Dedicated to Krishan, his sister Sabitri,
Jojo, Ramesh, Ratnn, Sashikata, Mita, Anu, the Boys in
Harry's cafe, Dr. Jhia, and all of my Indian
friends.
July 28 1995, I left for Calcutta, India, with my friends,
Shigeko and Hiroko. This was my first travel to a foreign
country. The purpose of that travel was to take part in the work
camp, held by an Indian non government organization, whose name
is JAC. I got the information of the camp thorough a Japanese NGO
and offered to take part in the camp of JAC. The work camp was
from August 5th to August 10th. We planned that we would go
sightseeing for a few days, then take part in the camp and come
back to Japan on August 18th. Although it was my first foreign
travel, I could not prepare for it because of some activities. I
did not know about India well. Though I borrowed some books about
India from the library in a hurry, when I left Narita I was still
not prepared for the travel.
In this essay, I wrote about the strange accidents, wonderful
events and my idea about Indian people and culture according to
the diary of 3 weeks. Perhaps, it is a little different from
usual books of travel because this essay is based on only my
experience.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines
Biman Bangladesh Airline is one of the worst airlines in the
world. Because we did not have much money, we could only book the
cheapest air tickets of Biman. However, instead of the cheap
tickets, they gave us only poor service. We left Narita at 11:00
a.m. and arrived in Dhaka at 11:00 p.m. We were to stay at a
hotel in Dhaka and leave for Calcutta at 11:00 a.m. the next day.
We heard that the Biman had reserved the hotel for us already.
However, when we arrived in Dhaka, we found that they had not
reserved the hotel. We had to wait in the airport for a long
time. Though we were tired because of the long flight, we had to
wait. Finally, a car of the hotel came to the airport at 2:00
a.m. We were glad to get into the car, which was nearly
broken.
Bangladesh is a poor country. Even though it was midnight,
there were many people around the airport and on the roads. I do
not know what they were doing. Anyway, it seemed to be very
dangerous. I was afraid of Dhaka. The car left for the hotel in
the city. In spite of the rattletrap car, the drive was very
rough. I was afraid that the car would break into pieces.
However, we managed to arrive in the hotel and went to bed.
Next morning, we went to the airport again in order to leave
for Calcutta. We were looking forward to arriving in India.
However, suddenly, we were made to go out from the waiting room.
What happened? A kind Indian person explained that the flight was
delayed and we would have to leave at 7:30 p.m. " Really ?
It's terrible! What are we going to do today?" We were
very disappointed. We were taken to the hotel in the city and
waited for the airplane. When we arrived in Calcutta at 10:00
p.m., we were exhausted
While we were traveling in India, we were troubled by Biman
again. When we were in Puri, we called the Biman office in
Calcutta in order to reconfirm our flight. The officer said,
"Please come to the office, or you cannot reconfirm the
flight." We were so surprised. We were worried because Puri
was quite far from Calcutta. Unless we reconfirm, we could not go
back to Japan! After all, Shigeko went to Calcutta. It took eight
hours to go by train.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines was interesting and exciting. Thanks
to Biman, my trip became very thrilling. However, I will never
travel by the Biman again.
Powerful Calcutta
Calcutta is known as the worst city in the world. It was the
biggest slum district in the world. While I was walking in the
city, many children or ladies holding their babies came to beg
some money. However, strange to say, I did not feel compassion
for them. I am not sure, but because I strained myself and they
were so powerful that I was afraid of them. Indian beggars were
quite different from Japanese beggars. Japanese beggars only sit
down and wait, but Indian beggars followed me for a long time and
continued to beg; sometimes they grasped my arm until I gave
money to them. However, although I could do nothing at that time,
recently I often think that I should have done something for
them. It was an irony.
I thought Indian people were very natural and powerful. They
cheated me and told a lie, but they were not evil. They only
lived as hard as possible. While I was staying in India, I could
not help feeling my (Japanese) weakness.
Work Camp in the
Countryside
After we stayed in Calcutta for 5 days, we went to Puri, which
is one of the sacred places for Hindus. There was the sea, the
famous Hindu temples and the bazaar. We could stay comfortably in
this town because this town was quiet, and a few Japanese ladies
who had married Indian men were living there. We enjoyed going
sightseeing. Finally, we went to the work camp on August 5th.
When we arrived in the village where we would stay for a few
days, we were surprised because the village was more rural than
we had expected. There were only fields, huts, a few shops, and
very few people. The camp life was quite primitive. We slept in
the hut which was made of stones. (Of course, there was nothing.
We slept in our sleeping-bags). We ate vegetarian food
served to us upon leaves which villagers eat usually. We ate by
only the right hand. There is a simple toilet outside the hut and
we washed our bodies with buckets of water in the shadow of a
simple curtain outside the hut. Since there was no water service,
we used well water. Whenever I went to the well, the villagers
came to talk with me. Although most people could not speak
English, we enjoyed talking and made friends with each other. The
rural children were as poor as children in Calcutta, but their
eyes seemed to be clearer than those of children in Calcutta.
They did not cheat me like children in a big city. They played in
a very large playground. They seemed to live happily.
In the camp, there were two English girls, three French girls,
and a Dutch girl. It was difficult to communicate with each other
because the French and Japanese can not speak English fluently,
but we made friends with each other soon and managed to talk
about each other's culture. Every morning, we worked in the
farm and then had free time after the work. However,
unfortunately, I caught a cold. Although it was a slight cold, it
did not get better immediately because I could not have a long
enough rest and could not take good medicine. So I suffered from
illness for a few days. I was brought up in the big city, so the
rural life was unusual and interesting. The countryside camp was
fascinating, I think.
Work Camp with Indian
People
After we stayed in the countryside for five days, we took part
in the bigger camp for five days. It was the most exciting in my
travel. There were 150 young Indians and three English girls, who
had taken part in the first camp together. Although there were
many people, there were not enough facilities. We slept with
about twenty people in the small classroom of the school. There
was only one toilet. It was too dirty to use, so I did my
business in the bush behind the building. There was no shower, so
every morning, the girls get up at 4:00 a.m. and washed their
bodies with clothes around the tap. (There were only 3 taps in
the camp)! There was no curtain around the washing place, so boys
could see us. At first, I was very perplexed. Washing with
clothes on was uncomfortable and it was difficult to change
clothes in the no curtain place. Also there were only five
buckets, so I did Bucket Fight with Indian girls every
morning. I suffered from the toilet and bath problem for five
days.
In the camp, we worked in the field every morning, and after
lunch, we had discussion or other programs, and we had cultural
programs every night. In the cultural programs, they sang songs,
played roles, danced and so on. It was similar to literary
exercises. To tell the truth, it was boring for me because I
could not understand the language. However, I was made to take
part in the program every night. One day, an Indian boy whose
name was Krishan asked to take part in the play of his group. He
said to me, "It is very easy. You are just eating and
drinking." So I answered, "O.K." But in fact, my
part was important.
The story was as follows. One Indian boy married a Japanese
girl, and come back to India. The wife who cannot understand
Indian language and the mother-in-law who can speak only Indian
language had a language problem. At last, they began to live
together peacefully. Because most members were not good at
English, Krishan explained to me again and again. To tell the
truth, I was a member of a drama club in the junior high school
and the senior-high school. I like to take part in plays.
However, it was so difficult for me because playing a role in
English was my first experience, and I found Indian people were
good at playing roles. That, all the members except me played in
Indian language which I could not understand! Although I made
many mistakes, I captured the audience. Thanks for the
performance, I became popular with people. And I had another
programs with Shigeko and Hiroko. We sang Japanese songs, Ue
wo miiite aruk-ou, Ok-uru kotoba and
Kanpai. Those songs reminded us of Japan. I will not
forgot these two strange experiences.
Most participants were university students, but I was
surprised because they were childish. First, there were some
leaders and strict rules. Sometimes I found students were
punished by the leaders. Most students followed them obediently.
Though most Japanese university students are regarded as adults
and they are independent, Indian students seemed to be regarded
as children. Second, they often behaved like children. For
example, they teased me, a foreign person, or they were pleased
with foolish things. They were innocent but very childish. And
the worst of all, they could not take care of themselves. (Many
Japanese students also can not take care of themselves).
Although we had to work in the morning, they did not sleep and
sang songs or chatted until midnight. They did not drink boiled
water though the doctor had advised them to drink boiled water.
Therefore, many students began to suffer from diarrhea and
nausea. To my surprise, while they were suffering from sickness,
they drank boiled water. However, once they got better, they
stopped drinking boiled water. In general, they seemed that they
did not have enough basic knowledge because they had not gotten
good education in elementary school or high school. If they were
not university students, it was not a serious problem. However, I
thought it was an important problem because they were university
students who would be the leaders of India. I found the
importance of basic education.
In Japan, Aug. 15 is the anniversary of ending the Second
World War, but in India, this day is the Independence Day. We had
a ceremony and marched in the city. Of course English girls were
also there. What were they thinking during the ceremony? How did
Indian students feel about them? Anyway, it was wonderful that
the Indians, the English and the Japanese could stay in the same
place and had a ceremony together. Fifty years ago, people must
not have imagined such a scene.
After the ceremony, we were to leave the camp. When I picked
up my luggage, room-mates surrounded me. I did not know why, but
I shed tears as soon as I saw their faces. They wiped my eyes,
kissed me and said, "Don't cry. Smile, smile." I
made an effort to keep smiling, but in vain. I cannot understand
why I cried at that time. At first, I wanted to escape from the
dirty and noisy camp. I had looked forward to the leaving day.
Perhaps, something was generated between the Indian people and me
without realizing it. I can not forget the terrible but wonderful
camp and Indian friends forever.
You may Miss the Airplane
I left Bhubanesar for Calcutta at 11:00 p.m. on August 15th.
We were to arrive in Calcutta at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. We
planned that we would stay at an expensive hotel, eat delicious
Indian foods and go shopping the last day. However, we had an
accident again. Because of the strike in West Bengal, all
transportation system stopped from 6:00 a.m. If they would
continue the strike for 24 hours, we would have missed the
airplane because our plane was leaving at 9:00 a.m. of August
17th. We were afraid that we would miss the plane. We were
waiting and waiting. The expensive hotel and meal went away. We
were discussing. If we miss the plane, what shall we do? Shall we
wait for the next flight after one week or buy other cheap
tickets? To tell the truth, I came to like India, so I thought I
would work with Mother Teresa until the next flight if we missed
the plane. However, unfortunately, I did not have enough money
and I had to get back to Japan the next day. So I wanted to go
back to Japan the next day. After all, the train began to move at
11:00 p.m. We could arrive in the airport at 3:00 a.m. in time.
We could get on the plane and come back to Japan!! In
India, we felt excited from the beginning to the end.
Many people say there are two types of people who go to India.
Some people say, "I will never go to India again."
Others say, "I love India. I will go again and again."
I do not know which type I am. I do not know whether I love India
or not. However, I would like to go again after some years.
I am not satisfied with this travel completely. I should have
prepared for the travel. I am sorry that I could not go to the
Taji-Mahal, the Ganges River and so on but, I am sure that this
travel will be very important for me. Anyway, I will go to India
again. I will go to the beautiful, eternal and lovely lovely
country again.
by Hiroko Matsuda
