Saturday, August 25, 2007

One Photo Please

Despite a comprehensive plumbing system, technology prevails in India. "One photo! One photo please!" or "Camera phone? Camera phone?". Once one or the other appears out of pocket, children swarm, all wanting portraits. "One photo" translates to a single shot, one person in the photo, just them. Mothers run back to their homes to bring out newborns peering over your shoulder to see their likeness in digital screens. The team has amassed millions of photos, but we've quickly been schooled in the art of stealth photography.

When I left, people told me that I'd return to the United States with a peaceful look on my face and about ten pounds lighter. I can't say that I've found that recipe just yet. The build has been going well, despite a lot of sick team members. One young lady developed culture shock disguised as a sinus infection on our second day and wouldn't leave the hotel four consecutive days. Others developed typical colds and sun stroke, but quickly recovered. The work is very hard and it is hotter than you can imagine here. Although the humidity has not quite hit Florida in July numbers, it is a close second. Lifting bricks and pans of mortar all day leaves everyone exhausted, and daily we are put to shame by both older women and their daughters who gamely toss bricks to the masons and tote large bowls of wet cement on their heads.

We are hungry all of the time, despite the spicy indian food plentiful at meals and I sense the alchemy of this work added to the combination of India's insanity and the indigent conditions of the village we've become a part of has left everyone speechless and spent. Getting to Mamallapurum will be a great way to end the trip.

Two of our hosts, Stephen and Dyan, have treated the team to a movie titled "Sivaji", hooting and hollaring with the rest of the crowd for the three hour extravaganza. "Sivaji" stars Rajinikanth, who calls himself BOSS and has his own theme song. Wow! The final number included a spice girls type dance routine with guitars as props, flying machine guns, shot entirely at the new Gehry museum in Barcelona. "Not logic, just magic" Stephen gleefully whispers to me. I am crazy in love with Indian cinema!

After telling us that this would be the third time they had seen "Sivaji" (which is like our "Pirates" in financial success), Stephen and Dyan reveal that they are die hard members of the Kamal Husan "clan", a rival Tamil star. Last week, they presented Katy Leigh and myself with their official fan club t-shirts. India's movie fans go to great length to show their devotion. For example, a "clan" will create large banners resembling billboards with a collage of their favorite stars' photos and films, the lower half displaying smiling faces of the purchasers. These "fanners" are then strung over streets and plastered to sides of buildings, making it clear who the real heroes are.

The film clued me in to the happy disposition prevalent in the people we bustle through the streets with and sweat beside all day. Color and music and magic and faith is embedded in everything they create, whether it be legends or blockbuster movies.

More to come...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kat - I'm in total awe of your beauty and spirit. Love the blog. What a truly amazing experience. Much Love, Whitney Allen Cicero

Anonymous said...

Wow Kat,

I look forward to each of these blogs to hear more of your exciting adventures in India. I sounds like this has been a great experience for you. I can't wait for you to crash at our house so you can tell me all about the trip!!! Enjoy the remainder of your time there. Miss you!

Love you girl!
Robin

Anonymous said...

Kat, sounds like an amazing time for you - I want to hear all about it when you get back - I can't wait - miss you much! - Tracy

Anonymous said...

..your descriptions of your adventure have been absolutely breathtaking..THANK YOU

M

Shameless Crushes...

find life experiences and swallow them whole.
travel.
meet many people.
go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys.
try everything.
exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life.
-lawrence k. fish

Yoga For Peace

read much and often

Cleopatra: A Life
Travels with Charley: In Search of America
Never Let Me Go
The Angel's game
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Bel-Ami
Dreaming in French: A Novel
The Post-Birthday World
A Passage to India
The Time Traveler's wife
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Catcher in the Rye
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Kite Runner
Eat, Pray, Love
Slaughterhouse-Five
Les Misérables
The Lovely Bones
1984
Memoirs of a Geisha


read much and often»