Mumbai 27 November 2008
Wrapped in the white skin of an Englishman
Lies a heart and a soul
That grieves alongside
My Indian associates
My Indian family
My Indian friends
Colour doesn't separate
Nor caste
Nor faith
Nor will it ever for me
Today I grieve
For your India
For my India
For our India
But tomorrow
And the next day
And the one after
I will again give thanks
For our beautiful land
And keep alive the memories
The achievements
The shared times
The love
In my heart
In my soul
Of those lost
Sunday, 10 January 2010
सहमे
Shame
Cruelty rules the unforgiving streets
The stench of abuse pervades the baking heat
Women and children rifle garbage and filth of weeks gone by
watching their menfolk drink another bottle dry
Hopeless migrants hang from trees and hang from ceiling fans
Another woman dies on fire her sari caught in a hot oil pan
Meanwhile pavements disappear beneath a sea of skin and bone
of dalits, untouchables, don't go there, they dont have a slum to call their own
Remind me Lord why they are them, why I am me, and how it came
to pass through eyes so blessed by You, my vision brings me only shame
Cruelty rules the unforgiving streets
The stench of abuse pervades the baking heat
Women and children rifle garbage and filth of weeks gone by
watching their menfolk drink another bottle dry
Hopeless migrants hang from trees and hang from ceiling fans
Another woman dies on fire her sari caught in a hot oil pan
Meanwhile pavements disappear beneath a sea of skin and bone
of dalits, untouchables, don't go there, they dont have a slum to call their own
Remind me Lord why they are them, why I am me, and how it came
to pass through eyes so blessed by You, my vision brings me only shame
Thursday, 31 December 2009
माय इंडियन कार
MY INDIAN CAR
I'm not especially a car person but the car I had in India I was particularly fond of. It was a brand new jet black Suzuki Zen Estilo Lxi and gleamed in the sun.
On one of my dozens of visits to the Kiran Niketan School in Zuari Nagar, I parked in the playground as usual and then went inside to do a singalong session. After the singalong I came out and drove home.
As I got out of the car at home I noticed the mother of all scratches across the drivers door; on closer inspection it seemed to be someone's name!!
I immediately rang Sister Lygia, the School Head, and spelled out the name scratched on my door, demanding to meet the little fellow at the earliest opportunity. Sure enough they apprehended the culprit and I shot off to the school to confront him.
I was sitting in the School Heads office working out how to put the fear of Jesus into the boy when in walked the culprit....... a little girl! Not just a little girl but the tiniest little girl in the school.
After a serious interrogation by the nuns it seemed the little girl had not wanted me to leave after the singalong session and felt by scratching her name on my car a part of her would be always with me.
It seemed that the little girl was so ashamed after being spoken to by the nuns that she kept her head facing the floor. She knew she had done wrong and had said sorry so there was nothing more to be said. All I could do was smile. My reward was her raising her head and smiling back at me. Priceless.
I never did have her name polished off the door.
I'm not especially a car person but the car I had in India I was particularly fond of. It was a brand new jet black Suzuki Zen Estilo Lxi and gleamed in the sun.
On one of my dozens of visits to the Kiran Niketan School in Zuari Nagar, I parked in the playground as usual and then went inside to do a singalong session. After the singalong I came out and drove home.
As I got out of the car at home I noticed the mother of all scratches across the drivers door; on closer inspection it seemed to be someone's name!!
I immediately rang Sister Lygia, the School Head, and spelled out the name scratched on my door, demanding to meet the little fellow at the earliest opportunity. Sure enough they apprehended the culprit and I shot off to the school to confront him.
I was sitting in the School Heads office working out how to put the fear of Jesus into the boy when in walked the culprit....... a little girl! Not just a little girl but the tiniest little girl in the school.
After a serious interrogation by the nuns it seemed the little girl had not wanted me to leave after the singalong session and felt by scratching her name on my car a part of her would be always with me.
It seemed that the little girl was so ashamed after being spoken to by the nuns that she kept her head facing the floor. She knew she had done wrong and had said sorry so there was nothing more to be said. All I could do was smile. My reward was her raising her head and smiling back at me. Priceless.
I never did have her name polished off the door.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
थे फुनेरल
THE FUNERAL
Driving home from Panjim I came through the village of Goa Velha and had to slow right down because of a funeral procession in front of me.
The 'hearse' was a blue van with bench seats up each side at the back for the mourners to sit on, while the deceased lay on the floor between the feet of the mourners.
Looking closely I realised that the double back doors of the hearse were ajar as it drove up the road and out of the back stuck the feet of the deceased. It seems he was so tall that they couldn't shut the back doors.
On closer inspection, because they couldn't shut the doors, they tied a rope from one door to the other. They also took the rope around the ankles of the deceased lest he slid out of the back.
Driving home from Panjim I came through the village of Goa Velha and had to slow right down because of a funeral procession in front of me.
The 'hearse' was a blue van with bench seats up each side at the back for the mourners to sit on, while the deceased lay on the floor between the feet of the mourners.
Looking closely I realised that the double back doors of the hearse were ajar as it drove up the road and out of the back stuck the feet of the deceased. It seems he was so tall that they couldn't shut the back doors.
On closer inspection, because they couldn't shut the doors, they tied a rope from one door to the other. They also took the rope around the ankles of the deceased lest he slid out of the back.
Saturday, 26 December 2009
थे प्रिविलेद्गेद नेक्क
THE PRIVILEDGED NECK
In the part of India where we lived was an Indian Naval base and it wasn't unusual to see Naval Officers being ferried around by chauffers in the back of an old Ambassador.
When an Indian Officer got to a certain rank he qualified to have a pair of curtains fitted along the back window to protect his priviledged neck from the baking sun.
On one occasion such a car overtook me on the road to Panjim and the curtains at the back indicated a senior arse was sitting on the back seat. Strangely, however, the curtains were only half drawn. It seems that a less senior officer was travelling with the senior officer but his neck wasn't as priviledged and had to bear the brunt of the midday sun.
In the part of India where we lived was an Indian Naval base and it wasn't unusual to see Naval Officers being ferried around by chauffers in the back of an old Ambassador.
When an Indian Officer got to a certain rank he qualified to have a pair of curtains fitted along the back window to protect his priviledged neck from the baking sun.
On one occasion such a car overtook me on the road to Panjim and the curtains at the back indicated a senior arse was sitting on the back seat. Strangely, however, the curtains were only half drawn. It seems that a less senior officer was travelling with the senior officer but his neck wasn't as priviledged and had to bear the brunt of the midday sun.
सफेटी हेल्मेट्स फॉर तवो व्हीलर द्रिवेर्स
SAFETY HELMETS FOR TWO WHEELER DRIVERS
There's a law in Goa stipulating that when someone drives a scooter or a motorbike on Highway 17 they must wear a safety helmet. Their passenger(s), regardless of how many, need not; in fact the wearing helmets is nothing at all to do with safety.
Failure to wear a helmet when driving a two wheeler attracts a fine if caught. The chances of being caught are quite high because the police have a canny knack of hiding behind trees and just walking out onto the highway in front of helmet-less riders. The amount of the fine depends on how wealthy (or poor) the offender looks, how green the offender appears, and what time of the month it is; the last week before police paydays usually attract a heavy presence of their officers on the highway.
The locals are quite an innovative community who rather than spend a rupee if they don't have to will make-do-and-mend, and it's not unusual to see home made substitues for helmets. My favourite example was seeing a guy overtake my car one day with half a football on his head :)
There's a law in Goa stipulating that when someone drives a scooter or a motorbike on Highway 17 they must wear a safety helmet. Their passenger(s), regardless of how many, need not; in fact the wearing helmets is nothing at all to do with safety.
Failure to wear a helmet when driving a two wheeler attracts a fine if caught. The chances of being caught are quite high because the police have a canny knack of hiding behind trees and just walking out onto the highway in front of helmet-less riders. The amount of the fine depends on how wealthy (or poor) the offender looks, how green the offender appears, and what time of the month it is; the last week before police paydays usually attract a heavy presence of their officers on the highway.
The locals are quite an innovative community who rather than spend a rupee if they don't have to will make-do-and-mend, and it's not unusual to see home made substitues for helmets. My favourite example was seeing a guy overtake my car one day with half a football on his head :)
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