It was like walking in a David Bowie song. The foot fell onto powder, a soft cushion that give way and sent a cloud of moon dust into the air. This was the path to Dana's village. I've never walked on anything like it.
Dana led me back to his village, well I would say hamlet. The village is Brirendiaya but 'village' is a loose term. It clovers 7 KMs and consists of many hamlets. Dana's hamlet had about 10-12 houses or Bhungas (round houses).
Dana is the village pop star. He has just come back from Indonesia. He plays the wash board but that's his English. He plays a drum that uses goat skin over a medium sized pot and a wash board. It doesn't seem much but it sounds great, especially in a round house.
This is Dana's season and he's playing a concert most nights. In April he'll go to America.
Father and Son
Arjun (above) is Dana's brother but I don't think this is in the literal sense. They don't have the same mum for starters. Arjun works with camel leather and fashions wallets, shoes, mirrors and accessories for the house.
Communial cooking. For villagers and visiters. For a mere 25 ruppees (20p UK or 40 cents US) you get a spicy vegetable curry and as many chapatis as you want.
House
Stand strong girl! Some kids from the village
The head of the village.
No comments:
Post a Comment