In the Shade of the Mangrove

In coastal Andhra Pradesh, I visited a number of villages where the project is doing some work on environmental rehabilitation, specifically mangrove forest restoration. At Polatithippa, we took a boat into the creek to take a closer look at the forest. Our boat was small, wooden but motor-powered unlike some of the others that roam these waters where the strength of arms is all that makes them move.

The larger creek winds off into narrower, more silent subcreeks. By 10 am, the sun beats down ferociously and the heat is damp and sullen in here because the mangroves with their dense roots and thick leaves block out the sea breeze. This is where people from nearby villages come to catch crabs.

Crab catchers mainly catch and sell crabs and do not fish. I found this interesting article that says crab catchers in the Caribbean islands are considered “the lowest of the low on the socio-economic ladder” and therefore, “you have got to be careful how you use that term because on many islands it’s considered an insult.”

Here too, from what I understood, crab catchers are those who own small boats that are not equipped for the sea and they are often from lower castes so even within the creeks, they face trouble from upper caste fishermen.

They did not seem to hold a sense of insult about their profession though and seemed rather proud of their catch.

We traveled through the sub-creeks and the project manager pointed out different varieties of mangroves to me. Mangrove forests in Andhra Pradesh grow in the estuaries of the Krishna and the Godavari. (We were in the Krishna estuary.) The Krishna mangroves were officially declared to be a wild life sanctuary in 1998. I didn’t see any animals but I did see this large mangrove tree, which is quite famous locally. The people here say that this was the tree that saved their village during the 2004 tsunami.

We visited a mangrove nursery that the village people are maintaining with the project’s guidance. What they do is collect seeds from the forest and plant them. When they grow to a certain height, they transplant these to a barren land where they want to grow mangrove forests. The major species that grow here are Rhizophora and Avicinea and the forest provides a rich ecosystem for animals, birds, and crustaceans.

I was fascinated by these little yellow things which at first looked like insects. They are actually a variety of crabs.

On the way back, we saw people fishing in the larger creek. This girl should have been in school but she wasn’t.

And neither were these boys.

Shreds and Patches: Machilipatnam and Kalamkari

Recently, I traveled on work to the villages around Machilipatnam in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. I usually enjoy driving through the countryside and this trip involved plenty of that (about three hours back and forth from my hotel in Vijaywada to the villages). Perhaps, the landscape failed to move me because I found the relentless paddy fields (muddy yellow in harvest rather than the fabled gold) dreary, or thought the thin clusters of palm trees rising up at intervals like many-handed gods had something grim about them. Perhaps, my visits to the villages and the relentless stories of poverty, AIDS, domestic violence left me tired. Perhaps, the grey miles of ruined aquaculture farms hardened me. Or maybe, I was just having a bad week. I don’t know what it is but somehow, this particular part of coastal Andhra left a memory of bleakness.

Yet, there were some pleasant moments — pristine white herons speckling the fields, interesting birds near the shrimp farms, cotton trees in bloom, brilliant sunsets and sudden rain. Much of this was witnessed en route and I couldn’t bear to stop Rambhav, the driver, to take pictures every time. Here are some I did manage.

Plath, English, etc

I’m drowning in Plath right now — again — because I have to write a paper on her and I had forgotten how exhausting and entrancing she can be at the same time. It’s like a fix. You know too much is bad for you; it’s going to leave you fatigued with your head aching and a hollowness in the pit of your stomach. But you still want just one more. She’s one of those poets I tend to read obsessively so I avoid her a lot of the time because it would leave me with no time to read anyone else.

About Ram, Anurupa Roy and Puppeteering

Published in The Hindu today.

“I am fascinated by the relationship between the puppeteer and the puppet,” says Anurupa Roy, founder of Kat Katha and director of About Ram, a new media theatre presentation that had the audience spellbound when it played recently as part of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) New Performance Festival. Produced by Kat Katha in collaboration with Vishal Dar, About Ram germinated three years ago when Roy watched a Balinese Ramayan. “Watching the Balinese version made me realise that the story changes as it travels,” she explains. “As it travels, it takes on different nuances. I started studying different versions of the Ramayana and came across Bhavabhuti’s Ramayana, which looks at it as the ultimate, tragic love story. It revolves around the theme of universal loneliness—that each human being is ultimately alone. So when Ram chooses kingdom over Sita, the last lines of the poem say ‘he ruled for ten thousand years—alone’.”

Resistance is futile

It’s the second time I’ve been tagged for this one, first by Chandni and then by Anasuya and the latter is family so I can hardly refuse.

I’ve decided to go ahead and inflict the personal and the self-indulgent on you. So here’s the tag:

Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.

Family: Now, this is tough because some time back, I moved / removed most of the personal posts from this blog but here’s what still remains — On Calcutta summers and something on Netaji.

Friend: This one’s easy. There’s Esther, Hajira, and Rita in Deorali, Jaigaon — all women I met during my travels and may never see again but who have affected and influenced me in various ways.

Myself: Ah…do this and this count?

My love: What fun! There’s chick flicks, beer, and my beloved city.

Anything I like: On sexism and Internet purdah and a piece on one of my favourite movies, Maurice.

And I tag OJ who I adore, Iz whose writing is both funny and heartbreaking, Falstaff who I regularly argue with on the blogosphere and who probably doesn’t do tags, and new blog friends Pongam and IndieQuill.

Shiny, happy things

So the Toto Awards 2008 were announced ten days back. And I was one of the two winners in the creative writing category. Quite cheered up my month.

Besides a trophy and plaque, there’s a neat cash prize of 25k but what I like most is that one of the judges was Keki Daruwalla (the others being Gita Hariharan and Ravi Singh of Penguin). His approbation can only be a good thing. Also, Amitav Ghosh was there to present the awards and meeting him was fantastic.

Some of the poems I entered are here.

Jane Eyre, power shift and the other mad woman

The mood for period drama struck some time last week and I satisfied it by watching the 1983 BBC miniseries version of Jane Eyre starring Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. Independence is a pivotal theme in Jane Eyre and each reading/watching leads to thoughts on this. Bronte’s concern with this is clear right from the beginning but comes into sharp focus when Jane leaves Thornfield Hall after her marriage to Rochester is abruptly called off. She has to leave him because staying would be contrary to her code of ethics. She sets off into the world with only a few coins and no job. One can only imagine how bereft and alone she must feel at this point.

On East Coast Road and melancholy seas

Last month, we took a drive down to East Coast Road. As a day trip. Yes, I am aware it sounds faintly ridiculous that we drove all the way from Bangalore to ECR and came back the same day but there were extenuating circumstances. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment urges to hit the road and keep driving. I had a longing for the sea. And there was nowhere we could leave our dog at such short notice. So we decided to pile into the car and drive towards Mahabalipuram and drive back when we were done with the drive and the road and the sea.

More on Gieve Patel and poetry

Some of us had dinner with Gieve when he was in town and the discussion, predictably, revolved around poetry. Poetry is always difficult to talk about — so much of it is subjective and it’s difficult to exactly pinpoint what the elements of a good poem are. Some say sound; the words should resonate when read aloud. Others say meaning; whole universes of truth must be contained in a single line. Honesty, original imagery, innovative use of language…there are so many aspects to a good (a hopelessly banal word but it will have to do) poem.

Gieve Patel and poetry with young people

Originally published in The Hindu.

“Poetry may be the most misunderstood of genres among the arts.” So says poet and plawright Gieve Patel in his introduction to Poetry with Young People (Sahitya Academi, Rs 100), an anthology introduced and edited by him. Featuring over a hundred poems written during Patel’s workshops at Rishi Valley School over the last decade, the anthology is emblematic of his success in demystifying this misunderstood art.