From Sweat Beads to Nylon-Velvet Shirts

Every year the city of Karlstad choose a theme color for the city.  All the flowers and decorations are done in that color!! August, 2010.

From June 1 to about mid August every year Karlstad city runs a ‘boat bus’ to honor the lakes of the city. So we take the tour of the city on a boat.  Regular bus tickets are allowed, and if you wish you can  purchase additional tickets as you board.  This is only a few years old, but as is obvious is very popular with both locals and tourists.  The entire trip takes about an hour.  Considering that Karlstad can easily be labelled as a village in comparison to Delhi, this is a big attraction in the town.  I have taken the bus only twice since I have moved here, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  

A shot from the boat bus!! 

I got back two days ago, and still am in a trance.  In the last three years, this was my longest trip to India.  I usually go for less than two weeks, but this time my stay was over 3 weeks.  It was amazing, awesome, exhilarating, frustrating and thought provoking all at the same time!! 

India takes a while to get out of your system.   It takes me some time to get into it, but a lot less than it takes to get it out.  Even though I crave wider streets and pollution free air, I miss the hugs, the constant phone calls, the ongoing attack on your senses by sounds and sights, the weird combination of spirituality, consumerism, ancient wisdom and teenage-like arrogance that the country embodies.

I have been dreaming of India since I got back, four days ago. My sister told me that my nephew cried buckets after I left.  I cried on this side.  Twice, I woke up in the middle of the night to emptiness. I am still in a trance, not sure whether I am back or leaving again?

I am slowly waking up---as I see early  signs of autumn around me.   But the chill in the air, in mornings and evenings ensures that I acclimate.  

While in India I was sweating like a pig in cotton outfits, and everything I wore clung to my body due to humidity--here in scandinavia I have started to wear nylons and full sleeved shirts.

Somewhere in between is the reality that deep down, I really either do not belong anywhere, or am a part of the whole universe. 

Good Bye Chabbra Uncle

                                                 

A statue of Hanuman, the monkey God, in Patel Nagar, 

New Delhi (very close to Rajendar Nagar) 

Ravana, the Demon King, who though an intellectual, was a slave to his ego, 

and therefore not humble.  A perfect example of ignorance. Ramlila, September, 2009

Lord Ram, by the side of his father, King Dussarath (Played by Dhan Uncle's son-Vikas), 2009

Ram Uncle (on the right) as Khewat, with New Ramji. Rajendar Nagar ramlila was our personal bollywood. Every year our house became a huge studio with actors running in and out of house.  We kids called them all by their stage names.  Till this day, we call them by their stage names, even though they do not play those roles anymore.  Ram Uncle sang his own songs, which were recorded and played back during several scenes. Lord Ram is the 'lead' in Ramayana-which means the Story of Ram.  Khewat, is a small but poignant role.  Khewat, meaning the ferry-man, is a metaphor for someone who takes you across the river (of life).  In Ramayana, Khewat takes Lord Ram across a river, when in fact it Lord Ram who is 'delivering' Khewat, who belongs to an aboriginal tribe. It was one of the earliest examples of 'demonstrating equality, and recognizing divinity in all.'  September, 2009

When I called home yesterday I got to know that Chabbra Uncle had said his final good bye.

He was tall and slender, with a commanding personality.

The last time I saw him was last year when I was in India, after several years.  I had forgotten what he looked like.  We were driving to the stores when my sister said, 'Wait, let me pull over, I see Chabbra Uncle crossing the street.'

He must be over ninety.  He still looked good, but the body was not as agile. Although I am told he went for his walks everyday. I am not sure if he recognized us, but he was sure happy that we stopped to say hello.

He was charming and gave a joyous sound.  When I told my sister he looked happy to see us, she said, half sadly, 'These are the old people didi (an endearment for older sister), no one comes to say hello to them. Its the joy of being recognized, or being acknowledged.'

I knew what she was talking about. I am not that age, and yet i have gone through that already.  What with continent hopping and realizing that people get too busy to connect with you on their own.

I was not close to Chabbra Uncle, except that he was one of those 'fixtures' of the neighborhood.  He had always been around.  

But there is something else, only recently I looked up a book on amazon.com that mentions him.

King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, by Anupama Chopra.  

The book also mentions 'Rajender Nagar', the locality I grew up in.  Although I was upset that the author calls it a 'dowdy locality', may be from her 'filmy' background Rajender Nagar was not as fancy, but in a time it was considered a decent upscale locality for upwardly mobile middle-class Indians.  

Shah Rukh Khan, the king of Bollywood, spent some of his childhood years in that locality.

Chabbra Uncle is mentioned in the book because he ran a RamLila, (A ten day enactment of Indian Epic, The Ramayana, on an open-make-shift stage, every year.  A tradition that is now over 400 years old.  Nearly 800 such RamLila's run in Delhi every year, in October. The final act, every year, is a result of months of rehearsals.) or at least many thought so.  Chabbra Uncle was the stage face and voice of Ramlila, although over 50 dedicated people made it possible. Almost all of the actors and workers in the Ramlila had day jobs.  Ramlila was truly a labor of love.

In the 80s at some point Chabbra Uncle split from the committee.  There were differences. Dad had stepped away from it all because Chabbra Uncle had said, in the heat of the moment, some unpleasant words again Dad's best friend.  There were no fights, no big arguments, just a change of position.  If there was to be some communication for the neighborhood, it still happened with poise and dignity.  No bad words were exchanged, just a difference of opinion expressed, often in silence. These were people from a different generation, they conducted themselves with grace.  Today, we have no disputes, because there is no interaction.  

New people took over Chabbra Uncle's position, but since I left home so young, my memories of Chabbra Uncle are more of his commanding voice on a microphone, speaking to hundreds of people, 'Shri Raamleela Aapka Swagat Karti Hai' (Shree Ramlila Committee welcomes you.).

I remember, when in tenth grade, I produced my second production of Krishna play, he had commended me by calling me, 'Mera hindustan', my India.  That year was my last but the most memorable year on Rajendar Nagar Ramlila stage, as the 80 year old Shabbri who feeds red berries to Lord Ram.  Even today people remember me by that role.  Dad and Yash Uncle had coached me.  After the act was over, Chabbra Uncle had come over and said it all in two words, 'Bhai Wah!"  'Oh, wow!!'

I am so glad I got to see him for a few seconds last year. I don't think he recognized me, but he is etched in my memory for all the times we noticed his towering frame walk past our house going for his walk, but more importantly the image of his eyes squinting at the flood lights pointing at him, when he tried to say, 'Bhaiyo or Behno' 'Brothers and Sisters'

Reading his name mentioned in a book about ShahRukh Khan made me feel that he got his due for the years he dedicated to the Rajendar Nagar Arts Club.

Often a successful person is touched by many angels on his way to success.  Having given the King of Bollywood, one of his first stage role as a member of vanar sena (the monkey army) Chabbra Uncle was one such angel!!

Good Bye Chabbra Uncle, may you get your own stage, where ever you go next!!

Mid Summer Signs

Mid summer comes with its own scenes and sights, and signs and invitations!!

First, the ground breaks, and you can dare to step on it barefoot.  Then the grass starts to emerge, and green bursts all around you.  

Slowly color starts to come up and around.  

These flowers are called Lupin!!  You always see them in places where people can see, but they seem wild.  Me and friend were discussing if they are truly wild or if the local community planners throw seeds in places where people go for walks or drives, so that it will give them a Vårtjanslor (spring feeling!!) 

And then the color envelops us.  We can see it all around us, in nature and on people, in the clothes they wear.  Women are in dresses, and guys in shorts and tennis shoes...

The days keep extending, and you forget you need to sleep. ONly your body and sleepy eyes tell you that there is something amiss.  You can stay up till 1:00 am and still feel that it is early evening.  The above and the below picture tells you how the sun is past 10 pm.  The above picture was taken in the woods behind the university around 10 pm and the below picture from my window at around 11 pm!! It is these long days that make the winters seem bearable!!

The city starts to get a different look.  In winter there are lights, in summer, there are flowers.  City here takes special care to create a feeling that we have entered a different time of the year! Every year the city Kommun has a theme, which is represented in special colors they pick for flowers around the city.  With little exceptions, you see the same color of flowers around the city. Gives it some uniformity!!

Wanna guess what the above picture is about? Well?  Eating outdoors, like all the other fancy places in summer!!

Well Ok....so, nobody expects us to not enjoy summer and pretend we are in Italy or Spain or Greece, where picture postcards show people enjoying their meals outdoors.  Right?  But for us to pretend that --we must have these heaters that create a warm space around us, and sometimes we throw blankets on our legs to prevent from feeling the bite in the air.  Otherwise, seriously it is like Italy, or Greece or Spain!! Not India though, because then we would be indoors!! 

And what would summer be without a beach...or at least a sand bed.  So, the city sometimes creates this in the middle of town!! Notice the sandy beach-like creation in the middle of the square?  Its for the children to enjoy their summer. While parents can watch over them, children get to pretend they are having a summer by the beach.  And some make sand castles, and other just roll in the sand. There are fountains around it.  This is also the centrum, the center, where all the buses in the town must stop for a rest before going to the ultimate Swedish destination--IKEA!! (ok, not all the buses go to IKEA--seriously!!)

And there is music in the air.  The first spring I heard music in the bus and was almost startled!! But in general, you hear more music in spring and summer!!  Our building is shared with people from English department and those from Music Department.  The musical folks are the most appreciated.  Every once in a while we walk out of our rooms to listen to warbles of young people---other times there are properly organized classes.  Sometimes they are just practicing, and other times we have witnessed serious grading being done in this open arena in our building.  Following are a few examples of what happens when schools close....and there is fun and frolic in the air....

I asked my colleagues, ‘so, what did you think of the beautiful singing?*

Nice  but sort of Christmasish.....

Ah, what do I know...??

And last but not the least....there are people jumping, laughing, singing and dancing all around.  People sit outside, sun bathing, eating their lunch outdoor, reading books,and about five times more people on bikes than in winter.  Bikes are a year around phenomenon here, believe it or not...Here the last little video just makes me smile every time I look at it...could there be better signs that midsommar is upon us?  Coming for raising of the maypole on the 22nd of June?