Slow boat to Kerala

Blog's Own Country

101 Uses for a Dupatta

Author's note: the dupatta is a major women's accessory in India, a long scarf, roughly 1.5 metres long and 12-24" wide, that is meant to be draped across the chest for modesty. At first one chafes at the added heat and bulk of this garment, but during one's travels, it proves to come in handy with a thousand uses. Dupattas are best chosen in a dark colour to match all your outfits and not show dirt. After washing in your trusty bathroom bucket (remind me to explain the bucket system in a later post), a cotton dupatta dries in the Indian sun in a matter of minutes. How did I ever travel without one?

Let me count the ways....

1. Wiping your dripping hands after the restaurant "hand wash" (there is never a towel)

2. Covering your nose against diesel fumes, stench of urine and sewers, et al

3. Impromptu monsoon-season umbrella

4. Shade from blazing afternoon sun (the rest of the year)

5. Thin shawl against morning chill

6. Bath towel

7. Extra bedsheet, or use to cover the filthy pillowcase the hotel never changes

8. (when folded) Pillow on long bus or train ride

9. Head scarf for Sikh gurudwara, Muslim mosque or Parsi temple

10. Wrapping breakables inside your luggage

11. Instant Moghul princess costume (above)

12. Blindfold during terrifying bus ride (below)














13. Curtain in cheap hotel room

14. Change purse (small bills and even coins can be tied securely in one knotted corner)

15. Tourniquet for cobra bite

16. Wrap-around skirt/sarong / Beach coverup

17. Tea strainer

18. Kidnapping blindfold (useful in Bihar)

19. Balinese/Sri Lankan waist sash

20. Add your own here!

What's your sign?

In case you were wondering what happened to that adorable place. Bangalore, India.

Letter from a former employer

A wonderful art professor I worked for in Nashville wrote me this letter nearly 2 years ago. I read it every once in a while when I get discouraged.

February 2004
Nashville, TN USA

I was going to write you this a few days before New Year's but got felled by the flu. Seems like everyone is passing the flu around but I was too busy with school to pick it up until after the holidays. Damn Procrastination!

Anyway I was thinking about you and all the fantastic/incredible pix for which you've sent links this past year---I've shamelessly downloaded all kinds of weird shrines, colored market stalls and outlandish costumes. It gives my computer some more international literacy, diluting boring WORD documents and the underlying operating system. But even more so I have marveled to numerous friends about your bravery, sense of adventure and (probable) amazing stubbornness to stick out there on the edge with little money and lots of ambition and a good deal of chutzpah. There isn't one of them who isn't amazed at the intensity of the life you've been leading. Nor isn't totally amused by your deadpan take on Hindu culture as seen through American eyes. I for one can't wait to read the book!!! PLEASE consider writing one whenever you return to Middle Earth.

So I wanted to send you my congratulations, energy from a couple chakras, and heartfelt well wishes for the upcoming year.

And to THANK you for the pix, totally wicked amusing thoughts and the role model to pitch students when they think all they will ever do in life is graduate, get married and work at a lot of routine, demanding jobs 'til they retire.

May Ganesha shove aside all the dumb things that would block your way.

Peace to you,
D.R.

The Return of the King

Makeover or Takeover?
A day of running back and forth to the Indian Embassy (a story in itself, but I got the Indian visa, and it's good to at least be legally able to leave the country in case the worst should happen) has left me really fried. There are extra Royal Army and police out patrolling as everyone expects....something to happen tomorrow (below), but no one seems to know exactly what. "Tomorrow we will see," is a common comment, with no further explanation. The Communist Party has called a mass demonstration and the UN Human Rights commissioner, among others, is determined to uphold their right to peaceful protest.

The King is returning from

his vacation, conveniently taken during a crisis (sound familiar, fellow Americans?), wherein he toured various nations with whom Nepal has virtually no diplomatic links (Egypt, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Burundi - remember Burundi?) and, on his South Africa jaunt, got dissed by Nelson Mandela. Man, that's gotta hurt! This trip was referred to sarcastically in the local press as his "African safari."
The final leg of the trip, to Mauritius (remember Mauritius?) was cancelled at the last moment.

My email inbox contained the following cautionary letter:

Embassy of the United States of America
Kathmandu, Nepal
December 1, 2005
Important Security Information for American Citizens in Nepal
This warden's message is being issued to alert American citizens that the political parties (ed. note: over here, unlike the States, there are more than two! ironically, it doesn't matter because now the King runs everything!) have indicated that they plan to hold protests and/or mass demonstrations over the coming period. For example, demonstrations are planned for Friday, 2 December 2005 and may occur in a number of locations throughout the Kathmandu Valley.

This date also coincides with the return of the King and the expiration of the Maoist three-month cease-fire. During the coming months, American citizens should pay close attention to media reporting to stay informed about when these protests may occur. ...Given the nature, intensity and unpredictability of these disturbances, American citizens are urged to exercise special caution at this time, avoid road travel (a good idea - see "35 killed in road mishaps yesterday")and maintain a low profile. ...

American citizens are encouraged to refer to the Consular Information Sheet for Nepal and the current Travel Warning for Nepal (which hasn't been updated for six months) issued on June 24, 2005. ...In the event of a communications blackout, security information will be left at all of the major hotels in Kathmandu. (Ed. note: No names named - Major hotels, you know who you are!)

from the Hindustan Times, Nov. 30th:
Nelson Mandela refuses to meet Nepal King

Links to news from Nepal:
The Kathmandu Post
The Himalayan Times
BBC South Asia
Indo-Asian News Service
South Asian Media Net
International Nepal Solidarity Network
Nepali Times (strangely unavailable)
The Rising Nepal (strangely unavailable)