Travelled some 140 kms to Berhampore and back to renew Ns passport. Saw: 1) 90 percent of passport applicants were young Muslim boys from the neighbouring villages, all bound for the Gulf. 2) Two humongous banyans. One garlanded in marigolds and red cloths , maybe a Shaivaite shrine. Another huge tree a little way off in a little cemetery, its walls painted green and with sickle moons. 3) Two houses painted in every colour imaginable like intricate lace until they resembled something from a fairy tale. 4) an orange flag and lotus procession through a neighbourhood, playing Saare jahaan se achchha on a loudspeaker. Our driver says thats why the street is empty. 5) bustling marketplaces on either side of narrow congested streets. Women lined up with basketfuls of fresh okra, pui shaak, jhinge, a huge pile of golden pumpkins, some fresh small fish...until my head goes crazy thinking of what I could cook with them with a little mustard oil, shrimps, tangy mustard paste, green chillies slit lengthwise. 6) the school where my Mom, newly motherless, had spent her tender years...in the care of her maternal aunt, who had taught there. I imagined little Rubys face peering from an upstairs window and my heart broke.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 12:44:42 +0000
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