Laundry drying in Chharanagar

My experience in India could best be defined as the exhausting, though fascinating tension between acceptance and rejection, referring to both my acceptance and rejection of this place and it’s culture, as well as its acceptance and rejection of me. Inspiring and discouraging experiences are so intertwined that I am pulled in so many directions, seeking a balance that has yet to be achieved. I may never get to experience this balance in my time here, as it is running short, and I imagine that I will leave with a feeling of near satisfaction.

I got a goat!

I feel like every time you start to get high on India, it figures you out and smacks you in the face again. From the food and living accommodations to the social interactions and transportation methods, as soon as I get used to it, it all screws me over again. This may be also partially…I mean 100%...related to our studio project and the instruction we’re receiving. Maybe at the end, it will all work out fine; there have just been more than a few frustrations along the way. I think my snapping point, which occurred about a week ago, happened on the day of my last entry, after returning from Mumbai. Rickshaw drivers ripped me off three times in one day, I was hit by a studio project that I mentally checked out of during Mumbai, some classic Indian food wreaked havoc on my stomach, and just as I arrive back at the hotel and sit down to use the bathroom, I see a cockroach scurry across the washroom door. I think the last bit of patience I had for this place was squashed along with the cockroach on the door.

Atish, Patrick, Tad, and Joy mapping in Chharanagar

I know this sounds pretty dismal, but I was definitely at my India low at this point. Luckily after a few nights of sleep though, which facilitated the recovery from my cold (which is finally gone!), I got back up, and began to appreciate this place again. Most of our energy, since the return from Mumbai, has been concentrated on our work in Chharanagar. In the past week, we’ve been working on creating an accurate map of the community. Tad originally traced the outline of the buildings from the very pixilated Google Earth image, but due to pixilation, as well as rapid community change, it turned out to be relatively inaccurate, and we realized it was necessary to manually edit the map by walking through the entire community, editing building shapes, hidden alleys and pathways, and open spaces. The project required four full afternoons of three to four people mapping the community’s complexities and attempting to understand the haphazard development that comprises its center. Rinkcu and Joy from the Budhan Theatre helped us everyday, along with Atish and Hitesh.

MONKEYS!!

Yesterday I had a seriously good animal day. As I’m sure you’ve noticed already, I’m pretty obsessed with all the dogs and any other animals that wander around the streets here. Chharanagar also has an overabundance of goats, which supposedly are kept as pets. While Tad was figuring out where we were on the map, I spent a good chunk of time trying to chase down the goats and pet them. Finally one of the kids caught a baby for me so I got to hold it! I also got to hold a tiny puppy…from one of the few pet dogs that exist in India. In addition to the dogs, goats, cows, camels, and elephants, there are also monkeys that roam the streets and swing on the tops of buildings. I usually see them only in passing on a rickshaw or something, so I haven’t had an opportunity to photograph them, but yesterday a whole group of them ran out in front of us in Chharanagar, and I finally got to take some pictures of the fierce looking creatures.

Young girl in Chharanagar

Today we finished the mapping, which was definitely a relief, though tomorrow we still have to edit all of the line work on the computer. On Saturday, we present to Chharanagar all that we have done so far. I think it will consist of a combination of what we’ve learned/our experiences, the map we’ve produced, and the plan/proposal for community development/empowerment, particularly regarding the town planning scheme that the government may potentially push to implement, which would destroy many homes and carelessly rework and layout a new community, with no input from the actual community. We’re also hoping to get some feedback from the community so that we can improve our recommendations in the following week we’ll have before we leave.