water is life!! Sometimes there is only the train, and water all around, as if it was a boat, a long and thin boat. And trees are huge here. They must be very old. I don’t remember seeing trees that big anywhere else before. And these forests are very very dense, and high. Like a kind of old gothic cathedral, forsaked in the middle of no-where, with lots of pillars (trees), high roofs and light entering through the dust… benches have been devoured by the small bushes. And this cathedral is infinite, you cannot see the end.

I havn’t really seen much poverty in kerala (state), nor beggars, nor slums…People call it ‘the gods own country’. Maybe it’s true… Once in kollam, I found a lodge, but not very nice, and smelly. With only men. And since I don’t spend time in the room, I stayed. Rs 70 (1,25 euro). I had to fight a little bit to get an extra sheet. I wanted for the pillow. I think they had never changed the cover of the pillow before. And of course, it was black!! The extra sheet was ok to hidden the blackness, but not the smell. Kollam is a quite big city. 400000 People. But it seems like a town. That’s normal in India, a part from the very big cities, I guess. After getting the info about the backwater, I went to sleep. Nice night!
And it was funny to see that I was going to the backwaters area, and my mum send me a mail, today, telling me to go there!!! I think that josep and nuri brought some info about it. Let's see!

19/2/05

11/feb the tank, eating rules, tibetan refugees & grown up children

After the great breakfast, to the beach. It was between 10 and 11 am. I wanted to avoid the hottest hours of the day, from 1 to 3 pm.
Here, in varkala, in this little paradise, it’s too easy to forget that you are in India. It could be brazil, Thailand, or any nice place in the world with a similar weather. And this is because the only Indians that are in the beach, are working; they sell pineapples, mangos, chai, drinks, they rent umbrellas… but none of them is enjoying the beach. But I only have this feeling in the beach, and sometimes eating. But fortunately not all the time.

I swam a couple of hours, and decided to go to see the temple afterwards. But it was closed till 5 pm. So I instead took a few pictures to 7 or 8 boys that were having so much fun jumping to a water tank. And they became mad when the saw me taking pictures! They all wanted to be main character!! And, as everytime I take a picture of people, I show it to them, trying to be respectful, I showed to them, everytime, and they were trying to make more difficult jumps. There was other people washing their clothes, cleaning themselves… and the water of these tanks, is not that clean. I don’t know if they change it once in a while, but it use to be greenish, or brownish… and never nice or clean colors.
It’s fun, because only after a couple of days being here, everyone recognizes me while I’m going home! It feels I’ve been here for a long time! And another thali!! Of course, a veg thali! I’m becoming vegetarian! Can you believe that? I guess many of you cannot, but vegetables here are very tasty, and cheap. And there’s less oil or fat than in the meat meals, that’s why. I feel I’m very healthy now!! Healthy food, sports everyday, reading and sleeping well!

And now, eating rules; As I wrote in the last post, food must be eaten ONLY with the right hand, the good one. Thalis, the national meal, are served on a metallic plate, with 4 or 4 small divisions, and a big one. (like the plates in the army, I think) Rice (a very big portion) goes to the biggest division, and in the other vegetables cooked in different ways (dry vegetables, vegetables with sauce, with coconut, with pineapple…) a curry. They serve a papadam with it (I don’t know if this word is in hindi or mayamalam) that it’s a kind of cracker. Now it’s time to start. You have to throw a little bit of the curry on the rice, and start mixing it with the rice, with your hand. The, you make a small and as compact mountain as possible, and take it to your mouth. To do all these things, mixing, compacting and introducing to your mouth, you must use the whole extension of your fingers. Every now and then, you take some of the vegetables and eat them, sometimes with the papadam. After eating, 2 more things are basic; washing your hand (also before starting), full of food, and make a burp (rot), not very loud, but not silent. People is sitting anywhere, and they don’t say a word during the meal. I don’t know if it has to do with the thali philosophy… I always try to smile to them, and I always get the smile back, but this use to be the end of our communication. Thali is the national meal because it’s quite complete, you are full after eating, and it’s very cheap. From RS 10 to RS 30, or at least these are the prices I’ve seen around. And I forgot something very important!! They refill you plate all the time!! You have to say ‘please stop or I’ll explode!!’

After this great meal, beach again! While I was bodysurfing, I met some people from spain. From galicia, santander and Ibiza. From 11 years to 40. A nice group. And then, after meeting a girl from germany that has been living in tarifa for the last 10 years, yoga teacher, I took my first yoga (yenga?) lesson. The teacher was mira, a girl from italy (cagliari, sardegna) that has an institute in germany. And wow, that was so tiring!! And I hurted my knee… but only a little bit. Everything was so slow… Maybe I’ll enjoyed more next time. After the shower, I went to have dinner, and I met and had dinner with one guy and one girl from Osaka, japan, They both had been once in Barcelona, and like everyone I’ve met, they love it! On my way home, late, still a few Tibetan shops were open. Workers are Tibetan refugees. I talked for a while with a man, and when I was living he lent me a book talking about the destruction, by the Chinese government, of the biggest institue (and temple) for Buddhist studies, under the ‘cover; of politic actions against china, and pro-dalai lama… the book was counting all the laws that china is forgetting, and there are so many. They killed many people, destroyed a lot of houses, and lowered down the number of student from 10000 to 300 or 400 people.

In all these familiar business, everyone is working, and it’s weird to see children acting like grown ups, on the way they talk, they move… and after a second, acting like children again, discussing with their friends, crying, smiling… Some of them work in restaurants, other have to walk the whole day carrying carpets, or sarees, or anything the tourist can buy. Under this huge sun…

19/2/05

10/feb capoeira & a family restaurant

I had a great and gentle night!! And the morning… still better!! Even if food here is not as cheap as in other places, breakfasts are very cheap and complete; Eggs, fresh orange juice, 3 toasts with butter and jam, fruit salad with iogurt and muesly and a chai (thea with milk and a lot of sugar), RS35 (0,6 euro)!! And not at any place; in front of the cliff, facing the Arabic sea… with the breeze…ahh!!! And the music is very good and relaxing. They always play this chill out music, or meditation music, or … I don’t really know how to classify it. But it really fits in this place. No-one speaks loud, no cars nor bikes, and of course no horns!!! But lots of libelulas. But they don’t bother at all.
I went to walk for a while, inland, and after took a bus to varkala town, 5km far from varkala beach. I tried to rent a motor bike, but no-one had it. Here everything is cheaper. After having lunch, went back ‘home’, and walked on the beach, and sat down in ‘my place’. Bodysurfing, reading, sleeping, watching, thinking… After the sunset, I met a couple from new york. They were playing capoeira, Angola, so I went there and startd talking to them. Of course I ended up playing with them, and tried to adapt myself to the Angola rythms! They were here shooting a yoga film. They had previously shooted a capoeira film. Alternative cinema they told me. I already forgot how exhausting capoeira is! At least when you don’t breath well! And my knee… it was ok, but I was worried, and feeling limited. The sunset was breathtaking again. I went to have dinner just besides manoj’s place, where I went yesterday. And here, the waiter was a 9 years old boy. All the family is working in the restaurant, father, mothers, 2 daughter and him. He was so sweet, and willing to talk to me. He explained me things about the school, their games, the fishermen (most of the other relatives)… And what a life… school from 8:30 to 15:30. Then back home and start working till 12 o’clock… No time for him, to play, to do nothing… I told him I will give him my spinning top, and he was so anxious abut it!!!
He had a wonderful smile!

18/2/05

9/feb yes, the right hand & varkala

February the 9th, ribas birthday!! 27 years… wow, time is passing so fast!!!
And yes, here is hot, very hot!! I don’t know if it’s as hot as in brasil, where ribas is living. But here, the heat and the rain (monsoon) came from the south, and kerala, the state where I’m staying at the moment, is the one at the very south of India. February, march, april and may are the hottest months. But in the afternoons, things get a little bit better, and that’s because of the sea breeze, and for the height of the cliff. 30 to 40 meters above the sea level.
Something important I forgot to write about, is the way Indian have to say yes. As you know, in Europe, the America (both), Australia… when people want to say yes, they move the head back and forth. But here, it’s a little bit different. They move their heads from one shoulder to the other. And to me, this gesture it’s closer to the ‘no’ than to the yes. So at the beginning it was a little bit tricky, because they were saying yes, and moving the head in that way. Anyway, it’s good to know that now!
Another important thing; Indians eat only with one hand, and this one must be the right. The left hand is used for the dirty things, like cleaning themselves after going to the bathroom. So, don’t pay with your left hand (not everywhere) because they will not take the money. Good and clean things are done with the right hand. But this and other things, are done more often in the less touristic areas. They care less about these kind of things, or they think that being tourists, we use other systems to clean ourselves. Anyway, in Kolkata and orissa state, they could get angry, or at least look at you in a bad way.
Kerala it’s called ‘the god’s own state’, since everyone can read and write, there is less poverty, less child mortality, very good level of English… they say they are more advanced that many other states.
Varkala it’s a very nice place, with a wonderful beach, and there are no ‘concrete buildings’ (well, only one, 7 stories). Only palm tree roofs, and bamboo walls. At least at the first 30 or 50 meters from the beach. After that, concrete is the king. So, I guess that this is like this not because of laws and these kinds of things, but because the cliff. The nature has kept the beach free of concrete. And the nature again, has protected the town from the tsunami. I havn’t seen any trace from the tsunami here, and no signs around. But the tsunami has been very bad for the turistic business. The tsunami and the big number of restaurants, hotels… had lowered down the price. From 300 RS to 150 or 100RS. Many Europeans cancelled their trips to kerala because they thought that this coast was affected by the tsunami, but it hasn’t been actually.
Historical picture in the cover of The Hindu, the biggest Indian newspaper written in English; Abu Mazen and Arie Sharon shaking hands. Let’s be optimistic, maybe a new era is starting.
After having breakfast, I moved to my new room, on the cliff. A little big bigger, cleaner, and in the center, if there’s a center in this lineal town. And closer to everything. Before moving, I met a couple of german, from munich. The wife of the Indian owner of the hotel, is british. We spoke for a while, and anna, a girl from mataro, joined us. I like this place! Once in the beach, I met 2 more girls from munich. And it’s so hot!! I spent half of the time in the water, full of small fishes. The come in a kind of dark sea clouds, and started jumping over me! A body surfed for a while, swimed… I think I’ll spend a while in this place. Reading, doing some sport, eating healthy (food is less oily than in other cities), meeting people… I met 2 girls from Russia, and a guy from Australia while having lunch. I spent a while talking with him. He is working in the Australian embassy in Colombo, sri lanka. That island is really affected by the tsunami, and there are 2 ‘governments’; the official one, and the tamil tigers one. Each one of them has an area. I finally got the mail I was looking for!
I had dinner with 2 guys from Holland, one of them owning a coffee shop!
After that, it was already late, and there’s not night life at all in this town. Everything is so peacefull and relaxed here!!

18/2/05

8/feb varkala & the arabic sea

I had breakfast in the other Indian coffee house, and this time was better. The building was quite strange. A 4 story building, but in spiral, made by brick, with one single floor that starts in the street level and goes up till the forth, without stairs!
After 3 buses, and thousands of unanswered questions, I reached varkala!! And that was quite a lot, because buses here drive so crazy. The prefer to use the other side of the road, and if another vehicle comes, instead of going back to the ‘suposedly’ right side, they start horning. Then, they speed up so fast, and if there’s no room enough, brake as fast as they can. And yes, the people inside is moving back and forth all the time. And as buses use to be always crowded, it’s a one single big mass moving… But I was lucky, and reached varkala safe!
Once there, I checked a few guest houses, and I found a very nice one 5 minutes from the sea, in the low part of varkala, in the sea level. Varkala, the main area with most of the lodges and hotels, restaurants and shops, and internet cafes, are up in the cliff, a 30 or 40 meter cliff, with a great view over the Arabic sea… wow, the Arabic sea!!!!
Well, I took a room/apartment with bathroom, for RS80, 1,3 euro. And it was in the middle of a kind of jungle, a very dense jungle, with lots of trees, and palm trees. The only way to reach my room was through a 40 cm path, crossing a couple of very small rivers. And at night, no light at all, and lots of noises. My urban boy imagination was flying so fast while listening all these noises! And maybe because the last places were not that nice, I felt so good in this place. I was feeling home here!!! But in this less turistic area, restaurant (only 2) were very expensive.
The beach reminded me another beautiful beach of brasil. It was a nudist beach, and I was alone there. But I can’t remember the name. I’m sure that ribas would be so helpful now. My brasilian friend!! The sand was also noisy here, and the water… so warm!! Maybe 25 degrees (maybe more). First bath in the Arabic sea, that to me has a lot of romantic connotations, with all the tales that happen in arabia, ali baba, sultans… People seem to be a little bit older than me. A few families, a few groups of old people, and a few young couples (30 and up). Many people come here to practice yoga, and so everyone is sitting in the lotus position, during the sunset. I was told that the sea here is quite dangerous, because of the current. There are beach/policemen controlling. And after the sun has set down behind the sea, after only one second, they start whistling, and people has to go out of the water. And this sunset, was quite amazing. Behind the Arabic sea. It’s like the sun entering into the sea, and I’m more used to see sunsets on the land side. Once in the cliff, I saw many more restaurants, with different prices, a lot of Tibetan shops, thalis… I spoke to many many Indian people here, and their English it’s so easy to understand. I guess it’s because this is a ‘famous’ touristic area, even if now is not crowded, due to the tsunami, that didn’t affect this area.
Reaching my place late at night wasn’t that easy. No light around, and I had no lantern… but I like this place!!

18/2/05

7/feb trivandrum & clothes

I took the train to trivandrum the 6th at 4 pm. And this trip wasn’t as special as the others. I was alone in my compartment, reading a lot, but nothing else more (even just that was good). It got dark after a while, so no chance to look trough the window, and we reached trivandrum 9 hours later. 250 km in 9 hours. So, when there was still light, I had the chance to see that there were no rice fields in that area. Everything was much dryer. Something like the savannah. I was almost expecting to see a lion at any moment.
I realized that women, hindu women, wear 2 different kinds of clothes; One would be the saree, this long sheet, that works as a skirt, and goes up to cover the breasts, and then back, over the left shoulder, till the middle of their back, more or less. Under this, they wear a top. Sometimes is a top, sometimes a t-shirt. But always, with colors. The other typical cloth, is always very colorful, but a little bit different. A long shirt that goes till the knees (let’s call it dress), with short (till the elbow) sleeves. Under that, long trousers, normally with the same material of the dress, and thin, and a kind of scarf. This scarf, is thin as well, and starts in the back, goes to the front, down on the breasts, and then up again to finish, simetrically in the back.
Men always wear shirt, white or with squares. If it’s hot, those sleeveless shirts, always white. Pants or dhotis. Dhoti would be a kind of pareo, almost always white, that goes till their feet. But they use to fold it till the knees height. Maybe because it’s easier to walk, or it’s fresher…
Once in trivandrum, 1:30 am, I found a place to sleep, and it wasn’t that easy. I can say that I spent there my wors night in this trip. There were a lot of mosquitos, and its noises, zzzzzz!!, and the worst thing, bedbugs… It was very hot as well, and humid. I used my mosquito repellent, and the mosquito coil. Plus the fan. But nothing to do against the bedbugs, so I spent the whole night waking up every now and then, and of course, scratching myself, everywhere!!! The morning after I had quite many bites, very small, in my forehead, arms, legs, feet… c’est la vie!!!
And yes, it was so hot!!! At 10 am, the asphalt started melting. Of course not everywhere, but, god… it was hot!! 2 steps, and more sweat. I decided to go south, to see a couple of temples. One of them is black, all black, quite strange in India, and never seen before. People were throwing coconuts against one of the temple walls. But I saw that from the outside, since only hindus are allowed to get in. After I went to see another temple, a very old one. I was told it was built 5000 years ago, by a maharaja, and that still now is private. But also here only hindus are allowed. I asked them if there was a way to get in, and they told me to make a hindu licence, 15 km from trivandrum. And it was a pity because that temple was quite amazing, with lots of wooden details, some of them pagoda like, those huge dravinian doors and a big water tank. I wonder how heat must be in the hottest time!!! I had a coffee in one of the Indian coffee house, but nothing to do with the one in kolkata. I spent a while in a park, and then in the british library, with a very nice air conditioning!!! I moved to another guest house, scaping from the bedbugs. It was also cheaper!

18/2/05

6/feb lenguages & the party

Here, people speak tamil, and I was told that is one of the oldest ones in india. So, Tamil in tamil nadu (state), malayalam in kerala, telugu in andra pradesh, or a.p., kannada, telegu and urdu (muslim people) in karnakata, oriya in orissa and bengali in west bengal. So these 6 are the states I’ve already been in india, and in all of them. Even if more in the north, hindu is widely spoken. Or at least that’s what they say. English is better in the south than in the north. Or at least this has been my experience.
A part from the huge temple, there are so many other smaller ones in madurai, and most of them in this dravidian style, so colorfull and elaborated. And so kitch! In the street I’ve seen so many women, from all ages, with arms and faces painted in yellow, and that’s quite weird. I’ve been asking, and no one is giving me an answer sure 100%. Some people say is for the heat, other for religious reasons. I would easily believe the 2nd one, but it’s so hot in here!!

Yesterday, while I was writing my paper journal, in the stairs of the golden lotus tank, in the temple, I met an indian couple. They would be around their 40ees. Where are you from? Or maybe, what’s your name? The husband asked me. And then we started talking about madurai, indian family patterns, with the male and female roles in relationships, in divorces… traditions… and also about the good vibrations that this temple has. The special air you breath in it. They came very often. The woman is cute, very small, with a very dark skin. They told me that madurai has a nick name; the city that never sleeps, because you can always find a few restaurants open after 12 o’clock!! And that’s funny, and true. Almost everywhere, or at least in the smaller or less touristic places, it’s impossible to find food after that time.I bought a couple of books, I would say new. ‘Interpret of maladies’, from an indian writer and fury, from salman rushdie, also Indian. And I payed 50 rs each, less than a euro.

It’s funny to see that here in the south, almost all men dress that kind of skirt, called dhoti. They can wear it long, reaching the feet, or short, till the knees. In this second case, it really seems that they are wearing swaddling cloth (volquers).

Today, after having seen all the madurai ‘highlights’, I went to walk in the less central area, where medium and pour people live. There I had a great breakfast, and very very cheap, of course. Houses here are one, or maximum 2 storey building. White, with a flat roof, and with a very long corridor in the entrance, that goes to the veranda (pati). It’s still dirty, but as far south I go, the less rubbish I see. I don’t know if people cares more about that, or that I’m getting used to it. There are also cows, children…

And all of a sudden, I heard music coming from a house. I went there and checked it. There was a family party, of a huge family, and they invited me to go in. They were celebrating the 16^th anniversary of one of the daughter. This date is supposed to be very important in India. So they gave me an India coke, a rose carnation (clavell), and drew an orange dot in my forehead. They didn’t speak any English at all, so communication wasn’t that fluent. But they were smiling at me all the time, offering me food… anything!!! I asked if I could take a picture from the daughter, since she was wearing a traditional dress. And that was… everyone (mostly children) wanted to be in the picture, since I have that digital camera and they can see themselves at the moment. So I took so many pictures, try to speak a little bit, always surrounded by children, drank my cola, and left after a while. That was an interesting thing to live, an Indian party from the inside.

After that, I went to the temple, and on my way there, I met a tailor. He promised me clothes at a very good price. I was a little bit suspicious, but I followed him. They told me I could have a shirt for 35 rupees. And after saying ok, choose the material, mesure me… they told me that I had to pay 100 extra for the fabric. It use to be like this many times, so you get used to it. And then I told him, ok, 120 rs for the shirt and a pair of pants. If it’s no possible for you, no problem. And they find the solution. Every time the take a tourist to a shop, they get 20 rs. So he offered me to visit 3 shops, in order to get 60 rs. It was quite fast, and everyone was happy! But the fabrics they use are not very good. It’s cotton, but very thin. So let’s see how long will I be able to wear it!! Oh, I forgot something important!! Pants are blue, and shirt orange (brown). I feel I have to wear color in india
!!! It’s also good to forget the wonderful black for a while! Today, I’ll go to trivandrum, one of the very southern places of India. And it’s getting so hot in here!!!!

13/2/05

5/feb sri meenakshi

I reached madurai at 8 o’clock in the morning, the expected time. I finally slept quite well, with my mosquito repellent (I was told that there is a little bit of malaria here), with my multi-use sheet… and I already found a hotel by 8:30! I nice room, in the main street, not very expensive, RS 125 (2 euro). The room is huge, with a nice balcony, a lot of space… After having breakfast, I went to the temple, sri meenakshi, and just the first sight is breathtaking. Only a very small part of it (even if I didn’t know that), a kind of door/tower, with thousands (and is not an exageration) of sculptures, gods, animals, animal/gods… with lots of colors. The style is supposed to be dravinian style. Once I was closer, and barefoot, I discovered that there were other towers, as high as the other (30 to 50 meters). The plant was squared, with a water tank in the middle, then buildings around, then an open space, and then the wall towards the street. The water tank is called ‘golden lotus tank’, and it seems that everything turns around it. Pillars every 2 or 3 meters, quite thick, with sculptures on it. And a lot of doors, separing the different inner temples, places for walking, places for food… There are so many little chapels, with sculptures or images of hindu gods. And the ceilings are colorfully painted, with geometric drawings. Once in a while, you can see dusty sun beams, entering inside the building, and if you add the darkness of the space, it acquires a cavernous air. It’s so crowded (till 10000 a day), mostly hindus (95%), with all the possible colors. There is also an elephant walking around. If you give him (or better, if he takes) RS 10, he blesses you with his ‘elephant nose’, with a very mechanical movement, and then he gives the money to the ‘elephant man’. And in this huge temple, I’ve only seen 1 single wall under reconstruction!! This temple is incredible. You need more than a they to enjoy it, and it’s free. Non Indus are not allowed to enter to very few rooms, maybe a 10 % of it. After walking around for a while, I decided to go out, and discover the city. Is a big city, 1,1 milion, but it feels like being in a town. All the building are quite low, and the streets full of life, like almost everywhere in India. Shops sells mostly sarees, and statues. I saw a palac a few more temples. After a while, I went back to the temple. It was already dark. 19:17 o’clock. I would say that worshipers now are 99% of people. Still very crowded. I sat down, in a corner, and started watching all the different ceremonies that people fallow. But now it’s night time, so it’s still darker. You see more contrasts. There’s music, candles, that cavernous atmosphere… quite intense, and spiritual. I’m leaning on a stone wall, that must be very old. In front of me, there is a ‘chapel’, shared among different gods. Saturn, mars, Jupiter…
(a group of children came to visit me, and they asked me what is my name, where do I come from… They created a semi circle around me. In the second ring, parents were also looking, smiling!!) Inside the chapel there’s a Brahmin (monk), incens, and a big sculpture. Everything very colorfull. In front of the chapel, a table with a lot of candles. People must turn around the temple 7 times, following the clock direction. But people can also turn around pillars with images… They say something, very low, impossible to understand. And the fire… Ah!!!! The ambience is so full of smoke, so people appear and disappear. This temple is full of hope, of koy, of music, of smilly faces, but also about motionless faces, thinking about who knows what. No taboo at all. People share everything here, and they live their spirituality in different ways, very personally.

And I’m invisible now!!!

10/2/05

2-4/feb hyderabad-bangalore

Once again to charminar, and the bazaar area, but only with zac. We spent the whole morning walking around and talking. This area is quite curious, because absolute black matches quite well with all the possible colors. Muslim women and hindu women. A spectacle for the eyes. The eyes seen through the burcas… now imagination starts flying, and you have the most beautiful woman in front of you. But this black is too thick to be passed through. Make up helps, since their eyes shout too strong to be ignored. And of course, they are the only part of their body that can be seen. Hands and feet can be seen as well. And are the only places where they can express their style, or just themselves. So they paint their hands with henna, and wear thousand, milions of bangles (bracalets). They wear bangles in their ankles as well.So they exploit every single milimeter of their body, with color, gold (imitation), and silver. And of course, those are the things you see, is like they wanna scape from the black dress and burca, a kind of black jail. And the clothes they wear under that, are very very colorfull. And I wonder if they really like to wear this black dress, since colors and personal expressions, are about to explode under it!!? Or maybe all these hidden colors, are in rememberance of their indian nationality! Who knows. People say that hindi islam is very very traditional.

Muslim pray 5 times a day. During the sunrise, at 5:45h, ‘fajar’, at 12:40, ‘zohar’, at 16:30, ‘assar’, at 18:18, during the sunset, ‘maghrib’, and at 19:27, ‘isha’. These times are from this day. They change every day, since the are related to the sun. Or at least, that’s what I think.

A girl came and talked to us, whereas we were looking a shop. She was wearing a burca. We were quite surprised. After that, we went to the park ‘indira gandhi’, where I took the decision to avoid big cities for a while, and go to madurai, 1 day far from hyderabad. Zac will go to bangalore, or hightech city, and probably to chenai, the biggest city in the south. If everything is ok, we’ll meet in 3 or 4 weeks, probably in goa. We’ll probably stay in touch, if anything unexpected happen. After taking a nap, we went to secunderabad. There we saw a group of leprosy people. They saud hi when we passed, but none of them made a single attemt to come. I read in city of joy, that they accept their condition of living a life out the the society, without mixing themselves with non leprosy people. Some of them had no hands, of no feet… covered with pieces of cloth. So their land, their home is a part of the sidewalk, where no one pass by. They are untouchables. This was touching.

We visitef Birla mandir in our last day in hyderabad. It’s a new temple, from the 1976, ,ade by marble, and very very shiny!! It’s all white, and very harmonious. I’d liked it so much. After that, we went to a shop. Zac bought a stone elephant, with 2 elephants inside. Like 2 pregnant elephant. And I bought a kalamkari. A kind of pareo, a shit that can be used to cover myself, to go to the beach, to avoid dirty beds… for everything!!! And the pattern is quite nice. I’m really looking forward to start travelling alone again. With zac was very very good, almost 2 months!! Time flies so fast. And I feel that I’m starting a new trip. Let’s see!!

We reaches bangalore, the hightech city between madurai and hyderabad, at 8 am, but we didn’t start our investigation of the city till 12am. I bought my train ticket to madurai.

I’m quite amazed that we havn’t found much tourist around india (muslim prayers sound). People is complaining about the tsunami effect, that like in thailand, is almost impossible to remember. So we went to a market, where a tailor saw my jeans, that were broken, and after walking for a long time, we laid down on a park. Not very nice by the way, but we were quite tired after the night at the train, that even if they are very comfortable, is not the same. We had dinner together, and said goodbye. Once in the train to madurai, I met a french girl that had been in india many times. And tried to sleep. I write try because there was a big man snoring right next to me. And I hate snoring!!!

And tomorrow, madurai!

7/2/05

30-1/feb hyderabad & the eagles

We arrived at secunderabad, twin city of hyderabad, called as well cyber-abad, because is the hightech capital of india, together with bangalore. We found a very nice room, clean, with towels, telephone, tv, window, in the center... for RS230, RS115 each (2 euro). Today I discovered the price I'm paying for the rupees. 1 euro = Rs 56.
After leaving our bags, a muslim prayer through the loud speakers.
After eating and internet, I went for a walk. I sat down on a shoping mall stairs, and started observing at people. This place is supposed to be in the very center of hyderabad, and it's very very crowded. The reason to come here, was because hyderabad is a kind of muslim capital. 50% hindus, 30% muslims, and the rest christians, sihks, and jains. And here again, this mix of people seem to live togethewr in total harmony. So streets here are full of colors as well, because of the huindu sarees, but there's a big difference. A big counterpoint. A lot of women, all the muslims, are wearing burcas, and their dresses are absolutely black. The blackest black. And I wasn't used to that. You can only see their eyes. A part from the hindu and muslim women, there are also girls dressing like in europe. More than in all the other cities I've been in india together. People look at me (as a foreigner) much less, and no one has came to talk to me, for the moment. You can breath 'city' in these streets. 5,5 milion people, sharing 2 cities. Cars are also different. Here is not like kolkata, you can see normal small cars, not only those huge old fashioned cars. There are 2 floor buses, like in london, cyclerickshaws,and autorickshaws. Red lights, a lot of motorbikes...(I'm comparing everything with kolkata, since is my first reference as a big city) I still han’t seen a single beggar, nor people living in the street. No slums, no desfigured people…
I know is a very partial vision of the city, since I’ve been only in a very small area, but was shoking.
In front of the stairs where I was sitting, there was a guy (20 to 22 years old), working. He was supposed to organize the parking, allowing or not people to get into the garage. But everyone was ingnoring him totally. He was invisible!!!. And he was very angry!!! But kept on trying it for at least 2 hours, the time I was there. He was very funny. And indians are very good when is time to dissimulate. When they have to give you the change after paying, or when they try to avoid a long queue, or here with him.
The noise here is as everywhere in india, untirable, and loud.
Today I was told that hindu girls wear their first saree after havinbg the first period. ‘When they became woman’.
After all that, I had dinner with zac, and on our way, we met a guy (22 years old) that started talking to me. After a while to zac as well, and then already asking if I wanted to be his friend. He suggested a restaurant and came with us. He was not hungry, he said. When the food was there, he started taking from each dish, and not making any sign to have the intention to pay. Well, c’est la vie!

The day after, we met a group of indian guys in a supermarket, and we decided to meet them the day after, because after the supermarket, we were meeting avi, an israeli man (35 to 40 years old). We decided to go to the golconda fort, first city in hyderabad, with 3 lines of walls, and a temple and a mosque on the top of the mountain. It was a very nice day, with avi and zac, walking in that fort, but talking about israel, palestina…

We finally met the 5 guys. They call themselves the eagles. They look wealthy people, they study, their parents are militars, well dressed… We decided to go to charminar, in the old center area of hyderabad, a muslim neighbourhood. There we saw the mecca masjd, the biggest mosque in hyderabad, allowing 10000 worshipers to pray at the same time. We joke d with them, and talked about differences between ‘our home’ and ‘their home’, about relationships with girls, about sex, traditions, relation with parents, things to do on the freetiome… It was nice and funny. They all were 18 and 22 years old. Raju was muslim, and the sexy character of the group. Santos, and the rest, was hindu, and he was the tallest and more introvert of the group. Maden and Manoj were brothers, and manoj was the funny one, with the darkest skin and whitest teeth and eyes. And Kirty, that was the older, and the most mature of the group. They all were asking us all the time if we were ok, anmd if we were having fun. We had lunch in a miltiplex cinema theater, and decided to go to a bar, and drink a few beers. We spent a very nice time with them, and the bill was 800 rupees (we use to spend 50 rupees for meal). When the bill was about to come, all they dissapeared. I went out And catch 3, when 2 more were already 10 meter from the bar. They said they expected us to pay because we are rich foreigners. And I don’t understand why they were leaving. They were ’our friends’, and ordered the most expensive beers of the bar, and when we arer about to leave, 3 more chicken birjani… Well, it wasn’t that nice because they said that they didn’t have enough money… 2, 2 nights cheated by young indians…
They gave us a bracelet, with a seed called rubratx. I don’t really know how to write that. People say that shiva, the god, had some powers coming from this seed, and that if human have that, they get spiritual power.
A part from that we tasted the pan, a kind of tobacco without tobacco. A leaf with many different things inside, quite sweat.

4/4/05

29/jan train-time & hypocrites

Cold shower, and train to Bubhaneswar, after that, if everything is ok, hyderabad. After 3 weeks in india, I'm very impressed everytime I see a hindu woman, with that dark skin, sarees... you already know, I've written about that many times, I know!!! But it's so strange to see princesses working like 'slaves' (I just wanted to use this exagerated word to see a bigger contrast with the word princesses, I don't think they are slaves), In the fields, surrounded by shit, rubbish, smells... And I don't really think that this is the most comfortable clothes for them, with all those things hanging all the time. I wonder which porcentaje of the reason is for the blissfulness of men. I know it's not for that, but it could have been a reason, in the very past. Who knows. But they are so beautiful that you can not stop looking at them!!

We will be in hyderabad in 24 hours. We'll take our first overnight train. Trains are working very well here, almost always on time, not that crowded, comfortable, cheap. They have a quite amazing net.
Through the window, the omnipresent rice fields (but how was that before they regularize all the land?). I imagine a quite homogeneous landscape all around india, full of rice fields. A part from that, the exceptions, like the himalayan mountains, rajastan (with its desert), and potential surprises... or where is not possible to plant rice. After 3 hours traveling, but still in orissa, the landscape changes a little bit. A couple of eagles in front of the biggest lake in asia, chilika lake. The fields are worked by buffalos instead of cows. They are darker and bigger, fatter and stronger. But look also very calmy, like cows. We saw also monkeys, a few families in the dry rice fields. In the wet a green ones, just the same colors, each color one person, leaning down all the time. And women working all the time, anywhere, charging firewood, water, always on their heads, moving only the hips, never the upper part. There are also very young children, playing naked, with these strings around their bellies, covered with dust.
There was a brahmin that passed through my train compartment 5 minutes ago. A brahmin is a hindu monk. They are the higher cast. after them kshatriya or military cast, then the vaishya or bussines men, and the shudra. So he came to me, and start saying strange words, maybe mantras (that's what they use to say), and touching my forehead. After that, I had a red dot. He smiled to me and left.

I was reading my book, next to the window, alone in a compartment, and I heard people yelling very loud, like discussing. I went there, and 3 men, between 40 and 60 years old, were insulting, and fisically assaulting a boy that might be 12 or 13 years old. He might be deaf-mute, he was very dirty, with broken pants, also very dirty, barefoot, and with a big burned scar in his arm. One of them hit him 3 times on the face. I went there and asked them to stop, and why were they hitting that boy. The told me that he was dirty, and that was not allowed to be there. Of course the boy was very nervous, and crying. I took him with we, and bought him a samosa (food). After that some of the people that were looking at that, came and gave him some more food. After a while the police came and with a stick, took him away of the train. He had a lost look while he was sitting there with me. He had psoriasis all along the legs, and I'd guess that he is living in the street. I've felt quite bad after all that. And imagine the boy, passing through that every day...
It was so great to sleep in the train, so comfortable. So 'india', for me.

4/4/05

28/jan a little bit of scatology?

It was 16h o'clock, and I decided to go to the beach, and walk a little bit, alone. But this time, I turned on the left side, towards the fishing village. After walking for a while, I sat down and started observing; 2 dead turtles, with lots of ravens (corbs) around. A 15 years old boy taking a shit 10 meters far from me, on my right side, 2 more boys seating next to me (10 cm) after 1 minute of being there, looking at me. One of them is spiting all the time. Sound of ravens. After 1 minute, 2 men came and started pissing 5 meters in front of me. Smell of shit. After 30 seconds, I heard a strange noise just behind me. There was a man taking a shit. In the shore, on the left side, a man cleaning himself after all these 'nature calls'... I decided to change place, I thought I was in the wrong place, in the bathroom area. But It was the same. I could continue writing about my next 15 minutes in that place, but it was almost the same. So well, it's clear that here, at least in this place, people only need 3 or 4 meters to find their own intimacy. Of course, only men. I havn't seen a single woman in the beach. The sun is going down, so maybe is the time for these human needs, when there's still a little bit of sun. The tide is down. There are thousand of boats on the beach, and a hundred in the water. Every 300 meters, there's a group of people buying and selling the fish. This beac is full of life, in all its forms. Is lije a huge house without walls. It's the house, the job, the bathroom, the playing area... everything visible. Soon is going to rain, the sky is too dark.
So, we could say that there are 6 rows in this village. The sea, and main reason for all these people to be here (90% of them came from another state, from andra pradesh, a.p.). 2nd, the shore (wet), were boats unload the fish, and where people clean themselves. Then the shore (dry), where people walk, where children play, where women clean the fish, and where people take shits. The 4th is where they leave the boats. Number 5th... where they throw all the rubbish, full of ravens, cows and flies, and after that, the village, costructed with palm leaves, and mud, without water nor electricity.
Just when I was walking in the row number 5, it started raining. The sky was black, a litlle bit scary. Another scary thing, much more scary I would say, is that I've seen boys children in the street during the whole day. Buit not only today. They are always working. Some of them clining, others begging, others working the fish... Do they study? or play? I guess that even if being free, many families can not afford to feed (alimentar) another person, if this person is not productive.
So, in this kind of atmospheres, one would expect sadness. But not at all. I don't know if it's the 'hinduism' in itself, that says that one must accept his cast, work, fatalities, without interfering in it... 'for it's the path to happiness. Otherwise, there would be chaos in the universe...' I took these sentences from a book I'm reading now about india, and its casts, and I think that explains many of the things that one can see around. The book is 'a fine balance', from rohinton mistry.
Theis morning I sent a package with my books, 5 books that I've read, and I've liked enough to keep them forever. It took me 2 hours to prepare everything. First you have to prepare the package, and after that they cover it with cloth, and they sew it and seal it with wax. And only tailors can do all these things. After that, once in the main post office, only 1 person working in 20 windows, and of course, a long queue. Everything together, a small eternity. And pluys the indians that always try to pass the other and avoif the queue. One came just before me, and he was extremelly agressive. I was a little bit scared, but nothing happened at the end.

4/4/05