Ch. 16, The Landlady Queen and the Kids
The Indian way of life provides the vision of the natural,
real way of life. We veil ourselves with unnatural masks. On the face of India
are the tender expressions which carry the mark of the Creator's hand.~~~
George Bernard Shaw
Earlier this day we visited the tomb of the last
king of Bengal, then returned to the boat for breakfast. There is a noticeable lack of diners in the
dining room these days. Many are afflicted
with gastrointestinal cataclysms and are foregoing all food but white rice,
tea, and toast.
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| Oatmeal with brown sugar and skim milk. |
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| Melon and fruit bread. Eating light and bland. |
The boat motorsg
a short distance from Khushbagh to Baranagar where 18th century temples built by Rani
Bhabani are fighting the vegetation. This is happening all over India, and it
keeps the archeologists quite busy.
We travel slightly
faster than the running children who race along the banks of the Ganges and
shout greetings to the passengers on the large and grand river ships that
seldom appear in their lives. They wave
at the passengers on the ship with enthusiasm and wide smiles light up their
faces.
This photo is of a group of young men and boys.
And these are close-ups form the same photo:
This photo is of a group of young men and boys.
And these are close-ups form the same photo:
The cows don’t care a whit
that we enter and leave their lives both in the day and in the night. Neither do the goats. They have no illusions of taking passage on
such a ship. Their transportation to
the greener (or not) banks of the far shore is much more prosaic. The ubiquitous double-ender nauka boats that transport everything
from people to agricultural products also carry the animals across the river.
I watch as one of those
boats glides up to a bamboo dock. This
boat is outfitted as a freighter. A
large platform built of bamboo makes a flat surface for hauling things such as
cows, bicycles, and motorbikes. The
juxtaposition of those three things strikes me as a microcosm of India through
the ages.
On shore, in the village of Baranagar, the brick temples, richly decorated with terra cotta tiles, are exquisite. As the sign informs, this is considered to be some of the best examples of Bengal terra cotta art. These temples were built on the order of Rani Bhabani, known as the landlady of Natore, who presided over a vast area during the British colonial era. A woman ruler was most unusual in those days.
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| Aboard the country boat. |
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| Even the goats came to greet us. |
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| Note the goat at the farthest end of its tether. |
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| This goat was determined to lie on that particular step and no other, despite the discomfort from its tether.. |
An article on Wikipedia reads: what made Rani Bhabani a household name among the common people was her philanthropy and general generosity, combined with an austere personal life. The number of temples, guesthouses and roads she constructed across Bengal is believed to be in the hundreds. She also built numerous water tanks, alleviating the acute water problem of her subjects. She was also interested in the spread of education and donated generously to many educational institutes.
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| More close-ups at the end of this post. |
Next to these temples is a structure slowly being swallowed by vines. Artists sit before it, carefully rendering the picturesque ruins onto paper.
We walk farther along the dirt road, past humble homes and more temples. A goat in a field next to us has just given birth and is tending to her newborn. As we walk through the village, we see several newborn kids.
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| Note the dung on a stick leaning against the white wall at left. |
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| A newborn kid. |
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| Bhavanisvar Temple. |
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| A little goat at the temple. |
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| The women at right are watching to see if the goat gives birth to another kid. |
We come to a school yard and are overwhelmed with excited human kids. My companions take photos and show them to the children.
I stand back, looking for the solitary kid, and I am rewarded when a boy who must be the class clown throws an arm around a beautiful shy boy.
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| Wonderful things happen when you look for the kids standing apart from the crowd. |
Then it’s back to the country boat, back to the RV Ganges Voyager, and lunch. The boat starts up and moves to our next destination, Murshidabad. It is the third shore excursion of this day, and marks the extent of our upstream journey.
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| Shrimp salad, grapefruit, watermelon, and a chicken kebab wrap (almost completely eaten). |
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| Coriander soup. Luscious. |
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| Saffron tapioca |
