at last... jamkhed

our smiling faces surrounded the table at dr. shobha’s house on saturday evening. the meal was delicious, but our joy stemmed from our relief at arriving in jamkhed after much travel, anticipation, and a finally dissipated baseline level of unease.

before we encountered folks from CRHP in pune, and outside of our hotel in mumbai (which had attendants posted outside and is gated), we were always on guard; constantly being the focus of attention makes it hard to feel either welcome or safe. furthermore, each leg of our journey required road travel (which is somewhat terrifying – more on that later) and meeting drivers - - the latter having a large possibility of not working out since we depended on the presence of english speakers and payphones to find the way to the next driver and vehicle. but things did work out, despite a few moments of dread at each stop before a friendly face emerged from the crowd. at least we are easy to spot!

the taxi from mumbai had to take us back to the airport to catch our shuttle to pune on saturday morning, which went smoothly. As we fussed with a payphone we didn’t know how to use, a friendly gentleman – who at first we ignored because he just seemed too friendly - - offered us the use of his cell phone. thank goodness, because it made it very easy to find our driver. then we felt badly – is it better to distrust and be proved wrong? we made our way to the shuttle, which i thought might be a van or large bus, but to my surprise and simultaneous consideration of the vast spectrum of wealth and poverty in india, we were led to an air-conditioned SUV, just for the three of us, which provided a very comfortable ride to pune.

the road to pune is called the mumbai-pune expressway, which is a modern highway (though i must say that i was surprised by the quality of all the roads we traveled on – even the rural ones – paved in cement, marked [though of course not heeded], with traffic signals in the cities). before we got to the expressway, we were stuck in gridlock for an hour in a mumbai suburb, moving along at a snail’s pace, being examined by passersby in autorickshaws, on scooters, and on foot. this suburb was exemplary of what we saw in many of the smaller villages, including jamkhed – mud and packed dirt on the sides of the road where store-fronts line the street. most shops look like storage units, some even with a sliding overhead garage door that, when open, exposes the entirety of the interior of the shop and the people – always more than one – sitting on stools or cross-legged on the floor inside, looking out. there is so much trash on the streets – from piles of trash to colored speckles kneaded into the mud, piles of wood splinters, old bicycle wheels, many of them the object of trade in stores, but - i feel sorry to say – i cannot discern what is trash from what is merchandise. there are also tarps and bits of plastic strapped everywhere as roofs and covers for doorways, which adds to a look of poverty and pollution. many of them are the blue tarps i associate with those handed out by aid groups to refugees. there are so many people everywhere. most adults – even those who are very poor – generally wear flip-flops or sandals, but there are tons of children and babies who run around barefoot, holding their mothers’ hands or playing with other shoeless children. the poorest children wear either tops or bottoms. there are also – as expected – tons of shrines, which are fascinatingly always clean, without chipping paint or trash around them, exteriors draped in marigold chains. trucks – or “goods carriers,” as is painted across the fronts of their cabs – are ornately painted, often have a picture of a god on the front and have marigold chains or little green chili peppers strung onto ornaments on the fronts of their cabs. little children sell these at toll booths on the highways.

despite the poverty observed in these towns, the indian women look so put together and beautiful. maybe this is a product of their dress: they wear saris or salwar kameez, which include a stole draped over the shoulders. to me, the stole is an unnecessary garment in that if you were without it, you would be covered and still – by western standards – dressed. perhaps it is this flowing element of the outfit that makes it seem so luxurious to me – and, of course, they are all dressed in bright colors, have the hindu red marking between their eyebrows, and beautiful jewelry – anklets with bells, dangling earrings and nose rings, bangle bracelets up their arms. indian men and children, on the other hand, often wear western clothes, so poverty is sometimes more readily apparent, though some hindu men do wear all white and caps that look like 1950s soda fountain busboy hats.

we finally made it to pune, though the monsoon rains started again while we were driving. just after exiting the highway, but before entering downtown pune, we drove through a gated community that reminded me of hilton head or golf course homes on long island. SUVs, gates around home, huge mansions. another world right there. apparently pune is a rich town, developed in recent years by indians returning from the west. the downtown – where the train station is – is not lined by mud as were streets in even mumbai, but is well-designed with parking spaces and even some sidewalks.

we were dropped at the train station to meet drivers from CRHP, and after a quick call (we figured out how to work the payphone), we were met by the smiling face of hakim. oh, the relief. to belong to someone here. to be able to small-talk. he walked us over to the car, and it was another air-conditioned SUV with the welcome decal words “Comprehensive Rural Health Project” on the front window. We put our bags in the back and climbed in. hakim sure puts the pedal down, boy. off we went.

this leg of the trip was quite different from the first – rural maharashtra is very lush. once every 20 minutes, we would pass through a village like the suburb of mumbai, but in between we saw beautiful green farms, herds of goats, grazing cattle, even two camels. there are stones with white powder on them and shrines on every farm – religious folk are everywhere, which you can also tell by the red powder dots on the foreheads of the hindus. stray dogs are everywhere, too; i wrongly assumed they were a fixture in cities alone. they are even on the compound here in jamkhed (but they are clearly not actively rabid – i do stay clear, however). there are also little goats and bristly pigs that eat the trash. we pulled into a rest stop one hour from jamkhed called “The Smile Stop,” where i ordered a masala dosa – a kind of freshly made pancake with potato curry in it that is served with coconut chutney and a kind of spicy broth/gravy. then i had my first encounter with the hole in the floor bathroom. here, you are only supposed to eat with your right hand, as you left hand is used to wash off after using the bathroom – there is no tp but rather a faucet in each stall. i luckily have my “charmin to go” roll – I think mastery of the faucet skill will have to wait, at least until my charmin runs out, if not longer.

shortly after this break, we arrived in jamkhed, and drove the the main drag to the CRHP property on the edge of town. there are houses for staff, a garden, little covered pagodas for sitting. we were led up to our rooms in a cement building with cool stone floors that feel wonderful on bare feet. there aren’t any scorpions or snakes, but there are these very cute little geckos that crawl up the walls – they are about 4” long, with those amazing little bubble toes. i've only seen two in two days, so it’s not as if we are infested!

my room is painted yellow, with a ceiling fan, two twin beds (i'll have to share my room during the july course), a bookshelf built into the wall, a mirror, and a little table I use as a dressing table under the mirror. i strung up my mosquito net, but there are dense screens on the windows, so i've only used it for a few hours each night. (i have two bites, but got them walking outside – not in the apartment.) our bathroom has a western toilet and a shower with a hot water heater. we also have a sitting area and a fridge stocked with bottled water.

we went to dr. shobha’s house with amy, the arole fellow who has been here for ten months, and enjoyed a wonderful meal and introductions. then we got a little tour of the grounds. when we came back, it was only 8 pm, but we were so tired that we took showers and went to sleep.

sunday we relaxed, read, napped and ate more delicious meals cooked here by the staff. at every meal so far, there has been white rice, dhal (lentils in sauce), chapati (a delicious whole wheat tortilla, made fresh), and a dish made primarily of dill, with garlic, tomatoes, and some little beans or grains in it. i've never had dill in such quantities; i've only had it as a condiment on fish before now, but this dish – forkfuls of the stuff – is delicious.

monday we will round at the hospital and go into town for errands. this week will be very laid back, as our course does not begin until july 2. it is quite a luxury to have time to write and read, though naps thus far have creeped into the schedule more than i would have liked. it's been two days, but i am starting – just – to feel settled in. there are still many cultural barriers to cross that i can’t imagine crossing; it seems to me now that it is entirely conceivable that i could leave india without having made any progress on understanding the culture. but one step at a time…