Dal but where pants should be" - India November '99

Inspiration: I sat beside nepalese film maker K San at dinner and he shared a writers discipline with me - thanks


21/11 - on a bus from the neemrana conference centre in rajastan heading for Delhi

"9 litres per minute" of conservation
while "shaving, bathing, brushing"

No "endorsement" or "protocol"
without risk of being "thrown out"

?Who is behind the smile.
?Is it the same "each day rediscovered" soul.
?Why can I only see the curiosity and opportunism.

The bus fills up with luggage and PCs
so we jettison bottled water and coke
which is immediately recovered by hotel staff
to be sold to the next customers.

Camel bus standoff.
?How much time is needed
to save face
before they can start discussing
how to get on with it.

"Let me by" before
Rajastan four lane divided highway
shrinks to Haryana rocker two.

4 lanes under construction and
?which ones are live

passing burst frustrated
by highway rumble strips

"horn please" license plate

dead tire scarecrow

four colour duster dealers

green ripe oranges


23/11 - kanneyyakamuri - southern tip of India full of native pilgrimages to the zellers lookalike temple

0430 loudspeaker sings us awake
for chai and train.
A simple hymn served up as
"fuck the tourists" refrain.
Or so it seems
so fresh from dreams
so sweet from monsoon rain

Plastic wrapped life jackets
for every 4th man -
and none for the school girls
who'll swim if they can.
Police boys whistle,
concrete arrows direct,
doing vivekanda and his guru's command

Tibetan vendors at every pilgrimage scene.
Eager to capitalize on any religious frenzy.
Yes calm behind their tankas and potalaitos

Hawkerless railway stations
Make us anxious
But then the paratha man and coffee kid appear
With breakfast and good cheer

Dhottis unfold with a
leap to the tracks.
They slap on the sandals
then billow up thighs.
Are folded decorous
more knees for the eyes


24/11 - varkala beach - we arrive

We choose the "concrete wigwams"
- ?in deference to the Indians" -
from the usual sandwich board
of indistighisahable accommodation options.

Sea Pearl chalets rewards us
with clean, quiet, functional at a competitive price
- and just above the surf

A tray of religions
without any beer.
Limeless lime sodas
as Pepsis appear.
Today's catch fills pakoras,
sweet masalas tart floras,
cooked or bottled - we consume without fear


25/11 - varkala beach - we eat

Every restaurant has the same
printed menus with
variations on the "not available".
Beer appears on one's receipt
as '70 rupee pop' -
"please keep the bottle under the table".

A "gawking Indian boy" window presents itself
and Margaret dashes for the surf.
?how long will she have to stay in?

Indian sari midriff sentiment
doesn't work for me -
too much flesh feeding the bollywood
"plump is trump" assumption

Prawns and squid and tuna did
attract a crowd for dinner.
But "we sell beer" covertly whispered
was certainly the winner.

Wait 20 minutes for
eight drops of 25%
to purify a litre of water
and don't panic
if it doesn't taste
like the iodine cocktail
you remember.
But wonder …


26/11 - varkala - we swim

Thick black sand beach
inches away on porters heads
to fill Bisleri candle holders or
Delhi Development Corporation cement mixers

Twin blue uniformed lifeguards
cruise the sunbathers
and lend a feeble hand
when the evening's fish net catch come in

Cowbaths take time!
No docile shower submission
tail waving feet stamping
and no flies in sight

Crows on the edge
of our Bombay toast breakfast
lusting after the honey
"traditionally mixed with coconut and banana"

backwater tourism promotion varkala bureau chief stanley wilson
unfolds intriguing maps and flashes compelling houseboat photos
then clinches the deal with an invitation to stay at his parent's house.

A retreating monsoon day
wishing for the sun
to shake the lifeless humidity
and brighten the grey

Twin German grandmothers
in complementary floral shorts
turn sideways and flash too much leg
where pants should be.


27/11 - Varkala - we depart

Midday net-menders share umbrella shade under
watchful eye of matching purse and sari tourists

Lottery ticket man displays your chances
mounted on bicycle handlebars.

3 axle 4 wheel trainstation luggage cart
scatters platform crowd

Sari shop tailor foot pumps sewing machine
in time with bob marley

you'll need at least four legs to escape advances from
the "horse ride" entrepreneur


28/11 - enroute to the backwaters

"bad" hand delivery neutralizes
"first fare of the day" good luck

unIndian pre-departure overview of ferry boat services -
know your stop times and beverage prices.

Frenetic Indian music hypnosis
threatened by irritating imprecision of hand clapping violinist

Taxi driver paid by the honk.

Decaying Allepey port infrastructure
decorates children's amusement park

Jesus smiles from every room in the Wilson house -
"there are so many types of Christians."


30/11 - From a houseboat sunset

Add 50% - then you'll budget right
to buy a future service.
Hidden costs, provisions lost -
such surprises don't unnerve us.

A cell phone at home
  soon one on the boat.
  Maybe a webpage
  to electronically float.
While the toilet is leaking,
  "no English" is speaking,
  and the comments book
  praises are rote.

When lightening arcs the sky
  with thunder seconds later.
  We sip out beer in peace -
  no need to race.
But then it spears the sky
  and fills the lake with light.
  We finish up the bottle -
  just in case
!!!we gotta bail, or swim,
  or otherwise desert
  our houseboat home.
  And find a safer place.

"one pen" or "ten rupees"
Go big or stay home.
The ask keeps increasing
wherever we roam.


02/12 - Fort Cochin

5000 rupees per match made.
  10k if ones "a prize"
  or the signs are hard to fit.
Travel expenses covered
  but you gotta feed yourself
  or starve a little bit.
It's the joy of happy couples
  and a parents duty done
  that gives "marriage counseling" the hit.

Heading to dreams thru a Kerelan palm fringed sunset … then
unfolding the day in a parched Maharastra desert haze.

?Are we waiting on the waitlist
  or "confirmed" as some would say?
  Travel agents reassure us.
  Station master says "wait one day" -
  with a flicker of the wrist.
?Will we be treated to a bed
  in tiers of two or three?
  Read the ticket, try the wicket
  where they tell us "wait and see" -
  with a wobble of the head.
?Do we understand their sign
  Do we need to know at all
  If we hurry with our worry
  will we miss the wallah's call
  "Chai" - and with a book recline.

A/C passes for mom and dad.
The rest of the family gets sleeper.
All you can eat of lime pickles and dal -
a job on the railway's a keeper.


04/12 - Delhi

Been waiting to go home
  since yesterday morning.
  Reflecting on the ease
  of soothing ocean breeze.
  Ten days of gentle brain.
The train pulled in to Delhi
  thru miles of desperate shanties.
  Seeing the despair
  not mine to repair.
  A thousand years of pain.
The plane will fly at midnight
  thru twelve timezones.
  Returning me to ponder
  the neighbourhood much fonder.
  Some time before the rain.

We share the bench
my headache and her sore feet.
Our families shopping
for a memory and a gift.
While we're stopping
and praying for a lift.

Copyright Notice © 1999 Peter Gillies