Oct 24 2009 OK I Behaved Like a Jerk

It was one of those days when everything just sort of tensed up and I freaked out a little bit. OK I admit I was something of a jerk.

What led to this admission were numerous things.  We planned to have supper at home but Manoj didn’t do the purchasing for it so we had to go out. Since we wanted to go to a certain Tibetan restaurant it entailed a bit of travel planning since cars are not allowed on the mall road until after 10PM and I didn’t want to wait that long. So we drove to Gandhi Chowk and had a hard time finding anywhere to park the car. Then we had to take a cycle rickshaw to Jhulaghar and then walk a bit. This was OK.

I was a bit tired and feeling a little tense since the carp etal were talking with someone about my religious practices. Some guy was upset that I did the puja thing at Ram Lila or that’s the way it sounded. He also sounded waaay drunk. So she was telling him we keep religious things in our house and I was respecting Hinduism-hey at least she sort of stuck up for me.  He calmed down. I heard all this conversation before we left.

We got to the restaurant and the waiter was like in another world or something. We ordered a plate of the deep fried lotus root (my favorite) and two thukpa (soup). Then we ordered a coke and a fresh lime soda as well. He brought the lotus root and one soup. Then the drinks. We were waiting and waiting for the other soup and he hadn’t even written it down.

So finally we got the second soup and Manoj wanted to trade with me so I would get the hotter one. It is considerate but both were certainly hot enough. Then he wanted to have half my coke and for me to have half the fresh lime soda. And then as I was eating the soup he wanted me to have more lotus root. I was feeling like I was about 5 years old with all this attention to my feeding.  I don’t know what was up with that.

So then we are trying to eat and this whole table full of Bengali people came in. A big family of 8-3 kids and the rest adults. As I ate all the kids turned in their chairs and stared at me. That’s fine I am used to that. Then 2 of the adults did as well. Now this happens in villages and stuff so usually I could ignore it. But these weren’t village folk. The ladies had on all western clothes in the latest styles and kids had cell phones and the whole bit. And mostly they were talking in English so likely they were from Calcutta which has thousands of foreigners. I started to feel like some creature in a zoo. And then they were passing comments about how I eat with chopsticks and stuff (that’s how you eat Thukpa soup as it has noodles and stuff) like I couldn’t even hear them. Finally I just looked up at them and said in a very nasty voice, “Can I help you?” The teenage girl turned back around shocked. All fell silent. Then I said “I am not here for your entertainment.” They all turned around and attended to their own food.

That is the first time I’ve had a bad reaction to this staring business. I would never be so rude to village people but these folks were educated and from the city and should have known better!

By then I was just feeling too pissed off to finish my meal so I put money on the table and left. I walked most of the way home from there as the damn rickshaw cycle drivers tried to charge me 40 rupees for the return trip to Gandhi Chowk when I know the price is 20. As we walked away they started shouting “30, 30″ but we kept walking. I didn’t want to go in the car so I kept walking almost all the way home (about 2 kilometers) and then Manoj caught up with me in the car and I took a ride when we were almost to home.

I just wanted to keep on walking to burn off the angry energy. Some days everyone just loses their cool sometimes. I’m no exception.

Anyways in the aftermath I am feeling more calm and real tired. I really want to move out of Mussoorie.  I’m sick of all these gossipy idiots and gawkers. It reminds me of when I was married years ago to a well-known person. People would stare at us in Canada all the time and we even had people taking photos and stuff. It was horrible. But here I’m not famous-though since everyone knows I’m a writer that’s part of it with the locals. As for the rest I am just some weird white bird to stare at. Cultural displacement or whatever has gotten to me this time.

So for the first time in nearly 8 years I acted like a jerk. That’s plenty of patience I think. Will try not to do it again. Have decided not to go out to the main part of town for some time to come.  I rarely go there anyways. Pretty much anything I need I can get here or when we go to Dehra Dun, where there are quite a few foreigners and much less gawking (though a little).

I feel like going home today. But I’ll wait on that for a while. Am going in less than 6 weeks anyways.

Oct 18 2009 The Carp Comes for a Surprise Visit

So for Divali we gave some sweets to the other folks who live in this 4-plex. This includes the landlord and his family, the downstairs neighbors who run the dhaba and Mr.BA and the Carp. I am now going to call Mr. BA the Grouse. So the Grouse and the Carp. I went into her shop and gave her the sweets and wished Happy Divali and she was actually speechless for like 5 minutes. So that’s the key!  She wanted to give us some chocolate bars and such but we said that’s OK.

Next day evening she shows up at my door knocking. I was quite surprised. She’s never ventured up here before. She has a bag in hand and shoves it at me as she shoves herself inside my door. I had tried to keep the transaction at the door and the entrance but she wasn’t having it.

She brushes past me and goes into the dining room to have a look around. She is smiling all the way. I think she has waited 18 months to get a look at our place. Then on to the kitchen. She took a quick inventory of everything on the shelves. I was surprised she didn’t open the fridge but I was standing in front of it. Then into the big room which has the bed and television. She was most pleased to see Hindu religious pictures on the wall and an Om hanging in the doorway. I told her we have another room also but she seemed satisfied that while even though Manoj and I have this “illicit” relationship there is a place for God around that. We aren’t therefore totally hopeless. I think I mentioned that she yells at Shiva 2 or 3 times a day at least 20 minutes at a go while shaking a handful of bells like she’s trying to  wake him up over at Kailash. (quite a distance from here)

I didn’t invite her for tea. She didn’t seem to expect it. She just left while all the information she gathered was fresh in her mind. Straight upstairs to pour it out to the Grouse and the Son. The whole layout of the place, what masalas were on the shelves, our brand of television everything. And we are not so rich as she thought as well. (gasps!) Though our whole house is very tidy.

So she hasn’t spoken to me since then though no doubt she’s told the other busybody woman a couple of shops down all about it.  The Grouse has taken to waving and smiling at me now more than before.

I thought to thank her for the cockroaches but didn’t. Apparently they cleaned their place (finally) and we had an invasion of their zoo. At least 4 species of cockroaches, silverfish, sow bugs (aka wood lice), spiders, earwigs, centipedes and other things I couldn’t identify. They came in waves like they were storming the beach. Of course they did this in the middle of the night and I woke up when one fell on my face from the ceiling.  They were only cleaning with brooms so of course they were only stirring these things up. In the middle of the night I spent about 2 hours with a flyswatter just hammering all these things. Had half a dustpan full.

Next day I sprayed our rooms down with pesticide. (not my favorite thing to do but I don’t like bugs in my mouth when I sleep thanks) Oh but they kept coming though. The spray would knock them down and the floor was crunchy for a few days. Then a week later they decided to spray their place. Again the onslaught. I got another can of spray and did all the areas where I saw them coming through cracks or crawling.

Well it’s after Divali and we still get a few but they are from the room where the landlord keeps his stuff. I don’t think he’s going to spray it.

But the cold nights are starting up so that’ll kill them. They come into our rooms because it’s warmer and then they walk across the sprayed areas and are done.  It’s been a fight with these things.

I am going to encourage the Asian House Shrews, which are insectivorous,( the little creature I accidentally killed a few days back) as I think there is another one in the ceiling. It’s a wooden false ceiling and that’s where most of the bugs come through. And if it comes inside I will be more careful not to kill it but just shepherd it out into the landlords storage room to take care of things there.

Anyways not much else. A stupid new driver got the truck into an accident which entailed me and Manoj going to Dehra Dun a whole bunch of times to get that fixed. Pain in the ass. With this restriction on getting building materials from the river bed construction has fallen off here and many of the good drivers have gone elsewhere for steady work so Manoj is only left with hiring the cream of the bottom of the barrel. Will be so happy when we sell that truck-it’s been a headache from the beginning. Everyone wants credit, drivers don’t show up or steal the money for the loads or get drunk before work or all kinds of crap. And all of it is always someone else’s fault. Sometimes men just need to grow up a little and take responsibility for their own lives and actions. Not only in India but everywhere is this kind of shirking. Arrrggghhhh! Boys will be boys even if they are over 40! That’s sad.

Oct 17 2009 Divali

Divali is the festival of lights to honor the goddess Lakshmi. Here are some photos from the evening. We had a good meal. Lots of sweets. Glad I was feeling OK by evening. Had a fun bout with Norwalk virus-if you’ve never had it don’t get it! for about 24 hours previous to the evening.

Here’s our steps all lit up with candles and diyas to welcome Lakshmi for prosperity and wisdom. 

Here is a diya-oil lamp that is traditional.

And here are some of the fireworks we lit off for the evening. We’ve cut down our fireworks by about 80% due to pollution concerns and the noise factor. A lot of other people also have and instead are going for more diyas and colored lights in and around the house instead.

Oct 9 2009 Accident With an Unknown Mammal

House Shrew – more info on these here

I killed one of these the day before yesterday. I didn’t realize it until today when I smelled the decomposition smell coming from behind a big trunk.

Last week a black one ran in under the front door and I chased it around for a while until it ran out again. I think it ran into my neighbors place then as I heard the woman scream (they are out of towners staying with the landlord) and then a screeching sort of animal cry then I didn’t see the black one again so I think her son clobbered it.

The grey one that I accidently killed came in under the same door and ran behind the trunk. I thought that it had run out of there when I pushed the truck right next to the wall so it couldn’t go there again. Apparently it had only run around the side and I squashed it like a pancake. It didn’t make any noise at all so I didn’t know.

When I pulled out the trunk today it was stuck to the wall with it’s blood and stuff oozing out. It’s skull was fractured and it was quite squashed so it died fast.  And it was quite smelly. We are having unusually warm temps and high humidity so that accelerated the decomp. I got out a dustpan and some newspapers and removed it and put it outside in the bushes. Jackals will eat it.

I felt rather strange about this. I didn’t know it was a house shrew which are fairly beneficial since they eat cockroaches and other insects and not grain and stuff like that. I thought at first it was a rat in which case I wouldn’t have had much regret (but some!). But the nose was wrong. These shrews have an almost prehensile nose that looks like a tiny elephant trunk.

They are kind of cute but are rather weird when they run as it looks like they don’t have any legs. They sort of glide along the floor. Their legs are placed more underneath than a rats. The shrews don’t chew through thing.

But they do carry fleas the same as rats and in this area the fleas do carry the plague-bubonic variety-yes the black death-that medieval scourge. And they have been known to carry Hanta virus (which is nearly as deadly as Ebola)in other parts of Asia but Hanta virus has yet to spring up in India.

Anyways I did feel sorry that this happened. It struck me that it was incredibly easy to kill. And that on a broader scale life is a lot  more fragile than we realize. Wish I didn’t kill something to come to that conclusion though.

Oct 5 2009 List of Necessary Stuff

Every time I come back to India from Canada there is a half a suitcase dedicated to anti-homesick stuff or just stuff I miss when I am here. It is not unlike those Indian travellers that put 4-5 jars of mango pickle and a lot of masala packets into their bags when they go abroad as well. Some things you’ve just got to have.

So I’ve gotten my list down to essentials and luxuries. If my suitcase is overweight I have to take a few luxuries out.

Essentials – Foodstuffs:

• 3 large bars of Neilson Jersey milk chocolate-Cadbury Dairy Milk is available here but rarely fresh and usually sort of crumbly
• 1 large jar of Cheese whiz-Amul dairies has started putting out a cheese spread in a plastic container, it’s ok to drop into an omlette but it tastes well “plasticy”
• 1 large jar of raspberry jam (Smucker’s usually)-lots of good local jams here like pineapple and mango but the raspberry is a childhood favorite
• 3-4 canned hams-if it can be found here it is Tulip brand imported from Denmark and may have been on the shelf or in transit for quite some time
• 3-4 cans of wild pacific salmon-tuna is available at some shops but I don’t like tuna that much
• a couple cans of sardines -fish is not easily available here unless I go to McDonald’s in Dehra Dun and get a Filet-o-Fish sandwich or get some fish pakora at a roadside vendor though the latter is not always available
• 6 granola bars
• large bottle of ground cinnamon-stick cinnamon is available but who wants to spend half an hour powdering it down
• packet of Mexican chilli powder
• bit plastic shaker of parmesan cheese-you don’t get any type of aged or fermented cheese here at all-only paneer which is the curd part of curds and whey (cottage cheese) and really bland
• bottle of pancake syrup-for French toast-though have now found a reliable source for pancake syrup so have left this off last time
• large packet of oregano-you can get little packets of “Italian spice” with your pizza at Domino’s but the oregano in it is quite negligible

Essentials – Non-foodstuffs:

• AAA and AA Duracell batteries-local batteries are available but they last for about 3 hours and go dead
• couple of tubes of fluoride toothpaste-not generally available here
• stick antiperspirant-there are spray and sticky roll ons available here but you have to walk around with your arms stuck out like a chicken for half an hour until the pits dry
• panty-liners-with toilet paper being a rarity and the use of the water and mug for cleaning…well the ladies know what I’m saying…it’s about the dryness factor
• 1 box temporary hair dye-pure vanity-if there’s room I take 2-the only hair dye available here is either permanent type (very chemically) or henna which give red color which I do not want
• step-down power transformer to recharge my electric toothbrush-now electric toothbrushes may seem a luxury but I drink a lot of tea here and it leaves stains on the teeth that are hard to get off with a regular toothbrush and I don’t like to pay my dentist extra for all the scrubbing when I get back to Vancouver for a cleaning. Am fussy about teeth as I have a lot of cosmetic dentistry (on-lays and veneers) from back in the day when I had money for such luxuries.
• replacement filter for the water filter-we use a hand pumped water filter to get drinking water rather than buy bottled water. So a new replacement is always necessary.
• a few books and a couple of magazines and a couple of puzzle magazines

Luxury – Foodstuffs:

• trail mixes
• big block of cheddar cheese, vacuum sealed and put into the suitcase frozen so that it’s still cool a day or so later by the time I can get it into the fridge here
• hot rod sausages-these little vacuum sealed dried beef sausages could fill up half a suitcase if I had room
• bags of Cheesies-sort of like Cheetos but crunchier-a Canadian thing
• sesame snacks-these are crunchy little wafers of sesame seeds and honey

Luxury – Non-foodstuffs:

• kimono style robe- people here rarely wear a robe or housecoat and ladies either wear a “Maxi” which is like a long nightgown or house-dress early in the morning or throw on the day’s clothes right away.  I can’t get a maxi in my size and they don’t look very comfortable to me
• extra head torch-this is like a sleek version of the miner’s lamp-I always bring one but sometimes 2 is better
• lots of books, although I do tend to buy books here when I go to Dehra Dun at the Natraj bookshop or at the English Book Depot both on Rajpur Road

There’s probably more I could add to the lists but these are the most common things that travel nearly every time I do.