jaime in india

Monday, March 31, 2003 :::

Hello,

Hope everyone is ok. First off would like to say happy mothers day to my mum, hope she's ok.

Well, on Saturday I went up to the site and worked on foundations for about 2 hours, then headed back to the house, had lunch and at about 2:30 myself, Samy and Christi headed for Korthagiri which is a hill station in Tamil Nadu in an area known as the Western Ghats. By the time it was getting dark we had reached the bottom of the hill/mountain. We had stopped off earlier to have some food and coffee and stopped again to get some snacks in a small town at the foot of the hill. One could see the hills coming from quite a way off, they were all shrouded in mist and looked very large and intimidating.

We began to drive up the hill and were immediately confronted with signs warning us that wild animals such as elephants were crossing the road in the vicinity. Velu, the driver, spotted an elephant but I couldn’t see anything cause it was to dark. We headed up the hill on a narrow winding road with lots of hairpin bends. Apparently if you approach the hill from the west coast you are confronted with 32 hairpin bends one after the other, nasty. It was very dark but from what I could see and from what everyone told me we were driving through thick forest and jungle type terrain. Samy and Christi were telling me true stories of how there were leopards, panthers, wild boars and bison where we were going. We would be staying the night at dance teacher (from Chennai) John’s uncle Alex who I had previously met at the Shakri concert in Chennai. As we headed up the hill the terrain changed and became more open. We had reached the tea and coffee plantations, which cover most of the hill (apparently several hundreds of thousands of acres.) We drove through a tended gate and headed up through lots of small villages and towns. We arrived at Alex’s house at about 8 and were greeted by him and his wife.

Everything was very British looking on account of the fact that the hill stations were taken over by the British and were made to look like home. They cut down a lot of the forests and introduced tea plantations on the slopes. The house was really lovely. The temperature had dropped quite considerably as we were now over 5700 foot above sea level, in comparison with Karur being about 500 foot above sea level, and it was actually quite cold (apparently it can drop as low as –1 in the winter.)

We sat down and talked about stuff and I was asked to bring out the old contact-juggling ball. We had a drink and sat down for dinner at about 10:30. I was again told stories of run in’s with wild boars, as the family know several hunters in the area. Because there were only a few houses at this height there were wild animals from panthers to leopards, from porcupines to tigers living in the area (the low lying tea plants make excellent cover.) At about 11:30 myself, Samy, Alex and another bloke headed up the road to a friend of the families who was having a little get together. We were all introduced to his family and I was asked to demonstrate some contact juggling tricks (again.) We were taken round the house to a garden were a fire had been lit and around this we gathered. The view was INCREDIBLE. One could see hundreds of lights of the villages below nestled into the hillside or down in the bottom of the valley. We had a few beers, talked about NGO’s and the work this dude was doing with various organisations. I was invited up again to do a fire performance at some point in the future. Everyone was little drunk by the time we headed indoors at about 1. We were given desert (a chocolate crème caramel with almonds on top) and then we headed back down to the house and made it back my about 1:45 where apon I went straight to bed.

The next morning, after breakfast, I headed out to see what the views were like. Nothing had prepared me for what I was about to see. As far as you could see there was tea growing on the slopes of all the hills and valley that surrounded us. This is a very big range of hills that covers three states. From the base of the hill we had traveled about 30km and were about 6000 feet above sea level although the top is about 7800 feet above sea level. It was bright and pleasantly warm. It was incredible!! Alex took me by car around the corner to where two leopards are known to live in a small cave just above the roadside. We didn’t see anything. By the time we got back Samy, Christi and Velu were busy killing and gutting a chicken for lunch, which was rank, and Mono had turned up. I played with the five few month old Great Dane puppies for a bit and had a wonder. We bid Alex, his wife and daughter (1 year old and very cute) fair well and headed off to Mono’s house at about 11ish.

The journey was about 3km and was pretty incredible to. The roads hug the sides of the hill and pass through small villages and towns. It does not look like India at all, more like Europe. There was tea everywhere and every time the jeep passed a gap in the hedges, that lined the road sides (to prevent cars from going off the plummeting to their death) all you could see were little villages afloat in a sea of green tea plantations. We reached Mono’s place and were greeted by Shaku and Lawrence (a carpenter from AREDS (husband of Ghita) who was doing some work on their house.) Their house is near the top of a ridge and looks down into a shallow valley covered by; yep, you guessed it, tea. There was a tea factory were the leaves are dried and processed to make loose tea. There were trees in full bloom and little farms growing everything from potatoes to strawberries (because the climate is cooler and there is quite a bit of rain.) We set about making lunch and I wandered around taking in the views which were, quite frankly, stunningly beautiful. We had a cup of, yep, tea and I was told how it comes to be what it is. Tea plants don’t look anything like you expect them to.

We ate and then at about 3ish bid them fair well and headed off back down the hill. This is where things started to get really interesting. We drove to a local town to a little bakery and bought fresh bread roles, freshly made Indian sweets and pastry type things and lots of other goodies. As we drove along the narrow winding roads every corner produced a scene more amazingly beautiful than the one before. We drove through small shallow valleys lined with villages and farms and then, all of a sudden, would come out into another valley which stretched for miles, was very very deep and all you could see was tea and jungle. We went past water falls, slopes in the form of large steps so that easy access was given to the pickers. We saw streams and small rivers with waterfalls and small rapids cutting through the valleys. We saw pickers with big wicker baskets on their backs climbing up the very steep slopes. Tea has to be grown on slopes because it doesn’t like sitting in water (it rains quite a it up there) and the slopes channel all the water down the valleys. It was like across between “The Jungle book” and Rivendell (for those of you who have seen “Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring.”) It looked like the mountainous areas on Jurassic park, seriously. I was seriously stunned and was asking every five minutes to take photos and to get out the jeep to take in the views. It was mind-blowing. Unfortunately apart from herds of monkeys we saw very little of the wildlife we had been told about.

Further down the hill the terrain changes into forest and it is here that the coffee plantations are which were equally beautiful as the tea ones although not so big. We stopped and picked a few coffee berries in which the beans are found. Past this point you reach real forest jungle type terrain and there is very little to see as the sides of the roads are lined with thick trees and bushes tangled up with inter twining vines. However around one corner we found a viewpoint where the view was breathtaking. You could see all the forest below you and the road winding it’s way through it like a snake through the grass. You could also see far beyond the bottom of the hill into the plains of Tamil Nadu, it was wicked. We then headed to the bottom and back to Karur stopping for a coffee and to pick up some fruit and snacks from local market traders. All in all a fantastically mind-boggling experience, I am defiantly going back there.

Today I went up to the farm and worked until about 1. The pool will start being concreted on Wednesday and today all the steel rods and cement mixers were already up at the site. They have built a wooden frame palm thatch hut next to the pool presumably to make the concrete in. This morning from 9 there was a hunger strike outside a government office in Karur to protest about the fact that sand mining is still allowed in the area and is ruining some of the rivers. It went on till about 5 but I was told it was best not for me to go because whenever such a protest occurs and a white person turns up everyone automatically assumes that they are funding the protest and that there are ulterior motives at work.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 4:23 AM

Friday, March 28, 2003 :::

Hello.

Well I am fine. I am very tired cause I have been working every morning from like 10:30 till 1. Not much but when it's 37’ c and your lugging pans of cement and blocks of granite around in direct sunlight believe me its hard work.

On Thursday I was in the pool digging out and passing pans of soil out to be used for the bricks, when we eventually get the machine. The pool has now been finished (digging wise.) It has been evened out and is now waiting for sand and concrete. They have put up a wooden hut with a palm leave thatch roof to make the concrete in.

In the afternoon Samy and myself headed out to a school about 30km away which had been built by a group of Belgians who had stayed at AREDS. It was in another cluster community owned by AREDS. Unfortunately the kids had already gone home by the time we got there. We ended up picking up some very large bags of lentils, a few spades and, on the way, a rabbit for dinner from one of the farms.

On Thursday evening I popped out to say hey to some of the kids who were playing outside. I sat down and was instantly surrounded by 4 small girls who sand to me (with actions and everything) Tamil kids songs (like nursery rhymes) for like 15 minutes. It was so cute and I was going to take a photo but didn’t as I suddenly remembered that they were meant to be studying for their exams which are happening at the minute.

This morning as I was heading out the door I was called through to the back garden as one of the staff had seen a snake. When I was in Villupuram they had found and killed a 6-foot cobra in the back yard and there were fears that this was another cobra. After much shouting and staff running around attempting to chase the thing out from behind some flower pots it finally emerged and was immediately set upon by five male staff members wielding various items including a 3 foot solid iron bar and a 7 foot wooden staff. It was very funny watching them all running around yelling attacking anything that moved. After a lot of beating on the ground they cleared back to reveal four-foot snake, not a cobra. Apparently they have to kill them as these smaller snakes mate with the cobra’s meaning more poisonous snakes roaming round the garden, never a good thing. Well, at least we know why the dogs were barking all night, which is why I didn’t get much sleep.

Today I have been carting pans of cement to where the foundations are being raised for one of the buildings.

In other news I have started making arrangements for my visa extension trip to Sri Lanka. I will fly from Tritchy to Colombo (the capital of Sri Lanka) between May 10th and May 12th. My passport details have been sent off and I should receive my ticket soon. Once there I shall have to apply for another 6-month visa (meaning I shall have to leave the country again in November.) I think I shall be staying with another NGO who sent a few students here a few weeks ago but that has still to be arranged.

Tomorrow myself, Samy and Christi are heading up to the hill station where Mono and Shaku live. We will be returning on Sunday.

Hope your all ok.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 12:29 AM

Wednesday, March 26, 2003 :::

Hello, just a quick one to say thanks to remy for putting up my pics and I hope you all enjoy them.

Was working in the pool today with a couple of other people. Everythings ok.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 7:29 AM

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 :::

Photographic transmissions from India

Hello.

Well on Monday I went up to the site to start work for real. When I got there I was given a large straight crow bar and set to work on the tree island. The JCB had dug around the tree but the sides needed smoothing out into an even circle around the tree. I stood on the island and drove the bar down into the soil along the, already marked, white line. After about 2 hours of this I was beginning to enjoy myself. I was making progress and everything was going great. It wasn’t to hot, I had DJ Patife “cool steps drum & bass grooves playing through my headphones, it was all going well. Then my hands started to fall to pieces and with one last thrust of the crow bar I managed to rip a large piece of skin (about the size of a 1 pence coin,) off my hand. It was very painful and I was told to “rest today.” When I got back to the house I had a total of 11 serious blisters all of which had had the skin removed or partially removed. It was very painful and, like with everything that could be wrong with you, I was told that coconut oil was the best thing. I spent the rest of the day reading etc, went up to SWATE to pick up my photo’s which had been put on CD so they could be posted up here (which should be up in the next day or so,) and, of course, some maanga mango juice.

In the evening Christi got back from her Delhi/Chennai trip and showed us several newspaper articles and photo’s of their very large war demo in Delhi, all good. Had an early night.

This morning I headed up to the site at about 9:45 this time equipped with a pair of gloves which had been left by some French student who had built a school here not long ago.

It took them a while to find me something to do and initially I was transporting mud out of the pool, but eventually they had me filling up large, metal bowls with a mixture of granite stones and cement. Once one had been filled you had to place them on a woman’s head so that they could be taken a few hundred yards to where the hexagonal theatre foundations were being laid. It was quite hard and a lot hotter than the previous day but it was still enjoyable especially when you have Prodigy’s “fat of the land’ & “music for a jilted generation” keeping you company. My hands were still very painful. At about 12:30 I stopped and waited for a lift back for lunch.

At 13:15 a bike turned up and I headed back. I was starving and very tired. It’s pathetic really that a few hours work could make a 20 year old man that tired, I think the heat has a lot to do with it because it is beginning to get VERY hot. I got back, ate and collapsed on my bed and ended up falling asleep.

Hope your all well.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 6:20 AM

Sunday, March 23, 2003 :::

Hello and welcome.

Well yesterday I did pretty much nothing as both Samy and Christi were in Chennai. I did, with the help of Ghita, manage to perfect my cloth washing skills. Several people also approached me and asked if I wanted to go on a TV program in Karur with Dr Hama (I think that’s how you spell it.) I am assuming they meant to go and watch a program being filmed. I said I was not sure if I would be back from the station or not but if I was I would go. Aint sure what’s going to happen now.

This morning Samy arrived back from Chennai at about six and when I got up, at about 8, I was informed that unfortunately one of the Dr’s, who works with AREDS, cousins had died. This meant that a jeep and driver were occupied and therefore we were unable to go and visit Mono and Shaku at the hill station.

Consequently today had been spent doing three things, which are as follows.

· India are playing Australia in the final of the Cricket world cup. The match started this afternoon and, as I am sure many of you will know, Australia got off to a flying start scoring 359-2. India are not doing so well and last time checked (about 2 seconds ago) had scored 219-7 with 13.3 overs left to go. It does not look good for our Indian friends. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable match to watch.

· Unfortunately Indian TV does not appear to broadcast the Grand Prix, which is terribly disappointing. Second to watching it I figured that there must be at least one Indian radio station that would broadcast such an event. I managed to get hold of a radio (apparently belonging to Poorni (thank you) and only then learned the shattering truth that being placed in a rural village in south India, reception is not what you would classify as good. Infact there was no reception, none, zip, bugger all. The only thing that came from the speakers of this finely tuned piece of broadcasting equipment was static. Eventually, after the race had finished, I managed to have a quick peak at the itv f1 page and it was here that I learned the fantastic news. It is with great pleasure that I send my congratulations to the fine young driver Mr. Kimi “baby-faced assassin” Raikkonen for taking his first ever, and well deserved, podium win especially as he knocked Ferrari off the top for the second time this year.

· This afternoon Samy and myself took one of the motorbikes and headed up to the site to see what was going on. To our surprise, and utter delight, when we headed of the main road and onto the track that leads to the farm, we found several very large piles of earth. We left the bike and walked down the track to the site and when we got there came face to face with yet more soil and 2 monstrous interlocking holes. Both had diameters of about 13 foot and one had a palm tree on a 1m island in the center. They were 8 and 4 foot deep. Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves the beginning of one hell of a swimming pool. It was mad, quite a sight and very exciting. They had also finished the foundations of the two buildings and had dug the foundations for the hexagonal theatre.

Well that’s about it. We should be going up to the hill station sometime this week as Christi gets back from Delhi tomorrow evening. Her dad is back at home and doing fine, so I am told, so that’s good.

Anyway. Have to go and watch the rest of the cricket.

jaime

P.s. After my second batch of burning I thought I had escaped the peeling stage when my arms, shoulders especially, went a lovely shade of brown. Unfortunately my neck hasn’t held up so well and is peeling like an orange. I am constantly being applied with coconut oil to stop it but it doesn’t seem to be working.

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 7:46 AM

Friday, March 21, 2003 :::

Hello,

Just thought I would let you know that this morning I came down and was informed by Ghita that the SWATE protest had been on TV on a regional news program called "Sun TV' & Sun News" which is broadcast all over India and apparently can be viewed in the States and the UK. I was scene participaing in the human chain shouting (or miming cause I had no idead what they were saying) anti-war slogans.

This morning the financial dude for AREDS came down and we (myself (Sam the dude) and Samy) discussed the manufacturing of bricks to be made into a buisness rather than just using the press to make blocks for AREDS personal use.

Am being eaten alive by mosquito's and have had a telling off by one of the doctors (Dr Hama) for going out without covering up and without sun block on (pretty stupid I know.)

In other news, as I am am sure you have heard, India is through to the finals in the world cup cricket tournament and shall play Australia on Sunday. Everyone, as you can imagine, is very happy about this. I am less happy only because the second Grand Prix is on the same day and I won't be able to watch it, that is if they even show it on terrestrial TV which I doubt. News on how it went, podium people and any major happenings would be much appreciated.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 7:38 AM

Thursday, March 20, 2003 :::

Greetings.

Yesterday I went up to the site, as planned, at 9:30 and there was no one there. The people showed up at about 10ish but the supervisor, who was meant to be giving me instructions, was not with them. Even if he had been able to tell me to “start digging” that would have been impossible seeing as the whole site looked like the Glastonbury festival ground due, predominantly, to the heavy rain we had the night before and the fact that the tractors had churned the place up. “That’s fine” I thought, I can just wait for the JCB to turn up and then I can shift the soil down the road, rake it out to let it dry so we can use it for bricks. The JCB never turned up and when the engineer turned up, at about 12, he said that it would be here first thing the next day. I had spent 3 ½ hours sitting around doing bugger all. I couldn’t get back to the village without walking (yeah right, in this weather?) and the shade kept on moving, as shade does, so I ended up getting very badly burned, again.

I went back to the village and read all day, as there was very little to do apart from read about stupid Americans wanting oil and so running in and killing hundreds of innocent civilians in the process. As you can probably tell, being here among human right activists and reading what I have been reading recently (Michael Moores “stupid whiter men”) I have suddenly a great disliking for both Bush, Blair and naïve Americans.

Well, it has been a very sad day here with the announcement that (as I am sure you have all know) we are at war. The feeling here is not a good one and everyone is confused as to why “stupid white men” like Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush are pushing a head whilst not paying a blind bit of notice to what their people and the U.N are saying.

This morning when the news was heard, Christi and everyone at the meeting she is at decided to go and protest outside a U.N. office in Delhi and around the country similar protests were held at 11:30 this morning. We all headed up to SWATE and put up banners and posters bearing anti-war slogans and stood in a long line, hands joined and yelling anti-American slogans (none of which I could understand) in protest. In the midst there were 15 odd people lying motionless on the floor to symbolise the deaths that are likely to occur. The local press turned up and we are all going to be on the news (apparently) later on. (Will have some pics soon as they have just been scanned and will be ready tomorrow.)

Everyone was very emotional and annoyed that the ignorant Americans believe that this “campaign” is going to repress terrorist behavior and attacks when it is blatantly obvious to the rest of the world that such a campaigns are the breeding ground for terrorist activities and hatred. Al-Quaeda are going to right in there recruiting people with a new found hatred of America and for us and when the next big attack happens to shake America those naïve people are going to stand there and, just like they did after 09/11, are going to ask “but why do they hate us” (apparently one of the most common phrases on American TV and radio in the months after 09/11.) The answer, “WHY DO YOU BLOODY WELL THINK!!!!”

Anyway. This morning I went up to the site and started work digging on of the foundations at about 10:00. The JCB is apparently coming first thing tomorrow; I’ll believe that when I see it. It was very very hot and I have never ever sweated like that before. It was very hard work and my stopping every 10 minutes to have a drink and wipe the sweat that was beginning to gather on my sunglasses and run down my face in rivers, obviously greatly amused the Indian workers. I was picked up at about 11:30 (not much work done I know) and headed off to SWATE.

We left SWATE at about 12 and headed back to see when we would be on TV. We had lunch, hung around and were inundated with calls from other organisations that had done the same thing. Everyone was protesting. The good thing is that India has not only disagreed with the war from day 1 but is also refusing to allow America and her allies to use air bases and Indian soil to refuel etc.

At about 4 I headed back up to SWATE to get some photos scanned into the computer.

We have ordered the press and are planning to pick it up rather than having it delivered to save a bit of cash and (hopefully) time. I will go up to Auroville at some point and collect it.

On Sunday Samy and myself are heading up to the hill station, which is the home of Mono and Shaku. We will stay with them on Sunday night and return on Monday morning. For those of you who don’t know hill stations are towns that were originally built by the British at higher altitudes to escape the heat. The one we are going to has a boating lake and other things that the British built to make them feel at home. They are, apparently, like small countryside British towns, so that should be good.

Anyway, hope your all ok. I am off to see ho Indian fared against Kenya in the cricket semi-finals. Shall speak to you all soon.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 5:28 AM

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 :::

Hello again.

Well the last few days the temperature has been slowly rising and it is now very hot. This evening we caught the tail end of a thunderstorm. The lightning was breathtaking and it even started to rain. This confused me greatly as I thought it only rained in during the rainy season, which is months off. I have never been so excited about being rained on before. It was fantastic although it was only a trickle (towards Tritchy it was quite heavy apparently.)

Yesterday we got the fantastic news that Poorni has got into a university in Laiden in Holland to do her M.A. in English literature. She had been accepted just four days after sitting the exam, which is unusually quick. She, like many other students here wishing to study abroad, had to sit a test to bring them up to the level of a European postgraduate. If she’s reading this, CONGRATULATIONS again.

Today we also got the wonderful news that Christi and Tib’s father having undergone surgery has come out fine and all is well.

On Monday myself and Samy headed up to the site to check on how things were going. The foundations for the two buildings are nearly finished and they have added extensions, which shall be used for toilet and washrooms.

Today I went up to the site with the engineer and marked out the pool area (which shall be in the shape of two interlocking circles which will have a bridge in between the two (plans and photo’s coming soon once I can get this scanner working). We are going, unfortunately, to have to use a JCB to dig the pool as it is cheaper than using manual labour which we initially wanted to use to provide employment. The earth from the pool, which should be dug tomorrow or Thursday, shall be stored out in the open to dry it so that once we get our hands on the CEB press we can use the earth to make our\r bricks. Unfortunately we have also come up against the problem that everything is costing a lot, and I mean a lot, more than initially anticipated. Today we also marked out the foundations for the hexagonal theatre. I shall start work tomorrow on shifting earth and digging foundations. The press is still yet to be ordered but will be soon.

I have not been out with the kids for a few days due to the fact that they have exams coming up and should be studying and not poi’ing.

Hope your well and dandy.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 7:51 AM

Sunday, March 16, 2003 :::

Greeting once again.

First off I would like to like to wish granny (Doreen Garbutt) and Aunty Ali a very happy birthday and I hope they both had really good days (yesterday being 15th March.)?

Right, well on Saturday I went down to Mudrai, which is about 2 ½ ‘s away. Samy, Samy’s brother, Christi and another AREDS person had a meeting to finalise a report they are publishing. We left at 11 (taking the classic Indian Ambassador car) and drove to a restaurant in Mudrai where we had lunch. They handed out banana leaves and then went about ladling all assortment of curries, pickles and dishes onto them.

I had a variety of things including fish, chicken and mutton curry, gored and coconut, mutton meatballs, spicy fried chicken and various other bits and pieces. For 6 of us it cost R.s 340 (about 4 quid in total.)

We then headed off in the direction of the house where the meeting was taking place. On arrival they departed and I took the car with Velu, the driver, and went to visit some temples.

First off we visited the Sri Meenakshi temples, which are a collection of towers (12 altogether ranging from 45-50m in height) and loads of little temples, walkways and squares occupying an area of 6 hectares. Apon arrival you have to part with your footwear, pay the entrance fee and then go through metal detectors watched constantly by policemen carrying double-barreled shotguns. As expected I set the bloody thing off, opened my bag in which the policeman removed my contact juggling ball and looked at it with confusion in his face. It took a while to explain what it was and show them how on used it and then after that we were allowed through.

Once through we came into a very large temple hall, which was full of people and stalls selling everything from colourful tikka powder and jasmine flower garlands (for one to adorn the statues and ones self with) to camera film and tacky gifts and souvenirs. We then passed though into the 1000 pillared hall, which, believe it or not, ironic as it may sound, has 1000 pillars, each of which was lavishly carved in the likeness of gods, people and animals. There was a central walkway with pillar lining it which led up to a large shrine to some god. Around the outside of the hall were glass cases containing small statues of gods etc. There was also a temple art exhibition type display of photo’s, friezes and stone and bronze statues along with paintings of scenes of stories and legends surrounding the various gods on display. It was all very impressive.

We then walked out of the hall and were about to cross an open courtyard to enter the next hall when I saw a very large, very grey and very decorated elephant which at first I thought was fake and which obviously turned out not to be. It was there to bless people. I went up to it, prompted by Velu, and when it stuck out its trunk I gave it a coin. And ten a R.s 10 note (so we could take a photo) It took both coin and note and laid them in a little silver pot it had at its feet and then, lifting its trunk it laid it on my head. I must say that it was a very weird and very magical experience. We bought some food, which looked like melon strips, fed it and then headed off into another hall.

The next hall was a lot darker and contained many small alcoves that were cut in the rock each housing a figure or religious ornament. Each cave had a pot and ledge in front of it where one could present an offering. The hall also contained several very large shrines consisting of a statue under a carved stone roof and surrounded by carved pillars. Unfortunately one was not allowed to take photos. There were bald dudes everywhere walking around with brightly coloured tikka powder smeared over their heads and foreheads. They were praying at each shrine.

We had a walk around and wandered down large walkways lined on both sides with huge pillars of granite carved in the likeness of great horses and gods. We walked in a circle and ended up back at the elephant which had a baby perched on its head crying its eyes out whilst having its photo taken.

We then headed out into a large courtyard to have a better look at the towers. We could see 6 of them. They were all very big and extremely colourful and the decoration as stunning, so intricate. We then headed back through the compound where we saw yet another elephant (alot smaller) that seemed to be do nothing in particular. We headed outside, picked up out sandals and had a pineapple juice whilst soaking up the busy market type environment. We headed back to the car and off to another place.

We then headed off to Mahall hall which from what I could gather is a big music hall. It was big, very big with a central open-air square and a colonnade on two levels surrounding it. The colonnade was lined with very large pillars that three men couldn’t stand arm to arm round. We were only there for 20 mins as it was closing. The entrance fee was R.s 50 for a foreigner. I thought that I could pass as being Indian with my extensive Tamil knowledge and my head nodding but apparently not.

We headed back to the car and the n back to the house where we were meant to pick up the crew at 6. They were running late and so Velu and myself had a quick wander round the shops and then sat, read and I practiced contact juggling moves until they were ready to leave at about 7:45. We then all hoped into the car and drove to the train station as Christi was heading up to Chennai and the up to Delhi for a meting and Samy’s brother was heading home. We then headed back to Karur on the way stopping for a pineapple juice and tea and then latter on to pick up some fruit from a small village. We arrived back at about 11:15 and had dinner and a beer then I went to bed.

Nothing much going on today apart from some reading and a bit of washing. This morning I had fresh mangoes for breakfast, they were FANTASTIC.

Fact about Indian men:

· Whist I was in Villupuram something became very apparent to me. Here it is very common for men to express their friendship in a physical manner at a higher degree than they do in the UK. The three guys I went with were obviously very close and expressed it in ways that one would not in Britain. If we displayed such public displays of friendship in the UK people would make the immediate assumption that we were gay. Here this is not the case. It is common to see men holding hands, hugging alot and generally being very physical. They lie on each other and walk arm in arm. This, obviously, struck me as being a little odd as I would never consider holding hands with any of my male friend. We hug male friends when we meet them and occasionally put an arm round one, why won’t we hold hands?

The really odd thing is that physical contact between members of the opposite sex is not displayed at all. Not even married couples display any kind of physical contact be it holding hand or even putting an arm round each other. I can honestly say that I have seen no physical contact of that nature at all since I have been here. This did strike me as being very weird. This is another thing we are paranoid about. Are we just to worried about what people will think? Is this paranoia restricting us to the point that we are scared of expressing friendship with individuals of the same sex or will it always be the case that physical contact between heterosexual males is just not appropriate?

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 4:27 AM

Friday, March 14, 2003 :::

Greetings all.

Right well this week has been an odd one. On tuesday there was the begining of an Indian wedding happening within the village. The village has a public announcement tanoy system one of the speakers being right outside my window. They play bollywood movie songs down it at a stupidly loud volume. When I am in my room with the windows closed it is like there is hi-fi playing full volume in the room. Its not nice, all distorted.

On wednesday morning at about 4ish the music started up again much to my discomfort. I was very angry. I shut all the windows, put ear plugs in,wrapped my blanket around my head and buried it under my pillow, I could still here the music. I got very little sleep from then on.

The whole of wednesday this music blared away late into the night. I spent much of the day reading as Samy and Christi were away at a meeting in Chennai and there was very little that I could do. When I was outside with the kids (who seemed very pleased to see me and my poi back) a wedding mach went past. In it people were carrying baskets of fruit on their heads, singing and dancing to the sound of three drummers who led the prossession. That night also I added an animal to the list I have already seen when a big black scorpion wandered across my path. I thought it was a leaf blowing in the wind but when the kids saw it they squashed the living daylights out of the thing with the aid of very large rocks.

On thursday the music was still bloody playing. Samy and Christi returned and I myself and Samy went up the site to take some photo's of where the theatre etc is going to be. They had already started without telling us. The engineer (who is incharge f the laying of the foundations and lining the swimming pool) had started with the foundations of two of the buildings that will be used for dorms and a kitchen. It all looked really good. We took some photo's and decided that I would join the group and start work on friday. We decided that it would be callet ACT project (AREDS childrens theatre project). I the evening I spent yet more time with the kids.

On friday I was awoke when they turned the music back on, at 6:15. I gave up with the concept of sleeping and went downstairs. At 10ish we headed back up to site to have a look at things and for me to start work. They were still laying the foundations. It is skilled work and as I have no previous experience we decided that I would start on Monday when we could start digging the pool. We went to SWATE and called the engineer and also he place where I did my brick training in Villupuram so we could get a quote and order the brick press. We then headed back to the village, ate lunch and with the engineer and plans in tow headed back to the site to discuss certain things.

Tomorrow I am going with Samy and Chisti to Madurai ( a city 2 hours south of here) for a meeting and so I can tour some temples and have a look around which should be fantastic. I am moving rooms to a roomon the ground floor where it is less hot (as it is beginning to get very warm, about 37 (106).

anyway. hope your all well.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 8:17 AM

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 :::

Greetings all, I have returned from my week of learning.

The story begins on Tuesday morning at about 4 when Velu (the driver) and myself set off from the village to Villupuram. We passed by SWATE and picked up three women who’s names I cannot remember (even having spent a week with them, terrible I know.) On the way we picked up three men who’s names I also cannot remember. We drove through one village where there was a celebration to Shiva going on, everyone was still up and partying hard, there was a large carnival type float shrine covered in fare ground flashing lights and everyone was playing music and dancing in the streets. The jeep was surrounded and people were hanging chains of flowers on it.

We drove and at about 9ish we stopped off at a roadside restaurant to have breakfast. The place was nice, there were several coach parties there and monkeys swung from the trees. The staff were constantly chasing them away with brooms.

We arrived in Villupuram at about 10:30 at a NGO building known as Kalvi Kendra (a sister group of AREDS). We were greeted by the director and shown to our rooms. I was to stay in one room with the three blokes and the women would stay in another. It was a really nice building approached by a driveway on either side of which lay coconut and mango trees. The building was on three floors with kitchen, dining room and conference hall on the bottom and bedrooms, offices and conference rooms on the two upper floors all of which were accessed by an open walkway. Out the back there were showers and toilets (all squat toilets, took a bit of getting used to as I am sure you can imagine).

We hung around and I was taken to the director’s office where we talked about NGO’s back in the UK (they wanted to know if I had any contacts). There I met an old social worker who insisted that I write and take reports back to the UK to NGO’s and other organisations to tell them of the work they do in India. To be honest I didn’t really appreciate being ordered around like that and that made me feel a bit uneasy about this whole week.

We headed off to the engineers office, where we were to do our training, at about 2. They showed us the machine, which is known as the “Auram press 3000,” which is actually manufactured in Auroville (where the meditation hall is (see below) The press makes CEB’s (Compressed Earth Blokes.) Basically you Mix 15 parts sifted earth with 1 part cement and add enough water to make it the right consistency. You then load the press, pull down on the arm (which takes two people a few good tugs to operate) and a block comes out. You stack it for three days under a tarp, three days put I rows and then 22 days stacked and watered everyday. We were shown how to make the mix, how to operate the machine and then we headed back to Kalvi Kendra at about 5ish.

The next few days were pretty much the same. I got up at about 8ish and was brought tea by one of the group. They insisted that I have the only bed in the room whilst they slept on the floor), I had a shower and washed some cloths in the process. Then at about 9 I had breakfast (either eggy bread, dosa, coconut pancakes, idlies (rice and lentil cakes with coconut and peanut chutney). At about 10ish we headed of by bus to the engineers office. Buses in India aint like buses at home. To start with they have no glass in the windows but have bars across them so you can’t stick your head out. Many have fare ground coloured light on the inside that flash, they have very load Indian music blaring out of speakers that are placed all along the sides, some have TV’s playing bollywood movies and nearly all have a shrine surrounded by flashing lights at the front. They all have horns that play tunes like mobile phone ring tones only shorter. You get on and are approached by a conductor (even on 5 hour journey’s) and they are always driven like formula one cars. They overtake in on coming traffic, they speed and do not slow down for speed bumps, they are quite literally MAD.

Apon arrival at the office we made bricks. We were taught by a few young men, three yuppies and a couple of workers. One of the yuppies (Arul) took a liking to me and ended up throughout the week taking me to his house to meet his family and out for ice cream. He always wanted to listen to my Walkman, mess around with my contact juggling ball or wear my sunglasses. He was nice, to nice to be honest, I found him a little creepy at points, and annoying. One thing I have learned so far on my trip is that we are way to paranoid about people. The concept of “don’t talk to strangers” has been written in permanent ink on our brains. I found that when people are overly polite and nice I find it a bit odd. When people say “you must come back to my house,” this is very common here, but to us if a stranger in a shop (like what happened to me in Karur a few weeks ago) said that in England the chances are we would run a mile for fear that something was not quite right with the request. We would never stop to think that it might just have been a polite gesture.

At about 1 I was taken by motorbike back to Kalvi Kendra where I had lunch. I ate in the kitchen at a table with the two French students. All the other people (there were a lot as there were conferences and drama groups using the facilities in the building) including the people who came with me ate in the dining hall just off the kitchen. I ate in there a few times but was never allowed to collect my food. I was always asked to sit down at a table and was served. At lunch we had a variety of things including rice, noodles, battered broccoli, chips, chicken, pasta and fish. After lunch I usually had a shower and then went to the room to read until 3 when I was again picked up and taken my bike back to the engineers office.

In the afternoon we made yet more bricks, sifted soil and later on had seminar type meetings in the office about soil type, brick laying patterns etc. We constructed small walls to practice brick laying and joins. They completed all the types of wall themselves and then asked me if I wanted a go. After completing all the patterns (L, T and cross joins) they all gasped and clapped. I wondered if they really thought I was that stupid that I couldn’t pick up such a simple thing in such a short space of time. The seminars were always in Tamil and therefore I could never understand them. Between 5 and 6 we headed back to Kalvi Kendra by bus or by mini auto, which is a cross between a mini cab and a bus. You flag them down like a cab but you share them with other people. I had another shower as working made you very dusty and dirty, then I read, hung around the site practicing (much to the interest of everyone who saw it) contact juggling moves. I managed to “wow a lot of people and gathered a small crowd by lighting some dude’s cigarette with the ball. We ate between 8 and 9 and then hung around till we went to bed at about 11. I left the compound to buy some sweets. On return one of my group (one of the women) went nuts and started getting angry, in Tamil. I still have no idea what she was going on about. From what I could tell I think she was angry at me for walking across the road to the stall. I was angry that they were being so protective and that they, again, had some miss conception that I couldn’t take care of myself. Maybe so in the middle of a big city but walking across the road to buy some sweets, come on.

Next to the engineers there was a open flat concrete space where man dried peanuts to be made into ground nut oil.

On one of the days the men headed off to Pondicherry at about 4 in the morning and returned at 9. I didn’t go because I was really knackered and had already visited Pondicherry before. I lent them my camera. They taught me how to play games that could be drawn in the mud and use pebbles as counters. There was on like naught’s and crosses played on a square with a cross running through. Each had three stones and the object was to get a vertical or horizontal row of three. There was another more complicated one where 15 goats (one person) and three tigers (his opponent) had to battle each other on a triangular board. The goats had to trap the tigers and the tigers had to eat the goats.

They were very reluctant to let me do any work. Whenever I stepped up to perform one of three tasks that could be done on the machine they let me have few goes and then took over usually telling me to “rest”. I spent a lot of the time sitting around, watching and taking notes. They called me “sir” much to my disliking.

On one of the days after we had finished work we went to the director of Kalvi Kendra’s house. We were given porridge made from boiled rice with rice balls in it. It was very hot and sweet. We were then given nibbles. We talked about the English and Tamil language difficulties, the cricket world cup (speaking of which I hope you all watched India’s fantastic victory over Sri Lanka) and about how Kalvi Kendra was set up. We left at about 7.

On Sunday (being international women’s day) we walked into Villupuram to go to a conference on women’s rights. We arrived at about 10:30. It was a big conference hall with a stage and a very large gathering of people outside. We headed inside but I was grabbed by a photographer and positioned next to a lady holding a silver tray, on it an incense burner and a silver pot full of orange paste. She smeared some of the paste on my forehead whilst having our picture taken.

We went inside. It was really quite cool. There on the floor infront of us sat 2000 women all wearing colourful saris. There was a stage decorated with Christmas style decorations. We were led to our chairs. The whole conference was in Tamil and therefore I couldn’t understand a word. On more than one occasion a lot of people turned round and stared at me. Samy one of the dudes I had come with (not AREDS Samy) explained that the person on stage was taking about me. What was said I do not know? People sang songs and many people talked. We were brought drinks. There was clapping and obviously very moving and charismatic speeches judging from the reaction of the audience. We left at about 1 and headed back to Kalvi Kendra where we had lunch. After taking several photos of the group and directors outside the building we headed off to the bus station and managed, after much arguing and many different missions to find the right bus stand, we caught a bus to Tritchy.

The journey took about 3 ½ hours. The bus was nice with old style dentist leather seats that reclined. It was very bumpy and, I kid you not, there were many times when I was thrown in the air quite literally afoot or so off my seat, as they don’t seem to slow down for speed bumps. There was a TV playing bollywood movies and blasting out music. I spent the whole journey looking out of the window and the countryside rushing by and listening to my Walkman.

We got to Tritchy and headed off to find the bus to Karur. They tried to make me eat but the journey had turned my stomach the wrong way round. They had several heated arguments all of which I couldn’t understand. The group split up. Me and the guys went away and bought sweets and food and the women did them same. They finally decided to get on a bus. The journey took about 1-½ hours and at stops people selling fruit, food, water etc invaded the bus. We bought some bananas and munched. We arrived at a village and got off to be met by an AREDS dude on a motorbike. He took the two women (the third stayed on the bus till her stop) away and then returned for us. Having dropped everyone off we returned to AREDS where Ambiga had stayed up (till 11:30) with my dinner. The journey on the bike at night under the stars was wicked. Really beautifull. I went to bed.

On Monday I “rested” and read. We talked about the course and the plan of action to come. After lunch from outside I heard the dogs go mad. Ambiga called me out and there was a monkey sitting on the wall screaming at the dogs. We let the dogs out and they chased the monkey up a tree. The monkey ran off, I went out the front to find 30 odd kids chasing the monkey round the building. We fed it bananas and rice. I was very cute.

The press is to be ordered and work can begin on clearing the ground and digging the 8-foot deep swimming pool. Today I went to Karur with Velu and did some stuff.

Anyway, that’s about it. The trip went well and work should start soon. I will probably write more but I can’t remember everything now. There will probably be a few snippets I will add later. I have three films worth of photo’s so I shall have them up as soon as I can work out how to use the scanner. I hope your all ok and stuff.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 7:11 AM

Monday, March 03, 2003 :::

Hello,

This morning I went with Samy up to the SWATE compound. Samy had a meeting with the Sri Lankans and I did some planting with the SWATE caretaker. We had lunch in the SWATE garden resteraunt and then I got a lift back to the village. When I got back I realised that I had been out in the sun for a little bit too long (i.e. I was burnt to a crisp.) My arms, my neck and my hands were marshmallow pink. Its quite painfull. Hopefully it should turn a good colour though. One forgets that you can burn very quickly out here. My time planting was a ok time to be out in the sun (morning when the sun is not that hot) but after (the quick runs between building etc) had done most of the burning. Must be more carefull. If anyone has any "sunburn tips" (i.e. what factor to be wairing (I only have 25 for my head) then feel free to mail them to me.

Tomorrow we are leaving at 4 in the morning (such a time should be made illegal.) As I said before I don't think there is internet access so I will not be posting.

Anyway. Hope your all ok and I shall post when I get the next oppertunity.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 5:56 AM

Sunday, March 02, 2003 :::

Greetings.

well, all in all it has been a mighty fine day. I am finely feeling ok and my appetite (of sorts) has returned.

This morning the house was generally a little chaotic as one of the people sent to a conference in Delhi had not returned as planned and the others had lost him on the journey up there. He had not been seen at the conference and everyone was beginning to panik. The police had been informed and everyone was jumping everytime the phone rang. His rellatives had been coming round, the phone had been ringing none stop since yesterday for news on the "curnet situation." Anyway, this evening from home to let everyone know there was nothing to worry about.

Today 5 people from Sri Lanka turned up for a weeks training. We went up to the training centre (ironically) and Samy talked them through their program. I sat around, read my book and drank coconut water, fantastic was to spend a lazy, hot sunday afternoon.

The kids are outside as we speak poi'ing to their hearts content (although apparently they appear to have lost a juggling ball which should hopefully be found when the power cuts at ten (they glow.)

Tomorrow the plans for the theatre will have been finished (I hope to post them up to let you all know what its going to look like) and the area will hopefully be marked out so that work can begin.

Last night was a holy night and all the worshippers of Shiva stayed up all night, this morning everyone looked a little bleary eyed.

Anyway, hope your all ok. from monday till sunday i may not post as I will be on the course but I shall keep you all updated when I get back.

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 7:31 AM

Saturday, March 01, 2003 :::

Greetings. Well am still feeling rough.

Having eaten on thursday night (which made me feel alot better) I went outside to do some interacting with the kids. I had my poi with me so I gave a little demo and they all seemed so excited that I brought out the other four sets and some juggling balls for them to play with. They all went nuts and they were poi'ing till well after 10pm. By then we had quite a gathering of about 20 odd people both old and young. When I said I had to go (cause I was beginning to feel a little odd shall we say) they all wanted to keep the poi so I promised to come out again the next day to let them play.

On Friday I felt a little better and ended up going up to the SWATE buildings to check out the progress on a open air kitchen they had been building which was going great. Myself and Samy started to watch "The Bodyguard" at six and at 7ish Christi returned home from her confrence trip to Delhi and Chennai. Just after she arrived we bid farewell to Ghreet who was heading down south to Kerala to do more interviewing for her thesis. After dinner I went outside to see the kids and was greeted by lots of kids screaming "balls balls" (meaning poi). They were so eager to continue playing that when I went out at 9:15ish they had already been hanging around outside, waiting since 6. They spun till about 10. Some are actually quite good considerering they have only been doing it fror an hour or so. Myself and Christi were brainstorming as to what materials that everyone has access to could be utilised into making their own set, as I aint got enough to go round. Even as I am typing i can hear them outside. Promised then that I would be out at 7 tonight.

Today i was still feeling a little dodgy. The carpenter was in my room alot of the day fixing up the new netting we had bought for the windows so I spent much of the day doing washing (there is always alot to do becasue most items can only be worn once as one sweats alot more than in the UK), I began to read Lord of the Rings (good god they cut alot out of the film). At about 1 I had an appointment with the engineer up at the site of the theatre project so I was driven up to meet him. We discussed the layout, took some worked out how big things could be and what would go where. We should have a plan and a quote on materials by Monday. Then the area will be marked out and whilst I am away on my brick making and building course (4th - 9th slightly shorter than first anticipated) the pool will be dug and preperations will be made on the land itself.

anyway. Hope your all ok and well. Apparently someone called me a few days ago. sorry i wasn't in. you won't be able to get me from 4th-9th but anyother time is fine (between 1.30pm and 4.30pm your time any day (all day sunday even though i may not be in all day)

jaime

::: posted by j(e t')aime at 5:58 AM