Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, February 9, 2007
Peanuts for sale!
So I mentioned about peanuts right?
Let me just tell you a small story from my recent travels.
I was taking a local bus ride from Mathura to Alighar the other day...and ended up sitting next to a most charming man who was very generous (as well as drunk.)
Since he did not speak any English, the first thing he did was offer me a banana with a non-descript grunt. I refused (three times) because I really did not want his banana, although I did appreciate that he offered it to me. He then purchased a ticket for me to Alighar, and then had to return it to the ticket man when I told him "mera pas ticket hey" (I have a ticket!).
Then He took out a packet of pan...which is a mixture of spices and betel nut. It is a mild intoxicant, something akin to chewing tobacco. And like "chew" it also requires ample spitting. The packet is flicked with the fingernail to make all the contents settle to one side, casually torn open with the teeth, and then the contents are dumped in between the lip and gums. The spices and betel make you salivate, and then you have to spit out the accumulated "nectar". The first time I came to India and saw the spit from "pan" on the ground I thought that it was blood...because the contents of this wonderful little packet make your saliva bright red (and your lips and gums... and after prolonged use...your teeth a wonderful reddish-brown color). At any point...I had the window seat, and this "gentleman" had to spit...so he leaned over me (practically crushing me to death), and proceeded to relieve him of the swill that had accumulated in his cheek.
I changed seats with him so he could spit to his heart's content.
Perhaps I am very slow...but it was not until the bus was going over a bridge over the Yamuna River, and he tried twice (unsuccessfully) to throw some rupee coins out of the window into the Yamuna (because it is a sacred river)...and ended up beating the window with his hand and dropping the coins onto the sidewalk, that I realized that my "companion" was really drunk.
The bus stopped at a railroad crossing, and what is the mainstay at all railroad crossings in India? A peanut seller of course..."time pass". My companion purchased a packet of peanuts and proceeded to offer them to me. I politely declined. I was in no mood to eat. I had grossly underestimated the length of the bus ride and at this point, unless the train was at least 30 minutes late in arriving to Alighar, I would miss it...
My "gentleman" friend, incredulous at my polite refusal, again offered me "dried fruits" (I don't know where he picked up that little English ditty...since I wouldn't consider peanuts a "fruit"). I again declined.
After thoroughly enjoying cracking the peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor of the bus (mind you, he is sitting next to the window...but I think it is against the law in India to eat peanuts in a vehicle and not throw the shells on the floor), my neighbor again insists that I eat some "dried fruits". My refusal gets less and less polite with every offering.
I know this is an official Indian national pastime...but I just can't relish it right now...I'm to disturbed at the thought of missing my train and ending up in this armpit of a town for the night.
The bus pulls into Alighar, and I hop off while it is still moving. I run up the back entrance to the train station. There are only 2 platforms at the train station in this town. On one platform a train is pulling away...but I keep moving. Then I hear the announcement that my train is arriving on platform no. 2...as I am running on the overpass I see it arrive. I fly down the stairs, and to my great happiness the compartment I need is right at the bottom of the stairs...I hop on, and after one minute it leaves...with peanut salesmen yelling "time pass" in the distance.
Let me just tell you a small story from my recent travels.
I was taking a local bus ride from Mathura to Alighar the other day...and ended up sitting next to a most charming man who was very generous (as well as drunk.)
Since he did not speak any English, the first thing he did was offer me a banana with a non-descript grunt. I refused (three times) because I really did not want his banana, although I did appreciate that he offered it to me. He then purchased a ticket for me to Alighar, and then had to return it to the ticket man when I told him "mera pas ticket hey" (I have a ticket!).
Then He took out a packet of pan...which is a mixture of spices and betel nut. It is a mild intoxicant, something akin to chewing tobacco. And like "chew" it also requires ample spitting. The packet is flicked with the fingernail to make all the contents settle to one side, casually torn open with the teeth, and then the contents are dumped in between the lip and gums. The spices and betel make you salivate, and then you have to spit out the accumulated "nectar". The first time I came to India and saw the spit from "pan" on the ground I thought that it was blood...because the contents of this wonderful little packet make your saliva bright red (and your lips and gums... and after prolonged use...your teeth a wonderful reddish-brown color). At any point...I had the window seat, and this "gentleman" had to spit...so he leaned over me (practically crushing me to death), and proceeded to relieve him of the swill that had accumulated in his cheek.
I changed seats with him so he could spit to his heart's content.
Perhaps I am very slow...but it was not until the bus was going over a bridge over the Yamuna River, and he tried twice (unsuccessfully) to throw some rupee coins out of the window into the Yamuna (because it is a sacred river)...and ended up beating the window with his hand and dropping the coins onto the sidewalk, that I realized that my "companion" was really drunk.
The bus stopped at a railroad crossing, and what is the mainstay at all railroad crossings in India? A peanut seller of course..."time pass". My companion purchased a packet of peanuts and proceeded to offer them to me. I politely declined. I was in no mood to eat. I had grossly underestimated the length of the bus ride and at this point, unless the train was at least 30 minutes late in arriving to Alighar, I would miss it...
My "gentleman" friend, incredulous at my polite refusal, again offered me "dried fruits" (I don't know where he picked up that little English ditty...since I wouldn't consider peanuts a "fruit"). I again declined.
After thoroughly enjoying cracking the peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor of the bus (mind you, he is sitting next to the window...but I think it is against the law in India to eat peanuts in a vehicle and not throw the shells on the floor), my neighbor again insists that I eat some "dried fruits". My refusal gets less and less polite with every offering.
I know this is an official Indian national pastime...but I just can't relish it right now...I'm to disturbed at the thought of missing my train and ending up in this armpit of a town for the night.
The bus pulls into Alighar, and I hop off while it is still moving. I run up the back entrance to the train station. There are only 2 platforms at the train station in this town. On one platform a train is pulling away...but I keep moving. Then I hear the announcement that my train is arriving on platform no. 2...as I am running on the overpass I see it arrive. I fly down the stairs, and to my great happiness the compartment I need is right at the bottom of the stairs...I hop on, and after one minute it leaves...with peanut salesmen yelling "time pass" in the distance.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Why is India so Incredibel?
For my husband and I, India is a great place. We have lived here for the better part of the last 8 years, and have come to deeply understand what a backwards place it sometimes is. For example, if there is a major rainstorm, the city cuts the power off...as a preventative measure and doesn't turn it back on until hours after the rain has stopped. At the railroad tracks, the barriers come down for a train, and after the train has passed by the barriers stay down because there is another train coming...after 10 minutes. I have been stuck at the train tracks on the way to the village Radha Kunda for 40 minutes once because there were 5 trains in a row (with nearly 10 minute intervals between them!)
It has often crossed my mind that in any other country (read here: any "normal" country) the citizens would freak out and protest such "inconveniences" but here the people quietly sit back, buy some peanuts and crack the shells as they wait. I have come to understand that peanut cracking (and throwing the shells all over the place) seems to be an Indian national pastime. The guys often selling the peanuts don't yell "peanuts for sale!" they yell "time pass"...go figure.
There is a tendency for Indians to just sit quietly without questioning authority in circumstances that would make any average citizen of America pull out a shot gun and head to their local post office. On the other hand however, Indians have an uncanny ability to create major riots over nothing. Almost every week there are riots somewhere in India...
The point I am trying to make here is that India is a place that is very poorly organized, and full of corruption. That is a fact. There are however, some things that make India downright funny. We have been talking for years about collecting pictures of misspellings that we find all over the place. That is always something that you can count on in India. There is a tendency for most signs to be written in English, however most of the sign painters are uneducated guys who don't speak it at all, but have simply mastered painting the letters...which often leads to things like this:
and this:
Would you like to purches or sele a piece of lends, from a this guy who can provide finece to you? That's what I'm talking about. That's why India is IncrediBEL!
It has often crossed my mind that in any other country (read here: any "normal" country) the citizens would freak out and protest such "inconveniences" but here the people quietly sit back, buy some peanuts and crack the shells as they wait. I have come to understand that peanut cracking (and throwing the shells all over the place) seems to be an Indian national pastime. The guys often selling the peanuts don't yell "peanuts for sale!" they yell "time pass"...go figure.
There is a tendency for Indians to just sit quietly without questioning authority in circumstances that would make any average citizen of America pull out a shot gun and head to their local post office. On the other hand however, Indians have an uncanny ability to create major riots over nothing. Almost every week there are riots somewhere in India...
The point I am trying to make here is that India is a place that is very poorly organized, and full of corruption. That is a fact. There are however, some things that make India downright funny. We have been talking for years about collecting pictures of misspellings that we find all over the place. That is always something that you can count on in India. There is a tendency for most signs to be written in English, however most of the sign painters are uneducated guys who don't speak it at all, but have simply mastered painting the letters...which often leads to things like this:
and this:
Would you like to purches or sele a piece of lends, from a this guy who can provide finece to you? That's what I'm talking about. That's why India is IncrediBEL!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
