My guide, Manish, had arranged to show me more of real Indian life on Friday so we got on a city bus to another part of Jaipur (this city is the capital of the Indian state Rajasthan and has a similar population size to London) to watch a Bollywood film called 'The Creature'. It was meant to be a horror film but I was distracted because the men were wearing more eye liner than the women! The film was in Hindi with no subtitles however TV and films in India bizarrely have their actors say half a sentence in English every now and again so I could understand about 10% of it.
I've mentioned the staring a lot within my blog posts but that is because it's a massive part of my everyday life here, none more so than this day. Because I had been taken to places where westerners don't go I felt like I was being hunted! People were following us and I was being watched by everyone and it started to feel claustrophobic. Manish kept saying "don't worry you are with me" and however nice he was he just couldn't understand that being gawped at relentlessly by massive crowds is a horrible feeling. I tried to tolerate it (as I have for the past six weeks) but it was too much so I insisted that we leave the area as soon as possible - I felt suffocated!
He showed me around his village filled with crumbling buildings and children asking for coins; we watched the local boys play cricket whilst Manish outlined the plots of his top ten Bollywood films. After asking whether I was hungry he told me that alongside some of the villagers he was going to throw a barbecue in my honour outside an abandoned temple! I had no idea what this entailed but whilst the men were shopping and preparing things I met his family; there were four generations living under one roof as well as siblings and cousins - this is partly because they cannot afford separate houses but also because they value family above everything and share every aspect of their lives including food, money etc. We muddled through with their broken English, the few words I'd learnt in Hindi and some dramatic miming. The little children were scared of me at first because they'd also never seen a white person however after a few hours they were singing and dancing for me and even a showing off their English work from school!
The food was prepared on the ground outside the old temple and I was told that it was an authentic Rasathani meal that they cooked once a month as a treat; it was a curry with huge chunks of paneer (an Indian cheese not unlike halloumi although not as salty), ginger, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, coriander and lots of chilies. They made dough and I sat on the floor and helped to roll it into balls; meanwhile a fire was lit under a pile of dried cow pats and once it was hot they tapped it down into a mound and I couldn't believe it when they chucked the balls of dough uncovered into the cow pat pile to cook!
Everything works on 'Indian time' here which means if someone says 5 mins it means an hour; Manish asked me at 4.30pm whether I was hungry and by 11.30pm the food was finally ready!!! It was worth the wait as it was the most delicious food I'd had in India and finally I got the chili high I was searching for! We sat on the floor and ate with our hands Indian style - I had oil dripping down my arms and a wild dog was sniffing around trying to share my food.
I was a while away from my guesthouse and had an early bus in the morning so I was anxious to get back, particularly because all the woman had long gone to bed and I was in a quiet, dark village. There were no rickshaws so Manish's friend kindly drove me back (it was an hour round trip!) and on they way we saw some police; they told me to get down and hide because if a westerner was seen in a car with Indian men they would launch a big investigation and not let us go until they were satisfied I wasn't being kidnapped!
I've mentioned the staring a lot within my blog posts but that is because it's a massive part of my everyday life here, none more so than this day. Because I had been taken to places where westerners don't go I felt like I was being hunted! People were following us and I was being watched by everyone and it started to feel claustrophobic. Manish kept saying "don't worry you are with me" and however nice he was he just couldn't understand that being gawped at relentlessly by massive crowds is a horrible feeling. I tried to tolerate it (as I have for the past six weeks) but it was too much so I insisted that we leave the area as soon as possible - I felt suffocated!
He showed me around his village filled with crumbling buildings and children asking for coins; we watched the local boys play cricket whilst Manish outlined the plots of his top ten Bollywood films. After asking whether I was hungry he told me that alongside some of the villagers he was going to throw a barbecue in my honour outside an abandoned temple! I had no idea what this entailed but whilst the men were shopping and preparing things I met his family; there were four generations living under one roof as well as siblings and cousins - this is partly because they cannot afford separate houses but also because they value family above everything and share every aspect of their lives including food, money etc. We muddled through with their broken English, the few words I'd learnt in Hindi and some dramatic miming. The little children were scared of me at first because they'd also never seen a white person however after a few hours they were singing and dancing for me and even a showing off their English work from school!
They were all fascinated with my camera and its settings, especially the grandma so I taught her how to take a selfie!
The peice of land they use as a playing field was surrounded by ancient walls that lead to the palace.
The food was prepared on the ground outside the old temple and I was told that it was an authentic Rasathani meal that they cooked once a month as a treat; it was a curry with huge chunks of paneer (an Indian cheese not unlike halloumi although not as salty), ginger, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, coriander and lots of chilies. They made dough and I sat on the floor and helped to roll it into balls; meanwhile a fire was lit under a pile of dried cow pats and once it was hot they tapped it down into a mound and I couldn't believe it when they chucked the balls of dough uncovered into the cow pat pile to cook!
In the background you can see the burning pile of cow pats.
Once the cow pats were ash the dough was put inside to cook.
Everything works on 'Indian time' here which means if someone says 5 mins it means an hour; Manish asked me at 4.30pm whether I was hungry and by 11.30pm the food was finally ready!!! It was worth the wait as it was the most delicious food I'd had in India and finally I got the chili high I was searching for! We sat on the floor and ate with our hands Indian style - I had oil dripping down my arms and a wild dog was sniffing around trying to share my food.
They asked me to take this photo of them but in typical Indian style they didn't smile.
I was a while away from my guesthouse and had an early bus in the morning so I was anxious to get back, particularly because all the woman had long gone to bed and I was in a quiet, dark village. There were no rickshaws so Manish's friend kindly drove me back (it was an hour round trip!) and on they way we saw some police; they told me to get down and hide because if a westerner was seen in a car with Indian men they would launch a big investigation and not let us go until they were satisfied I wasn't being kidnapped!
Wow. This is a real adventure. Good and bad days but I know you wanted the authentic experience. Please be careful sweetie. Lots of love Lou xxx
ReplyDeleteI am being as careful as poss!! I am able to do this because I have been sober lol x
DeleteEach time I read your blog I wonder what's going to happen next! Dumplings in poo...very tasty ha! You are looking really well Jennifer.....love mum x
ReplyDeletePoo dumplings lol
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