Here I am in Vizag, arrived last Monday night after a beautiful train journey - my first 'proper' Indian train experience - that is as I imagined it with the windows open and all sorts of people and luggage milling about. In other words I took the general seating where I've been travelling in A/C so far. The landscape leaving Orissa and entering Andhra Pradesh was stunning - rice paddies, rivers and estuaries, fishermen, huts, houses and farms, and all in late afternoon warm light, with the wind blowing in to the carriage.
Met a lovely couple who had recently married, and it was obvious they were a 'love marriage' rather than arranged. After chatting for a while I learnt this had caused many of the bride's family and friends to no longer speak to her; she had also been told by her husband to stop her studies as soon as they were married, now taking the life of a housewife cooking for him and his mother, who rarely speaks to her. So this is the sacrifice for a love marriage in many circles here. It has really made me think about how marriage and relationships work back home, where everything's so relaxed for most people. Yes we have rules and yes some people marry for reasons other than love but there's so much freedom. Maybe too much? I'm not saying we should take on the Indian system by any means as they are two such different cultures but I think we can learn a little from each other. many Indians believe that love marriages are dangerous because there's too much emotion and passion; not stable, but I cant imagine it any other way!
Being in India has also made me think a lot about family. Here it's the norm in most places to live with or very close to parents throughout life. Being from a society where most people leave home at 18 and continue to live independently, this seems pretty suffocating! However there are huge benefits, free babysitting, someone different to talk to, food sharing, work sharing... the list goes on. People live much closer to each other here and aren't so worried about having the huge amounts of space that us 'Britishers' seem to thrive on. This has been really nice for me as I'm travelling alone, but now and again I look for a bit of space. These things are true of both tribal and non-tribal Indian society, although of course things are changing in the cities now where Western norms have been influencing society for some time.
Yesterday my friend, her fiance and I got back from a 2 day trip to Aruku Valley - beautiful area. We climbed , a bauxite Gali Konda (windy mountain) which gave me more of an idea of the landscapes rich in plant and wildlife with streams running down and supplying huge areas around them. If these mountains are mined, the water supply for thousands of people will be removed or polluted and nothing will grow. Our guide told us that he and many other villagers have a good understanding of this and came together to resist the mining company Jindal's shiny offerings of jobs and benefits when they came. The NGO Samata that gave us all the tips and contacts play a big part in educating them and also took a groundbreaking case to court, which used existing legislation to show that mining companies, when defined as non-tribals, do not have the right to these lands. This has halted mining in areas of Andhra Pradesh, but the companies are continuing to find a way, as they are in Orissa, by forming 'mining corporations' which propose that mining is for the national interest, so judgments such as Samata's can be overridden.
Here's a pic of some black pepper, which was growing amongst the coffee and other plants on the way up the mountain. I tasted it while green, pretty potent stuff. Once dry it turns black.
After a severe drenching in the thunderstorm that began at the peak of Gali Konda we descended. I stomped ahead and suddenly stopped, yelping 'cobra'. I am terrified of snakes as some of you know and these guys were really not part of India that I wanted to come into close contact with. It started to raise up and extend its horrible flappy neck so I ran. Fortunately so did it (if snakes can run...)
An action packed day or so followed - village stay, school visit, trip around some stunning and stinky million year old caves, guest at a Hindu/tribal wedding on the Orissan border and leading some discussions at a meeting of local women on womens health.
Here's a video which is mostly for my mum (they do the same dance in India Ma!)
In a few hours I'm taking the night train to Kolkata, where I'll be finding Dan!
Met a lovely couple who had recently married, and it was obvious they were a 'love marriage' rather than arranged. After chatting for a while I learnt this had caused many of the bride's family and friends to no longer speak to her; she had also been told by her husband to stop her studies as soon as they were married, now taking the life of a housewife cooking for him and his mother, who rarely speaks to her. So this is the sacrifice for a love marriage in many circles here. It has really made me think about how marriage and relationships work back home, where everything's so relaxed for most people. Yes we have rules and yes some people marry for reasons other than love but there's so much freedom. Maybe too much? I'm not saying we should take on the Indian system by any means as they are two such different cultures but I think we can learn a little from each other. many Indians believe that love marriages are dangerous because there's too much emotion and passion; not stable, but I cant imagine it any other way!
Being in India has also made me think a lot about family. Here it's the norm in most places to live with or very close to parents throughout life. Being from a society where most people leave home at 18 and continue to live independently, this seems pretty suffocating! However there are huge benefits, free babysitting, someone different to talk to, food sharing, work sharing... the list goes on. People live much closer to each other here and aren't so worried about having the huge amounts of space that us 'Britishers' seem to thrive on. This has been really nice for me as I'm travelling alone, but now and again I look for a bit of space. These things are true of both tribal and non-tribal Indian society, although of course things are changing in the cities now where Western norms have been influencing society for some time.
Yesterday my friend, her fiance and I got back from a 2 day trip to Aruku Valley - beautiful area. We climbed , a bauxite Gali Konda (windy mountain) which gave me more of an idea of the landscapes rich in plant and wildlife with streams running down and supplying huge areas around them. If these mountains are mined, the water supply for thousands of people will be removed or polluted and nothing will grow. Our guide told us that he and many other villagers have a good understanding of this and came together to resist the mining company Jindal's shiny offerings of jobs and benefits when they came. The NGO Samata that gave us all the tips and contacts play a big part in educating them and also took a groundbreaking case to court, which used existing legislation to show that mining companies, when defined as non-tribals, do not have the right to these lands. This has halted mining in areas of Andhra Pradesh, but the companies are continuing to find a way, as they are in Orissa, by forming 'mining corporations' which propose that mining is for the national interest, so judgments such as Samata's can be overridden.
Here's a pic of some black pepper, which was growing amongst the coffee and other plants on the way up the mountain. I tasted it while green, pretty potent stuff. Once dry it turns black.
After a severe drenching in the thunderstorm that began at the peak of Gali Konda we descended. I stomped ahead and suddenly stopped, yelping 'cobra'. I am terrified of snakes as some of you know and these guys were really not part of India that I wanted to come into close contact with. It started to raise up and extend its horrible flappy neck so I ran. Fortunately so did it (if snakes can run...)
An action packed day or so followed - village stay, school visit, trip around some stunning and stinky million year old caves, guest at a Hindu/tribal wedding on the Orissan border and leading some discussions at a meeting of local women on womens health.
Here's a video which is mostly for my mum (they do the same dance in India Ma!)
In a few hours I'm taking the night train to Kolkata, where I'll be finding Dan!
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