frgdr.com

I will try to tell the story of how people I have never heard of, who live in a place I have never heard of, and speak a language I have never heard of – have used a photograph I took for the cover art of their musical album.

At the end of 2001 I went to India and spent about six months backpacking. One photo I took was of a street beggar. I shot it in a small village called Hampi in the state of Karnataka in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. I actually took half a dozen shots of the same man, and what I particularly liked about this one is the enigmatic face, glistening with sweat. I felt it conveyed the true meaning of being that person.

Back then I wasn’t blogging yet, but I did manage to develop, print, scan and email that photo to folks at home. Fast forward to 2007 when I started blogging and one of the first things I did was retroactively post my travelling correspondence, including this one.

Now we get to two days ago, when I noticed quite a bit of traffic coming to my website from this forum post. I could not understand what language the site was using, but from the bits in English I could decipher the post was discussing the similarity between the cover art of an album and that of Assassin’s Creed, a video game – both featured a hooded man. A user by the name of Angaiha was able to track down the source for the man in the cover art: Yes, it was my photograph.

Upon further investigation it turns out that the cover art was for a choir named Synod Choir for their video CD titled Pathian Hmel which apparently will set you back a hundred Indian Rupees (a little more than two bucks). Oh, yes, it turns out that this musical ensemble comes from the Indian state of Mizoram which I have never heard of, inhabited by Mizo people who speak (and sing) in Mizo language and look nothing like the Indian people I have met travelling.

How do I know what Mizo people look like? Glad you asked, as it gives me the chance to direct your attention to the album’s eponymous song:

It should be mentioned that everything I post on this blog falls under a Creative Commons license which allows for certain uses of it, but using any of the content for commercial purposes goes beyond that scope. Basically, there are legal ramification for the unauthorized usage of my photo, but I will not get into that at this time.

[09/03/2002 19:36 Kathmandu, Nepal]

The Indian people don't lie. It's just that when they don't have the answer, they'll give _an_ answer. It won't be the right one, but they feel they were nice to a stranger.
This is why the "Law of Four" was invented. If you need correct directions to go to a certain place, you always ask 4 people.
The correct way is usually what the majority of the 4 said.

I broke the law of four and regretted it!
I thought that it was enough to ask the train station enquiry clerk for the correct platform when I went from Delhi to Agra.
3 hours after riding the train, I asked the guy next to me when will we reach Agra.
His response?
He laughed and said: "Agra? This train is going to Punjab".
Not only did I take the train in the opposite direction, it was to the state where all the Hindu-Muslim riots happened.
6 Hours after departing from Delhi, I was in the same place, taking a taxi to Agra…

Never Break The "Law of Four"

—-

Hi everybody! Long time no update!

Been having too much fun I guess…
Anyway, I am in Kathmandu now and it is a _whole_ other country.
The people are so pretty, the streets are so clean and it is such a relief from the Indian atmosphere.

I plan to do some trekking here and some white-water rafting.

There were so many rumors in India about the situation in Nepal, including the one that the Israeli Ambassador fled to New-Delhi (did you hear that one?).

Of course everything turned out to be totally incorrect. Everything here is fine – which is not something I can say about our little country.

US$550 for a plane ticket to the East! Think about it…

—-

Some pictures, all from India, to remind you of how I look:

The first picture is from Kodaikanal. It is a hill-station (that is, a town up up in the hills)
where the Brits used to go on their vacation (ruling the country is a difficult job). It is a beautiful place, and since I was with beautiful people, it is (up 'til now) the most memorable I have ever been to on this trip.
In the picture you can see all the beautiful people I was with: Oren, Ziv and Ya'arit. We are playing cards at sunset (a game called "Asshole", I'll teach you when I get back home…).
And the rock we are sitting on is called The Dolphin Nose, a half a day trekking distance from Kodai.
It is so worth it, just for the magnificent view!

—-

The second picture is from Chennai (Madras) in the state of Tamil Nadu (South-East part of the sub-continent). You can see us (the ol' gang), drinking the best Ice-Coffee in the world.
It's called Iced-Eskimo, and it is only served (with or without ice-cream) in Cafe Coffee Day, an Indian coffee shop which is actually a gate to the western world.

Chennai is a city that most Israeli travelers skip (for no good reason). Whoever told me that Delhi is the place for western food and shopping (I know your name and address), whoever that was, obviously never been to Chennai.

—-

The third picture is from the train I took from Chennai to Jaipur.
It's a 40 (forty) hours ride from the South-East to the North-West state of Rajasthan.
Being that long a ride, me and Ziv took the 3rd A/C Class so it was fine.
You even get bed sheets and bad food.

—-

One last thing before we depart again:
The Indian post office has very strange working hours. Just from 10:00 to 16:00.
This is just to serve a specific purpose.

I arrived to the post office in Varanasi to send a parcel at 15:30.
Of course you need to pack each parcel with cloth, but no worries, there is a nice guy that will do it for you for just 100 Rupees.
Then, I reached the counter at 16:00.
But no worries, the clerk is still there, only he will not talk to you, just to a guy that "fixes"
everything.
He showed me a piece of paper that the post office
clerk wrote.
It read: 1,460 for sending parcel – 350 for Bakshish.

Yes, this is how the Indian post works. After working hours you need to bribe the clerk. So of course I did my "I am shocked" look, and told the "fixer" I would only pay 100 Rupees bakshish.
The clerk of course did his daily show, where he takes the parcel shoves it back to me and says "Come back tomorrow 10:00".
So now was my part, where I said, "Okay 200".
So get this: this clerk made 600 Rupees (for 3 parcels) in 10 minutes. That's a 4 days pay.

When I kindly thanked the clerk and turned away, the "Macher/fixer" guy told me that his service is 50 Rupees. When I told him that he should get the pay from the clerk he told me that the he can't because the clerk shares the money with all the other postal workers, including the manager.

India! What a country! What a culture!

—-

That's it for now, although you can see some more
pictures at:
[…]

Lots of love from the only land that does not have a rectangular flag,
Shahar.

[Sunday 3/2/2002 01:11 - Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India]

Hi everybody!

I am in Chennai, the 4th largest city in India. It is in the south-east, but you probably know that after checking the map at […]
Right?

Anyway, it’s a huge Indian city with all the beggars and the sewer in the streets, but it has its perks.
Malls! Huge shopping malls to spend all your Rupees in!
Today for instance I spent all day in one (1!) store inside a mall.
7 hours in one _huge_ store!

The weather here is a bit hot. Not as much as the hell in Cochin, but a huge different from Kodaikanal – the town I just came from.
It is a hill-station established by the Americans up high in the mountains.
It was so called there, waking up in the morning reminded me of waking up for guard duty in the boot-camp. But then again, everything here reminds me of boot-camp.

One last thing:
After 30 rolls of camera film, more than US$200 spent, and around a thousand clicks I have finally found a picture that I really like:

Attached is a picture of a beggar. It was taken in Hampi, Karnataka state, India in January 2002.

Shahar.

[26/1/2002 16:15 Kanyakumari, Kerala, India]

Hi friends!

Yes, I'm at the end of the world.
Well… close to it – I'm at the end of the Indian sub-continent, at Kanyakumari.
Check the map attached, if you look up close you can see me waving.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you some stuff:
First, you should know that I bought the newest Lonely Planet guide for 200 Rupees. Now, bare in mind a new one costs 1,200 Rupees.
Mine is used but in excellent condition.
Not only that I saved 900 Rupees, I sold my old LP Guide for, who much?
You guess! 210 Rupees!
So that made me happy for a day or two.

Second, I wanted to share with you something I noticed about the local currency:
Most of you know by now that 10 Rupees equals 1 Israeli Shekel.
But that does not mean that something you buy in Israel for 4 Shekels you would buy here for 40 Rupees.
Oddly enough, many items are 1/10 of the price, so if you buy a cup of tea in Israel for 5 Shekels – you would also buy it in here, for 5 Rupees.

The third thing I wanted to share with you is that I was a model for my friend who is studying Ayurevedic massage. She needed someone to practice on.
Silly me, I said "Okay" before I was informed an Ayurevedic massage includes a butt massage.
The things I sacrifice for my friends… I tell ya…

Fourth insight I got from staying too long under the Varkala sun is the Indian way of saving money:
An Indian clerk at a shop will turn on the lights and the fan when a customer comes in, and when he comes out, he will turn it off and sit in the dark.
I met a driver that never tried the Air-Conditioning at his Boss's car.
I saw Indian people, sleeping at their desk offices, waiters sleeping at their restaurants, drivers in their cars.
I saw plastic drinking straws being re-used, and wooden ice-cream spoons being washed and served again.
Sheesh…

Fifth update, is close encounters in my served food. I won't elaborate more than this:
Fly in the sugar, glass in the spring roll, human hairs in the Palak Paneer.

Last thought from the Varkala Beach – India is so polluted!
Every human organ is affected:
Lungs – with the unbareable Rickshaws and cars polluting the air,
Ears – with the industrial noised and drivers honking their horns for no reason,
Eyes – with the over putting up signs everywhere, so much that it reminds me of an army base.

Hope I didn't occupy too much time off your busy schedule with my rambling…
Love you all from the most Southern point I will ever reach in this trip,
Shahar.