I would like to tell you about our experiences of working in India but I must be circumspect in our current situation. I can say I have discovered my emotional filter is far from robust and my capacity to inadvertently offend the locals is unprecedented among the Australians. One of the members of the group we work for assures me, despite my despair, that working here is an excellent means of learning new skills I can then take back with me to my antipodean bubble of safety that is the Australian work place. If that is so, all the emotional trauma particularly of recent weeks may be worth it. However I do harbour a fear that I will return home with very bad habits rather than superior skills and a considerable amount of psychological scarring into the bargain. I re-read E.M Forster’s novel,
A Passage to India, last month and took great consolation in his sympathetic but astute observations about the realities of living and working on the sub continent. They are so relevant to my impressions of the chasms in understanding that exist between the East and the West. However, I am also slightly perturbed by the fact that Forster’s novel was completed in the mid 1920’s but remains uncomfortably true to me today. Of course, everything in life has degrees and I should add that while I am struggling immensely with the cultural divide, some of the western staff here have straddled it with admirable ease and they would probably paint a very different picture.
Although the workplace antics are by far the most eventful aspects of my life since returning in January, I will move to a far safer topic – our recreational activities. Since the monsoon eased in September last year, the weather has remained exceedingly pleasant. As the year drew to a close, the period of heat in the middle of the day reduced substantially and the evenings cooled to the point where it could be quite chilly by 8pm in early January. As always, the late afternoon is the best time of the Indian day. As the sun sinks and the breeze picks up, a tropical wave of goodwill descends and no matter how trying the day, all seems right again. It is quite delicious to be submerged in this feeling of well-being every afternoon without fail. By far the most delightful way of experiencing the twilight is on the roof of the staff accommodation, sipping a Gin & Tonic watching the sun set behind the school building and commenting on the vivid floral transformations in the school gardens as their colours deepen into a lush vibrancy. The boarders are usually focused on a game of soccer or cricket on the oval beneath us and their laughter and chiding drift up pleasantly. I also hear the voices of my own children as they scooter about or scale the playground further away and I think with relief that despite all the negatives along the way, we have done the right thing by them in coming here. At that point of the day, on the roof with kindred spirits, life is sublime and I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else. Dusk in Pune keeps me sane….just.
We are becoming increasingly fatigued by constantly eating Boarding House food, particularly as the menu rarely varies and there are many occasions when we simply opt not to eat a meal at all. While this has the advantage of ensuring we never overeat during a meal in the boarding house because we only ever eat enough to curb our appetites, I really miss eating for the pure enjoyment of taste. There have been some highlights in our recent culinary expeditions. One of our favorite venues, Malaka Spice, produces a very tasty chicken and green papaya salad with a subtly spiced dressing that enhances the flavour of the salad rather than overwhelming it (this is virtually unheard of here, tasting the flavour of the actual vegetable in a dish always excites comment now). We have also found a great Indian restaurant called “Sigre” that does a delicious banquet for Rs 300 a head (including beer) and children dine for free. On the subject of beer, we have concluded the quality of beer is so varied in both taste and colour even from bottle to bottle among the local varieties of Kingfisher and London Pilsener, that Fosters is the only reliable brand. We persevered with a local brand of wine called Grover for a few months but it is so far from the genuine article, after a while we could not even pretend it was drinkable. On special occasions we splurge on an okay Italian Chianti and ignore the fact it costs us over AUD 40. On a brighter note, we have discovered a very nice coffee slushy called an “Iced Eskimo” at Café Coffee Day that fills you up and cools you down for about AUD1.
The fruit here is one of the most pleasant surprises, although the apples are consistently awful. We have recently been enjoying the most delicious strawberries which find their way down to us from a local hill station called Mahabaleshwar. They are sweet and luscious (or “loosh” as one of our UK friends described them) and their flesh is bright red both inside and out. They are fabulous served chilled and accompanied by the equally scrumptious local variety of purple grapes. The green grapes here are not unlike those at home but the purple grapes, as well as being conveniently seedless, harbour none of that weird perfumy aftertaste the Australian variety cling to. They are sweet and hint at a black current or berry association- they are a favorite with all of us, although Seb finds a greater appeal in squishing them into the couch. Pineapples and bananas are sweet, plentiful, cheap and always available. The watermelon is juicy and firm, if a little seedy and mango season is just around the corner……
We buy most of our fruit and vegies from the Lohegaon Market and never ceased to be amazed by how incredibly cheap every thing is. This enormous market appears in our humble village every Sunday and the extent and range of produce is relatively astonishing. The market stalls meander through the various lanes and streets that lead to a large common area in the centre of the village. While fresh produce is the most common theme of the stalls you can pretty much purchase anything if you look hard enough. From shoes, kitchenware, tools and mosquito nets right through to cosmetics, DVDs and toys. The most eye catching stalls sell dried herbs and spices. Not only do they attract the senses with their colour and aroma, watching the vendor meticulously arrange the herbs into neat rows of little heaps is an entertaining experience in itself.
We are all busy planning trips for the term breaks, particularly the large one from mid June to mid August. Destinations include Sri Lanka, South East Asia, Turkey and Western Europe. India is well situated to most other parts of the world and we are all keen to take advantage of this fact. Charlie calculated that by the time we return home, he will have stayed in 10 different countries before his 8th birthday. We also have plans to travel within India because it is a very diverse country and knowing one part of it is not necessarily an insight into any other part. To date, Sally has seen more of it than the rest of us and, as she plans such terrific itineraries, we are all fortunate to have the benefit of borrowing her ideas.
When all is said and done, there really isn’t much to Pune, unless you are a wealthy hippy seeking a 5 star resort style taste of the “Real India” (ha!) at the Osho. In the midst of our exciting term holidays, lie infinite weekends to fill and frankly the prospect of spending all those weekends in Pune, leaves us pretty cold, at least until the racing season commences again in August. We are seriously considering purchasing a second hand car so we can undertake the odd day trip or weekend away. Of course this is proving to be very difficult and while we are in receipt of plenty of advice as to what car not to buy and who not to buy it through, no one has been terribly forthcoming with actual assistance. I am resigned to the fact the task will be impossible which has inspired Chris’ ardent determination to actually make a purchase, if only to prove me wrong. We shall see.
There was one recent Pune highlight when we attended the Rambo Circus with the boarders. Attending anything with the boarders is always entertaining, if only for the cheery nonsense on the bus trip, not to mention the endless supply of chocolate and snacks. Our children adore the atmosphere and we love the fact they are thoroughly preoccupied. The circus itself was surprisingly organized and entertaining. It started on time and there was no delay between acts. Indeed it ticked over nicely for nearly two and a half hours. The animals were sprightly, clean, healthy and appeared happier to be there than many of the human cast. The degree of difficulty of the many of the large acts was impressive. There was a chorus of young girls (about 18 years) who came on periodically to do a few average tricks, like spinning plates or riding bikes and I have never encountered a more unenthusiastic bunch of entertainers. They all wore a “This is so beneath me!” expression for most of the time or otherwise they giggled and chatted between themselves, despite the fact they were in the Ring surrounded by an audience. In the opening parade they marched about with one hand stuck straight up doing a royal wave, but their eyes were downcast and expressionless. No smiles or energy, a couple of them occupied their spare hand with biting fingernails. Very professional. I caught the eye of one of them and grinned at her. She started and stared at my apparent two heads. The “Stars” were far more appropriately engaged in their duty to the audience and the clowns were not only quite funny, but extremely skilled at keeping the show moving smoothly; they were involved at all levels of prop management and ultimately I found their integral production role to be the most fascinating act of all.
Outside the tent I was hassled on at least five occasions to get Eliza immunized for Polio right there and then. Until I indicated I was under strict doctor’s orders not to have my daughter stabbed with a needle at the circus, my protests were ignored and several of these health professionals tried to drag our little girl off to do the deed before I could argue anymore. I am prepared for most things these days, but this ‘Attack of the medical staff’ took me slightly by surprise. All the same at one stage, while beating off syringes, I noticed a very appealing fairy floss stand and fled there with the children to take shelter. I have never tasted better fairy floss and if you happen to be at a circus in India I absolutely recommend purchasing some. The floss is delicately flavoursome and as a bonus the central stick is coated with a hard version of the sweet so you are rewarded with a bonus few minutes of lolly, just when you assumed it was all over.
We are well into Term 3 now, the longest and I suspect most difficult term we will probably encounter. Although the Easter break is only ten days, it falls barely 2 months before 7 weeks adventuring far away from Pune
