No One Knows What Happen's Next
We came back to Kolkata by way of Vijayawada. The train schedules worked out more conveniently that way. As opposed to the rather ho-hum scenery we had on the way to Mumbai, this time we passed through incredible lush mountains, strange stone hills, and fertile farm land on the way to Vijayawada.
Vijayawada is at the top of "South India." South India has it's own people-groups, foods and languages. Their common language is Telagu, which is entirely different from the Hindi most people can speak in the more Northern parts of India. Up till now my Sanskrit based Bangla has helped me with a little Hindi, no such luck here. Instead of sharp lines and clear arches of Bangla/Hindi, the letters look squished out of a toothpaste tube, more like Thai(?) than any language I recognize. The primary food is a dinner-plate sized crepe wrapped around a bit of spicy mashed potato - a dosa. I love them.
In the 9 hours between the time our train dropped us off and the next one picked us up Annabel and I caught a bus from Vijayawada to a Hindu temple carved into some caves. It was the only "tourist attraction" we seen on the whole trip, and was all the more interesting for it's uniqueness.
We paid the foreigner price for admission into the complex - $2 USD (100 rupees), instead of the 5 rupee Indian price. Bah! In the main layer of the temple the guard asked us to give offerings to the image of the god Vishnu, as the place is sacred to him. We explained that we were Christians and could not give offerings to other gods. In addition we had already paid the exhorbant foreigner price to visit the temple. After he pouted a bit I gave him 5 rupee for tea money, as he had gotten up from his chair to give us a tour. He sulked, but shut up. From the top of the temple we could see the beautiful country-side. They say it looks like Sri Lanka, the Hawaii of South Asia. As I was originally scheduled to visit my friends in Sri Lanka this week, and as serious fighting erupted, again, on the island this week, it made an all right substitute.
It is worth mentioning that this is the first day that it rained while Annabel and I were out and about. Otherwise the effects of the monsoon have been limited to while we were eating, sleeping or riding on a train.
The bus back to town was filled with men- standing room only. Then the bus stopped, some people got off and the bus filled up with girls from a local college. The bus was busting at the seams. We were pressed back, sandwiched on the border between the sea of men and the cloud of school girls. The girls were very excited to practice their English on us, and it is a sign of our good moods that we entertained questions and gave more than nonsense answers to their inquisitiveness.
Vijayawada is at the top of "South India." South India has it's own people-groups, foods and languages. Their common language is Telagu, which is entirely different from the Hindi most people can speak in the more Northern parts of India. Up till now my Sanskrit based Bangla has helped me with a little Hindi, no such luck here. Instead of sharp lines and clear arches of Bangla/Hindi, the letters look squished out of a toothpaste tube, more like Thai(?) than any language I recognize. The primary food is a dinner-plate sized crepe wrapped around a bit of spicy mashed potato - a dosa. I love them.
In the 9 hours between the time our train dropped us off and the next one picked us up Annabel and I caught a bus from Vijayawada to a Hindu temple carved into some caves. It was the only "tourist attraction" we seen on the whole trip, and was all the more interesting for it's uniqueness. We paid the foreigner price for admission into the complex - $2 USD (100 rupees), instead of the 5 rupee Indian price. Bah! In the main layer of the temple the guard asked us to give offerings to the image of the god Vishnu, as the place is sacred to him. We explained that we were Christians and could not give offerings to other gods. In addition we had already paid the exhorbant foreigner price to visit the temple. After he pouted a bit I gave him 5 rupee for tea money, as he had gotten up from his chair to give us a tour. He sulked, but shut up. From the top of the temple we could see the beautiful country-side. They say it looks like Sri Lanka, the Hawaii of South Asia. As I was originally scheduled to visit my friends in Sri Lanka this week, and as serious fighting erupted, again, on the island this week, it made an all right substitute.
It is worth mentioning that this is the first day that it rained while Annabel and I were out and about. Otherwise the effects of the monsoon have been limited to while we were eating, sleeping or riding on a train.
The bus back to town was filled with men- standing room only. Then the bus stopped, some people got off and the bus filled up with girls from a local college. The bus was busting at the seams. We were pressed back, sandwiched on the border between the sea of men and the cloud of school girls. The girls were very excited to practice their English on us, and it is a sign of our good moods that we entertained questions and gave more than nonsense answers to their inquisitiveness.
3 Comments:
Nice that the girls wanted to practise their English on you guys. Were they happy and smiled despite possible hardships in their lives? Blessed be the happy. Blessed be the friendly. Blessed be the good hearted. I just had a bad experience with the local authorities here. Want to practise English? Don't think so. Fine, no problem. Just be friendly for crying out loud. Hasn't anything to do with a person's language or origins, only what kind of human being you are. Blessed be the gentle. (J)
Hmm, sounds like there's a story in there. We are ussually not so gentle. "What is your country?" "What is your country?" "What is your good name?" "I give that on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know" Hey, maybe your local authorities are sick and tired of being harrased in the name of friendliness.
Can I still get blessed points for happy?
Harrased in the name of friendliness? They are not being harrased, they should be doing their job without treating the people seeking their help like dirt. Anyway, I'll forget about them for the night. Neutral is a good thing too. People should be more neutral. Indifferent almost. Sounds bad, but is sometimes good. Yeah, you've got blessed points for happy. Sure, why not.
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