Still around.....

9 Days to go and it feels like endless waiting..the chances is only 10% that this baby will arrived on the 1st of February..it's Hari Wilayah and Thaipusam.. for the last 3 weeks I've been wishing for certain date..maybe during Qurban, before 2007...no sign, no pain at all..

then I thought maybe on the 20th, during Awal Muharam..still the same, looks like the baby is enjoying every moment inside me.

Don't know what to expect but I just hope that everything gonna be fine, Insyaallah.

Thank you everybody for your concern and pray.... :-)

Seberang Perak, Alor Setar,Kedah...

Tracing back the history is not a simple task especially when you were left with inadequate information, evidence and documentation. Things that I've gained so far were based on personal experience and observation as well as 'cakap-cakap mulut', 've been surfing the net and could only found few that relate to the history of this place : Seberang Perak. Most of the site are repetitive and mostly centred on Dr.M's house and history, this could only help maybe 5 percent of the entire picture.

Time is running out as it wait for no man...old building were replaced with a new one, people are leaving, the eldest has moved out or could only met them but not really seeing them.

This is an ambitious project but with no discipline and dedication it will be left in the computer for another year..so this could be my new year resolution : to finish up this mini research before end of Dec 07.

So far I have no problem getting information on the general history of Alor Setar as it is interconnected but when I narrow down to this particular area what I found was a blur imagery. The evidence are still there, but of coz not 100%, and no pictures to proof the activities and history. I could only traced back to maybe 30 or 40 years back, and in history that is nothing..it should be at least 100 years...I wish I have a time capsule or something...or a magic mirror.

As for now there are few building that have been identified its history significants: Sekolah Seberang Perak, Sekolah Seberang Perak (L),rice factory (only remnants of it), JKR quarters, flat, two old madrasah, Masjid Al-Ihsan, Pagoda, IKM, Dr.M's house, Kilang Ais, Market Lama, the place itself and the most important is the Kedah River.

Some of the houses are proof to the existence of mixed architecture where traditional Kedah house were combined with concrete stairs similar to Malacca house, same goes with the madrasah. Based on my family background, my ancestor (my mom side) were from Malacca and from Bugis descent, he was known as Pak Man Melaka..so I am trying to relate this two together. But why is this place called Seberang Perak? Does someone from Perak opened this village or there were some kind of activites that connected to 'perak'.
One of the interesting features is the composition of people here, we have Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indian Muslim (from India) and also a small community of Muslim from Pakistan (Kg Bibi).

From grandmothers story Seberang Perak were also affected during Japanese occupation, her house were visited by Japanese soldier who tought that one of her nephew as Chinese, and there were also Japanese soldier who during British occupation ran for their life and jump into the river at the back of the house..the river were lined with nipah tree and the water level is higher than now.

It seems like this journey of tracing back the history is still a long way to go...

When I was about 12 or 13, it wasn't hard to just scratch and digged the soil and found old coins around the house..and at one time I was so obsessed with this till I didn't realised what I found was actually not an ancient bowl but a praying bowl that some Chinese left on the ground at a big fragrance tree in front of my house, they came and pray to get this 4D ..... :-( aku tertipu!!!

So, lets play Indiana Jones...

p/s : its supposed to be my due date today, since doc has given me REDD this 1st Feb, I still have enough time surfing and bloghopping, I want this baby to be away from architecture, maybe I'll persuade him or her to continued digging the past...

Old news paper....

"old news paper...surat khabar lama..."complete with background music, the tune is of coz Chinese song but compared to the previous style this one is better..no more irritating "surat khabar lama!!" from their van..or knock on the door on lazy Saturday afternoon.
When the government first started of this recycling campaign, there were ad on tv and my sister who was still in school then used to sing along to the tune..."oli paper....." instead of old news paper.

During art class old new paper was one of the most important material, where we will mixed it with glu / kanji to make a plate, fruit or animal...it was messy with sticky kanji and wet newspaper everywhere but of coz that is the best thing coz we could used both of our hand compared to just normal drawing and sketching.
In the olden days news paper were multipurpose, people back then were creative enough to cover their timber wall, instead of expensive wall paper they used old news paper..with roman or jawi paper. I remember laying on the wooden floor staring at the circular solid timber column with reports on jawi and the paper has turn yellow...it shows the age of the material.

I like old news paper, not because I'm an environmentalist..but simply becoz of the smell and colour of the paper...especially 15 or 20 years dusty old paper from any old house...maybe it does not worth as high as King Tut's treasure or any precious manuscript from an ancient valley...but the sight of yellowish newspaper makes me lost in my own world...amazed by content, the layout and an old version font...and of coz newspaper is also a form of documentation of our civilization...31st August 1957 newspaper is the most precious edition and May 69 must be the most sensetive.........

Maybe I should keep every 7th April edition of newspaper....or every significant day of my life

This is actually from my previous entry last year, found this December 1976 Majalah Wanita at Tok's house in Kuala Sala.

Aidil Adha 2006

This year Aidiladha were different, first time in Putrajaya and no iddiapum / putu mayam for hubby that morning.

We went for solat Aidiladha at Masjid Putra and surprised that there were so many people until some of them had to used the overflow area. The ambience are similar except for people start taking photograph after the prayer unlike in Tg Tokong or Alor Setar where people will directly went home. The sight of people coming out from the main entrance of the mosque was something to behold. We just stood still infront of the square looking at people....the sight that you won't see everyday....

...Happy New Year..welcome 2007

Countdown

Each day passes by with hopes, dream and prayer for these journey. No high expectation except for the safe and easy delivery. At this moment the baby is still playing hide and seek...won't reveal the truth yet...

Each day this belly have to bear with cocoa butter and sometimes just a home made minyak selusuh...

Each day it is not just plain water to sooth the throat but air mossafa, air akar fatimah and also minyak selusuh plus milk with a pinch of safron

To hubby: I don't have a special birthday present for u this 30th Dec, but all I could give is this little angel...a belated birthday gift

Anniversary

Love is a great thing that could happen between two heart...what makes it even more special is a relationship that connect not only two person but also two family, two different world and belief

And today, once again we celebrate this memorable day with meaningful smile and big hope...no grand celebraition or candle light.....but we gave each other what we've been expecting for the last three years

To hubby : I love u so much, nothing is more important than having u around

Bob the builder or Barbie ?

Should I be excited or just calm down and take a deep breath and just prepare myself, it's gonna be 1 month from now..I'm almost 36weeks now with strecth mark started to apprear and it was shocking for the first time..it looks like a cracked and dry paddy field in Kuala Sala.


Almost everything for the newborn has been prepared..mostly in nuetral colour since we don't have a clue whether this baby is a pink or blue tag baby... :-)

Lately we've been communicating a lot thru kicking and moving around..and even sometimes there's sound 'tick' whenever the baby kick..is it normal ? Insyallah, as long as the baby is healthy and moving and kicking and whatever she wants..that should be fine..

p/s I should thank this lovely person with a warm smile all the way from faraway land of Istanbul for the Cotonel Baby stuff..thanx Simah


<------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
No more talking to the wall today, hubby is coming back from Kuantan, MIL and family will be arriving from Penang at 3pm and tomorrow there'll be another 3 family coming..there'll be 25 people in this house and I don't have an excuse that I haven't been socializing enough now...fuhhh..25 people, hopefully I could be hospitable enough...the best thing is I don't have to cook but just request...from my MIL...I think the baby wants to eat Nasi Tomato and udang masak merah..should be in the list :-)

A month of celebration

December as usual is a busy month for me, when we were small this is time that we spend in Langkawi..kutip siput, in university it was the beginning of new semester..and last three years I was busy preparing myself for the big day..Each year December is a month of celebration, our anniversary which is just around the corner, followed by hubby's birthday just before this coming AildilAdha...


While busy with the arrival of little angel, we, on hubby's side are also preparing for the new addition..another menantu in the family all the way from Alor Gajah.
The enggangement will be on this Sunday, and here I'm with the deco for the hantaran boxes, the colour scheme is gold with mixed of cream. I'm gonna prepare the sirih (no more sirih junjung) and fruit's basket, but the fruits will be brought from Penang- Road Walk to be precise since MIL wants them big and fresh.

I'm excited to attend these ceremony where I'll have a chance to 'suap gula' to the 'ponu'- the bride after the exchange of enggagement ring. Normally the bridegroom side will bring sugar in decorated bowl but only female relatives are allowed to feed the bride..I don't know what is the significant but just follow the tradition.

Happy Holiday to everybody!!

Pakat-pakat mai kenduri

Last two weeks holiday was spent mainly visiting family in Kedah and Penang, that was my chance since hubby was away to spend more time with my family. Attended a kampung style wedding in Jitra where the celebration took nearly 4 days from preparation until cleaning, no caterers or wedding planner..it's all what they call 'pakat', where they have a committe to handle from A-Z. It has been a tradition where one family will give (tanam) something to the host such as potato, chillies, rice, sugar even bunga telur and the secreatary will write down those particular complete with quantity. So the next time their turn come the cycle goes again and normally they will return the same thing.

The whole ambience looks welcoming and cheerful with people erecting tents two days before the wedding, women preparing meals for men, some were sorting things..it was like a whole village celebration, tikar mengkuang was laid outside for the women and few men busy tying a poor cow at the back of the house. The host was busy checking things whether it's enough or not for the workers (bentara) and at the same time still receiving goods from neigbours.

A day before the wedding, the house were full with people preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the helpers, it's not even a wedding day but the house looks different with bunga telur of different colours at one corner and the smell of ikan talang, spices, fresh banana shoot fills the air..At nite, most of the work were concentrate mainly inside the house where the pelamin will be decorated,.. living in a village gave them no problem of space where their kitchen and hall are double the size of urban houses. At one corner women were preparing bunga telur and goodie bags for the bentara, this bag usually contains bunga telur, sweets and traditional kuih especially kuih bakar and kapal terbang.

Meanwhile there were few people outside cooking nasi lemak and sambal tumis for tomorrows breakfast or what they call 'nasi menyorok'..this meal is actually for the helpers as well, that means this style of wedding is really tiring, I don't think people in urban area could still manage to gather people and expect them to commit like this..and we have to bear the fact that our house will be a mess..!! but they have no choice coz it has been a tradition to 'pakat' rather than hiring a caterer otherwise no one will attend your wedding!

The main dishes were prepared early in the morning of the big day, one cow for one type of menu, so it was beef curry cooked in three big kawah, chicken and ikan kering were in the list for those who don't eat beef, acar nenas, acar mangga and air sirap. The beef curry looks different maybe becoz the kawah and the banana shoot, the gravy were a bit greyish but it taste just fine...and the wedding last until midnite and the next morning it is the host turn to work hard cleaning up the house...and counting the plate, fork and spoon for the next cycle next week or next month....

A journey not to be remembered

9th Nov 2006
Everything went smoothly, all documentation has been checked and approved and I was called to the boarding gate to check my document again. I only hope that today gonna better, get myself the best seat in the front row next to the window and infront of the main door.

This is it..I thought that everything will be as scheduled, but then I saw something that I hate to start my journey with, the ground crew were having difficulty to detached the stairs from the aircraft, they keep on pulling and struggling for about 15 minutes until some passenger noticed it and start jamming the area to give a piece of advice or opinion...And I just wish that they change the aircraft, maybe I'm not patient enough but I was not the only one, the co-pilot too came and try to fix it and keep on swearing and blaming the ground crew. They finally succeed but came another problem when the Lady in red had a difficulty to closed the door, it won't attached, she keep on pulling and again the co-pilot came to rescue. It was a bad start, I was nervous, there were so many 'what if....' in my head, too much watching aircrash investigation. I tried to cool down and not thinking too much about it and enjoy the view, the cloud formation, the sea and suddenly there was a 'pop' sound from the door, the lady in red who was sitting right infront of me was shocked and looking at me and immediately alarmed the cockpit.Both of them suddenly choosed to stand at the other corner and suddenly I felt a gush of wind on my feet, maybe it's just in my head, I don't know..imagination run wild, at that moment I just keep on praying and rubbing my tummy.

23rd Nov 2006
Before I left home I prayed for my safety and my little one, after the last I became a bit nervous and protective. Again at Penang Aiport the same scenario running around and filling up the form.
I was waiting and prayed that today's journey are much much better with no technical problem until I got a phone call saying that it was raining heavily outside and they were worry about me. I noticed the ground crew were busy preparing umbrella for us, don't they have other option in this kind of situation? We were allowed to board the plane after 10 minutes delay, I was the first passenger who walked with that red umbrella and the other hand carrying nasi tomato for hubby. It felt very far since we have to used the back door, I walked terhuyung-hayang struggling with the rough wind and at the same time tried not to trip on the stairs.
I choosed the same seat even though the last incident were still in my mind. I don't know what to expect but it wasn't a good start especially the take-off and landing, it as too rough and bumpy, is it because the pilot is not competent enough or the weather to blame on or the runway was uneven..? I told myself that I'm not going to fly with them again or other airline when I'm pregant

I have survived many rough and dangerous incident but was calm and composed, but when you are carrying another Life inside you,the feeling of caring and protecting are stronger and that was why I cried like a baby when I finally saw my hubby waiting to take me home safely.

Now anyone can fly......except..

I'm supposed to be seeing the greenery of paddy field today but instead stranded here in Putrajaya and stuck infront of this slow pc again.I had a sleepless night, worry that I might miss my early flight back to Alor Setar,I kept waking up every hour checking the clock and finally arrived at LCCT at 6.00am with empty stomach, sleepy face and a small luggage. By the time theycall all passenger to line up I was eager to go to other side of the lane for elderly and pregnant women and not aware of the airline regulation.

I was asked about my pregnancy and when I mentioned that I'm 7 months (28 weeks), they refused to allow me to board the plane without any Letter from doctor saying that I'm fit to fly.........
My ante-natal checkup report stated that it's 30 weeks, but the hospital's is only 28, I have two due date, two checkup for one little baby.

This is an easy pregnancy but the Numbers makes me worry, based on LMP (which I never forget to jot down every month)it's supposed to be middle of January but based on hospital's record and scan the baby is due in February. Recent checkup the doctor write down that the size correspond to POG, which is in January instead of the date that he gave is in February. Everytime during ante-natal checkup, the nurse also have the same understanding whenever they read the hospital's report..
Am I the one who confused about all these medical terms and don't know how to interpret doctor's handwriting or is it technical error or even worst human error? I did my own calculcation based on hospital's date and the doctor's TCA, which I need to have another session of scan at 32 weeks, but the nurse gave another date which is totally different from what the doctor asked her to do, she put it 26th Dec which is 34 weeks instead of 32. When I checked with the hospital about the TCA, they changed again to 21st Nov, earlier but based on clinic's date.

To satisfied myself I managed to talk over the phone with the doctor, and he said it's ok whether its 32 or 34 weeks so I just have to come again on the 26th Dec.

But this morning I went again to the clinic to get that letter, the doctor said that it will be February and maybe the nurse didn't read it properly and she mentioned that I'm only 27 weeks today....If I knew that exact figure I will be happily enjoying my mom's lunch today coz at 27 weeks we can fly freely....

Another sleepless night in Putrajaya, little baby's journey need to be postponed

Salam Aidilfitri

Eid Mubarak / Salam Aidilfitri / Selamat Hari Raya..The Big Day were celebrated with smile and tears, happiness and sadness mixed up, but the day started off bright and clear just like this lovely bunga raya
This year was a bit different with simple celebration and less menu but with big baju kurung to accomodate my expanding tummy :-O



What could be better to celebrate the day is the sky is clear and blue and the ground is green, Alhamdulillah we were given another chance this year to enjoy and appreciate this moment










Third day of Aidilfitri, and the mission need to accomplished....ke bendang jugalah mereka, ditengah terik mentari terbongkok-bongkok mengubah semai..yang tua bekerja yang muda sibuk beraya, yang terpandang hanya dapat merakam.

whoever they are, we should be proud of them for their sacrifice, hardworking and every drop of their sweat


Orang ditengah bendang..tapi bukan 'orang-orang'



By this coming Aidiladha, the ground will change it's colour again and people will start fishing ikan puyu in the middle of the field and by that time I might be in different field struggling for the new year addition :-)

Wish and hope during Ramadhan

Ramadhan come and go each year with different memory and experience, and this year is nothing less, it is even better than before.Last two years when we attended Iftar with a bunch of friends, the scenario and ambience were different, there were time where there was a deep uneasy feeling, feeling left out especially when other people were busy introducing their pregnant wife or busy managing their kids on the table. That bonus question was something that I don't like people to ask me coz I don't have the answer, all I could say was, 'Its God's Will'..most of the time I just sailed along and forget about just being 2 instead of 3 or more...

And today at the table I try not to hear the same question again being asked to other woman and I try not be the centre of attention. Pregnancy is the second best thing after marriage and we can't avoid all the attention, praise, greet and question from people around us but I can't bear looking at the other women who still trying for years and one who just finished her second cycle of medication.Coz I've been there......I know how it feels

The journey isn't smooth as we expected, some people will get it as they wish but some have to wait and still waiting. What makes me strong each day through out this rough journey is the thought that God will grant my wish sooner or later, and having a supportive partner and family are essential. I remember buying books of 'How To..'and never miss Discovery or Nat.Geographic channel on this topic and of course this simple programme - Anita, where they featured HRH Tengku Puan Pahang who had the same experience, I even wait for the repeat just to see her face and listen to her courage. There was one article about her and the TAFF in Prestige Magazine and I read the section not twice but many many times just to give my self, support, motivation and courage and stop grieving but appreciate Life coz they are people out there who are even worst.

For these women I hope they will be stronger and may their wish come true and never stop dreaming and asking from Him especially during this Ramadhan.

(Last week during Iftar hubby told me that last year at the same chair in our dining room he prayed for this Gift..and this year his wish has been granted, I almost cried when I heard about it)

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

It just 5 minutes before the break, but my tummy has started singing keroncong and other unfamiliar song, staring at the colourful meal makes it even worst and not to mention the aroma of laksa that makes our heart race faster. When the time came it usually started of with kuih and then heavy meal until my tummy bloated like a melon.
By 8.15pm we are ready with telekung at the madrasah, most of the time the madrasah were occupied by elderly who have to climb up that steep staircase.And the men used an old curved concrete staircase.The small madrasah could only make up 4 saf for women, so most of the time I was pushed to the corner next to the window and could hear the 'tok tok' sound clearly when the call for Isyak prayer.
Most of these women will also bring their grandchildren and that was the time when we get to know each other.One thing that I like being in this madrasah is the smell of fresh flower normally bunga cempaka or what my grandma used to call - 'bunga chempa', they stuffed it inside their telekung maybe as a replacement for perfume and they also wear a fashionable 'bedak sejuk' on their face :-)
Everytime before we start out terawih prayer, Bilal will called out loud 'Safff..',a reminder to all to keep a close distance while praying rather than leaving a big gap, he will also asked the boys to proceed to the back but most of them will only play not pray.

..That was in the 80's, when most of the women that I met was about in their 50 or 60's and now living in Putrajaya, the scenario is different, no more sweet scent of 'bunga cempaka' and 'bedak sejuk'.We have a big mosque here with intricate design and motives on its dome and interior and the space is spacious where it could accomodate thousands of people. A grand interior and high decorative ceiling can't beat the warm and cosy even sentimental value of old madrasah.This mosque was design with many considerations in mind but it still failed to provide the comfort especially its ventilation, where central cooling system doesn't work well here, therefore many stand fan need to be provided and this lead to a big gap of Saf. People will comfortably find a space directly behind the fan, and when the prayer start they don't care to move forward, some will who understand will definitely change the position.


Things are different, this is not a small town where people know each other, no more hugs and kisses on cheek after the prayer, no sound of grandfather's clock in an old madrasah...But I will try to do the best since this is the first time Ramadhan and Terawih with a litle one inside kicking during the prayer.

Hijau Kuning Tanahku..

Kuala Sala, Kedah Darulaman :

When we were small going back to Tok's house in Kuala Sala were not something that we look forward mainly because of the transportation, there's no bus service in that village, that means the bus will drop us infront of the mosque and we have to walk for about 15 minutes to reach Tok's house. Along that short journey we will be greeted by ayah's relatives and friends and sometimes our journey were interrupted by cows who lazily lepak in the middle of the road.
For us it was really a very long journey but I realised now that I should not regret it, that was when I have the opportunity to discover a lot of things that could not be found in Alor Setar.
Kuala Sala is just a small village where houses were built parallel with the only main road that connect them to outside world. Each houses are facing the road and at the back are acres of paddy field, the best part of Tok's house is there's a small river after the paddy field and only a few meters walk we will reach the beach.
This small river is the important system for paddy field. There were many coconut tree at the back of the house that leaning towards the sea, and we will climb and sit on it while enjoying our freshly cut sugar cane.....so sweet and juicy
This used to be my favourite area, this is where we play 'masak-masak' with my late aunt, we used hibiscus bud as chili, and cooked using coconut shell, this is also where I seek peace and hide from pain when I fell from the 'pangkin'(platform) while playing 'batu tujuh' with my cousin: Sharmi (Simah kenal kan..), Bani and twin Shoni and Shaki.I had a big bump on my left shoulder and was sent for traditional massage and it was so painful...:-(
In order to reach the paddy field we have to cross over few grave stone hiding in a bushes, Tok said "tu kubuq orang lama-lama, takdak apa aih.." but who wants to believe that? especially me who love to think that it's spooky..when the night came, we wil sleep with Tok and Ngah inside a kelambu while Tok will tell stories about her neighbours,it's kinda spooky because the only sound that we could heard is the waves and her low tone voice, she didn't scared us but the way she talk make me want to hide inside my blanket and fall asleep as fast as I can.

These are our precious supply of fresh coconut juice and milk. I like the way it grow reaching up to the sky, and here you are feeling small and scared, scared that the tree will get angry and start shooting it's cannon coco ball..

I think my interest in planting is inhereted or developed by my surrounding especially here in Kuala Sala people plant the same thing, it is a common sight, purple and green/yellow sugar cane, pelam sala and guava were plant at the front portion if the house, while colourful hibiscus will line as a fencing. Sometimes my grandpa (Wan) will brought back crushed seashell from his fishing trip and poured along the fencing and the entrance.
This lovely flower is a hit among kids where we could suck the juice, it comes in different colour.

When the place is dear to your heart, this is what you do, built a mosque and name it after your mother or father, this was built by Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli, the floating mosque with picturesque view of the sea..

Now living in concrete jungle seeing only grey sky makes me appreciate and looking forward to experience kampung life again, the last Merdeka trip while driving next to 'tali air' I saw an old man washing his shoe and an old wooden bridge waiting to fall down,not far from him there were kids fishing, laughing and enjoying their own game.
It was all green and green landscape with Gunung Jerai standing tall and proud complete the whole picture. I will come back when the next season start, who said we don't have four season?, in Kedah we have different season and the landscape change from island view, to serene green and then it turn into gold and finally light brown with smokes in the middle of the field.

I love the sun, the sea ,the moon, the waves...

The leaves swayed, the sun is going down and sometimes hiding behind the cloud, the birds fly......and I could only captured this moment and share it with everybody

Intermission - Alor Setar

A travel journal during Merdeka Holiday.

Around town - Rumah Kelahiran Che Det. Jln Kilang Ais:

entrance to Dr.M's house in JLn Kilang Ais,Sbg Perak, Alor Setar. This area has become an exhibition complex with additional building to house further display item and info. This is the first time i visit this place even though our house is just 10 minutes away :-)
The verandah is a typical element found in this area where it act as greeting point.

rattan chair in Living area, the house is well ventilated with enough fenestration and fixed timber Louvered.

kitchen and preparation area with rack (para).The house divided into several main component: verandah, living, one bedroom (rumah ibu), guest room, kitchen and dining and a small washing area. Kedah house are different from others mainly on the composition and heigt as well as architecture, where houses were built one storey higher due to geographical condition and the culture itself.The lower ground normally will house 'reban ayam' bathroom and act as an open storage and preparation area.









Pekan Rabu:

One of the oldest market place in Alor Setar, situated aLong Jalan Tunku Ibrahim and next to Sg Raja, this complex has gone few renovation and extension since it was first built.Local and traditional item from food to cloth, cutlery, couLd be found here as well as stuff from Thailand like snacks and matt. The price are a bit expensive that why the owner could where big chunk of jewellery :-)


can anyone guess what these white balls are??

The other side of the world: Part 2

Lets take a walk trough Kolkata town:

Kolkata map
further info : link
history




Cable Bridge (Vidyasagar Setu)


Howrah Bridge
Another historical bridge in Kolkatta crossing the Hooghly River, we were not allowed to stop by and snap any photo,so go to this this site for interesting history of the bridge :Howrah




M.P Birla Planetarium at Jawaharlal Behru Road - one of the largest single storey planetarium in Asia with Indian Architecture and imitation of Buddhist stupa


Interior of lobby area







Old building under conservation works using wood scaffolding


one of colonial building



Typical houses in Kantal Baria Road, Calcutta where it houses 3 or 4 family with clay roof tiles and mud floor. Most of the houses were built with bamboo as rafter and low roof with no ceiling. One courtyard is shared by these family.


Clay brick

The other side of the world: Part 1...ctd

This is how it looks like before houses were built,there are parameter wall to demarcate each lot. the place that we stay used to be like this some 30 or 40 years ago. Next to it is a double storey house under construction, the steel bar will be left jutting out from the roof for future extension, i'm sure about the foundation of the building, whether they consider it or not.

Pukeri or pond with stagnant water and no overflow pipe or discharge, source of water, some who can't afford process water from authority will depends on this for washing, cleaning, bathing..there are even big fish in this pond, but you should know to really clean it otherwise the taste is unimaginable.


Notice how the women dress and how skinny the kids are, except for one family who are a bit wealthy. this is the entrance to Bhod Babu house, there is a gateway at the back leading to his house and other houses. The yellow house on the right side is the dhorji and Ghoro(Bhod Babu's son) house on upper floor. This is the only space which wider and the place where they greet us the first time and say goodbye. There is one water pump for the family here on the left side, imagine they carry the water up and down the house including one pregnant lady..pity

Women usually eat separately from men, where they need to serve their father, husband or uncle first. So here were women from two different world getting to know each other in Bhod Babu's room. We had a visitor that day so many food were served most of it were too sweet for my taste.

View from roof top towards the courtyard overlooking the pond.




Street vendor selling puchka serve with sour gravy that looks similar to budu, I don't dare to try coz he used his bare hand to insert the gravy inside the puchka. Puchka is a hollow fritters (?) made of flour and deep fried. If we think about hygeine and cleanliness then, India (not all) is not the place, people come here for the culture and history and the adventure and mystical as well as colourful landscape





Orange juice mixed with serbuk asam, so refreshing,they normally used 4 oranges to produce one glass of juice. This is in Calcutta town during our shopping spree.

The other side of the world: Part 1

As requested by Simah:

These entry is a glimpse into Benggali culture living in Calcutta based on my own personal experience and not a thorough research.

I think I shall start with the people themselves, we in Malaysia used to call people with turban as Benggali, but actually they are Punjabi(Singh / Kaur) and their origin are from Punjab, a different part of India. Benggali are from Kolkata or Calcutta, situated next to Bangladesh and Nepal.Their language is of course Benggali not Hindi,Tamil or Urdu, different part of India have different unique culture and so does the people, their skin, the language, their food, economic almost everything.

Some of them looks like Nepalese and Malaysian with brown skin tone and women still wearing sari and men in loongy (pelikat).Even though they wear white shirt or sarung it looks pale and greyish due to dusty condition and the water quality.

The place that we stayed was in a village near Bartala (a trading area with port)and I referred it as Chota Masjid Village (chota means small). Calcutta used to be British administration centre and then under Communist, so there are still evidence especially graffiti at shop lots. Bartala is so crowded and far from imagination. You could hardly see this in a movie except for Discovery/ N.Geographic documentary, if there is any. There are people everywhere and the ration is almost 40 people per one car on the street!!The road is in bad condition with no proper drainage and garbage collection point and people pee almost everywhere.

My FIL brother's house (Bhod Babu, Bhod means Big -> so big uncle) is only few minutes from this street and the car need to pass by a narrow road, at first it wasn't a great ride coz I was afraid that it could dive into a pool, there are pool (puker) everywhere in this village. This village is different from what we see in Tamil movie with buffalo walking slowly in a green field, houses with big lawn, but one similarity is one house is filled with 2 or 3 family.

It used to be a green field with puker but when the population increased houses were built closed to each other with 2 floor to accommodate extended family, besides most of the villagers are related.There are houses that separated only by 1 meter gap with no perimeter drain, no gutter and no toilet! Some who could afford might invest on this otherwise go naturel..But we were very lucky, Bhod Babu's house has been extended and upgraded to Malaysian requirement by my FIL, he don't want his menantu too feel kekok and face any difficulty.

Most of the houses are flat roof, the reason is when the son got married he will have to stay in that house and since land is scarce he need to go vertical. These flat roof is also a dry yard with 6 meters colourful sari hung from the rope down the first floor and a playground for kids especially for kite season. I don't know whether you could imagine this but it was surreal and beyond expectation..too far.

They are poor people but with warm heart and good hospitality, only men are allowed to work especially as tailor,helper at dhorji while women have to take care of the house chore. There are many dhorji inside the village but it wasn't a proper shop some are just 3 wall with a curtain to hide their design. Every month they will sell their product at a bigger market where traders from all over India will come. Some women do involves in this trade but they work from home with small amount of wages. Their bedroom is their storage, some even worse, one small room with 3 people from 3 generation living in a dark room which is their only bedroom,living,dining, and work space..there is no mattress only thin matt, I saw this with my own eyes the day I went to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye

Parting


THERE'S no use in weeping,
Though we are condemned to part:
There's such a thing as keeping
A remembrance in one's heart:

There's such a thing as dwelling
On the thought ourselves have nurs'd,
And with scorn and courage telling
The world to do its worst.

....

part of a poem by:
Charlotte Brontte (i'm not good in poetry, so I just cut and paste :-)

It is hard to say goodbye, but I have to let her go, after three years being my companion and now she's leaving, I know she's in a good hand of my own family.
She have been travelling with me from Kedah to Johore,from highway to ferry cruise and she almost carry a dead body when I was panic. Now I kiss her goodbye.













(thanx kinat for the photo)