I am making a table cloth for Popy. When Reshma, my student, got engaged I searched for a suitable present for her. My darling Mother, who was with me at that time, said why didn't I make a cross-stitch sampler for her. So it was. I hunted amongst my sparse collection (it is sparse whatever the family might believe) and found a perfect wedding sampler. The threads were a problem. I found out the hard way that the embroidery thread colors do not match the wide variety available in US/Europe. We also do not have DMC or Anchor threads. What we have is a Desi version of Anchor threads that are painful to work with. Anyone who has felt the satiny smoothness of the cotton embroidery threads from DMC or Anchor will know what I am talking about. Stumped, I decided that is what brothers were for. The poor chap purchased embroidery threads and sent them to me so that I could make the wedding sampler for Reshma. It was a good educative experience for him and for me.
These are the times I wish I was back in America/Europe. Just so that I could stroll to the market and pick up the threads I want, or ogle at the patterns, wait for a sale to happen and pounce on a kit...
Coming back to Popy's gift, not that she is getting married but it is better to be prepared, I am making a crochet table cloth for her. In India you get only one kind of cotton thread and it is horrible to work with it. Yes, you get the DMC crochet balls but they are more suitable for tatting then for crochet. So I am using the threads that are available in bulk. These threads do not have uniform thickness. At places they are extremely thin as though they will snap any moment and at places they are so thick that crocheting with them is difficult.
The internet is a boon. Not that I can purchase anything for I cannot afford the prices but they are a boon because on the days when I carve for embroidery/knitting/crochet, I can ogle at the patterns. It soothes. Sometimes.
Meantime, I also discovered that in my absence from India, people have given up on knitting. Previously, every lady in North India used to have a pair of knitting needles in her hand during winter. Now, with knitted materials being so cheap, no one has the time and inclination (and maybe it is looked down upon?) to do it. The lady at Lalji Wool Shop told me sadly that there are no knitting books available any more. I have, though, found some patterns online and this winter I have promised myself a sweater and if possible, an afghan.
Let us see. As they would say in Yemen, Inshallah.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Public toilets and Hygiene
Keshav had warned me that the toilet facilities in Kushinagar would be primitive. I just did not realize how primitive.
We stayed in a village called Dumiri in Kushinagar. The house belonged to one of the RTI fellows working with Keshav in Deoria/Kushinagar. It was a pucca house in the sense it was built of bricks. But toilets, I realized, there were none. The toilet facility, it dawned on me, were that primitive.
On the way from Kushinagar to Dumiri, dusk had fallen. As we wended our way to the village, I could see clusters of women moving along the road. I was surprised till I hit the obvious solution. The women can go to toilet only under the cover of night or early in the morning before anyone wakes up.
There is a realization dawning. Everywhere there are now signboards urging people to build toilets at their homes. The selling point is that by having toilets at home, they would not have to send their daughters/ daughters-in-law far from home for this basic necessity. The bonus point would be that it would keep the diseases away. There were also notices urging daughters to refuse marriage into those houses where there were no toilets.
Despite all this there was very little evidence of a toilet in the villages. The only village where I saw toilet in every house was in a village called Sohana in Ghazipur district. The toilets that are being built are the most primitive type but still a toilet.
Will this improve hygiene? I do not know.
We stayed in a village called Dumiri in Kushinagar. The house belonged to one of the RTI fellows working with Keshav in Deoria/Kushinagar. It was a pucca house in the sense it was built of bricks. But toilets, I realized, there were none. The toilet facility, it dawned on me, were that primitive.
On the way from Kushinagar to Dumiri, dusk had fallen. As we wended our way to the village, I could see clusters of women moving along the road. I was surprised till I hit the obvious solution. The women can go to toilet only under the cover of night or early in the morning before anyone wakes up.
There is a realization dawning. Everywhere there are now signboards urging people to build toilets at their homes. The selling point is that by having toilets at home, they would not have to send their daughters/ daughters-in-law far from home for this basic necessity. The bonus point would be that it would keep the diseases away. There were also notices urging daughters to refuse marriage into those houses where there were no toilets.
Despite all this there was very little evidence of a toilet in the villages. The only village where I saw toilet in every house was in a village called Sohana in Ghazipur district. The toilets that are being built are the most primitive type but still a toilet.
Will this improve hygiene? I do not know.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Kushinagar and the reclining Buddha
The intercity express was late by three hours. Govind and I were on our way to Deoria and from there to Kushinagar to do some site visits.
Kushinagar is about 3-4 hours away from Kaithi, near Nepal border. This is the place where Buddha died and was cremated. Archaeological excavations led to the discovery of the reclining Buddha.
A temple has been built to house the statue and " his bones" as the Intelligent Man (for reasons I cannot reveal his identity. Suffice to say he is a lawyer and works on RTI in Kushinagar area)told me in a awed voice.
Kushinagar is a tourist spot revered by the Buddhists worldwide. So the government has been kind enough to guarantee it electricity supply twenty four hours.
There is also a dream to build a 152 meter tall Buddha in this area. A private global trust called Maitreyi trust is sponsoring this activity. The Buddha statue would be cast in bronze and would sit atop a 17-storey building. Besides the statue, the trust has also promised to build hotel, meditation center, and a hospital. For this venture, land would be acquired from the farmers. The entire project has the blessings of the Chief Minister of UP.
I can understand the hospital part, especially if it would serve the need of the people of that region. But truly, if there is so much money floating around, can't we use it for better purpose than to build a statue that would supposedly rival that of the Bamiyan Buddha?
If immortality is the issue, where people centuries later would look at the statue in awe and remember the person who built it, we just need to remember Ozymandias.
Or is it as Karl Marx put it "Religion is the opium of the masses". You give religion to the people and they will forget to ask pertinent questions?
There has been massive opposition to the project and for the time being there is a stalemate. But who knows?
Kushinagar is about 3-4 hours away from Kaithi, near Nepal border. This is the place where Buddha died and was cremated. Archaeological excavations led to the discovery of the reclining Buddha.
A temple has been built to house the statue and " his bones" as the Intelligent Man (for reasons I cannot reveal his identity. Suffice to say he is a lawyer and works on RTI in Kushinagar area)told me in a awed voice.
Kushinagar is a tourist spot revered by the Buddhists worldwide. So the government has been kind enough to guarantee it electricity supply twenty four hours.
There is also a dream to build a 152 meter tall Buddha in this area. A private global trust called Maitreyi trust is sponsoring this activity. The Buddha statue would be cast in bronze and would sit atop a 17-storey building. Besides the statue, the trust has also promised to build hotel, meditation center, and a hospital. For this venture, land would be acquired from the farmers. The entire project has the blessings of the Chief Minister of UP.
I can understand the hospital part, especially if it would serve the need of the people of that region. But truly, if there is so much money floating around, can't we use it for better purpose than to build a statue that would supposedly rival that of the Bamiyan Buddha?
If immortality is the issue, where people centuries later would look at the statue in awe and remember the person who built it, we just need to remember Ozymandias.
Or is it as Karl Marx put it "Religion is the opium of the masses". You give religion to the people and they will forget to ask pertinent questions?
There has been massive opposition to the project and for the time being there is a stalemate. But who knows?
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
How many can fit into a jeep?
Usually Vallabh bhai takes me around to see the projects either on his motorbike or his car. This time he was busy with RTI fellows meeting so I went to the projects by myself, taking every one including the coordinators and teachers by surprise. It was fun.
The first visit was to MSS and Rekha had come to Vallabh's house to take me the project site. We caught a bus from Kaithi to Benaras and from there a jeep to Rajatalab.
So this is the question: How many do you think can fit into a jeep?
There were 15 of us squashed like pumpkins into the seats. And then there were equal number of goats squeezed like cardboards under the seats.
The first visit was to MSS and Rekha had come to Vallabh's house to take me the project site. We caught a bus from Kaithi to Benaras and from there a jeep to Rajatalab.
So this is the question: How many do you think can fit into a jeep?
There were 15 of us squashed like pumpkins into the seats. And then there were equal number of goats squeezed like cardboards under the seats.
Monday, July 21, 2008
I concede
The first time I visited Benaras, in 2002, I was aghast at the noise outside the station. But as we went outside the city, into Kaithi, I could see the charm of the city. And I clung on to that vision, or mirage, or whatever you want to call it, quite tightly. I could close my eyes to the dirt and garbage and say, Oh but Benaras is Benaras. If it was clean and neat and tidy it would no longer be Benaras, would it be? Okay, that was the romanticizing the city.
This time the rose-colored glasses came off. Alas.
It has been raining incessantly in and around Benaras for the past 11/2 months. The roads built of water-soluble tar and non-sticking grit (and you thought there was only non-sticking pan?)have completely caved in. Water has accumulated in places- dirty and grimy. Alongside the road, where there should have been pavements but aren't, swampy mud where you walk at your own peril. The buildings are wreathed in moss and look as though they have been around forever and that no one has had time and energy to renovate them even with a fresh coat of paint.
It bothers me- this apathy. It is as if people have grown accustomed to living in garbage and filth. As long as their houses are clean, what does the rest matter? But it matters terribly. If I had to live in such a place I would go into deep depression. How can they live like this? How can they stomp through the muddy swamp, drive through the potholes, and bear the stench of the rotting garbage? Doesn't it ever get to them? Don't they ever want to rise up and say okay, listen enough is enough, let us get it clean?
And what do the road construction people think? Oh, I know there is plenty of money involved. Okay, you take bribe. Fine. But can't you at least provide good quality material? Why take bribe and then provide the worst possible material? Is there no pride left in getting a job well done?
Benaras attracts tourists. At least get the city cleaned for them if not for yourselves?
On this note, here is an article from The Times Of India. Apparently, an initiative has been started to clean up Vrindavan.
This time the rose-colored glasses came off. Alas.
It has been raining incessantly in and around Benaras for the past 11/2 months. The roads built of water-soluble tar and non-sticking grit (and you thought there was only non-sticking pan?)have completely caved in. Water has accumulated in places- dirty and grimy. Alongside the road, where there should have been pavements but aren't, swampy mud where you walk at your own peril. The buildings are wreathed in moss and look as though they have been around forever and that no one has had time and energy to renovate them even with a fresh coat of paint.
It bothers me- this apathy. It is as if people have grown accustomed to living in garbage and filth. As long as their houses are clean, what does the rest matter? But it matters terribly. If I had to live in such a place I would go into deep depression. How can they live like this? How can they stomp through the muddy swamp, drive through the potholes, and bear the stench of the rotting garbage? Doesn't it ever get to them? Don't they ever want to rise up and say okay, listen enough is enough, let us get it clean?
And what do the road construction people think? Oh, I know there is plenty of money involved. Okay, you take bribe. Fine. But can't you at least provide good quality material? Why take bribe and then provide the worst possible material? Is there no pride left in getting a job well done?
Benaras attracts tourists. At least get the city cleaned for them if not for yourselves?
On this note, here is an article from The Times Of India. Apparently, an initiative has been started to clean up Vrindavan.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
UPSRTC
Once again this past week I was in Varanasi. This time, though, I forsook Shivganga. Instead I went to Kanpur and from Kanpur took a bus to Benaras.
I was expecting a broken down bone-rattling bus filled with people. After all, this was North. It is the South that is synonymous with good bus services, what with their Volvo buses and reserved seats.
So I was pleasantly surprised by the air-conditioned bus that was to take me to Benaras. The bus conductor told us that the bus would leave at 8.00pm on the dot and if we were going to have dinner we better be sharp about it. The vegetarian restaurant that Mahesh bhai and I went to was neat and clean. The waiter told us to order a thali as it can be served within five minutes. The restaurant also boasted a clean toilet.
The bus indeed left at 8.00pm sharp. There were not many passengers and I stretched myself out on a three seat and slept through most of the journey. It is a completely different story of how traffic jams and cows on the road delayed us and we arrived at our destination three hours late. But buses in UP do work.
I was expecting a broken down bone-rattling bus filled with people. After all, this was North. It is the South that is synonymous with good bus services, what with their Volvo buses and reserved seats.
So I was pleasantly surprised by the air-conditioned bus that was to take me to Benaras. The bus conductor told us that the bus would leave at 8.00pm on the dot and if we were going to have dinner we better be sharp about it. The vegetarian restaurant that Mahesh bhai and I went to was neat and clean. The waiter told us to order a thali as it can be served within five minutes. The restaurant also boasted a clean toilet.
The bus indeed left at 8.00pm sharp. There were not many passengers and I stretched myself out on a three seat and slept through most of the journey. It is a completely different story of how traffic jams and cows on the road delayed us and we arrived at our destination three hours late. But buses in UP do work.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
154 years of excellence
Today on the back page of The Hindu there was a half page advertisement: 154 years of excellence in service- CPWD. They have built roads and hostels and whatnots.
And my house.
The house can vouch for the excellent service that CPWD provides:
The flush does not work even after several repairs so I have closed it down. The kitchen sink is a marvel in construction. The floors resemble road construction. Then there is the verandah with a natural pool in the middle. Whenever it rains or whenever I wash the verandah, the water collects in the middle. I have to repeatedly push the water towards the drain hole. Of course, the CPWD knew that it would be the best exercise for my arms but I would have preferred to do without it.
Anyway, here is a salute to the best service providers of the country.
And my house.
The house can vouch for the excellent service that CPWD provides:
The flush does not work even after several repairs so I have closed it down. The kitchen sink is a marvel in construction. The floors resemble road construction. Then there is the verandah with a natural pool in the middle. Whenever it rains or whenever I wash the verandah, the water collects in the middle. I have to repeatedly push the water towards the drain hole. Of course, the CPWD knew that it would be the best exercise for my arms but I would have preferred to do without it.
Anyway, here is a salute to the best service providers of the country.
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