Meet me...

Guess where I went this weekend? Ranthambore National Park! A friend is leaving India next week so I decided to take Monday off of work and join her in the “best place to see tigers in the world” to go on some safaris! Just a quick rundown of the weekend (Jan, I wish you & the family were there! You would have loved it) The train ride went well, 3 hours delayed, cold, annoying (I hate taking the train alone) but I met a wonderful Indian family and a fellow Canadian. We spent the first morning eating French toast and catching up while trying to avoid the most angry and patronizing man I’ve ever met in India – Mr. Hotel Tiger Safari Manager Man. In the afternoon Georgia and I booked ourselves into a canter (a mini-bus/jeep hybrid thing without a top) and off we went. The landscape was beautiful. For example here are some photos:

these were taken by a friend last month…it’s a bit more dry these days. Ranthambore was an old hunting ground for the British Raj and has a large Rajput vs. Mughal history. For these two reasons dotting the landscape are Rajput/Mughal crumbling architecture and British shelters for hunting it gives the park this amazing feeling of being part of a tiger hunt. I couldn’t stop replaying scenes from the live version of The Jungle Book.

On our first safari we had a driver and a “guide”. He was awesome, explaining sounds, birds and animals to us. On our first safari we saw many deer, gazelle, wild boar, birds and, when we stopped by one of the large lakes in the park, crocodiles! No sign of any tigers. The next day we switched hotels to across the street and spent the morning sprawled on the beautiful lawn and garden. In the afternoon another Safari. This time it was all us foreigners (save two unusually quiet Indians). You could feel the anticipation in the air. As soon as we entered the park we saw a canter with everyone standing up, shushing us and pointing. A good 20 feet away was a large tiger. Unbothered, he turned stuck up his butt and started lapping up water from the small lake. People were getting quite noisy and a guard (walking!) made the canters move along as not to disturb the tiger. The driver was awesome, using a marker he renumbered his canter (and his placement in line – only a fixed amount of canters and jeeps are allowed in the park) and turned back so we could get another look. Unfortunately, the tiger had moved off. We drove for a bit longer and I couldn’t believe how many deer, monkey and antelope were out. Then we came across another tiger heading our way. Walking straight for us slowly and purposely a “teenaged” tiger came towards our canter and walked directly behind us. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. For some reason the driver scooted off as soon as the tiger reached the other side of the road. We drove on, seeing more and more animals, the landscape changing and lots of different sized tiger prints on the road. As we were getting close to exiting the part, to the left we saw a baby (still bigger then me) climbing up a hill, to the right was another baby cub casually walking through the bush about 10 feet away. He disappeared in the tall grass and we drove up a few feet…we saw yet another cub walking towards something. There on a rock about 10 feet away from our canter was the mom. She was huge with white fur around her face. She looked nonchalantly at us as people flashed photographs (I was too mesmerized I forgot to take photos!). She sniffed the air and bared her teeth a few times. The cub sat beside her for awhile but, getting restless, stood and walked around her and she slowly gracefully stood and walked into the brush with her baby. It was very, very amazing! Our driver was halirious.
The next day we went up to the fort. George was in heaven running around, wanting to see everything. I think I may have seen too many forts in Rajasthan already…it just seemed like all the rest. However, it did look amazing when you’re down in the park looking up at it looming over the wildlife. There were also some very impressive temples with a great many nasty monkeys lining their roofs and walls. In the afternoon I went on another safari (I wanted to take in the landscape before heading back to Delhi for 5 months and secretly I wanted to see some Hyenas, Jackels or a kill of some sort) This time no luck (not sure if it had something to do with the noisy 20-year-0ld Indian male filled canter) But the driver, whenever we saw something would park the canter, tell everyone to shut up and we’d all just stare for a good 10 min. It was very peaceful and I did catch a glimpse of more tiger paw prints and a tree with tiger scratches.
Off to work, can’t wait to get the pictures developed!
Love yah!

I Love You Madame

So I finally did it, I cracked. I’ve had a few (very few) mini-freak outs in the last 5 ½ months – the odd dirty look, or “what’s your problem?”, a few angry comments and a bit of throwing my arms up in the air but not a full blown freak-out, the girls-going-to-explode-and-she’s-taking-India-with-her sort of freak out. Most of the time I take everything in stride…its good character building. I don’t know what it was…maybe it was the hour late train (which is actually quite on time as far as trains to Delhi are concerned) or not recognizing that I was stressed from the whirlwind weekend. Maybe it was the prepaid auto man telling me there was “No pre-paid mam”. Or Mr. PrePaid Automan turning his head ignoring me when I logically point out he sold a ticket to my friends ahead of me (and the Indian behind me). Or maybe it was his buddy in the booth grinning at me as he rearranges his dick through his pants and hikes up his pants further up to his armpits. Maybe it was the fact that it was raining for the first time in 4 months and I was wearing a very heavy cotton long skirt that was now soaked with Delhi Dirt, rainwater and sewage up to my knees. Maybe it was the 20 or so men around us asking us if we want a taxi cab (to which we always reply “Nahi or nahi taxi cab or mujhe taxi chahiya nahi hai” which they ignore and keep asking. Their presence brings another 10 or so men (because, well, 20 or so men around a bunch of foreigners must mean something exciting is going on so they have to take a look). To make a long story short while desperately trying to bargain down a very rude and nasty auto driver from the exuberant price he started at. Some other man comes up and kindly asks if he can help. Through a rain soaked head I just look exhausted at him, turn back to the auto driver (who promptly says 50 rs. as soon as we make eye contact) I turn, throw-up my arms and scream “I hate this country”. Ethel calms me and tosses me into the next auto that comes along. The poor tall lanky tanned man who happened to speak English drives calmly as I periodically snap at him for how auto drivers treat solo foreign female travelers “I’m sorry mam for how others have treated you”.

This weekend…I’ll give you a brief update. I traveled again. We keep going to these “off the beaten path” sorta places. This weekend was Sanchi and the Bhimbetka caves. Sanchi held some beautiful Buddhist stupas unlike anything I’ve ever seen before from Ashoka’s rule.

Sanchi itself was a small village-y town with house drawn rickshaws and merchants unsure of how to deal with tourists. We traveled down small village roads stopped for 30 hour for a huge flock of lambs and their Shepards to pass, smiled at the women carrying wood to Udayagiri caves (interesting Jain and Hindu rock caves). Lastly we visited 12,000 year old (that’s right twelve thousand year old) rock paintings of people and animals in Bhimbetka.

The trip was whirlwind but wonderful. Most of our time was spent on local city-to-city buses (partly because we kept taking the wrong buses everywhere we attempted to travel) watching the green fields bumpily go by and trying to talk with burka clad Muslim women and small smiling toddlers. It’s a great way to see India. If you’re wondering about the title. Some young lad sitting infront of me on the bus wrote this on his hand and put it so I would read it. It was actually quite nice…very bollywood and much more enduring then a pinch in the ass.

To conclude this long entry I would like to reaffirm that I love India but I guess everyone (even if they’re trying to be calm) cracks sometime. I realize I love India but I need a break (and my adventure in Bangladesh does not count as a vacation from India) as such, as soon as I find out my loans are deterred for another 6 mnths I’m heading off. Please vote on the choices. Largely it’s between Thailand and Beijing. Both are places that I’ve vowed to see as soon as possible. Thailand just because and Beijing because I’ve lived in China but still have never seen the Great Wall! Here’s the pros and cons for Thailand : pros - dirt cheap, sunny and cute boys. Cons – will be traveling to Thailand in July with a friend so why waste money now? Beijing : pros- great wall, forbidden palace, (!!!!) Chinese food, a real break from Indian culture, probably my last chance in a looong time to see it. Cons – expensive and far away. I could also do a 10 day vipassana meditation session... O.k. please vote on the poll attached. (I’m weak and can’t make my own decisions)

Vacation

Where should I go for a one week vacation?

Beijing Goa Kerala(south India, never been before) Tamil Nadu (south india...never been before) Thailand Vipassana (10 silent secluded meditation) other (please write in comment)

View Result

Free Web Polls

Love,

Jodhpur, January 2005

This is the blue city view of Jodhpur from the fort. Traditionally only Brahmins could paint there houses blue, now anyone does (history lesson courtesy of Lonely Planet)


Ethel, Emma and I at the fort in Jodhpur. I'm peaking out from column no. 2. Blame the cheesy photos on my travel companions!

Rishikesh, January, 2005

Ganges in Rishikesh. This is durga. The figurines are dropped into the river for various festivities...this is one that washed to shore.


Ahh my Shiva statue. It doesn't look like much but it was breathtaking. Young brahmin priest and poojas took place in front ever night.
That wire you see behind him is a neon "aum" ahh Neon Religion


I look sick, skinny and ill in this picture but I'm just really tired. I normally wouldn't post a pic like this but you guys keep asking how I'm looking - the same see. This is me at the Hardiwar (near Rishikesh) train station sipping some chai.

Pushkar, November 2004

These are the Ghats in Pushkar...it's illegal (and bad for your Karma) to take a picture...oh well it's not my doing.


At the Pushkar camel fair. Ethel looks a bit like a princess!! But look at the grin on Mr. Rajasthan No. 2!

"Brave young pilots" and other "races"

I sat for a meeting with another organization who would like to sign and MOU with. The level of “patting one’s own back” and sucking up in that room was choking. That is beside the point. I don’t want to ramble but, the talk of their work in the Tsunami struck areas made me remember how physically angry I get when hearing how organizations and governments deal with development work and specifically how they have and are “dealing” with the Tsunami. The gasps and sighs around the room applauding their “efforts” made me sick. Also, the ignorance of my colleagues towards those (in my director’s words) “wait, those can’t at all be mistaken as Indians…they’re clearly “negros”) made me ill. The government officials rambling on about how great the air force was and how much they helped these little “black” kids by setting up a camp for them. Oh and the plans to exploit this area by training poor people in tourism and building resorts and the like made me want to puke. Maybe anything is better then nothing..I don’t know. Discuss.

As a final point, never mind all my previous life plans. Even though with this experience it might be best to continue the plan on teaching others tolerance and cultural sensitivity -All this talk made me eager to leave all this globalization/policy/bureaucratic shit and return to “classic” anthropology (yes, setting up a hut in the middle of a reasonably untouched (read unexploited) tribe and just getting to know a community).

Off to the forest! In the meantime, write some comments damnit.

Abuse and Hartals

Don’t really have much to say for once. I’m back in Delhi. The gender based violence, monitoring and evaluation conference went well. The participants were happy and comprehending what we had to teach them...I figure that’s as close to success during a 3 day conference that we can hope for. It was a bit frustrating to see these upperclass people creating policies and programmes for women that have been abused...not really understanding what the needs of this group is...not really listening to the survivors that we forced them to bring to the conference.

There was a Hartal announced for the second day we were there (the first day of the workshop) and it lasted for the remainder of the workshop so, unfortunately, we couldn’t (and obviously had no reason) to leave the hotel. It was pleasant though - lots of long, wonderful and translucent conversations with my colleagues (2 of my favourite people that I work with and 1 girl from the regional office in New York). The nights got even better when we found out how to buy black-market beer even with the bans, strikes and riots. The hotel was magnificent-right up there with a “Super 8” in Alberta. It even had a bathtub a hairdryer that looked like a vacuum and those little bottles of bath bubbles, shampoo and lotion. I was living the high life. I didn’t’ see much of Dhaka except for the ride to and from the airport (we were lucky that the Hartal was suspended for a couple of days before it starts up again on the 3rd. - our Bangladeshi colleagues were toying with the fact of making us ride in an ambulance to the airport to deter rioters) There was a bit more drama and much more politics ravelled into my trip but I’m tired and busy, upset about Nepal. One of my colleagues (the same colleague that was in the Maldives for the Tsunami) is stuck in Nepal…without phone, flights or internet we have no idea how he is doing. Mmmmm

Take care guys and email me sometime!

Michelle