Wednesday 17 February 2016

Tamaatar


Hilarious stories also happen to me in this trip. 
Today I came to the same place as the day before to have a dinner. 
The waiter was constantly smiling like a Thai person. You know, this smile when you can see all the white teeth and you feel that sun is shining? :) 
I asked for a tomato salad and veg.chili garlic noodles and went to the washroom. When I came out the guy was confused and waiting for me. He asked again the name of the dish with a smile. 
When he brought up the meal he also gave me a tomato sous. I got surprised. I asked if tomato salad is coming and he said that here it is. I got surprised again. He was smiling. 
I understood that we are talking about different things. 
I took the menu in my hands and he started to smile even more "Oh! tomato salad!" 

When he brought the salad he said that it suits to my kurta. 
And that I look beautiful in this Indian outfit. :) 
such a story. 
Khana bahut badhiya hai! (Bon Appetite!) 

Tuesday 16 February 2016

West of India. Bhuj


The way we feel ourselves in many cases define our perception of the environment around us. 

I find it very convenient to travel by Indian railway even despite potential argument of too dusty sleeping seats. To travel from the North to the South of India in winter require to carry a warm blanket or a sleeping bag because here you will not get blankets in some of the classes of the train, which is opposite from Ukrainian railway where you get sleeping set and a blanket as part of your ticket price. I remember I was told by one passenger that what he finds great about Indian railway that anyone can afford it because of its vast class gradation: you can seat in a tiny carriage with many many many people, you can sleep in the wagon with the old shutters, you can sleep in the a.c. (air conditioned) wagon. In any case you can reach from one city to another. 


This time I travelled from Udaipur to Ahmedabad in a small train of 6 or 7 wagons. Strangely it was a train where no one was selling anything. I even got a feeling of how much I miss these guys with their tiny voices "Pani, bees rupees" (water, 20 rupees). 

I spent 4 hours at the ladies waiting hall in Ahmedabad to get my next train to Bhuj. 

In this free time I got a shower in a public toilet which is clean. It's a bucket shower and water is everywhere in the room. This is how everything gets cleaned naturally. It was my second shower in the public place and I must admit as for a traveler with a long distance this is very very useful facility. 

I also was introduced with a paper soap few month back which became incredibly important part of my pocket in the train. It's comfortable and your hands are always clean. If there is no water in the train you can always poor a bit of drinking water over the hands and woalya! 
In the waiting hall I got myself one seat and fall asleep for one hour after reading about Gandhi trip to England. I think he struggled much more with sailing in a ship than me sleeping in a seating position over my bag pack this morning. I woke up exactly for the breakfast. Here it was perfect morning omelet with chili and onions wrapped in a toast. Directly from the pan on a platform one. 

Good morning, India! 

At that time I didn't know that my way to Bhuj will remind me a DEAD MAN movie with its long daily road to the far West of India, with its salty soil and windmills. Gandhiji ("ji" at the end of the name is a sign of respect in India) sailed to South Africa back to India, back to South Africa and than again back to India, established an Ashram in Ahmedabad, negotiated about the disobedience of a cow milk and I was still here, in a tiny train to Bhuj. 

All the way to far West to get knowledge about mud architecture, hopefully visit the Hunnarshala Foundation and learn about textile.

Thursday 11 February 2016

On a Nomad visa to Nepal

End of January was pretty intense after I read on my Indian visa "NON-EXTENDABLE" in bold capital letters. My little precious plan of roaming around India at least till end of March seemed to get a new direction. Thanks to my friend Mukund, who called up his friend Areen, who wrote down to his friend Daniel. 

Here I am. With my bag pack in the flat of ThePilgrim, thanks to Arun, at Mayur Vihar Phase-1 in Delhi. Sorting out my cloth and leaving a summer stuff aside. 
Early morning taxi and comfortable sleepy Delhi behind. Heading to nowhere, when I need to sit at the working table and finish up my submission for the Studio Work in Germany. Two days before submission, I lose all my work in the plane. 

My Nepali trip can be described in three parts: 
  • submission and lucky time difference between Germany and Nepal
  • exploring Kathmandu and local bars with British-Ukrainian gang 
  • heading to volunteer in the village at the Kavre region for the rebuilding of the primary school in the project Recoop Nepal by Moviment Nomada, where I got a lot of learning not only about construction process, materials, but also Catalan and Nepali languages. 
I got such a crazy time in only 16 days that only little by little I get to understand what has happened. Many shocking things took place: bamboo treatment machine, hardware shops in Kathmandu, playing pool unlimited hot shower (gas geyser is the power), Spanish bottle of red wine, amazing hard cheese with toasts for the breakfast and many more. 
Many thanks to the Indian Embassy in Berlin that made this trip to Nepal possible by issuing me my "NON-EXTENDABLE VISA" which made me see Nepal and meet all the beautiful people. 

Now I'm again at ThePilgrim mansion. 
Back on track to India until 28th of March.


Welcome to the Kavre valley, Nepal 
finishing the project without electricity and heater, but with the temple around
Part two: exploring Kathmandu and having fun with the British-Ukrainian gang
Here everyone knows how to work with their hands
Heading to the hills where guys are singing about broken hearts
Stupa by Arniko, as I was told later in Delhi by my friend Arun

Part three: Recoop Nepal and the life in the village. Rebuilding the school
Localities and discussion over the bamboo price
Nepali-Castellano
Everyday views. These people are truly rich
Thanks to Indian Embassy: I got my passport 4 hours before the flight!
Leaving to come back