Journey Home

Wow.  I have been home nearly two weeks and in some ways I hardly feel like I've been gone, and in other ways I can hardly believe I'm back.  I'll update you on my reflections soon, but I'll start with my last two days in India.

Before you read any further, I want you to open a new browser window and go to the following website: Monsoon Music.  Let the music start (Journey Home is actually the name of the first track), and then continue reading.  Enjoy!

It was another two days of wandering, discovering, observing and adventuring!  On my second last day I spent the morning getting things organized, and watching the brick layers working on the building next door...it has grown by a floor and a half since I arrived here in India.  All the supports they use during construction are made out of bamboo, which makes for pretty interesting looking work.  I wonder how they make sure it's all level...hmm.  I made some lunch for the guys (and by the way, lunch is typically at 3 or 4 o'clock here) and then it was mission time!

Jon had a friend he wanted Andrew and I to meet so we headed out of the apartment on our adventure.  First adventure: riding 3 people (two guys over 6'2" and myself) on a bicycle rickshaw - two in the chariot and one riding backwards, sitting on the actual bicycle seat.  We probably could have walked faster, but somehow we decided this was more efficient.  The poor driver sure had to work hard for his rupees.  On the way, the guys initiated me into the "head-nod game": give a head nod to as many people and see how many you get back; the one with the most nods wins!  Well...as a woman, I was already missing an edge on the guys.  Fun nonetheless!  We then got to the stop where we tried catching an auto-rickshaw, but the only ones we saw were either full or going a different direction.  Well I laughingly suggested flagging down a truck (I had secretly wanted to ride one up north in the hills, but never did anything about it)...and lo and behold, Andrew did.  And even more lo and behold, the truck pulled over and happened to be going to the exact location we needed!  So we hopped in the back of this bright blue carrier truck and off we went.  Hilarity.  The looks we got from people as they saw three goras riding in the back of this truck were priceless...not too many head-nods reciprocated...only stares.  Two auto-rickshaw rides and a walk through the dark later, we arrived and Ranajit Sengupta's house; he's a famous Indian sarode player, and a friend of Jon's.  We were warmly welcomed into his house and quickly offered tea and muri (a street-food snack made with puffed rice and spices).  What a lovely man!  He talked about his recent tour to Africa and various European tours he had been on...hard to believe Jon and Andrew are so "well-connected"!  Ranajit has even taught sessions in the Ethnomusicology Department at the University of Alberta...pretty cool.  It was a wonderful visit and another glimpse in the world of classical Indian music.

Another three auto-rickshaw rides and we were back at the Gariahat market where I bought myself a duffel bag to bring back all my goodies!  Then it was time for a farewell dinner with the boys...we made sure our naan bread quota was filled for the week on that one! Mmmm...great food and wonderful company and then home to a skype date with my brother!  Not sure if I explained this earlier, but my brother went to university with both Jon and Andrew and then worked on a cruise ship with Jon...so now they're working on getting Carsten to India!

My last day in this beautiful country was delightful.  I packed up the duffel bag with all my purchases (which fit perfectly by the way!) and then went off on one last Gariahat mission.  I felt so comfortable and familiar...I enjoyed the breeze and the sights and the ease at which I moved from bici to auto-rickshaw and maneuvered through the market.  I was going with the main purpose of getting my hands done with mendhi - the application of henna as decoration (mostly used for weddings and special occasions).  I found a section of the street with a whole line-up of men doing mendhi, so I found myself a spot, bartered my price, and sat down while two guys applied the henna to both sides of my hands.  They worked so quickly and without patterns, yet created this beautiful art on my hands!  After they finished, I was told I had to wait at least 1.5 hours until it dried, so my hands were pretty much useless.  So I wandered - yet again.

Mendhi (after the henna has dried and been removed)

 I still had some shopping I wanted to do, so I shopped.  "How did you pay for things when your hands were covered?" you ask.  Well I did what I have been doing for my entire trip...I trusted people.  I would point at something that I was interested in, negotiate a price and then point into my bag and say, "Ok.  I need your help.  Wallet...in bag."  People would look a little incredulous at first, then laugh when I waved my hands as if to say "See...I can't pay you without your help!"  Then they'd reach inside my bag, get my wallet, take out the money they needed, give me change if necessary, put the wallet back in my bag, wrap up my purchase and place it in my bag and send me on my way!  I stopped at a coffee shop to kill some time and the guys there brought me my cappuccino with a straw, and ended up answering my phone for me when the guys called!  They also told me that the colour of the mendhi would darken if I squeezed lemon juice on it.  So...after I left the coffee shop I found myself a fruit vendor, bought two lemons (with his help of course...noticing a trend yet?) and had him cut the lemons and squeeze the juice all over my hands, chuckling the whole time!  LOVE the people in India; it was as if everyone's humanity (and sense of humour) shone through my entire day!

I got back to the apartment and went over to Guru-ji's with the guys to sit in on their supposed one-hour lesson - which turned into a three-hour lesson!  It was interesting to watch and listen.  Its kind of that "explain things quickly then just do it" Indian way of teaching.  Shantanu is teaching them the rules of a new raga and there are so many subtleties.  These are songs that are traditionally sung or played on the sarode and the slight bends - either from above or below - are so nuanced.  At times hard to imagine how they can be done with a saxophone and not sound too obvious.  Plus, there are specific rules to each raga as to where the bend comes from above and where it comes from below.  So intricate - I can see why the guys have this intensity when they talk about the music.

I zipped back to the apartment to finish packing and to have a quick shower before going back to Guru-ji's house for a supper that Maa (his mother) cooked for us (the guys had no veggies left to cook anything with at home, so Maa took pity on us!).  Back to the apartment for last hugs and goodbyes with the guys.  Jon -- I so appreciated his picking me up from the airport and after my late train, his cooking and his goofy moments.  I'm so thankful he was so receptive to having me visit, even though they were so busy.  Andrew -- I so appreciated his sense of humour, his willingness to take a break from the music to go on some adventures and have conversations about cameras, photoshop, and "life balance".  The taxi arrived and it was time to go...hard to believe a month had come and gone and I would be heading back to my cozy little home, my Al, my crazy cat, my wonderful friends and family, and...my job. 

Three...two....one...lift off!

India

The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.
- Mark Twain