But the taste buds were really getting restless and again a sudden temptation arose to have the ‘pani puris’. Waited for the rain to stop and stepped out of the house in search of the ‘panipuriwaala’. Just next to my street on the main road are 2-3 of them. Circling around the stand were 4 of us with our plates. Gulping one paani puri, waiting for another round I savoured them. My soul was filled with the satisfaction after gulping 10 of those and then one “Churmur Chaat“.

While having those pani puris, I was remembering the paani puri bhaiya who used to have stall at our school. I know him for now 21 long years. Still his face is fresh in my mind and the speed with which he used to serve those pani puris.

Flashback…

A man with his thela( its a vehicle with four wheels and gets pushed to move) which carried a box full of paani puri and few other vessels enters the main gate of the school. Pushes his vehicle till the big playground under a tree and places his gaadi with other gaadi of Dosa/Idli and icecream waala. Little girls playing in the playground turn their faces as if waiting for him, runs towards him and stands around the gaadi in a circle. Atleast 20 of them around the gaadi and bhaiya in the center with his fast moving hands serving one by one. You will not believe but by the time you are still relishing the first paani puri, he would have placed the second one. The fast moving hands were so good at their work.

Enjoyed the 10 years of his paani puri when I was in school. Seen the price rise from 4 pieces for 25 paise to 2 pieces for 2 rupees but he continued serving with the same speed and same taste. In those days there was not much concept of  pocket money. I used to cycle to school , so I used to get some money for the puncture , air filling etc. Saving from those or sometimes faking a puncture would arrange for the pani puri.

Till 2 years back I met him and tasted his pani puris. We knew the place where he used to place his gaadi in the evening after school. Whenever we went back from our college we used to visit him and he would also recognize our faces with his old eyes. And still served with the same dedication.

I am sure all the Notre Dame Students from Patna would remember him. Sometimes people who might not be anything to us might be something and we might have lots of memories around them. I know you will not read this but we really enjoyed your pani puri . Your memories dominates a great part of our school life. And now I realize that whenever I have gone with any of my friends to have pani puri at other places I have always mentioned about you telling I have never  tasted the ones by you and the speed with which you served.

Back to the Present…

Oh that was only the first pani puri that I gulped. It got digested too and now the time for the second piece. Another customer standing there says “Sir mere ko akele alag se khilao. Mazaa nahi aa raha hai. Wo jaldi jaldi khilao to mazaa aata hai.” (Sir please serve me separately. I am not able to enjoy. If you serve fast then it is fun). I give him a smile and walk away.

Just a post remembering someone.

It was one of those usual days when all the books that I had was read and wanted to get few  more. I was browsing through Flipkart.com for buying few books. My friend had generously parted away with his parting gift of the Flipkart gift coupon of 2000 INR . Thanks to the Kindle that he owns that I got those gift coupons . Browsing through the list of books on flipkart, I got few interesting books related to travel, non -fictions and classics. One of the books which caught my attention was an autobiography “The Truth About Me – A Hijra Life Story by A. Revathi “. Finally I got something to read about them. I added it to cart. Due to Flipkart fast delivery all my book were there in next 48 hours.

I started reading “The Great Railway Bazar by Paul Theroux” – another interesting book on travel journey. Meanwhile another friend who doesn’t have much inclination towards reading wanted to read a book. I have a collection of few books. I asked him to select and he picked the autobiography of Eunuchs(Hijra). As I was reading another book, I let myself part with the book.  He finished reading the book in 2 days. Imagine a non lover of books finishing the book in 2 nights – Must be really a book which would keep you fully engrossed.

He started discussing what he read about the eunuchs. I got the book from him and started reading. The way it has been written you feel the images/pictures moving in front of your eyes. The ordeal which she had to go through which make you shiver while reading the book. The book is all about the author’s first hand experience of her life and her fellow hijra friends. Its all about from her childhood till date. She says “she felt like a woman captured in the body of a man” . And its all about the small desires and feelings she had and all the ordeals she had to go through in her home and outside. A very moving autobiography which gives you insights about how a hijra(eunuch) life is. There are only very very few happy moments and most of others are depressing and sad.

Here are few excerpts from the book:

“This confused me – I was a boy and yet I felt I could love other boys. Was this right or wrong? I could not talk to anyone about my confusions. Not to my brothers, or my parents. Nor could I stop my heart from wandering and so I went about as if crazed. I was fed up of being teased“

“We got stared at a lot. People asked out loudly- some out of curiosity, others out of malice- whether we were men or women or “number nines” or devadasis. Several men made bold to touch us, on our backs, on our shoulders. Some attempted to grab our breasts. “Original or Duplicate?” they shouted and hooted. At such moments I felt despair and wondered if there would ever be  a way for us to live with dignity and make a decent living“

“We want to live as women, and if we are granted the facilities that enable us to do so, we’ll live as other women do. We were not born to beg or do sex work. Circumstances, family laws and social hatred have left us with no course but to beg and do sex work. Our parents begot us like they did other children. We are also human.”

The author A. Revathi is currently a writer , actor and activist based in Bangalore. She works with Sangama – NGO which works for the human rights of sexual minorities. I guess our government needs to come up with programmes for them and also have them come to mainstream society and work as normal similar to the other countries. This would also bring a change in attitude of people towards them.

Must Read book to know about the other community of people living with us. If we know about them, then we know to respect them. I really recommend this book to all so that we know how we as a society has added pains and difficulties to their life. Hats off to the author !!!

The Truth About Me

And 2 days after that when I went to the place (Desire Society) she was again there telling me in Kannada ” Sister I want to learn more and more English. Also teach me Hindi” and there she came with an English story book and Hindi notebook ready to learn everything. The way she told reflected her crave for learning.

The change might be slow and gradual but there was a change – an interest kindling to learn something, a curiosity to know more about things around them.

This gift was not enough for the day. There was another gift also which I received from a 4-year old girl Ganga. As soon as I had entered the gate she seemed to be waiting for me and called me “Sister Banni(Kannada word for Come)”. I followed her small footsteps and she sat on the stairs asking me to sit. And gave me a flower carefully wrapped in a piece of paper and an Eclairs with a white piece of cloth calling it a handkerchief. Another Smile for the day .

:)

May be I am not able to express my feelings in my words. But sometimes when not everything is going good with you or you are not satisfied with what you are doing the small things like this give you a smile on your face and the motivation which you need to move ahead.

Few friends, moments 2010

ups and downs to the extremes. Lots of ups and downs, lots of activities, new friends, old friends, new people, good moments with few hitches.  Reminiscing only the good moments but the hitches and tough moments were also in one way good ones adding different colours to life and teaching few things. All is a sweet memory now.  Biding  2010 a farewell with a video with few good moments which I was part of and people who were there throughout the journey in 2010.

Wishing myself and you all a very happy new year 2011 !!!!

Though I am not there with you but for last 2 days I have been feeling restless and worried getting the updates on phone only.  I don’t believe in God worship but somehow it naturally happened that I was just praying that you be all well. Some people  need you, need you to be with them.

Giant Wood Spider

3-days long weekend was ahead and so few of us got tempted to go on a short trip. Finally 4 of us decided to go to Dandeli – Vaibhav, Sushil, Sushmita and Myself.  The train ticket was booked in Tatkal from Bangalore till Alnawar by Rani Chennamma Express.  From Alanwar you need to take a jeep till Haliyal and then board a bus to Dandeli.

Reaching our hotel in the morning we found nice greenery around and the chirping of birds. When you have a camera and you are interested in photography, this view is a paradise for you. Leaving our luggage, we all took out our weapons(read Camera) to shoot the birds and the greenery around.

Malabar Grey Hornbill

Dandeli is a nice place for wildlife photography, bird photography, bird watching and nature walk. Apart from all this we did mountain rappelling from not a very great height(just 67ft) and few rope activities. If you are lucky enough you can do Rafting which in our case couldn’t happen because of  less water flow.  But not very much disappointed as we had the option of roaming around in the jungle and spotting different types of birds,  spiders, animals.

We could spot and capture few birds – Malabar Pied Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Green Bea Eater, Crocodile’s dentist, Adjustable Neck White Stork, Kingfisher, Woodpecker and many more of which I don’t know the names. On the jungle Safari we could find lots of spiders – mainly Giant Wood Spider. This Spider is a female Spider which eats the male spiders after mating. It weaves its web in between the two trees.

We could also spot the Giant Malabar Squirrel – a beautiful animal which jumps from trees to trees. You have to run behind them for capturing them into your camera. Also on the banks of Kali river, there is a crocodile track where you would find lots of crocodiles resting lazily in the river or on the banks.

Giant Malabar Squirrel in Action

For capturing the birds and animals in Dandeli, you don’t have to go to a jungle.  Just go for a walk or sit around where there are more trees and that you will find anywhere in Dandeli. Dandeli seems to be a house for different varieties of birds.

This trip was more of photographs, birds and wildlife. It was real fun to run and find a better place to capture the birds sitting somewhere behind the leaves and changing their position. Overall a nice trip !!!!

Chembra Peak

6 of us packed our bags and started our 6 hours journey to Waynad by road early morning. On reaching Waynad and having a sumptuous Kerala meal we visited Edakkal Caves. Not very much interesting we started towards our homestay. Yeah this time we had booked a homestay. Waynad is famous for homestays and this was my first stay in a home away from my home. Sundar Mahal as its called was actually beautiful in the interior with a big garden surrounding  it. You will feel as if you  are staying in the middle of a jungle with all types of sounds in the night.

As soon as we reached our homestay, there was Prabha (our host) waiting outside to welcome us. The warm welcome from Prabha and her husband Murali was accompanied by the banana chips and a hot coffee. Though I don’t drink tea or coffee but if you been to Waynad and you don’t try the two beverages there, you would miss something.

The homestay was a  nice blend of traditional and modern. The house was 100 years old with the old gramophones, old phone. We were served a nice dinner prepared by Prabha – mixture of north indian and keralite dishes.

Tia- The Graceful Lady Dog

The food had a taste which would make you feel homely and if the hosts themselves serve you then it increases the homely factor. After a delicious dinner, we had a long discussion with Prabha and Murali on all types of topics ranging from travel, politics, education, agriculture, tourism, kerala drinking problems and the conversation seemed unending.  Even our hosts were so much fond of talking that we didn’t feel like stopping the interesting conversations.

The next day morning started with soft idlis and a hot coffee. After recharging ourselves with the idlis, we headed towards Chembra Peak.  With the pleasant weather favoring us, we trekked on the peak till we found the “heart shaped lake” on top of the peak. After the trek we wanted to be back to the comfort of the homestay. On getting back Murali showed us few of the memorabilia of the house – the gramophone, the record signed by Gandhiji and Sarojini Naidu, pics of Shashi Tharoor with the family and few articles which featured Murali.

Vishnu, son of our hosts, was on his visit to his home for  his vacations. The night was spent with again a sumptuous dinner prepared by Prabha and 2 of our lady accompaniments . I preferred not to join them in preparing the dinner as “Too many cooks spoil the broth” . The night was spent again with a delicious dinner with nice home made sweets and again a long conversation. Prabha is a very keen learner and was very much trying to learn Hindi and also doing a course of tourism. Though we all were tired, we didnt want to sleep as now only one day was left in the homestay.

Next day we stayed back in the homestay . Ujjwal, very fond of dogs, got a friend Tia. She was a very graceful lady dog but being very much afraid of dog I could just admire her from far.  Though Ujjwal tried a lot to get me near to her, I could gain the strength only to just sit and pat her from back.

Our Lovely Hosts

Finally we had to end our trip and get back to Bangalore. We had few photo shoots with our hosts. It was really a nice homely feeling in the homestay. It was a home away from home in true sense. If you are planning a trip to Waynad with a small group, just catch hold of the host of Sundar Mahal, bring in few books with you and just enjoy the time with the family, reading books with the coffee. An ideal place for relaxing.

Enjoy another blog by Ujjwal on the HomeStay Experience!!!

Mayurbhanj Public School

This visit was mainly to visit our own school, meet with the students, the E2E team and understand the current situation. And obviously visit to the tourist places was also on  the list. Reaching Bhubhaneshwar, we(myself and Vaibhav) were greeted at the airport by our friends Gobinda and Vinit. Escorted by bike we got to see the city at a glance. The city, very much different from Bangalore, reminded of my native place Patna. It very much had the similar types of houses, people, roads etc. But the city was quite clean and very well maintained.

Passing through the lanes we reached at our staying place – flat of one of the friends of E2E Aarti. Greeted by the sweet Halwa and chai we refreshed ourselves listening to the stories by Vinit about the village and the school. Vinit is a great storyteller and can keep you listening to his stories as they never end.

Now time was to visit few tourist places of Bhubhaneswar. Started with a visit to Nandan Kanan which is spread in a

Konark Temple

large area famous for the white tigers. With forest and lake inside there are lots of animals, reptiles at this place. The sunset view at the lake with the lotus was one view to be watched. Spending around 3 hours at this place with some photography, watching the animals, boating we were on our way to the banks of Mahanadi. With moonlight at the banks of the river we enjoyed the pakoda and tea. The silence besides the riverside was very soothing. Driving back to Bhubhaneshwar we had a discussion on the school and plans for the next day being made.

Early morning wake up and we were off to the Sun Temple at Konark. The sea in the Konark was one of the cleanest beach. With fishermen and ships at their work early morning we enjoyed the beautiful sea waves hitting the shores with the roar. The walk through the narrow streets led us to the Konark Temple. The temple with a beautiful architecture takes the form of the chariot of Sun God. We caught hold of a guide who told us interesting stories related to the temple and the carvings on it.

Sea View Near Konark Temple

After contributing into the tourism of Orissa now was the time to visit a slum school “Sailya Sai Slum School”. Located in a slum besides the big apartments in the city of Bhubhaneshwar, this school is started by a elderly person from the same slum. The classes are run from Std 1 to Std 5. Even the teachers were from the same slum. With the efforts of the principal and teachers the students are really very much devoted. Spending few hours at the school we talked with the principal and the students.

Now was the time to enjoy the delicacies of Oriya food.  We went to a traditional Oriya restaurant where we had the “Dalma” – the really tasty Oriya cuisine. With full plates of different types of other cuisines we had a heavy lunch. After a short nap, we had a meet with the Touching Lives Team who had come down from Mumbai. The 3 personalities of the team – Dr Sonia Mackwani, Kunjal Shah and Asif Vadsaria were one of those energetic people. We had an informal chit chat with them knowing more about each other , getting introduced. The Touching Lives team was here to provide training to the teachers of the “Mayurbhanj Public School.

Chandipur Beach

Time to leave for Mayurbhanj now to meet the kids, principals and check out our own initiative. Yes todays world everything can be done remotely but still till you do not go on the field the real work doesn’t happen. In the darkness of the early morning we reached the village. The smell of the village, the birds, the stars in the sky all was an enchanting view. Next 2 days we were to be in the village. On reaching itself I realized the 2 days were just too less to enjoy the place. We needed to make the full use of the 2 days.

Its 9 am in the morning and the students are all sitting in their classes with their bags. Meeting all the teachers, principal and the students we had a nice time flashing back the memories to our school days.

Class at Mayurbhanj Public School

We got a warm welcome from them. Observing the classes, discussing on the issues of the school, and the future plans was the agenda of the whole day. Apart from our own school “Mayurbhanj Public School” which has currently classes from class 1 to 4, there is another school running few meters away. This school is for the tribal girls and is from 8 and above. This has a great story behind which I might talk in my next blog. Meeting the girls you will feel they are such a hardworking and very much confident girls. Really the efforts of the founder has produced a good result.

Community school means the whole community should participate in the running of the school. This is the underlying principal on  which the school will run. Continuing this we attended the Parent Teachers meet where all the parents were involved in coming to a solution to the problems the school was facing. It was really encouraging to see the parents taking interest.

How your village visit can be complete without a walk in the evening through the village, have tea at a tea shop, visit the farms. And this was really the village of India which still goes into darkness as soon as sun sets. The whole village was dark with kerosene lamps litting on everyone’s door. Chit chatting on the roof top of the school enjoying the breeze and talking we all had a nice sleep.

An Evening Walk in the Village

Time to go back to our destination. But before that one visit to the Chandipur beach. During high tide you can walk through the sea for 5kms at this beach. Chandipur is an important site as it has a rocket launching station. Tests for various missiles such as Agni, Prithvi, Trishul have been conducted here. Enjoying the high tide and the sea water we were off to our place.

It was a nice holiday and a nice opportunity to meet the students and the other people associated with the school. Time to work more on the initiative. Anyone interested in knowing more about the school, visit http://educatetoempower.org or drop us a mail at educatetoempower@gmail.com

For more pics of the school visit http://picasaweb.google.com/EducateToEmpower/MPSVisit#