Getting Grounded - Teaching Dance in Bangalore - Week 2/3

---

So let me start today by mentioning that as I left the house I saw 3 beautifully dressed transexuals walking down my street, they gave me the warmest greeting I've had so far out on the road, otherwise people just stare and like in every city, very few smile. To add to my already camp morning I then see the police men riding around on their Leopard print motorbikes, I remember a girl posting something explaining that they are Government regulation for a section of the police force called 'The Cheetahs,' Vey amusing! I wanted to keep these posts quite frequent but I came down with fever (yes I'm doing real well on the health front, I've heard it's not uncommon for foreigners to take at least one month to get adjusted so almost there!) so I couldn't concentrate on anything in the last few days, but I must say to all the dance teachers out there who come in and teach when they are sick, you guys are the toughest of all. I now know how hard it is now and I have the upmost respect, it's about 100% harder than actually taking the class when your sick because of the energy you must give to your students, constantly assessing their needs for that day and demonstrating exercises fifty million times. But enough about that.

Last week teaching was so, so much fun, I started introducing Improvisation tools to the students to get some idea of what kind of piece I'm going to create with 28 of them on a teeny tiny stage (yes, no relying on amazing spacial patterns, there's no room for that). I felt that students really opened up and we got to have a few great laughs. They stepped outside of their comfort zones and inspired me, they do that everyday anyway but more so in the last week of improvising. I became a total dance nerd during the week, just going home and cooking for myself, really getting in to a groove, researching bits and bobs, structuring ideas for my work, so by the end of the week I was looking forward to an adventure.

Friday evening at some of the girls took me to a pretty cool cafe near work, I would never have found it if they didn't show me as you wouldn't notice such a nice placed tucked down a short ally, away from this chaotic, dirty main road but it was there. (Oh by the way monsoon has started and just now as I am typing my power went out for the second time this week in the evening, power shortages happen here quite a bit.) The waiter spilled some coffee, 2 girls got drenched, they were happy it didn't happen to me or they would have felt bad it seems, I felt bad for the girls but accidents happen, especially with those stupid glass trays, always despised using them! Next on the agenda was a scooter ride and I know I said last week how scared I was, this time around I actually didn't mind, to the point where I wished I could drive it. Safer if that does not happen though I'm sure as I still struggle walking across the road sometimes. I was navigator, that was fine, we reached our destination early (in India this is a big thing) and sat to watch a rather unfortunate dance show, details of which I will spare you, I'll just say it was the equivalent to a bad midday movie. Then on to more scooter time and a lovely dinner at one of my student's mum's restaurant, chinese/thai food.... Delicious! Then back home for a chat that lasted until around 4pm! Oh my concept of time was going to get a workout this weekend that's for sure, usually it takes more than 2 beers to keep me up that late but hey there's a first time for everything. Yay, Power's back my eyes were hurting!

So my friends have planned for me a trip to me to a village, the home town of the lady (I prefer not to use peoples names out of respect) so I can see the farmlands and some beautifully hidden/non tourist regions. Our trip was delayed due to only getting to sleep at 4pm the previous morning, it was further delayed due to a small traffic incident, I was not in the car but breakfast was going to be. Breakfast of Idli wala and some chutneys, so yummy. We finally hit the road around 2pm and it takes us 2hrs to get out of Bangalore traffic, on to the highway. Stopping at toll booth, men are trying to sell stuff, coming up to inspect me one by one, very intimidating but it's ok the window was shut and doors locked. We reach our first destination, a boys orphanage where a guru of 110 years lives and oversees the care of these orphans, feeding up to 10,000 people per day, incredible place, there was an energy there I can't quite describe. We went up to see the temple and a young boy said a prayer for me, giving me some powder that is said to be auspicious and I should keep for as long as possible, unfortunately I may be meeting customs on that but that's yet to be seen. I got so see the guru to, a very tall man dressed in orange, sitting giving people blessings. My friend told me that he over heard some of the boys saying comments that they were proud that a white woman came to see their place, how lovely! From here we continue to the ladies town, Tiptur, it rained a bit on the way, so soothing and refreshing in the heat. I check in to a hotel, a more comfortable sleeping/shower option and then we head to her parents place to meet them. Such genuine and happy people greet me and feed me the traditional sweet pancake with fruit salad then rice and sambal. Yum. Then off to meet the cousins, so many people were there, many with no understanding of english except for the work bye. They were so keen to talk to me they would just address me directly like I understood and me to them, obviously there was a translation happening through my friend but still it was nice to be addressed directly. So yep another late night.

7am In the morning I'm back to her parents for traditional breakfast (will have to get back to you with the name) and coffee. Then we set off on our adventure, first travelling a mere 20 min to the village were her aunties and uncles farm Coconut, Tiptur is famous for coconut and boy were they delicious, I got to drink 2 fresh ones from the tree, eat 2 fresh mangoes and some jackfruit, I'd never had jackfruit, it's so sweet tastes like a lolly! The family were so proud to be getting me all these fresh treats, it was super special for me. The air was so fresh, the farm so peaceful. Again different family member were talking to me like I knew what they were saying, such a happy bunch, joking with each other. I was hoping to see a peacock but 2 puppies and plenty of Buffalo was what I got and I was happy with that. Then we drove on to a Jain Temple in Shravanabelagola, home to the biggest single stone statue (a naked man, I could go in to more history but that would take forever). You have to climb around 500 stairs barefoot to see it and there are some very old preserved carvings in the rock. The view was spectacular, surrounded by coconut farms and bodies of water. Many women asked to have their picture taken with me, I found this very amusing and felt like some weird celebrity! It was a beautiful sunny day also so this was a wonderful experience especially the stones burning the underside of my feet making me literally want to run up and down the hill. We then continued to Hassan for lunch and afterwards drove to Belur to see another temple with ancient stone carvings, oh my was this stunning! Such intricate details of hand carved stone dating back to the 1700's. All of the gods, Bharatnatym positions, animals and Karma sutra positions carved around the outside of a gorgeous temple, I had no energy for a tour but was happy observing the workmanship, so delicate and precise, no 2 pieces the same, such craftsmanship you will probably never see in this day. A must see! After a quick stop outside Belur at a water catchment to get some fresh air, we then journeyed to Halebidu to see another temple crafted in the same way. This temple seemed to have preserved better and the grounds were really well maintained with greenery and a garden surrounding it. The temple in Belur was stone as far as the eye could see, so I enjoyed the feel of Halebidu more. They had some rather big statues of the cow god and plenty of carvings of other gods, the mind boggles with all the stories that were encapsulated around these buildings, represented by these figures of worship.

Then on to the road and my what a road this was. There were so many holes, so many different surfaces, for kilometres and kilometres, it felt like we were driving to the end of the world! So many lorry vans and truck rolled by with so many people packed on to them, it was so strange to see! I'm told the roads are being fixed in India now, under the new government and my god they would want to be, I thought we would never be able to get over some of the terrain but we merrily bumped our way along, cracking jokes about it because there was no way around this road. They had freshly made one part and used big rocks to block people from riding over it instead of those orange bollard things, very environmentally friendly. Some parts had the bitumen spread at different levels so there were some bizarre speed bumps. It was truly an experience like no other, especially seeing the amount of people travelling on the road. We were joking that they were fitting entire villages into rickshaws, only in India! When we finally got off that road and on to the good highway I felt sad a little, the rough road was way more fun, albeit slow. When we finally arrived back in Tiptur, it was the cousins turn to feed me. I tried a bit of a ragi ball, this weird purplish flour thing you are not meant to chew, took 2 mouthfuls and thought I may choke, I am really not used to eating semi solid food without chewing, no one was offended, quite contrary, impressed I had a taste. So I happily ate the best Chippatis I have had with some Mutton curry and fried chicken, so tasty, I was really spoiled this weekend, but by the time I got to finish my dinner it was close to 11pm and since I was running on very little sleep I was super duper tired, it was worth it! The head lady of the house did her traditional ceremony placing a bindi on my forehead and saying a prayer for me, giving me 2 Bananas, some leaf and Betal nuts. This ceremony only happens for the women, I felt privileged or and I got to have a picture with the baby.

I learnt something very valuable this weekend; It does not matter what culture you are from or what type of upbringing you have had, if you remove all preconceived ideas about what a person will be like due to the others of their culture/religion/country you have met you will see the true person, the soul and on a very uniquely primitive, human level you will connect, regardless of language barriers. People can really surprise you if you let them. Also, listening is the key to learning about a person, and willingness to let go a bit of yourself will allow you to experience them and what they believe, this is very important to building an understanding of each other.

So now back to Bangalore, the Rain and dancing. Oh and my fever/cold only lasted 2 days. It is advisable to get a good rest each night so you don't wear yourself out and become susceptible to foreign bugs. Now I really am finding my feet and loving the experience of this crazy place.

---

Photos

The man with Coconut stick
I forgot to mention the loongies.... Male skirts, very stylish, extreme comfort worn throughout the places I visited.