Day 3 Sunrise and Bali Village

This was the last day and made me rather sad ... I had a yearning to stay on but there were commitments to go back to. Today we wouldnt be on the boat until it was time to go back after lunch. I had to see the sunrise and the sun rose rather early in the East. So we had to be up before 5:30 AM. It had been hard to sleep without air-conditioning as we were unused to humid weather. Since the accomodation was supposed to be eco-friedly and they had no power supply, they had to provide meagre cooling options.

We did get up at 5 but dosed off for another 30 mins as we had a hard time sleeping early. Once I got up I rushed to the river bank and found the villgers squating and looking at the sunrise. They didn't have much to do except for working in the fields or the facilty we stayed at. So they retired to bed early and got up early too. Though I didn't get to see how it was before sumrise, the morning was really beautiful. I too sat down and looked at the sunrise and boats out in the river for sometime. I had made a good friend who's name I didn't know but he welcomed me wagging his tail and staying really close to me wanting to be pet and following me all the way like a loyal friend. Stopping when I stop, looking back and waiting for me and then going on again. I do love dogs and really liked this one's company.

I started taking shots of the villagers who sometimes shyed and looked awkwardly and it took me a while to really feel comfortable to take their pictures. Finally A and our friend S arrived and joined me. S's arrival was followed by spotting a series of birds, learning about local plants. B had to return back to Kolkata to address a work emergency. As we walked through the village street of Bali, I noticed how the tourism initiative had improved the lifestyle of the village. The kids were aware of tourists had learned words like 'good morning' and understood how to indicate they wanted to be cliked. They also knew that they could see their picture in the LCD screen of the digital camera. Some of the parents were desperate to have pictures of their kids. I also noticed how the roads in the village were clean and swept and there was no litter around. The people looked content and happy to have a means to their livelihood.

This was followed by breakfast, after which we had a lovely country boat ride. Though the sun was really hot I enjoyed the ride. It was extremely hard to shoot pictures with the slow rocking boat. If I stood up the boat would tilt. There was a kingfisher we were chasing until a point where I stood up on the boat determined to fall in the water or get a picture of the kingfisher, much to the dismay of the boat man and the others in the boat. This time the boat man made an attempt to stop the boat so that I would get my picture and sit down :) My blackmail worked well!!

We also had some really good conversations with my freinds and the manager of the placed we stayed. He also had his wife along ang she was a really sweet lady. Besides this we met a writer from Germany who had written a book about India having travelled several places in the north and south. He now wanted to write a book on Kolkata and the Sunderbans. he found India fascintating and he said people in in germany know very little about India. What I found most intersting is his style was that he wrote poems in German supported by large pictures that he had either taken himself, or borrowed from some photographers he met. He told me that it had been hard to find a publisher as this kind of a style had not been attemped before and he had managed to print it himself. I tried reading and figuring out with his help and it was instesting to understand what he had written. I really liked the idea of using short poems over laborious words as the poems spoke of his feelings about various things he had seen in India. Many or the pictures he used were quite moving and brought out well what those parts of India are about. I think what I found most instersting is that he was willing to expreiment and take a risk. At times when he was interpreting the words for me it seemed as if he had created new words to express what he wanted to say or felt. I love that quality in a writer.

After some good conversations and picture taking, we had lunch and were back on the boat to head back to the point where the car would pick us up and take us home. When we neared the point, a sudden storm started with a strong wind making it difficult to park the boat so we could get off. So three of the men on the boat had to pull the rope to get the boat docked to the shore. The people who worked for us did so with great sincereity with smiles on their faces and that was a quality a noticed without much effort. I did our bit to tip them well so that they would be happy.

This trip was really packed with a variety of experinces that have taught me much and that I will rememeber for sure.

PS: The picture in the middle is a funny automobile we noticed that the locals use a lot for their commute. The "China Van" is the main mode of transport in the Sunderbans. It looks like a motor bike fused into a bullock cart and has the most screechy sounding brakes!! I've seen it packed and bursting with people and goods and its is quite a sight :)

PS2: This time I chose collages to dipict my vacation since pictures are worth a 1000 words and it made it easier for me to write about whats not in the pictures at the same time giving you the picture with the pictures :))