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Jakarta: A city of jarring juxtapositions

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Garuda Indonesia. The name sent a shiver down the spine of the small boy from Babhnan. Yeah, he knew that it was once one of the most dangerous airlines of the world with unrivalled crash record. Then he remembered his flight to Mugu, deep in the mountains in Nepal in a 10 seater Cessna Caravan, which the pilots flew with the GPS as radar doesn’t work in mountains and checked the tires on landing! Garuda is fine, he told himself with a smile! 

Jakarta was the first place where I saw HIjabi women in bars!
Hijabi women in a Bar!

Jakarta, it was to be. The city which took its name from Sanskrit, Jay Krita or victory accomplished.  The city which was there in books since forever as the capital of Indonesia. What dragged him to the city, rather country to be honest, was a lesson in his Hindi textbook of standard 7th or 8th- a lesson about Sumatra and Bali- still Hindu majority in the world’s largest country by Muslim majority. He had to go there.

A picture of women shopping from street side vendors
Women shopping

And he was there. On his way to the hotel, for a change from hostels, at 1 am. Lots of eateries were open with a sizable presence of women too. Just like rest of South East Asian countries, he thought. Hanoi, Bangkok, Shanghai, Phnon Penh- the first thing that struck him was this- the sense of security for the women. Do they too worship women, he thought and shrugged, no time for sarcasm. 

This city is love, he was to discover soon. It was pain, when it came to the traffic, he was to discover too. It is a contradiction. Where else could one find Hijabi women in a bar, even if drinking mocktails? Or Muslims with names like Sukaron and Suharto! Jakarta holds one of the biggest (and first of the world) Ramayan Fair, also the most popular tale in the country told in a thousand ways from plays to puppetry! 

Apsaras roam the city in the night- I am with Prakash, my Nepali colleague
Apsaras roam the city in the night- I am with Prakash, my Nepali colleague

Puppetry reminds me of another contradiction: they make their ones with the skin of dead buffaloes or cows. Imagine our deities on that- I am sure it could force us to put the bigots on trauma induced heart attack watch! 

And the Apsaras roaming in the streets in full costumes and an accompanying band! Mostly of youngsters! Beware though, they may seek money so keep some change, small notes with you! As it is, they have notes of millions meaning nothing! 

Jakarta, I mean Indonesia, is repressive, it allows the police to keep people in remand without even producing them before a judge for a whopping 60 days. The boy from Babhnan saw thousands assembling right in front of the Presidential Palace protesting for a myriad of things for a full week, everyday! 

A protest in front of Monas: Or Monument of Independence

 

Biggest of them though is coexistence of religions captured perfectly by the Istiqlal Mosque, fifth largest mosque in the world with a capacity of 1,20,000 people right in front of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Jakartal. Look from a little distance, and the towers of cathedral and minarets of the mosque seem to be part of the same structure! This, in fact was the idea behind Sukarno, then president deciding to build the mosque to celebrate Indonesian Independence right in front of the cathedral. 

Fruit seller by the canal
Fruit seller by the canal

And they both welcome people from all religions. The boy from Babhnan had gone there in a group with 2 women wearing shorts- they were immediately given a kaftan kind of thing to cover. A guide was assigned to the group who took us inside and gave us great details! And his name was Indra! 

Kota Tua aka Old Town, Batavia- an oasis of museums and life

It was a visit for work so he was little hard pressed for time. The traveler inside him was enterprising though, he stole as much time as possible and saw the city like a local. He bowed to the Monas Tower (National Monument celebrating the independence of Indonesia) in memory of all those who made sacrifices, small to supreme fighting against the colonials. Just like in our own India. 

Cycle wallah in Old Town Batavia
Cycle wallah in Kota Tua

He went to the Passer Baroe- a lovely flea market established in 1820 and bought everything- from Batik to biscuits! Just like locals would! He went to Kota Tua aka Old Town Batavia, the colonial name the Dutch gave to the city when they ruled it and traced the city, and country’s history in the Fatahillah Museum. Old Town Batavia is really charming, worth a whole day of museum hopping coupled with loitering in Cafe Batavia. Wish he had that much time on him! 

Monas Tower from my hotel
Monas Tower from my hotel

And more to visit Chinatown

There’s always a next time, though. See you again, Jakarta!

 

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A to Z challenge, 2020
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Ernakulam: Exploring Nature’s own country

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Ernakulam is an enigma. A district in which sits Kochi, one of the biggest cities in South India. It is also name of the part of a small section of Kochi, a city I have been to dozens of times. So Kochi is in Ernakulam district and Ernakulam is a locality inside Kochi Municipal Corporation. Hellua of a riddle, no? Just that you ain’t going to get time to solve it.

At the Kerala Folklore Museum in Kochi
At the Folklore Museum

The boy from Babhnan still remembers, vividly, the pleasant surprise he was in for when he landed in the town for the first time. He had always hated the term descent- for many reasons. His aversion to descent in landing came from the fact that descending in a city often killed their character. But for a few iconic landmarks, Delhi would look the same as Mumbai, sans the sea. Phnom Penh would look not much different from Raipur with both looking mofussil as against megapolises. 

This is a picture of beautiful backwaters in Ernakulam, could not get the name right.
Beautiful Backwaters

Ernakulam looked none like that. There was a sea down there, a sea of greens with temples, churches and mosques too growing, almost organically with them. There were few of ugly skyscrapers. It was love at first sight. So was the view outside the airport. Almost rustic, rural, the boy from a small town so readily belonged to. It was love at first sight! 

So it was to be on all his later trips to Kerala. From Ernakulam to Thrissur and then a long road trip to Marayur through reserved forest sanctuary to famous tea plantations of Munnar and back.

A warrior Goddess in the Kerala Follore Museum,

Wait, it is about Ernakulam, right. There we are. A beautiful district with lots of history, fun and a very happy vibe to it. Go to the Fort area and roam around Mattancherry which supposedly takes its name from Mutton sellers who dotted the street and so it became Muttoncherry- slowly evolving into Mattancherry- Cherry meaning street in Kerala. 

Once immersed in the history of the area along with a must visit to the museum there- ask around for a quick backwaters tour for the next day and enjoy Kearala’s beauty in all its glory. Keep some time with you though, as it would take a minimum of 6 hours by a non motorised boat- and that is is the way to go- with pit stops in villages along the beautiful canals. And do not forget to strike a conversation or few with the local boatmen, most of them understand at least Bollywood Hindi. No mean deal that in South India, with many of the regions avere to Hindi imposition and righteously so! 

Conversations with a local boatman.
Conversations with a local boatman, sorry, could not resist the greed of posting this one too!

Once done, visit the Kerala Folklore Museum, located at, mind it, Folklore Junction in the heart of the city. Immerse yourself in the history and artifacts of Malabar region, and again, you would require hours and hours for that!

Ernakulam, of course has many other places to offer- the famous Summer Palace, the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, established by no less than the Master himself- Salim Ali in 1986, and the first in Kerala, the shopping areas like Mahatma Gandhi Road- of course, the man has earned this respect, and so on. 

Poster of Che Guevara somewhere in Ernakulam
Meeting Che

What I count as a must, though, is taking a road trip to the interiors of the district. Kerala villages are like, perhaps, none other in India. You won’t believe how really narrow lanes take you to the real riches- not only material one but also cultural one. I have never seen villages cleaner than those in Kerala across India! Stop at roadside stalls for local delicacies, including beef if you are a lover unlike this vegetarian by culture village boy.

And yeah, do not forget to say hi to all the revolutionaries you would come across- Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh, name them, sans, surprisingly, Mao. Something to do with the split in Communist Party of India with Maoists having gone on a different path.

Go, explore Ernakulam in beautiful Kerala, God’s or not, the small boy doesn’t know as he slowly turned atheist, but Nature’s very own for sure! 

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Can Tho: Call from the Mekong Delta

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The boy from the River Manvar banks was back in Mekong Delta, ditching Da Nang, the up and arrived beach destination in Asia for the second time in a row within an year. No, he had nothing against the Seas. They always fascinated him. He now lives by the sea, in Hong Kong. 

Onwards to Cai Rang Floating Market, biggest in the Mekong Delta
Onwards to Cai Rang Floating Market, biggest in the Mekong Delta

But the rivers are where the boy feels at home. Born and brought up in the foothills of the Himalayas, in the Gangetic plains also called Doaab, deltas are the place he belonged to. Places where everything revolved around the water earlier, most still does. He remembered the Monsoons: longingly waited for and scared off. Come, folk songs would plead the Gods of rains, but just enough to get us super crops, not to drown us, cut us off from the rest of the world for months. 

As it is, he had realised that at the end of the day, every travellers seeks to find the home left behind somewhere deep within. Oh yeah- a quick note on Doaab- it literally means 2 waters- do is 2 and Aab is water in Arabic. That’s why Punjab is Punjab at both sides of the border- 5 waters, meaning 5 rivers. However much borders try to divide, rivers find a way to sneak out and unite. They just know how to.

This was what had brought the small boy to Can Tho, the biggest city in Mekong Delta and the fourth largest in Vietnam. The delta, like all other delta, has a fabulous history. Prehistory, actually, as almost all of the earliest human settlements started in deltas only just like the Indus Valley one. 

The most fascinating thing about Can Tho, though, is that its past has a bridge to reach its present- a bridge called river  Hậu River, a distributary of the mighty Mekong with its floating markets just like they were 300 years ago! Okay, the boats have become motorised, the wholesale ones jetties, many of them are now electrified and there are even floating (on the boats) petrol pumps! Everything else is the same: predawn rush of the wholesalers to these real floating markets with a bamboo pole with something hanging on the top- denoting what is that boat selling. If it’s fish then fish, vegetables then vegetables and if nothing- then boat itself!!  Then come the boats selling breakfast and boats of retailers. Oh yeah and now also many tourists and some travelers too! 

Cai Rang floating market in full glory. This one is the biggest in Mekong Delta and essentially a wholesale market. Just a 15 minutes boa
Cai Rang floating market in full glory

Same are the orchards inside, well connected with beautiful, almost mystic canals shaded by the coconut and palm trees, and the villages making rice paper, and so many other things, enough for one to get lost there alone for days.

Canals linking villages, lives, economy, everything

Can Tho is not only about these floating markets though. It has equally enchanting night markets 4 of them- open all night, by the way, unlike many night markets across the word, Go and eat traditional delicacies there like a local. Or head to the cacao farms reminding you of your own mango orchards lost in the villages left behind, many even having homestays- basic enough to take you on a trip down the memory lane. 

Then there are magnificent temples, really intricate and different from one another unlike most of our run of the mill Shivalas and Mosques you can’t even differentiate from one another. 

Doing all this, you would pass by the Can Tho Grand Prison many a times. Hardy enough to believe in justice. It is for you. A backpacker drunk on youth, or a tourist which ended up there in a tour: do go, it would sober you down. 

Did I even talk about the hidden gem? Remember the 1992’s French Erotica Movie, The Lover, that took the world by storm, nay, sensuality? That helped bringing erotica inn Most of it was shot in Can Tho, in a small town some 17 kms away, in an over 150 years old house that remains the same even today!I had seen The Lover as a young adult, with the tape tucked inside my shirt smuggled into a friend’s house in 1997 or so in Allahabad. There I was in the house, I knew ever since.

This was the locale of the 1992 French Erotic classic, The Lover: It is called as Binh Thuy Ancient House, and also Binh Thuy Communal House
Locale of the 1992 French Erotic classic, The Lover: Binh Thuy Ancient House

Gosh! I forgot Ninh Kieu Wharf, I went to every single day there! Overlooked by a really tall statue Uncle Ho, as Ho Chi Minh is called across the country? It runs parallel to the river with a beautifully decorated bridge to itself, not going anywhere, just, to walk by the river and remember your own Manvar, 4400 kms away. 

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