Indian Colours!

Volunteering

My last week at SEVAI school was great. Just when I thought I was in an isolated little village with no other white people in sight, a team of 18 volunteers from Australian NGO Equal Health came to stay at the school. They were a medical team: doctors, opticians, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, and a dietician. For about ten days here they set up a health camp where local villagers came to get tested and treated, and given medication and glasses, all free of charge. It was very well organized, and each day about 500 people came, so they were always hard at work. One day they left to a coastal village to set up the same camp, and I tagged along for the overnight stay, helping out giving vision tests to people and managing the crowds, which were crazy and kept pushing forward, trying to be first in line! This was really the poorest of the poor, mostly elderly, with massive eye, back, hearing, difficulties, and other health problems. It was so inspiring to see this team at work, and see some people leave happy and thankful. Here's how it worked:

And here are a few of the people who came to get a checkup:

I also finished teaching last week, here's a picture of some of my students:

And here's a map of my trip up till now:

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In the last few weeks, I’ve spent most of my time trekking in the cold hill stations of the Western Ghats (Madikeri, Ooty, Kodaikanal) chilling on the tropical beaches and in the palm fringed towns of Kerala (Verkala, Fort Cochin) and meeting the locals in Tamil Nadu.

An Israeli friend of mine told me a few weeks earlier of a place not too far from Kodaikanal, named Vattakanal, which was supposed to be just above the clouds, with fantastic views of the mountains. Most importantly, it wasn’t in the Lonely Planet!
So I managed to find my way to this little village, through a few dirt roads, and arrived to some steps leading to houses on the mountain, with some loud rave music blasting from above. Obviously I had to go and see what was happening, and was welcomed by a massive group of Israelis, most of them tripping on acid, partying on a terrace, with insane views of the mountains in front, blasting a curious but fun mix of psytrance and dubstep. Most were dressed in extreme-hippy ware, some brandishing sticks and waving them at the mountain, it really felt like I had popped into a Lord of the Rings movie, with hardcore dance music. It turns out this “village” is quite popular with Isareli bloggers and travellers, and many have moved here to stay for months, they cook their own food, chill, party, relax from their long military service. Good fun, but it was a bit weird, it was only 13:00 and little Indian kids were watching from the bushes, giggling. Can you imagine the culture shock?!Kodaikanal in itself was a strange place. There is a very prestigious (and Hogwarts-like) International school there, so loads of teenagers from around the world can be seen hanging about town. Very pleasant though, and probably my favourite Hill Station so far.

After seeing pleasant Fort Cochin I headed in a ferry through the Kerala backwaters, and decided to stay in an ashram for a few days, that a friend had told me about. This was Amma’s Ashram in Amrithapuri. Amma is very famous for the ‘darshan’ (blessing) she gives people. This takes the form of a hug, so at the Ashram hundreds of people queue up for hours to receive a token, and when their number is read out, they’ll go on stage and receive a short hug from Amma. It's pretty strange... Everyone in this place is encouraged to wear white, and it’s about 75% foreigners (so surreal) who walk about, with big smiles on their faces, conversing about spirituality, while the beachfront is full of quiet meditators in all sorts of yoga poses. Although the people there have a nice ideology (everyone is a volunteer to help keep the place clean, functioning) it wasn’t really my thing. I quickly hopped on the ferry again the next day, and made my way to Verkala, which was really just a mini-Goa: westerners on the beach, western food, western prices...

In Kanyakumari I found the India that I had missed in Kerala. After watching the sunrise over three seas: Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Lakshdeep Sea (you couldn’t tell them apart, but it felt cool) I headed with another travel buddy to the town, which had Tamil music blasting (really, you couldn’t hear yourself speak) out of megaphones from every street corner. It was Sunday, my favourite day in India, because everyone is happy to be on Holiday, and just chilling. Old men sit on front steps of their homes drinking chai and reading the newspaper, some heavily involved in card games; kids play with spinning tops and sing songs, housewives dust their street-fronts, old women cackle and chat to each other as we walk past; all the while the sea (which one?) waves lap up on shore and the fishermen come home in their blue boats with the catch of the day. The houses are all multicolored, usually in shades of pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue. At dusk the colours are even more beautiful and complete with the music and smells (insence, food, rubbish) it all culminates into a really incredible experience, these are the kind of mom ents I travel for.

At the moment, I’m in a school about 25km from Trichy, in Tamil Nadu. I’m volunteering teaching English, in exchange for which I’m given a bed and 3 meals a day in the school. In the morning I have a class of 12 year old girls, and after a group of mentally challenged students (and two deaf students) who range from 6 to 22 years old. My first class is fun, and reminds me a lot of teaching in China (although for obvious reasons Indian kids speak much better English); I especially love asking a question, and 40 little heads answering with the famous Indian head nod.

The second class is much more challenging, but after a week here, I’m getting the hang of it. Most of the kids are so keen and enthusiastic to learn and play, and I’m always greeted with massive smiles. It’s also quite sad, because some of the students don’t really respond to much and just stare and drool, occasionally speaking in Tamil. I’ve brought in my guitar, and taught them some drawing skills, and we play loads of games which they seem to enjoy, so it’s a very rewarding experience. After class, when I’m hanging around the school, some students will come up to me and sing the ABC song which I just taught them, or sing me some Tamil songs. It's really nice living in the school and being able to interact with the staff and students (some of which live there too) outside of class. I've made some good friends here and couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Here is where I’m sleeping (at night, complimentary mosquitoes, mice, frogs, weird flying bugs, cats, but it’s ok).

Tamil Culture is so interesting. Nobody here speak Hindi (I know more Hindi words than most people!) and there is a big arts, dance, and music here which everyone is very proud of. I'll be moving soon though - Pondicherry next: looking forward to some pain au chocolat and hopefully un peu de saucisson quand meme.

Kambala!

After seeing the incredible Mysore palace, and trekking the mountains in Coorg, I headed to Mangalore, on the coast of the Arabian Sea, to hunt down a local sport called Kambala.

This consists of water buffalo racing down muddy tracks, with a guy holding on behind, lashing and screeching the bull on, running as fast as he can to keep up with it. It developped after farmers would race their buffaloes home after work in the paddy fields.

After some research and some bus rides, I arrived at the Kambala track, basically two long ditches filled with muddy water, and watched as the farmers, each with coloured turbans to indicate their teams, presented their animals to the audience, while people placed bets, and a sort of marching band provided some tunes.

There are different types of Kambala. For some races, the whip-man will surf on a little plank of wood attached behind the buffalo, others, it is the height at which the water will splash, rather than the speed of the animal that counts.

The experience was thrilling (just look at the pictures) and, having been interviewed for two newspapers and two TV stations at the site, I really got the feeling I was seeing something special and unique.

I'm in Kodaikanal at the moment, more posts coming soon!

Karnataka

After a bangin beach party for NYE in Anjuna, Goa, I headed to Hampi. During a break from the bus ride on the way there, I decided to head to the roof to attach my bag. While I was on the roof, the bus started driving away! I was panicking a bit but another guy beside me told me to chill, gave me an orange, and lied down. So i did the same, and for about 10 minutes i was lying on the top of this bus with my blanket, watching the stars as we drove along, until the ticket man came to tell us to get down.

Hampi is a small town surrounded by incredible rocks balancing on top of each other. It looks like a land of mountains that have been crushed into giant pebbles. Loads of backpackers, cheap prices, really nice place.

Next I moved on to Bangalore, the state capital, and also the rock/alternative music capital of India. Because of all the IT companies here, young people come from all over the country to study and work, and so use English as their common language. The center is full of hip shops, cafes, bars, and clubs (that shut at 11:30pm?!) and I managed to catch a few gigs. The first one, a blues band from Shillong called Soulmate, was really amazing. I also was really lucky to meet a group of Indian friends my age all working here, who showed me the bars, and took me to a house party, where trance was booming out onto the terrace. These guys all drink, party, sometimes take drugs, very similarly to a lot of youngsters back home, and I think they had more in common with me and the west, than they did with most Indian people. It was really nice to connect with these people who grew up half way across the world, and yet knew all the words to "L.A. Woman". At the same time, it was easy to forget that I was in India here (they have taco bell!), but I couch surfed and my host was super friendly, had an amazing place so it was nice to recharge for a bit, cook some meals.

I'm in Mysore now, and will do some exploring tomorrow....

Happy New Year!

Soundtrack to my trip at the moment: The Move

Christmas in Goa

Goa is a bubble. Much more than I thought it would be.

First things first: the food. Every restaurant here has foreign food as their main meals, indian is secondary. Also, most serve BEEF and PORK! I had a beefburger the other day! Then bacon! (I realize this doesn't sound too crazy, but for Hindus, the cow is holy, and there is a big Muslim population here too so usually no pork). There are also supermarkets here (!) with only foreigners inside, and where you can find pretty much everything from back home.

The beaches are an endless succession of bars, clubs, and restaurants pumping out psy-trance and techno all day and night. And there are thousands and thousands of foreing tourists (not just backpackers: honeymooners, families, many hippies, groups of friends here for the party...) sunbathing, drinking, and tripping. A lot of Russians and English. It's really like coastal Spain, a mini Ibiza, and this is the biggest culture shock I've had so far.

I'm staying in Anjuna, which has a lot of foreigners, but just down the coast to Baga there are more Indian tourists: Groups of hunky guys in wife-beaters with their ray bans and cigarettes, drinking on the beach. Light-skinned girls dressed like westerners, and speaking in English, while ordering the priciest items on the menu. The crowds here are so different to the people I've met on my travels, it's like another country.

I was really looking forward to a break from India, some westernness, but this is too much.

The towns of Panjim and Old Goa are nice, with many remnants of Portuguese colonialism: huge white churches, colourful villas, and Portuguese shops and street names.

The train ride down here was delayed 13 hours, but ended up being really nice. Met some good people on the train that I jammed with at night, and spent most of the day watching the amazing views; the people and food would change as well at each station we stopped at. Christmas was spent with my friend Dustin (met in Mumbai) and a few other guys just chilling and playing cards, it was nice.

2 days later I was hitch-hiking to see Dustin at his hotel and got a ride from a foreigner who had just rented a scooter. 20 seconds from leaving, and as we pick up speed, another bike approaches from the other side. My ride (an Englishman) doesn't seem to want to/be able to move to the other side of the road. Before I can say anything, we collide head-on, and we're all on the ground! No one was hurt but both bikes were pretty messed up.

Other than, not much else has happened. The days are mostly spent lazing on the beach. It's nice, but I'm looking forward to moving on. Hampi next!

Here's a picture of my hotel:

Soundtrack to my trip at the moment: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

Tansen Music Festival

The Tansen Music Festival's stage in Gwalior was set at the center of a lake, with a small area in front for people to sit and watch, and more seating on the sides of the lake. The artists played on a slightly elevated platform, all sitting on the floor.

Every performance began with the drone of the tempuras, and during the whole festival, the air was thick with this heavy, hypnotising sound that seemed like something from outer space. Most vocalists sang in the dhrupad style, with a backdrop of tempura, drums and one other instrument, and mostly sang sounds or notes rather than words.

Savita Devi, a famous classical singer performed the first night, but this was my first time really listening to Indian classical music, and much of it sounded out of tune/too high pitched/annoying.

The most amazing performance of the festival was, for me, Venkatesh. His chemistry with the tabla player and 3 other musicians was incredible, all five of them nodding and smiling and communicating throughout the show. The audience too was swept in, some people gasping or cheering at certain climatic points of the performance. Venkatesh used his hands and body to channel his voice, and often closed his eyes, seemingly in deep meditation. It seemed to me much of the singing was improvised, but then every musician would come in at the perfect moment and a repetitive melody would emerge. It was really mesmerising, unlike anything I've ever seen or heard. He played 3 "songs" each about 10-15 minutes long.

The next performer was in even more of a trance, and his vocal improvisations were sometimes too strange to grasp hold of. One sound he crafted was a very deep bass, similar to a burping sound or the sub bass notes in dubstep. He could go in and out of these as he pleased and his ability to use his voice as an instrument was impressive.

Main instruments I saw:

Tabla: twin drums, capable of producing many sounds, one of them a deep "boiing", very cool.

Saringi: Like a violin but even sadder sounding.

Harmonium: Looks like an accordion but played on the ground, sounds a lot like a jazz organ.

Western Violin: Played in Indian manner style, very interesting.

The whole event was pretty magical and was a great introduction to Indian classical music. It's easy to hear the spiritual, and psychedelic element which influenced the Beatles and others in the 60s. It also uses a different system to our do re mi, which is apparently more complicated, so I'm keen to find out more. I've filmed quite a few performances and hopefully will create a film showcasing some of these sounds.