Hello comrades,
I am very excited: yesterday I met a communist politician who has invited me to spend the day with him. He wants to show me India's poverty and slums and explain how communism will sort it out...
It all happened when I was walking around the old city of Jaipur (the capital of Rajasthan) and noticed a gathering of people in red scarves, waving communist flags. As a former political science student, I felt it was my duty to find out what was going on. It turned out to be a party demo: they were singing, dancing, drumming and acting out political plays about the corrupt government of India. The music was great and I really stayed to enjoy that (is good music enough to convert you to communism?).
I stood out like a sore thumb (the only woman and the only white person) and soon became a more interesting spectacle than the demo. Everybody was staring at me in disbelief. Before I knew it I was invited on stage - why, I'm still not sure. The crowd of 200 men were all shouting for me to get up there - quite intimidating, to say the least. I was very embarrassed but stuck to my guns and politely said no.
The main speaker, the MP for Rajasthan, translated the speeches and songs into English for me (further embarrassment) and wanted to speak to me afterwards. I asked him lots of questions, after which he asked if I would be interested in visiting the party headquarters and the slums in the area. I agreed and so I'm meeting him tomorrow - suddenly I'm a VIP in India! How did that happen? I'll let you know how it goes and if I've been converted.
Anyway, back to the beginning. Since the last time I wrote, we left the lovely city of Udaipur and drove eight hours through the desert and marble country to Pushkar. We saw camels pulling huge slabs of marble from the mountains to the open stores along the road: beautiful stuff. The jeep is open-topped so the hot desert air blasts in, which isn't too enjoyable.
Pushkar was nice. It's a holy town, so there's no alcohol or meat (no eggs, even), which is fine for me. It is holy because it's home to the only Brahma temple in India. Brahma, one of the three principal Hindu gods, is said to be the creator of the world, but he cheated on his wife and so lost the right to be worshipped. He was allowed only one temple, which was built in Pushkar.
Pushkar is a very colourful town. The buildings are blue and the streets are full of orange-clothed Sadhus. Many pilgrims come to bathe in the holy lake and distribute the ashes of their loved ones. It was quite a sight, and it had a profound effect on me. I watched men splashing around and washing in the water while ashes and bones floated by. Families were smiling and taking photos as they emptied the plastic bags of their relatives' remains. Suddenly, death seemed so simple - and so ridiculous. I spent most of my time sitting by the lake just reading, writing and watching.
It's the wedding season in Rajasthan at the moment, so there were plenty of wedding processions in the streets of Pushkar. On our second day, there were 52 weddings in Pushkar alone! A procession usually consists of a brass band, followed by the groom riding a highly decorated horse with the male guests walking around him, and then the bride and the women behind. It's a feast for the eyes and the music is addictive. I almost wanted to join in and dance with them, but only the men seemed to be dancing, so I decided to move to the music from a distance. I did get spotted on a couple of occasions and they all beckoned for me to join in, but sadly my inhibitions got the better of me.
We left Pushkar after a few days and headed to Jaipur - another long, hot drive, passing many horrible accidents along the way. Jaipur is known as the pink city, because the maharajah of Jaipur ordered the whole city to be painted pink (the colour of hospitality) to welcome the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) in 1876. I have to say that it's more terracotta than pink, so I was a little disappointed...
We are supposed to go to Jodphur and Jaiselmer from here on a desert and camel safari, but this might have to be cancelled: unfortunately, the government has decided to start a two-week military exercise to demonstrate India's military strength to Pakistan. We still might be able to go, but it may be unsafe, and there will definitely be high security and limited access.
Alternatively, we may head up north to the Himalayas.
Lots of love, a politically active Donna x
