Seeing as I have been gone for awhile on an excursion up to the northern region of West Bengal, I now have time to update everyone on what has been going on. We visited Shantiniketan, which is known by many Bengalis because of the schools that Rabindranath Tagore set up in order to educate the Indian people, especially those in rural villages. Now for the sake of everyone's sanity and the fact that this blog will be really long if I explain who Tagore is, just know that he is probably the most famous Bengali and for more info visit wikipedia (now that we know wikipedia isn't being deleted from cyber history).
We stayed at the Tagore Mission International School, and because we were in a rural part of India, our accomodations consisted of a wooden bed with a blanket and lizards crawling on the walls. I actually enjoyed staying there because not only did it remind me of my old days at camp, but it was fun to see the students so excited to see foreign visitors. It also was an extremely momentous occasion because I used a squatter (essentially it is a hole in the ground which you squat over to go to the bathroom) for the first time. Above is a picture of me being extremely proud of my accomplishment (this squatter was actually relatively clean too...not all of them look so nice).
The first day that we arrived we visited a nearby ashram. The ashram was also a school for young rural children and orphans to receive an education. We watched the students praying and received an orange as a parasad (a type of blessing). They then gave us a tour of the school area and how they teach different trades to the rural people so that they can become educated and employed. After visiting the ashram we went back and had tea (I swear they gave us tea about 4 times a day) and then went to bed where we promptly froze our butts off because it was so cold and we were given thin blankets. Above is a picture of what are room looked like.
The next day we toured the university that Tagore set up, visited Tagore's houses, and went to a nearby village called Amar Kutir. My favorite part was going to Amar Kutir which was a small village devoted to handicrafts. There we were able to see some skilled artisans hand-paint goat leather and make purses, wallets, and many other types of leather accesories. We were also able to see them paint batik, which is a type of art form that is famous in the Bengal region. We all gave in and bought trinkets from Amar Kutir because no where else in the world would we get such handicrafts for so cheap.
At night some folk dancers came to perform and the night before we were able to see some Baul music performers. I personally liked the Baul music performers because their music spans centuries and is passed down from teacher to student. Even though they were singing in Bengali, their music had a unique quality and the instruments that they played seemed extremely intricate.
On our way back to Kolkata we came across an unfortunate incident. As we were passing under a small bridge in which trains cross overhead, we saw a man beating cattle with a stick to get them off the tracks because a train was approaching. The man had barely got the cattle off the tracks when the cattle pushed him backwards into the speeding train. Unfortunately the man was struck by the train and instantly fell to his death and one of the cattle was also hit. We found out later that the man worked in the fields and it wasn't even his cattle that he was shoving off the tracks. Trains do not stop for anything in India so accidents like this actually can happen quite frequently it was just sad to have to see it.
We stayed at the Tagore Mission International School, and because we were in a rural part of India, our accomodations consisted of a wooden bed with a blanket and lizards crawling on the walls. I actually enjoyed staying there because not only did it remind me of my old days at camp, but it was fun to see the students so excited to see foreign visitors. It also was an extremely momentous occasion because I used a squatter (essentially it is a hole in the ground which you squat over to go to the bathroom) for the first time. Above is a picture of me being extremely proud of my accomplishment (this squatter was actually relatively clean too...not all of them look so nice).
The first day that we arrived we visited a nearby ashram. The ashram was also a school for young rural children and orphans to receive an education. We watched the students praying and received an orange as a parasad (a type of blessing). They then gave us a tour of the school area and how they teach different trades to the rural people so that they can become educated and employed. After visiting the ashram we went back and had tea (I swear they gave us tea about 4 times a day) and then went to bed where we promptly froze our butts off because it was so cold and we were given thin blankets. Above is a picture of what are room looked like.
The next day we toured the university that Tagore set up, visited Tagore's houses, and went to a nearby village called Amar Kutir. My favorite part was going to Amar Kutir which was a small village devoted to handicrafts. There we were able to see some skilled artisans hand-paint goat leather and make purses, wallets, and many other types of leather accesories. We were also able to see them paint batik, which is a type of art form that is famous in the Bengal region. We all gave in and bought trinkets from Amar Kutir because no where else in the world would we get such handicrafts for so cheap.
At night some folk dancers came to perform and the night before we were able to see some Baul music performers. I personally liked the Baul music performers because their music spans centuries and is passed down from teacher to student. Even though they were singing in Bengali, their music had a unique quality and the instruments that they played seemed extremely intricate.
On our way back to Kolkata we came across an unfortunate incident. As we were passing under a small bridge in which trains cross overhead, we saw a man beating cattle with a stick to get them off the tracks because a train was approaching. The man had barely got the cattle off the tracks when the cattle pushed him backwards into the speeding train. Unfortunately the man was struck by the train and instantly fell to his death and one of the cattle was also hit. We found out later that the man worked in the fields and it wasn't even his cattle that he was shoving off the tracks. Trains do not stop for anything in India so accidents like this actually can happen quite frequently it was just sad to have to see it.
Hey, its just like you described. The beds look kind of uncomfortable and the window looks really thin. Haha, I really enjoyed the picture of you and the squatter. It should show you squatting there instead.
ReplyDeleteMm, do you have a recording of the music. I always enjoy music that is different and kind of ethnic. I bet that they were really good, from what I noticed though is that a lot of musicians look like they are predominantly male, is it so?
But yes, keep up the blogging, I'm reading and its fun and interesting. ;)
I hope my blogs are also funny (my mom says they are but she is biased). I couldn't get a recording because they were selling them but didn't bring them with (it only cost $2 for a recording!) As far as the male thing goes, there is usually about 10-15 male Bauls for ever 1 female. The Bauls are typically poor and sing for food/money so it makes sense for rural women to stay in the house and take care of the family, while the men work to support their family (this is why there is such a discrepancy in female Baul musicians). If you like the music you should type in Baul music on youtube and check it out. If you want more info about them, I had to write a 1 page paper about them so you can always read it in your free time.
Delete