Winding up

We head back to Melbourne in just a few days after 8 incredible weeks, the significance of which I feel will be even more apparent after we return. Especially as we reflect with Mitali on the people and places, and as we correspond with the Darpana folk, Subhadra and our "house family" - Rohan is currently pretending to be Mitali's pet dog, "Kulu", on our bedroom floor below us as Mitali runs around avoiding nips to her ankles. We'll really miss the family. There's a lovely sense of communal life here which we feel inspired to somehow, even in a small way, recreate.

Kate has pulled out all stops for her last 2 weeks, working every night with the girls from Apang Mandal Manav. They are performing on Thursday this week. Darpana are also making the most of her last days here getting her to choreograph scenes for a work to be presented in the December Vikram Sarabhai Festival.

Tonight Kate and I are going on a date!! Josh has generously offered to babysit. We're very excited - dinner at House of MG and then off to see the performance of a work Darpana are taking to Dubai this week - a performance for the large number of manual labourers from Indian living in Dubai in squalid work camps. See you all soon.

Rohan and Mitali are great friends. She will be very say when leave and so will we.

The three kids, Kiran (10), Rohan (5), Rohul (14) and Mitali.

We accompanied Shivnath and Rohan to school on Saturday.

Shivnath took us into Rohan's classroom to say hello. Rohan was not impressed.

Some of the girls from Apang Mandal Manav...

We found this delightful woman at a crazy market at Ellis Bridge on Sunday last week. It was near a slum dwelling by the river. It was hot and stinky so after a quick whip around and couple of purchases, we retired to the House of MG for an ice-cream.

Return to Basundhara

 
Geeta, her house-mother, and Mitali

At 4.40 am this morning a full, dirty-orange moon lit the morning sky in Delhi as we drove to the airport. We spent a not-really-planned night in an expensive hotel due to a loosely connected flight from Bhubeneswar back to Ahmedabad. The vast disparity in wealth distribution in India still baffles us - this one night's accommodation cost about 3 times what we're paying our lovely housekeepers for a month's worth of cooking and looking after us. Fireworks are once again filling the night sky for Dev Diwali, the last night of the holiday season, as I reflect on an amazing weekend in Bhubeneswar, Orissa. We returned to Basundhara, the children's home where Mitali spent her first 21 months.

Sodumini with her charges.

Shosheela, Kate and Mitali.

The half-way mark

As I write this, Kate is giving a talk at Darpana. Kate mentioned the idea of presenting some of her work in Melbourne to Mallika on Monday and two days later it's all happening - complete with movies and photos - at the outdoor cafe at Darpana. I wondered how they would publicise the event and it seems that's about all the notice you need. There was a press release - check the "Hip and Happening" section in today's Ahmedabad Mirror.

We said goodbye yesterday to Ali and John as they headed off on further adventures in Rajasthan. Their week in Ahmedabad flew by. We did some great shopping. We took a car with our favourite driver, M. "Johnny" Sheik, to one of India's two sun temples in Modhera and an impressive 11th century step well in Patan. We hesitantly ate lunch at a random hotel on the way back to Ahmedabad, but we all emerged unscathed, much to Johnny's relief when he asked the next day. We enjoyed the wonderful House of MG (http://houseofmg.com/) - the pool, the restaurant and the ice cream - and charged it all to Room 9 (as we did when Mum and Dad were in town - thanks parents and parents-in-law).

Our effervescent friend-cum-translator-cum-tour-guide, Niana.

Naina takes Dianne's friend, Shaun, Josh, Mitali, Kate and I to the Adalaj Vav step well. There are a number of these amazing water structures in Gujurat, with intricate stone carvings. This one from 1499.

Naina also takes us to Kankaria Lake - a giant man-made lake (1451) complete with children's rides, aquarium and lots of people who wanted their picture take with us.

Getting the phone recharged....

Mallika Saribhai in action with her dancers.

The beautiful baratinatim dancers from Darpana.

We practise eating with our hands at Vishala restaurant, once again Naina is our host.

Ali, John, Mitali and I explore a beautiful mosque in Ahmedabad.

Abhay Mangaldas, the charming owner of the the House of MG, got to know first Mum and Dad Reilly and then Mum and Dad Sulan. His hospitality extended from his hotel to his personal mansion.

Ramkumari gives me a chappati lesson.

Johnny took us out to Patan to see the Ranki Vav, built in 1061, but only recently excavated in the 1980's. We also saw the Patan Patola, a famous type of silk sari. There are 3 families left who make them. It takes 3 months to make one sari.

One of the crazy sights on the way home...

...then back to our beautiful family at "the Retreat".

Happy Diwali

Diwali is the Festival of Lights - Ram's triumphant return is lit with candles and lights - Lakshmi the Goddess of Wealth is welcomed - ignorance is banished by the light of understanding - it depends who you ask as to what it's about. Once thing is pervasive - the continuous noise of exploding fireworks. There are 5 days of holiday - a time when families gather and eat. It marks the largest school break in the calendar, also - at least in Gujurat.

The unofficial Darpana tour guide, the lovely, ebullient Naina, is looking after us today. We're joining 1000's of others at a temple up the road for "600 types of food" - 600 opportunities to exercise caution. Then off to visit with other friends/relatives of Naina.

Mitali tries on Kiran's new Diwali dress

Ramkumari applies heavy eye-shadow

Kiran and Mitali

Josh, Dom, Mitali and I returned last night from an afternoon and evening at the generous Mallika Saribhai's farmhouse. We had a swim and dinner, saw a 3 hour-old buffalo and enjoyed the company of Mallika, Ravanta, her son and his girlfriend, Natasha. When we got home Shivnath and family were in the middle of their own fireworks display on the landing out the back. All digits and limbs remain in tact this morning. We'll check again at the end of Diwali.

Work

Some photos of a few of the girls I am working with. We rehearse in the food hall of the institution where they live often next to about 50 other girls who are eating. Most of them have prosthetic limbs. I am loving working with them and we laugh a lot. My translator intrigues me as often a sentence turns into a 5 minute diatribe. I often wonder what I am saying. We are working towards a performance which is challenging because of the working conditions, lack of a common language and the general chaos and unpredictability of India. I am looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.

A common language

Rohan and Mitali are "best friends" as Ramkumari likes to note. Their play consists of Mitali firing off a lot of orders in English, which are ignored. This moves onto a lot of primal noise and running around.

Jambughoda, Champaner - weekend away

I'm sitting in the cafe having a couple of coffees (half decent!!) while Mitali has a couple of hours of play group. Kate spotted a notice up for a "Montesorey Play group" which Mitali has been enjoying 10-12:30 each morning. I've been relishing the time in an air-conditioned English bookshop and cafe. Sadly, this winds up for a couple of weeks during Diwali.

Kate, Mitali and I have just had a weekend away with Mum and Dad. Sheik "Johnny" Mukaram - a treasure of an English speaking driver Mum and Dad discovered at their hotel - took us with his mate, Yusef, in a second car. We stayed in a palace-slash-farm at Jambughoda (www.jambughoda.com) - a pleasant mix of history, comfortable rooms, rural function and excellent food (with contraband beer, too!!!). We saw a number of ancient mosques - part of the UNESCO heritage listed Champaner area. The mosques were tucked away, emerging impressively from the lush country-side at the end of over-grown, muddy tracks. I never imagined that I would get such a sense of remoteness and pristine nature in India.

After a stop at the local tyre shop to repair Johny's tyre, we caught a cable car up to the top of Pavogodh, an 800m volcanic hill with a Hindu temple at the top. Hordes of pilgrims endured heat and the 3 hour walk to the top. We had a hot 30 minute climb to the top through a stinky market, complete with costumed cows, bindi-bestowing children and the ubiquitous beggar. Dad and I imagined we were starting our own sect with our hanky-hats.

Mitali, Mum, Dad and I were invited to Johnny's home last night. It was a real privelege to get some real ("strictly non-veg") home-cooking. The modest house was in a "pol" - located in the old city, a tiny lane in which a whole community lives. Sumin, Johnny's wife, produced and elaborate meal. A dish or two was provided by neighbours, which is, Johnny explains, just how it works - if you've got anything extra, it goes into the pool of resources for the community.

Mum and Dad leave on Thursday. We've benefited greatly from their research and explorations of the area, finding Johnny, good places to eat, shop and visit. It really softened the landing having them here, familiar faces - especially for Mitali. True to form, they've been impressively chilled out and adventurous. We will miss taking refuge at their air-conditioned hotel with swimming pool, "the House of MG". We've secured the same room in the House of MG for John and Ali who arrive on the 20th. We're all looking forward to that - I can't wait to seem them hoon around in an auto-rickshaw.

Autorickshaws

2 weeks into our Ahmedabad stay, I'm still amazed that the streets are not littered with the dead and injured from traffic accidents. It's cheap, convenient, mostly cheerful, sometimes exhilarating and always somewhat terrifying. Dad tells me that the relative chaos on roads in the cities of developing countries like Ahmedabad is reflected in the road toll - about 12 times higher. We go everywhere by rickshaw, doing at least half a dozen rides each day.

These are some of the funny (scary) things we've had on our rickshaw trips (if only I'd had my camera in hand):

• Josh saw a bloke riding pillion facing backwards typing on his laptop
• goat in with the passengers
• talking on mobile phones while driving passenger laden rickshaws, or riding motorbikes is commonplace
• the usual street fauna - cows, camels, donkeys, goats walk slowly across the path of fast moving traffic

Mum captured the road rules (or lack of) well in her email:

There are no road rules that anyone obeys and regular opportunities for road rage but one rarely sees any!  The first person to fill a gap has right of way and that includes driving the wrong way down a 2 lane highway - 2cm seems to be the accepted lee-way.

No one seems to have change ever - and I don't think it's a ploy to rip you off. You're greeted with much eye-rolling and huffing if you present anything bigger than 50 Rs (AU $1.25). One honest rickshaw driver wanted 10 Rs (25 cents) for a trip. I only had a 50 which I was prepared to give him. He appeared an hour later with the 40 Rs change - he's accumulated some good karma. On my way home from Darpana today after lunch there was a line stretching about 100m out the front of the "Reserve Bank of India". I asked the rickshaw driver why - "change".

The Retreat

The anticipation has been building for so long. We had been focussed on getting house, work, bags all sorted out before leaving, that finally heading off with our stuff leaves us with a strange feeling of emptiness and lightness. All todo's are ticked off, what now?

The mosaic tiled floor where I sit as I write is cool in the 30 degree balm of 'the Retreat' where we are making our home for the next 8 weeks. I've blu-tacked the adapter to the power socket and plugged in our power board to power or charge the various devices. Our hosts, Ramkumari and Shivnath, employees of Darpana, look after the house including us. Mitali has fallen in love with the beautiful Ramkumari and spends every available moment with her.

 

Ramkumari and Mitali

The Retreat is, I gather, part of the Sarabhai family empire. It is situated near an enormous textile museum and shares its lush jungle surrounds. Peacocks and monkeys roam freely. Mitali was up before 5 this morning and we enjoyed a dawn walk amongst the lush green which buffers us against the smog and constant hum of the busy city beyond.

Visitors at the retreat

As Mallika Sarabhai, director Darpana Arts Academy, writes in an email:

....you will be taken to a heritage home in the beautiful lush tropical surroundings of what used to be my grandparents home and is now India's most famous textile museum. The house used to belong to my great aunt who first invited Mahatma Gandhi to come and arbitrate in the famous textile owners and workers strike of 1915. Gandhiji, Tagore and Pandit Nehru have been amongst the many political luminaries who have stayed or dined there. There is a woman caretaker there who cleans. If you wish Nair will organize for her to also cook and shop for you and wash clothes. Darpana is a twenty minute rickshaw ride away.

Mum and Dad came for lunch and were relieved to see us set up in our little oasis - that Mitali had some space and we all had some escape from the bustling city.

In the afternoon, we went to Darpana and met the dynamic Malika Sabarai. We were to join them in the filming for one of their projects. We found ourselves in the middle of a slum witnessing a very convincing enactment of someone being possessed - one of the ceremonies marking the end of the Navratri festival.

Getting ready to go

So much to do, so little time. We're taking people's advice not to plan too much, and let things unfold once we get there. Trying to get the house packed up, trying to get stuff finished at work.