We woke up on the 27th morning unable to believe that 6 weeks had passed and that the family section of our adventure was over. This was a depressing fact. From this evening we would also be homeless unless we found a flat quick smart, so this drove us out of our depression and straight onto our mission of finding a new home. Of course we had to eat first, so Sandeep took us to a wonderful restaurant in the Taj Mahal Hotel (not the fancy one in Mumbai), where we had the most delicious Button Idlis and a great cup of chai- all we could think was that Guy and Capsar would have loved it!

Sandeep had already made a short list of several flats in the nearby area, and as we went to see them they all got struck off the list one by one for various reasons such as requires a 1 year lease, the grittiest bathrooms ever seen and already taken 3 days ago. So by the afternoon we were feeling quite forlorn, when we came across a reasonable priced 2 bedroom flat which was really clean and airy when we saw it. We settled on it, went to see the owner, and he was most suspicious of this strange group comprising a strapping young unmarried man, a middle aged married woman and her 10 year old daughter looking far too grown up for 10 (in his eyes). He demanded to talk to Sandeep’s father, and could not understand why 2 foreigners could possible want to stay here. When he found out we were only leasing for 3 months the whole deal went out the window. We took leave, and afterwards felt quite relieved that this awful man was not going to be our landlord.

Ironically Sandeep vacated a flat he had in another part of town at the beginning of January, but this flat did have serious plumbing problems. We still had an option of the one bedroom flat near the school office, but there would be nowhere to park the car and it would surely get bumped and dented in the narrow lanes, which we felt would not be an option. So the last option, as we had to be out of there that evening would be to go to Harshiths family’s house temporarily. They had insisted upon us coming there should we not find anything, and furthermore Sandeep’s father had found out that a person in their area was vacating a good flat in one day’s time. The other pressing fact was that Freya had a major performance coming up at a public programme in Hyderabads Public gardens on the evening of the 28th, and thus would need some practise, and also a place to prepare for it. So it all pointed to us gathering our stuff and taking the trip 10km out of town to take refuge at Narasimha’s house.

Freya was freaking out at the thought of having to be force fed rice again, so I suggested I make pasta for everyone. This excited her and Sandeep too, who just loves pasta. Sandeep managed to fit all our accumulated stuff & kitchen equipment in his car in two trips, which was wonderful given the distance and the traffic. We arrived there and were warmly welcomed, and I prepared Pasta for everyone. Sandeep was so happy eating this, and so were we after our exhausting day out. Narasimha’s wife Swapna though could not eat it without a huge serve of hot chutney!

Our last meal together at Hotel Paradise

As new occupants were coming to stay at the school offices in Jeera, we were given notice to leave the premises by the 27/01. So our attention turned rapidly to househunting and on the 26th morning we found a reasonable one bedroom flat in the same street as the office. This made us feel at ease to enjoy Guy and Caspar’s last days in the city. We had bought some extra suitcases for all the extra luggage that we had accumulated, and spent quite some time packing it all up. Harshid’s family came to say goodbye to Guy and Caspar, and we had a lovely time with them eating pomegranate and ordering pizzas from Dominos.

For the evening meal they took us to a fantastic Chinese restaurant, where we enjoyed the excellent food, but most of all we savored the Chinese tea, which made us feel like we were at home. We returned to the office to collect the luggage, and with several suitcases on our laps, we managed to fit it all in for the short drive to the airport. There we joined the snake like queue that had been formed in order to the the passengers inside the terminal. Around five flights were taking off that night and it was clear that Hyderabad desperately needs the new airport which is already under construction. After Guy and Caspar went inside, Freya was pretty sad. She had really enjoyed her brothers company over these past 6 weeks, and was already missing him a lot. Along with Sandeep’s two sweet adult students Shrikanth and Santosh, we waited for about one hour to seen if they got through all right. After an overseas call to them inside the terminal we returned to the office, where we were quite happy that we were to spend only one more night.

After a bit of a sleep-in Freya did her morning practise to get ready for the evening performance at a large public Sahaja Yoga Meditation programme in the centre of Hyderabad. The family were very sweet and accommodating, as we took over their living room for dance practise. Harshid’s Sister Puja took me out for a spot of sari blouse ordering and shopping. The tailoress lives just around the corner and has a 24 hour turn-around. Our lady hosts just love seeing me in a sari, and were determined to get me some blouses, so that I can wear their favorite dress. I had already had one blouse made up elsewhere, but was not too happy with the fit, and so I had left the rest of the sari blouses to be made up when I find the right tailor. We also had to get some material for some of the blouses, so we went to a big 4 story department store Kalamandir, where we got perfectly matching blouse materials.

Puja was telling me how she got accosted near her school a few days back. Somebody asked her for directions, and as she pointed to the road he got out a razor blade and cut two of her fingers. He then escaped in his car, where the numberplates had been covered over. Otherwise he would have easily been tracked down. She said she bled a lot, but luckily the cuts were superficial. She had a tetanus injection, as well as antibiotics just in case. One had to be very careful…

Puja then took me to a bead shop which was like a candy shop for me. All kids of stunning beads and sequins in all sorts of shapes were lining the shelves – supplies of all kinds for fancy embroidery. The sewing threads were beautiful, especially the mixed metallic colours and were fine enough to be used for sewing on beads. You purchase everything by weight, and 10 grams of beads were 4 rupees; the equivalent amount of beads in Australia would cost at least 70 rupees. the sewing threads were 11 rupees, and a similiar quality in Oz would cost at least 150 rupees. So I went a bit crazy, as usual, buying many different sequins and lovely embroidery threads. We then rushed home as it was already 2.30, and after lunch we got Freya ready for her dance performance in the evening. Miraculously we were ready to leave home at the time we were supposed to be at the venue – this seems to be the norm with us. Sandeep had wisely told us to be ready one hour earlier than the real time – he knows us all too well, but it does seem that nothing ever starts on time here, and no matter how late we are we always end up being early!

Sandeep kindly informed me in the car, that he had also nominated me with the organizers to sing just one song. So I was madly practising the only Telugu song I know in the car on the way to Hyderabad’s Public Gardens. Sandeep helped me along with pronunciation, which was great. When we were arrived we were warmly greeted and the very sweet local Sahaja Yoga practitioners who we had already met in Nizamabad, were so exited to see us. We went to the dressing room to get Freya’s make-up done. After a while spent waiting, they called me to the stage to sing. Before I went on stage the presenter said to me very clearly to sing only if I was confident…I know many songs in Hindi and only one song in Telugu, which I was far from confident with. Also my voice was really bad and out of practise after my cough and it felt really rough. So I said yes I am confident (not), and walked onto the stage. I started up and the keyboard player and tabla player accompanied me nicely. It was great to see the look on the audiences faces, as they realized what language I sang in. I got a great applause, and believe me the Indians are not keen clappers. It was far from my best performance, but the novelty factor got me through. Then I was kindly whisked off the stage, as there were many acts queuing up for their chance to shine. Thanks to Sandeep’s perseverance, Freya got a prime spot just before the main meditation, and danced her 1 item, which was very well received indeed. The tabla player came up to me afterwards and said You sang well, but your daughter is really amazing. I told him to please tell her that, as she sometimes feels this mother/daughter competition with me. So he complimented her nicely, and so many people expressed their wish to see more, and invited us to their next meeting. We stayed for the lovely meditation, which Santosh and Srikanth really enjoyed.

In the last days of Guy and Caspar’ stay here we have been visiting the local city attractions. In the early morning we went to the Birla Mandir, a 30 year old temple on top of a hill overlooking Hyderabad. This relatively new made temple complex dedicated to the Hindu god Venkateshwara, is made entirely of hand carved Rajasthani marble, and really shines there on the hilltop. It was wonderfully cool to walk on the smooth marble, and the morning air was really cool, and foggy, and it felt as though the winter fog from the North was rolling in over the city, as the sun could not be seen at all. We watched 3 eagles circling over the hill, and surfing on the updrafts coming quite close to us.

Telugu university, where Sandeep had obtained his masters in dance

After this peaceful start to the day we ventured into the city centre where we visited the Telugu university, where Sandeep had obtained his masters in dance. It was a lovely creative environment, and we saw the dance faculty, and even passed the Graphic artist’s (or professional artist’s as they call it) classrooms. There was a wonderful exhibition of paintings by students (I presume) covering much of Andra Pradesh history in pictures, which was very interesting. One painting depicted how one of the Nizam’s had been so impressed by the kuchipudi dance troupe, that he handed them the land of Kuchipudi village.

After this we visited Hyderabad’s main stage, Ravidra Bharati, where Sandeep has performed more than 80 times. It is a lovely theatre, with a huge space surrounding the back stage area, and making for a great environment to put on big productions. A local dance school was preparing for their annual function, and we enjoyed listening to the live dance orchestra, which is such a luxury for dancer to have in Australia. After this we came across one of our favorite stores in Hyderabad Kalanjali, where they sell everything in clothing anyone could possibly want. There is endless choice in glamorous beaded salwar suits, ethnic hand printed shirts, and great little Elvis-like sequined white suit jackets for 3 year olds – amazing. Almost impossible to concentrate on selecting anything, as there was just so much choice. Next door to the clothing department was a furniture and artefact showroom. This was like walking into Aladdins cave – and it did make us wish we were loaded with cash…beautiful beaten silver metalwork swing seats, with silk of many deities, as well as a 2 metre wide carved sandalwood statue of Lord Nataraj worth about 10 000 Aussie dollars. It was truly magnificent. It still amazes me how in India one can get anything in any price range from very cheap to incredibly expensive. We could not take photos in this showroom, so thus no pics of these incredible treasures.

After yet another tempting shopping expedition, we were very hungry, and the kids were all fired up about the nearby McDonalds, where we tanked up on Chicken burgers, Paneer (fresh cheese) wraps and veg burgers. Then we headed to the other side of town, where roadworks made it extremely difficult to get to the home of one of Sandeep’s major dance gurus. We finally reached there pretty hot and bothered, which was all thanks to Sandeep’s perseverance in the difficult traffic. His dance guru Sri Nataraja Ramakrishna had been awarded one of the 4 highest civilian honours of India namely PadmaShri. He solely revived a temple dance unique to this state of Andra Pradesh called as Andra Nathyam. Without his lifetime of work completely dedicated to this dance form (he never married for this reason) the art form would have been completely lost. He is now in his eighties, and has health problems, but his eyes just glowed, and he spoke incredibly articulately about dance. He has written 50 books in the subject, but unfortunately for us, these are all in Telugu. The dance was originally performed by women only, as part of a religious ceremony or offering at the temples of Andra Pradesh. Under Moslem rule some of these lady dancers were also dancing in the courts and thus got compromised. So in the 1950, after independence this religious dance form was forbidden. So Nataraja Ramakrishna solely revived the dance form, and is still working tirelessly to give it a higher profile. He is also an expert on Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam, and it was a real treat for Freya to present one dance item to him in his home. He then gave her a beautiful pomegranate for her along with his blessings.

Sri Nataraja Ramakrishna giving Freya the only book written by Ramakrishna in English

For dinner we went back to one of our favorite haunts Eat Street on the lake and had our fill of chaat and pizza.

The following day we went to see probably best known part of Hyderabad, the old city and the markets around the Charminar (the four pillared arch in the centre of the old city). It was really busy and bustling, but thankfully there was a pay parking area, where we could finally get rid of the car. It was quite hot too, but after a plate of cool watermelon, we felt refreshed and eager to see the famous bangle markets of the Laad Bazar, which is located in one of the four streets stretching from the Charminar. We were constantly followed by kids trying to sell is plastic pearl necklaces – one boy confidently offered me one for only 10000 rupees ($330), trying out his luck….In the end we had to threaten them with the police if they did not scoot. The unending street of bangle shops was amazingly dazzling, but everywhere the shopkeepers were urging us to come in and see their wares, which was quite distracting really. In the end we found a small lane, where it was quieter, where I haggled for a good price on the lovely lac bangles with glittering stones, and amazingly intricate bangles made of glass.

Irani Chai at the Medina Cafe

Then we evacuated down the street to Medina Cafe, famous for its Irani Chai, where we also ate some lovely fresh strawberries, which Sandeep had managed to buy in the street at the normal rate- as soon as they saw me the price doubled. Sandeep had to keep reminding me to walk away from interesting goods and not look the slightest bit interested. Otherwise the opportunity to bargain was gone.

We continued on to the chappal sellers street to buy Guy some beautiful handmade leather sandals. There was so many shops, but I think in the end we found the friendliest, and Guy found some lovely pairs. Sandeep and Freya found one the the largest pairs of Kolapuri slippers in the world!

After our early rise to celebrate Freya’s arrival on the front page of the nationwide Hindu newspaper, we got ready to go to the theatre. We had a lovely light breakfast – Sandeep’s mum is so worried about our eating – she feels we don’t like her cooking because she feels that we are hardly eating anything. She does not speak English so it is very hard to convey to her that we love every bit of her cooking, but that we just can’t eat a kilo of each item on her extensive menu. We feel permanently full and often stuffed to be precise! A normal lunch consist of a starter of at least 2 chappatis with 2-3 vegetable curries, followed by biryani, dhal, rasam (pepper water) and white rice. The last part of the meal is more of their beautiful long grained white rice with homemade curd (yogurt), and 1-2 breads stuffed with jaggery as a sweet. It is a struggle to get though all this twice a day, and the feeding team bent on stuffing us, is ready to serve us seconds and thirds at any time, which we constantly have to refuse. I wish I was really starved, so I could eat like a glutton and make them all really happy, but alas, I feel heavier and fuller than ever! I would like to take this opportunity to thank Graham Brown for his amazing tip – giving us the phrase charlu which means no more in Telugu – I have now had plenty of practise at using this life-saving phase.

From Left: Freya, Sandeep’s Father, Sandeep’s Acting Guru, Sandeep & Sandeep’s Sister

At present in Nizamabad is hosting a statewide theatre competition, with select plays being performed. They are shown live on television each day of the festival. Sandeep’s drama teacher, who we saw in action recently in a new Telugu movie, was directing a play, and he insisted that we all come to see it. So we headed for the freshly renovated auditorium, and settled in, with much attention given to us – they must hardly ever see foreigners here. Freya’s patience with all this fuss being made over us was starting to wane – so she puts on a grumpy face and tries to disappear. The play was just amazing. Although the whole thing was in Telugu, the acting and drama of any situation made it incredibly interesting to watch. The production values were great, the costumes and stage sets beautiful and tasteful, and it was clear that this was not ordinary small town production. All the actors were very well known in their own right (and some of them from the relatively large Telugu movie industry), and as much of the play was in verse, they also sing beautifully. The villain had the classic evil laugh and he was quite a character to watch. At one point in the performance a young movie star arrived in the auditorium, and there was much commotion at the door, where all his followers were congregating. It was becoming quite noisy, and so they simply asked this young mega star and his minders to leave, as it was disturbing the audience too much. In the finale of the play the bright blue colored goddess Kali, who kills all the demons, and has a belt of skulls around her waist and her tongue hanging out, came in and danced around swallowing a lit candle in her mouth. Most of the rest of the play was much more subtle in its action, but this finale was to celebrate the final victory of good over evil, and the power of forgiveness.

After the play finished, we made our way to meet the director, but we were completely swarmed by onlookers. Everyone asked us where we were from and wanted to take photos with us. Somehow Caspar and I lost sight of Guy, Freya and Sandeep, and then a young man showed us the way to the green room, where we met all the actors, and had photos taken with them, and of course we thanked them and wished them all well. It was packed with people in there, and it was a relief to get out into the open. We finally found the rest of our team on the verandah, where Guy and Freya were in the middle of a TV interview. They wanted to hear our opinion on the play we just saw and how it was different to theatre in Australia. So maybe we might be on television….I hope we gave sensible informative answers. Actually as we arrived at the sari shop afterwards (on the way the kids and Sandeep squeezed in two ice-creams each at the ice-cream parlour) we met a couple of friends who said they had seen us on TV watching the play. They said that in the breaks between the acts they had filmed us watching the play. Freya was really not impressed by all this attention, so I told her to thank her lucky stars that she is not a really famous person!

We have just had a lovely light lunch of vegetable biryani with raita and pickle (only), and Sandeep is going to have a haircut, teach Freya a little dance, while Guy is waiting for his new gold ring to be delivered…and then we drive back to Hyderabad, after a most homely and relaxing stay with Sandeep’s lovely family.

After recovering for only one day from our dance pilgrimage, (by going back to our beloved Paradise Restaurant for another legendary Hyderabadi lunch), we again felt fit for yet another adventure.

Sandeep had planned to take us to his hometown of Nizamabad for the week-end to visit his family in their new apartment, which Sandeep purchased in May last year. There were lots of things we wanted to buy on our trip so far, but Sandeep has kept saying Don’t get it here, get it in Nizamabad!. He has quite a celebrity status in his hometown, and thus has all the connections needed to get the best deals. So for many reasons we were looking very much forward to experiencing Nizamabad, and of course to see his lovely family again.

We set off at 7 am from Hyderabad, in order for Sandeep to work his Saturday, which is also a school day. The school is 50km out of town, on the road to Nizamabad, so it made sense for us all to wait there during school hours, and then travel the last 130 km straight from there. While Sandeep worked the kids read their Harry Potter books, and I decided to cure myself from the horrid cough I could still not shake off. I also had an allergic reaction the night before, and had not been able to sleep for most of the night from itchiness. So in desperation I took one of Sandeep’s one-pill antibiotic cure, and then slept on the office couch for several hours. I could feel the medicine blasting the bug, and after some hours I actually felt decidedly better! By the time we left the school at 3.30pm I was already coughing much less. The drive was pleasant as this road, which goes all the way to North to Delhi, and is relatively well surfaced. Before reaching town we stopped at one of the many beautiful sunflower fields, where we took a few pics.

We met Sandeep’s father at a material shop, where Sandeep encouraged Guy to get silk shirts made up. They sew shirts for Sandeep here at the old rate of 60 rupees per shirt, which is less than $2! Guy selected some beautiful raw silks in the most stunning colors and weaves.

Sandeep’s new home, is the on the 2nd floor

After that we made our way to Sandeep’s House where we were met by his family. Upon entering his house we were warmly greeted by the rest of the family. Sandeep’s sister & mum were pleased to see us again and gave us many hugs. The house is a new and the fitting out of the apartment has been overseen by Sandeep. It has beautiful marble floors, high ceilings and has light airy feel. One wall of the living room is occupied by a select list of Sandeep’s Dance awards. He has many hundreds of awards and this wall has only the most recent!

Sandeep’s mum served us Chai and sweet rotis stuffed with brown sugar and sesame seeds. Most delicious! It was great to relax at a Home after our long day. Whilst relaxing and drinking Chai, Sandeep filled in the family with our adventures of the last couple of weeks. he was most keen to show his father the video of Freya’s performance at Cuttack. So Guy started attaching the video camera to the TV – however freya suggested that rather than watching the video, she could show them the dance there and then. So without much fuss, we again got the iPod out and Freya danced for the family.

The next morning, Sunday, we got up early (very hard for the kids) and after some hot Chai, we ventured off early to see the famous Saraswati temple. In all of India, there is only one Saraswati temple, and its just 30km from Nizamabad. Saraswati is the goddess of creativity, so as we are all in creative pursuits, it seemed appropriate to visit her temple. Outside the temple we bought a bunch of lotus flowers for 10 rupees (30 cents). I wish we could get them at home at that price!

We arrived at the temple with all the other devotees. Sandeep was greeted by the curator of the temple, as just about everyone here know him. We were ushered directly into the heart of the temple by passing the long queue snaking around the building. The story of the temple, is that saint Vasadeva meditated in a cave near the temple and the created out of the river clay, a figure of Saraswati. Later a huge temple was constructed around the clay deity. On the leaving the temple, we climbed the hill behind to go and see the very cave that Vasadeva meditated in. There was small opening that we climbed through and into cool space with light from cracks above – there was room for about five people to sit.

Art on the Village walls near the Saraswati Temple

A little further down the road is ghat (steps down into a river) and we wanted to cool our feet in the river, as the day is quite hot. Sandeep haggled with a boatman at the ghat and we took a small pontoon out into the heart of the river. It was really quite on the river and we hung our feet off the edge of the pontoon. Very nice.

Next on the tour, was the Hanuman temple built be the great warrior-king Shivaji. It is a much lesser know temple than the Saraswati one and consequently, we just about had the place to ourselves.

Outside the Hanuman temple, near Nizamabad

Saint Ramadas, another great saint, was said to have heard the earth making a noise as the god Hanuman was self forming out of the stone. Now one must not look when the gods are taking form, but he was so keen to see his lord, that we turned his head to look. As he did we witnessed that Hanuman had not fully formed and his left foot was still in the stone, unformed. And as such, the Hanuman at the temple appears out of the stone of the mountain with an unformed left foot. Amazing story.

Later that day we shopping for pearls at a family friend of Sandeep. Again we got amazing prices for things because of our association with Sandeep. That night we went to the local mediation center, where Freya did an impromptu performance.

After a big silver shopping expedition we boarded the train back to Vijayawada, on the route down along to East coast. The Indian man sitting opposite turned out to be working for Citybank in Parramatta. I was feeling pretty lousy with a horrible cough, and we all slept early as we were getting off the train at 3.30am. I was quite relieved to reach our destination, as I had had enough of couching by this stage. We waited outside the station in the middle of the night with the newspaper deliverers, until Sandeep got the car from his friends place. We drove there, and slept for quite some hours at his students family’s house.

In the morning a lovely breakfast was prepared for us and after a cup of strong chai we were feeling more alive. We then relaxed all morning watching the Australian open and also the cricket.

Caspar had a bit of a tummy upset, and was feeling nauseous, so it was good to stay in one place. As happens always in India all plans change by 3 hours at least, and as they really wanted to give us lunch before going, we did not set out for our 270km drive home until around 2.30pm. Caspar was also feeling better by this time, which was great, as the windy pot holed roads can also make you quite car sick.

On the highway outside of Vijayawada stands a 40 metre tall statue of the monkey God Hanuman. He is seen to give blessings for travel, as in his time he flew at great speed through the air to save the life if his Lord Rama. This temple is only 5 years old, and is of course dedicated to Lord Hanuman. The structure is made of concrete, but the surface has marble dust added in the mix to make the surface of the statue glow and retain its whiteness. It was quite a commanding sight.

As the sun went down it reflected in the water of the rice paddies, creating a magical atmosphere. The road surface was pretty bad in many sections and it was quite a test to drive in the dark with a huge number of trucks travelling the highway at night. Sandeep had promised the kids some Dominos pizza for dinner, and although it was after 10pm when we finally reached Hyderabad, and he had driven for many hours, he still stopped at Dominos to get the kids their desired dinner.

We were all so glad that we did not have to get on another train or go anywhere, and that we were back home.

We got up early, and headed out to find the silver filigree stores for which Orissa is particularly famous. The most readily available form of transport here is the cycle rickshaws, which can fit 2 persons. It was quite a long ride through town to the silver shopping area, and as there was mostly bicycles travelling these narrow streets, the was no sound of engines, as it made us feel like we were just floating through these colourful streets. It was overcast and cool, and a really beautiful atmosphere to be travelling through. We shopped until nearly dropping- the silver filigree is truly amazing, and we bought up fairly big. You could get anything from the well known Orissan Konark temple wheel, to models of dinosaurs and televisions in intricately shaped fine silver thread. Sandeep bought me no less than two very beautiful silver filigree necklace and earring sets, which I will truly treasure, especially the memory of the trip we made to find them! We raced back to the hotel – as much as you can race, willing the peddling rickshaw driver on (I do feel somewhat bad being a passenger on these man-powered rickshaws), as we had a train to catch in less than one hour. So we made it to the train station in time, (the train was delayed anyway), and are now travelling back to Vijayawada, to pick up the car and drive back to Hyderabad. We will arrive by train at 3pm, and will probably take a nap at Harshid’s family’s house, before the 5 hour drive home. We are already planning where to eat first when we get back to the Cybercity! Better try get some sleep, if my chest will give me a break from the constant coughing. The kids are now eating ice creams, and it seems the later it is getting the more lively the crew here!

Tuesday January 16 (video to follow soon)

First of all wishing you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER – Hope you had a lovely day with friends and family!!!.

For us January 16 was also a very special day. Stationed in our very lovely Hotel Bombay , with the friendliest hassle free staff, we started the day with chai, orange juice and alu paratha. We also enjoyed catching up with the action of the Australian Open live from Melbourne via cable TV, but soon had to tear ourselves away, to go to the famous Kalavikas Kendra auditorium.

Harshid, his sister Puja, and the 2 dance teachers who are learning classical dance from Sandeep, (whose names are Srikanth and Santosh), were performing during the morning session. Oh and just to fill everyone in, the previous evening was the opening of the 7th International Children’s Theatre Festival. Sandeep had been feeling very sick all day with a cold and flu, and we had tried everything to get him well in a hurry, as he was to be a special guest on the opening night. Freya was also on stage handing out flowers and banners to the invited special guests, and Sandeep received a special award and plaque for his contribution to the festival. He was not feeling too crash hot to receive it, and was in fact expecting it on the following day.

Anyway, Freya performed 2 dances in Bharatanathyam style, which went down very well. As usual the local TV channel was interviewing Freya and Sandeep, and so many were interested in the Aussie girl. We talked with a local Odissi dancer, and she just could not believe that Freya was from Australia, once she was in all her dance gear. I think she also did not believe that Freya could actually dance like an Indian, and was very surprised at her performance. She was really very sweet and incredibly thrilled to see Freya dressed up like an Indian.

 

So we spent the morning in the auditorium cheering on Sandeep’s students, who all did very well in their performances. I spent the whole time coughing – a horrible persistent dry cough that I have managed to pick up, and it was such a bore. We had also accidentally placed ourselves right near the speaker stacks, and for some pieces of music in particular the sound was incredibly distorted and totally earsplitting! One of the organizers really wanted to invite us for an authentic lunch, but by 2pm when all the dances were over, we had to evacuate back to the hotel with our ringing ears, to collapse for a while. Nevertheless, it was pretty interesting watching all the varied performances, especially some amazing modern dances with so much energy, or as they would aptly say here with TOO much energy. Really they have to be seen to be believed! So too the costumes!!!

After a short respite, the make-up artist arrived at our hotel room, and again it was time to get Freya into her gear – I was kind of thankful that it would be for the last time in a while. Anyway, it all went without a hitch, and we were ready early to head for the stage. We got there in time for a wonderful group performance from the state of Gujarat, which included a maypole, where many saris would be platted by the dancers into a beautiful colourful rope by the end of the dance.

In the meantime Freya was ready to perform 3 Kuchipudi dance items, and we were especially exited for her to perform the new dance she had learnt from the amazing legend Radheshyam. And it did indeed became the Piece de Resistance for her on the night. I was manning the iPod on the side of the stage and was really enjoying it, feeling much more relaxed. Freya was in her best form thus far. After the performance, Freya and Sandeep went to speak with the judges. One of them said, but that was not pure Kuchipudi?! Sandeep later told me that he was fuming inside, and informed her that Freya had learnt from the masters themselves of Kuchipudi village. It turned out she had never seen Kuchipudi dance before. Freya was called to the stage, and so too Guy and I, where she received a beautiful trophy from the Theatre Movement (which is affiliated with UNESCO, Denmark) and certificate. She was wrapped.

In the meantime Sandeep had received an invitation for Freya to go directly to perform at a festival on another stage in town. So after all the officialdom was finished, we were on our way to a much more amazing event than this first one. We drove through the 1000 year old city by 3 wheeler rickshaw, and as the streets got narrower we arrived at our destination, the end of a narrow street. At the end of this street, which could probably only accommodate one normal sized car in Australia, was a narrow stage, complete with curtain and lights. In fact the whole street was lit up as this was the main day of the Pongal (or winter holiday) festival. The end of this street was full of people, which were pouring out of every nook and cranny.

The atmosphere was lovely, and it reminded me of villages we had visited when we toured Maharastra 18 years back. Sandeep said that this was a celebration in true village style, and it really did feel like we were in the centre of a village in the countryside. Our party was whisked into a house in the street where we were seated comfortably – amazing how many persons can sit in one small room in a house in India. I assisted Freya in a visit to the toilet, which was quite a procedure, with all that dance gear on. Then she and Sandeep went to the stage, and I got out the iPod & speakers and we were ready to roll. This stage was no more than a few metres wide and was covered in loose cotton carpets. But Freya just flew across the floor effortlessly, and during her really fast movements the strobe lights came on, turning her dance into a whole new style of production. It was such fun.

We happened to be in the front row right under the speakers again, and in true Indian fashion, or ears felt like they were going to burst. I am now sure that Indian people are definitely much more thick skinned even down to the ear canals! But there was so much joy and happiness in the air, that we all could not help but enjoy ourselves to the fullest. They passed us lovely chai and coffee, and could not do enough to look after us. Santosh and Shrikanth did a couple of really lively dance pieces too, which were also a big hit with the audiences. Then again Freya and her mum and dad were invited to the stage, where Freya was handed yet another trophy by the deputy mayor of Cuttuck. I was then asked to say a few words, and by complete chance really hit it off by saying that we would never forget this wonderful night here in the ancient city of Cuttuck, which was met with a roaring applause. There was a lot of love in the air. It was magical. After the performance, we were again seated in the house, and were served samoosas, sweets and lemonade. This was very much welcomed by the kids, and especially for Caspar, who is always looking forward to the next meal. We departed this magical scene, and headed back very tired, relieved, and overjoyed by this very memorable Pongal night in the old Orissan city of Cuttuck.

We are often amused at the spelling of English, especially in menu cards in restaurants: Cahew nut curry, Chicken clar sup, Chineese, Chicken cone soup etc. We would love to make up a menu of only misspelt dishes. I think we will start a list next time we eat out, so we can post it for all to enjoy. Also the naming of dishes and product can be really amusing. In the cake shop we went to today we saw some delicious chicken pastries which were named Chicken Titbits. I said to Guy “These pies must definitely be made with chicken breast”!