Amardere bari-te aschben!

Rash
Now we are teachers! This week has been like refreshment. We have become old lady villagers in Serampore, taking Nani’s place in Monimala School and wandering in the sunshine whilst our beloved schoolchildren frolic around us tugging our hair and bringing us fish. Well, ok, no they haven’t brought us fish. But wouldn’t it be great if they did.

The sunshine bit and the old lady bit are true… and also we are now on our own which means cooking for ourselves rather than being fed to the gills like princesses. I have given Ana a lesson in the Indian spices! And she has cooked lunch! Cauliflower is in season and there are tiny little sweet red onions and then long thick green spring onions with flowers on the end, and potatoes are 6 rupees for half a kilo! You take a stroll in the evening stopping at your preferred subzi-wallah to get provisions. It is a vegetarian’s paradise. Also an eater’s paradise. We have been guzzling these rolls that everyone makes on the street stalls around this area, which are big round tasty parathas fried on massive black woks, with an egg cracked and fried on top of them, then stuffed with spicy chicken all mixed with chillies and onions. MMMMMgrmmmmmmm. You can have them without chicken too, fleshless people.

At school (we go in the mornings from 9.30-12.30) I have been teaching a class of children (bout 8-10 years old I think) to say ‘red lorry yellow lorry’ and some geography (‘Serampore is in WEST BENGAL!) and also getting them to tell me how they make curry because the girls can cook (they are kids who sort of run free on the street, their parents are out working all the time and didn’t send them to school before). We were going through the spices and I asked them where mustard came from and one girl said, ‘From the shop, Auntie!’
They are super-enthusiastic and there’s loads of clamour and bright eyes and jumping up and down. We played hopscotch on the roof and I showed them t’ai chi exercises. And they did loads of hindi film dances. Which was great (and hilarious). They are so little and excitable.


aNa
well…… for those who never believed that I could ever be on my own in a kitchen with a pan full of vegetables and oil without having a panic attack…… I did!!!! and actually Rash forgot to say that it was quite decent and also as U can check I didn’t kill her, so………..well done me!!!!!! anyway let’s move to some other things…….As Rash has said we’ve had become the 2 new teachers of Monimala school!!!!! the experience has been cool so far, Rash is with the older ones and myself with the little ones and although we hardly can understand each other (I mean the kids, not Rash) we still find the way of communicating through signs, body language and smiles which always work!!! The first day we worked was really amazing, I really enjoyed a lot, so did the children, but the second time it was bit of disappointment as it was the first school day for 4 three year-old kids and the teachers were quite harsh and un-empathetic with them so that upset and frustrated me but I tried to do my best and hopefully next week will be better!!!!! :o) Also because I’m planning to teach them my famous song of “the pi pi piiiiii”. For those who don’t know the “hit” make sure I sing it for you when I get back!!!!!
Today we are back in Calcutta for the weekend again staying at Auntie Nupur’s and company (bless their cotton socks) they’re becoming our adoptive family, they ever so nice and everyone here treats us as princesses!!!! Anyway we are back here because tonight we are planning going out with Lattoo (their son) to a party!!!!!! yujuuuuuu check us out!!!!!!! “Living India” is more than visiting temples, mosques, and finding buddha!!!!!!!! ;0)
Well AMIGOS that’s all from me today!!!!!! sending you love &hugs, aNaxxxxx

A Resplendent, Immortal Teardrop on the Cheek of Time

Today was a proper adventure day, Calcutta bus-hopping for miles around this honking, crazy, populous, glinting city. We saw a huge hospital, teeming with folk and smells, went to a cancer research institute and met a woman running a breast cancer support group, Hitaishini. There were about 12 women in one tiny office, making some massive commotion as they spoke to patients and explained to us what they were doing (counselling, physical care, helping provide medical treatment and food to patients as most are poor and from rural areas).

In the morning our first visit was to Salt Lake City where my mum’s friend Sunipa is running a little school for mentally disabled children where they had 15 minutes of prayers before school began, listening to Bengali Hindu prayer songs, then continued making sparkly banners for their 20th anniversary party on Saturday, with the help of various teachers.
In between all this we jumped on and off various rattling, battered blue and yellow and maroon buses, a few times on the wrong ones, with conductors banging on the sides and hollering out their patter of destinations. There is a goddamn lot of noise.
We swung all over the place in crushed hot wooden seats, and I started recognising roads. It’s a good city. People just get on with stuff here. And we have seen lots of people now, doing amazing good work, with genuine enthusiasm and joy, and not being paid. There’s a thriving comfortable middle-class ranging from globally-conscious, open-minded students who’ve grown up with Indian world views, to well-off doctors like the people we’re staying with, to the retired, who are all passing on resources they have. The principle of sharing the wealth and giving to those who need seems to be well in practice, even if the poverty and education problems are huge. Although Dr Sequoria (who runs the little school, MoniMala, that my grandmother was teaching at in Serampore) and her husband point out there are also a lot of givers who do it for the glory and recognition as well as the ones who do it very quietly and inconspicuously.
We went to the women of Hitaishini (the breast cancer support group) to see if we could get involved but obviously you need Bengali to do counselling here. It would be a thing to do if you were staying here for a while… that feeling of foolishness you get when you don’t know the bhasha (language) is coming over me here, I need to learn Bengali I reckon! I can speak Hindi some, but with a terrible accent and have to keep filling in with English words. Dohhhhhh.

Anyway, many of these groups and organisations are running on whatever donations they get – always looking for more funding.

The City of Joy

aNa
Here we are again staying at Auntie Nupur's, with Uncle Kunal… and their lovely son Lattoo…. and the 2 grannies…. and the ladies who help them with the cleaning and cooking…..to sum up we are again living with another 10 people!!!! they are lovely making sure we are ok I mean feeding us every half an hour!!!!!!! Who said you lose weight when you go to India?????!!!!! Bollecks!!!! Anyway….we tried to go to the cinema twice but for some strange reason we kept on missing the shows!!!!! The two of us!!!!! Weird innit?!!! ;o) anyway instead we ended up going for a boat ride and for a cold and nice….BEER!!!!!! That wasn’t an easy mission, as here there’s hardly any bars selling alcohol it seems that they prefer their chay (tea) always with some tasty and lovely snacks…..and SPICY of course! Anyway the only place we managed to find was the bar next door to the cinema (inside this big new and western style mall) it was dark and empty not many girls and the only ones were with their partners, not like us!! “2 strong independent women” ;o)

Saturday we went to the Kolkata book fair (the biggest one in Asia) and guess what was the theme this year…???? SPAIN yes these bloody Spaniards are everywhere!!!!! So believe it or not the Spanish stall was packed and with a long long queue so I went straight to the front asking if there were any Spanish writers, and the guy at the door realizing that I was one of them (Espanola) let me in straight away!!! some benefit I should have for being Espanola innit? The fair was huge and very crowded, of course we really enjoyed it!!
After that went back home for some food, we were starving imagine more than 3 hours without eating anything!!! But after dinner Rash didn’t feel too well so she stayed in and I went out with Lattoo on his bike! Check me out!!! We went to the only place in Calcutta where they play live music so it was a band playing covers they were really cool and it was shocking watching all these Indian guys requesting Nirvana!!! After that went to the only 24 hours restaurant in Calcutta where we met up with 2 of his friends, had some tea and kebabs and after that home on the bike again! yujuuuuu!!! what a night!!!!!
I LOVE INDIA, HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT BEFORE??

Rash
Sunday we went to a sports day with Amitav, a dude who runs an organisation that helps street children in Calcutta. We’re staying with Auntie Nupur, friend of my mum’s (everyone here is Auntie or Uncle whether related or not) and Amitav is an old friend of her family.
BANCHBO - his organisation - www.banchbo.com - run classes and do various activities with the kids. Next Saturday we’re gonna go with them to Sunderbans, a strange-sounding area near Calcutta that is half-water half-jungle, where the land meets the Bay of Bengal: “A mangrove forest that is home to a profusion of wildlife including Bengal tigers”, which are man-eating apparently. So we get to meet the animals and hang out with the children. Yeeha!

The Banchbo sports day was FAB. Reminded me a bit of the Screenplay e-games tournament cos there was absolute joy and riveted attention from all, both kids and grown-ups. We'll put up some pictures of it. Honest.

don't stop movin baby... pt2

rash
And now back to Calcutta again! Got here Friday morning on the Rajdhani Express, the overnight train from Delhi wahey. Cool fun – bunks and blankets and hot curry dinner. But it’s a bit of a posh train that one, the refreshment men brought tea in flasks, with tea bags, not in huge urns and little clay cups like when I was little. Next time!

aNa
Oh yes!!!! The train journey was a an experience itself, it was 17 hours from Delhi to Calcutta and I thought I was going to get dead bored but not at all, first you start making friends with your fellow passengers, offering us food and interrogating about our lives, past, present and future….and after that every 10 minutes you’ve got someone offering you tea (chai) or food!!!!! so how can you get bored…???!!!! then obviously the spare 5 minutes that you get we spent them reading!!!!!! what a journey!!! Looking forward to catching another train!!! ;o)
I LOVE INDIA

in the bosom of the clan

Then we went to Moradabad for a night, my dad’s ancestral home city. It’s a great big house with a chatth (roof) and a courtyard in the middle with a handpump for water. And about 40 cousins and a whole collection of aunts and uncles. Ana met them all, haha. Including Uncle Salim who turned up like a mystic, swathed in a huge beard. Excellent. Spaniard’s havin problems remembering names… but no matter, she made friends with them all.
It’s brilliant there cos my aunts just feed us the whole time, someone’s always cooking and making fresh rotis. We played badminton on the roof and sat talking to little cousins and looking at really old photos of my dad. When you go up on the roof there are kites bobbing everywhere over the city, all the buildings are packed close together and investigative red-arsed monkeys leap from roof to roof around the children.

aNa
Si si si!!!!! Moradabad was another experience!!!! almost from another dimension………hundreds of aunties, uncles, cousins everywhere, all of them wanted you to go to visit their home, eating their food….drinking their tea…..all of them looking forward to meeting you!!!! It was really nice and different, they were so interested in getting to know you that we even had conversations for about 15 minutes talking different languages! As some of them didn’t speak English and myself is still not very fluent in Urdu!!!! Anyway it was really very lovely, I’d never forget them, their spontaneity, kindness and generosity as every family give us farewell gifts!!!!
I LOVE INDIA!!!

don't stop movin baby... pt1

So we spent 8 days or so in Delhi with my family, being mad and speeding around all over the place. And showing Ana the sights that must be seen. Jama Masjid, the huge, beautiful old mosque of Old Delhi, at namaaz time at dusk (massive clamour of the prayer-call through loudspeakers and people rushing up the steps). Around that area is Chandni Chowk, a sprawl of bazaar streets selling silver jewellery (chandni means moonlight or silver in Hindi). Proper Arabian Nights-style set-up.

Also went trailing round Janpath – twice - a magnet-like shopping area with long rows of stalls selling cheap, enticing beads, bags, tops, wooden items and other assorted tat of the world. Supposedly quality Indian handicrafts. Even I, definitely an anti-shopper, found myself sucked in against my will. The Spaniard had an involved half-hour haggling session with 3 men at a pendant stall. She wanted 3 to put into necklaces and by the time we got back to her from the shoeshop the whole lot of them were working up into a frenzy of “please ma’am look ok take these 2 extra, 500 rupees’ and Ana clutching her forehead going “oh no I jus’ wan 3… or do i? wha-rrami dooin? Do I really want these?” Saira turned up and said 420 which was apparently not a good price to offer. “Yeh kya gandhi price hai?” (what dirty price is this?) says the stall man. “Chelo four 2 five dheydeejyai.” (ok go on giz 425 that’ll do).
We eventually managed to secure the purchases and leave, Ana looking thoroughly traumatised and clutching about 12 lumps of metal and stones. No, there were 3 beautiful ones among there. But she sat gazing worriedly into space in the taxi for the next half hour while the rest of us (me, my mother and Saira) argued about whether we should buy orange dusters for the house from the boy at the traffic lights and why Shiv Shankar (a driver the day before) hadn’t taken us to Red Fort the other day when it was only a bit further on from Raj Ghat. Ah, the endless, elaborate discussions. Its a favourite Indian pastime.