Nek Chand Pic

 

Chand Rock Garden Froundation, volunteer Jan Lewin, founder Nek Chand and  volunteer Sarah Davitt (also daughter of  Chris Styles and resident of Rajastan, and my roomate, thankfully.

Nek Chand in his office with the portrait I painted and presented to him. He likes to read newspapers.....

Settling In The Indian Way

Last night we had a thunderstorm and it rained hard. The sound of the thunder and the rain was soothing and wonderful to hear as I was sleeping, but it soaked my almost dry underwear that was outside drying for two days already. This is a little  bit of a problem, because now I have no clean and dry underwear for today. Guess I will be going commando for one more day.

So we are all settling in now to life at the park. We are bonding as a group and just waiting for one more volunteer, the film maker, to arrive from Nepal. He is coming with a cast on his foot, so they have asked me to help him with his film making since I know how to use a camera. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but in the spirit of cooperation, and it sounds interesting, I said yes.

So as it stands now, the volunteers live in two houses that are not that far apart. The one we live in is called Sound Proof Hall, but we call it the guest house. It is ironic because it is made with tile and marble and you can hear someone sneeze from anywhere because there is no insulation. The walls do not go to the ceiling in the bathrooms, which takes a little getting used to in this country...I won't go into detail but leave that one to your imagination.

I live in the guest house with Sarah and Anita. Sarah is my roommate and she knows Hindi and lets me use her Internet wi-fi, so I am the winner in the roommate lottery. She is working on her masters on "appreciative language" to correct behavior in interns. She reminds me of Michelle  very much. The other housemate is Anita, who is a mosaic artist from Britain.

The other house is called the Guru House, because Nek Chand built it for his Guru who has now passed on to the cosmic cosmos. It is about a five minute walk by the walls, and it is literally a grotto hidden behind the great waterfalls. I posted two pictures after this post. I am experimenting with new software.

The other volunteers are in the Guru house: Jody,Sue, Adam and soon to be, the filmaker. The Guru house is a bit more cozy and like a home, but it is cold and chilly because it is by the waterfall. It also has a bit of mold, so everyone seems to be pleased with their choice of a house.

Jody is a graphic designer from Oregon, and we started our friendship several months ago by e-mail and skype. Sue is a wild child with bright hot pink hair and a razor necklace with drips of plastic blood coming from it. She is Scottish, but lives in a squatter sculpture park in Italy outside Bologna, Italy. I think she lives in a car, but I am not sure. Adam is probably the most qualified to be here. He is a professional mosaic artist who works with public schools in Britain and does alot of public art projects. I already told him I would like to apprentice with him during our stay. Jody is 60, Anita and I are in our 50s, and the rest are in their 40s, so we are a mature group.

So far, the personalities for the most part are all easy to be with, positive and fun. There is an easy going, it-happens-when-it-happens spirit of cooperation and acceptance, which makes some of the frustrations of dealing with India more bearable.

As far as basic needs, the only thing we are missing is active cell phone service so we can communicate easily. Right now, like the old days, we have to pre-arrange a time to meet, and if that doesn't happen for one reason or another, we end up floundering or worse, spending an entire day on our own.

Nek Chand's driver took us into town yesterday and helped us to get phones and sim cards, and in my case, serve as my local reference. India has become very security conscious because of its relationship to Pakistan and to potential terrorists, so you have to provide two local references with phone numbers and addresses. They thought I was nuts when I said I lived in the Rock Garden, so we had to come up with Nek Chand's driver who would serve as a reference.

Also, we had to get photocopies of our passports and actual photos of our selves for the phone application, which would not be a problem in our country, since most of us have access to printers, etc. easily. Not here. You have to go to a special shop for a photo copy and there is only one photo taker here in town, so it took almost an entire day to complete the requirements of the application.

To add insult, they tell you it will take a day to get service, but most of them take up to a week to get turned on. So we wait, and maybe we get it and maybe we don't. That is settling in the India way!

lots of love and friendship across the world,
namaste,
j

Who Needs Electricity or Hot Water?

   I am writing this post from an Internet cafe on the third floor of their premier retail shopping mall which you see pictured above. Called Sector 17, it is where Indians find the top shopping brands to buy. From an American perspective, it looks like a strip mall south of Marietta Street in downtown Atlanta. It does have stores selling top brands, however, outside the stores are teenage boys hawking the usual fake brand sunglasses and street peddlers who lay out Indian bracelets and jewelry on blankets to sell to unsuspecting tourists or passersby. It is what I call typical India.



I arrived finally in Chandigarh yesterday around noon after almost three days of traveling. I spent almost 24 hrs in the Delhi airport, which was more than I had planned since my morning flight to Chandigarh was cancelled. Of course there were no more available flights, so I had to book a later flight on another airline in first class. I am grateful, though, because it gave me an opportunity to actually have a hot shower at one of these nap-and-go places in the airport. For $20, you get a semi-private leather chair with a foot stool in a quiet space, newspapers, coffee or tea, and a hot shower. You can also get a massage, but since it was in a public area where everyone could see you, I passed on the massage..

It is a good thing I had the shower, since there is no water or electricity at the guest house of the rock garden yet. First they tried to tell me there was a strike, but they couldn't explain why the rest of the park lights were on. Turns out that in typical Indian style, no one at the park knew some of us were arriving yesterday. In fact, I don't actually think Nek Chand knew that the volunteer program was happening...a little disconcerting to say the least, but hey, this is India.

It turns out that the coordinator of the program, a fella from the UK, doesn't arrive until tonight, which is fine with me, cause it gave me time to come into the city and get some things organized. Thank goodness also that I had some dehydrated granola and blueberries in milk that I brought with me, cause otherwise I would not have had breakfast, and you know how I hate to miss a meal.



Anyway, I arrived and immediately was ushered in with three others to meet Nek Chand, the 87 year old founder and leader of the garden. He is about 5'6, with wisps of white hair against a beautifully bronzed, aged skin. He was wearing a soiled formal suit with socks and no shoes and a stained knit tan vest that he wears in most photos. I wonder if he ever takes it off to wash. \His office is in what feels like an underground grotto, with small stones embedded in a rounded bunker-type construction.

Seated in a chair, around him are piles and piles of newspapers, unopened mail, hanging photographs, awards wrapped in plastic, plastic tubs, life-sized fabric statues draped in sari's, and other memorabilia going back to the founding of the garden. Clearly, he likes his chair and his little man-cave just the way it is.

We sat and looked at one another for at least 30 seconds and then Chris Style, the acting founder of the foundation that is sponsoring our program, spoke. It was clear he wasn't sure who she was, which I took in with some concern, but hey, I am already here. What am I going to do.

Thankfully, one of Chris's daughters, Sarah, spoke Hindi, and Nek Chand seemed to recognize her. We stared at each other a little longer, all getting our bearings, and then I presented the oil portrait I did. He took a long look at it and set it face down on one of the piles of newspapers behind him. Oh well.

Chris explained why we were there and I understood fairly quickly they had not prepared our accommodations for us. There was some rapid talk in Hindi to some helpers and then we were ushered out to visit the park, which I will cover in another post.

So there was no electricity, no water and no food ready for our arrival. No problem. Chris and one of her daughters is staying at a local hotel, so I went with them to have a meal there. As I expected, more spicy brown goop with meat over white rice, so I just ate the nan or bread and then some sweet dessert made of lentils.


We went back to the garden, and since there were no lights, we had to walk in the dark on a narrow ledge of a 12-ft wall around the perimeter of the garden to reach our guest house, which is at the back of the property. I admit I was a little freaked out when I had to walk on this ledge, but I just stayed cool and tried not to look down.

the "cottage" of the caretaker family 

Actually, I found out it is illegal to have people living on the property, so the taxi drivers keep trying to take us to the property next door, but after some arguing, they finally let us out of the car. There is a locked gate, so we had to arrange to have one of the other families who lives on the property to be there at a specific time to let us in.

First thing I did this morning was to find an alternate way into the garden if we get locked out. There is a natural buffer of undeveloped property next to the edge of the garden, and I found what looks like an animal/human path that leads to a break in the fence. No way I am going to not have a way to get to my bed at night. The garden is locked at 6pm.

My new home for 4 weeks

So, last night, I just pulled out my sleeping bag and hit the bed, not caring about anything else. It was my first night in a bed since Sunday night, so I went right out. It was not an easy night of sleep though. Some animal, that sounded like a crying baby, and birds, woke me up several times in the middle of the night. Clearly nocturnal, they were gone by daylight.

Chris suggested I pick up trash at the park today, since I am clearly the first to arrive for a program that was supposed to start Monday. I decided I would go into town to get myself organized instead, which brings me to right now, give or take a few stories.

Having been to third-world countries before, none of this surprises me. I did buy a local telephone today, but  I still have to find someone with a local number to vouch for me before they will activate it. I still do not have local Internet, but coming to the Internet cafe will be fine for the interim.

Well, this is long enough to take your time, and I will write again soon about my impressions of the garden. I am a tad overwhelmed by its immensity and complexity at the moment. As far as the mosaic side of things, I have seen what other volunteers have completed and I am in awe. I will post pictures once I get the technology resolved.

Called Sound Proof Hall (haha), we have two rooms, a non working kitchen, great balcony and privacy

I am doing great and am appreciative of anyone who has an interest in this story. Please let me know you are out there reading, since I am in this adventure alone for the time being. If you want me to explain or elaborate on something, let me know.

j