The trip to Shubrutu's village

Saturday We got to the bus station an hour before it was to leave so we would be guaranteed a seat on the long drive. I wasn’t complaining, all around me people were living on the street—their lives covered in tarps. On the bus, I sat in the Ladies Section pressed against a window. The old woman sitting next to me would sporadically grab my wrist, scaring the shit out of me, to look at the time. Once we got out of the city, India was a different world. Women and men bent over the vast rice patties, cows had rule and the sun was low and red. People lived in grass huts and pumped water from wells and had no electricity but the crazy thing was everyone was so happy looking—completely peaceful and settled.  

We arrived at the village in the dark. The village clustered around a main brick road busily surrounded by all of the shops and markets. We walked through the quiescent night to the house using a torch to see, down twisting dirt paths and a lake. The house is situated in a circle around a large open courtyard, which contains the latrine (squat toilet with shower head), kitchen and large table to eat big family meals. The family consisted of a grandfather, 3 brothers and their wives and children. It was busy and warm. It also made me feel very homesick—a feeling I couldn’t shake for a lot of the weekend. I should give myself a break, this is some first trip away from home: very poor country, on my own, long hours, an apartment far away from everyone, incredible cultural divide. It’s not easy. 

 Immediately after I got there and after I had given my two boxes filled with Bengali sweets to Shubrutu’s mother as thanks, we were sat down and served cha and samosas. Oh dear god they were good. In a typical Bengali fashion, only until after we were fed were we introduced to everyone. Michael and I did not stay in the house but in a guest lodge. As much of an experience it would be, I was thanking god I would not have to use that latrine. The guest lodge rooms had a lot of windows, a mosquito net and a very very large lizard. We explored the town with Shubrutu and visited his 2 uncle’s electronic shops. There was a power cut and the stores switched to candles. When we went back to Shubrutu’s house a fabulous dinner was laid out by candlelight. Duck eggs, fresh salad, Roti, Dal, Mutton, sweets, it was the best food I’ve had in India yet and it was all prepared by the women of the household. But the food was just for laid out for Michael and me. The rest of them sat or stood watching us as we ate, waiting for our reactions. It was incredibly uncomfortable but I knew from my large family of food lovers not to leave them hanging so I proclaimed and talked about the food after every bite. When we got back to the lodge, we hung our mosquito nets and treated them with mosquito repellent, and the sheets, and put in a mosquito repellent wall plug and covered ourselves in mosquito repellent, turned on the fan, opened the windows and went to sleep. If I’m not going to get malaria, I’ll definitely get cancer. I woke up several times throughout the night with the gripping feeling I couldn’t breathe and was underwater—the humidity was that bad. Sunday/Monday I lay in bed for 15 minutes before getting up Sunday morning. For the first time I felt like I was in India. The mosquito net was moving with the fan and the windows were open letting in the sounds of a symphony of birds. I could smell smoke from shops opening and starting to cook. We walked to the house and ate a breakfast of duck eggs, toast with jam and cha. Shubrutu brought us out bicycles and we went on a bike ride to a nearby village to visit all of the local temples. I have never been happier. This is the way to see India. Down a thinly paved road we passed farmers starting their day, women with large pots on their head to bring water from the well, other bicyclists and people bathing in the many lakes. We visited several temples and I took many pictures. I feel the pictures may capture the deep sense of tradition and vibrancy that maybe my words cannot. We stopped and sat by a lake passing around a mango and watching people bathe and rest in the shade. 

 On the way back I maaay have almost passed out from dehydration/the sun. It was so hot the rest of the day went like: rest, lunch, rest, small outing, rest, dinner, rest, sleep. Our lunch was another feast, which I have posted and labeled on my flickr. I know I’m talking a lot about the food, but I’m almost not talking about it enough. It is so relevant. After we took lunch, the women invited me into their room and the cousin, who was obsessed with me, performed all his tricks while his mom egged him on. “No, no it’s TWINKLE little star. Try again.” Ahhh family. 

 After our lunch rest, we took the bikes over to a big field outside a school. I was the only woman on the entire field. Michael went to play soccer with some other boys/men. It was funny to watch them dribble around cows. I just chilled, read my book and watched the game. The boys were completely infatuated with Michael and kept asking him for his number and “do you like me?” The game went into the dark night and then broke up into little circles of boys listening to music or playing cards or talking all by candlelight. 

 Our huddle listened to Michael Jackson on a cell phone. It was a really bizarre tribute. Earlier, I became completely obsessed that the village had many King Cobras just slithering around. I was determined to see/catch one during the day, but when I found out the field we were sitting in, in the dark, was right near a nest I was less eager. The boys kept scaring me…they didn’t know my name or “hello” but they did know the words “KING COBRA!” Nice. When we got home after dinner there was a power out which was impossible to sleep through. Then we woke up at 5:30 in the morning and got to the bus station, and into lab at 9 for a full days work. I was in a dream state all Monday. Which may be why I dropped my camera, broke it and as a result had to go to a Canon repair store (I found them! I found the people you talk to on the electronic help lines! They’re at 3 Shakespeare Sarani Road!) and pay $120 for them to fix my camera.