Butter scotch and memories of hobgoblins

Recently I tried to taste “butterscotch” in India, and I knew it was almost the same as a Japanese “milk shake” I used to drink in my childhood. On Saturdays, when I came back from school in the afternoon, my grandmother sometimes gave me coins and we went to buy our drinks together. I liked to buy cans of butterscotch and my grandmother used to buy a can of coffee. I felt my grandmother drinking her can of coffee was really cool and I wanted to be able to buy a can of coffee someday.

By the way, the taste of butterscotch made me recall my memory of some strange old rumours of people from my childhood.

Tapping Ghost

I used to buy my favourite milkshake cans from a drink dispenser near my house. The dispenser was quite famous as a dangerous place in the children’s world of my village. They said “when you buy a can from the dispenser, you will notice that someone be tapping your right shoulder with his finger. Never turn your face towards it, otherwise you will be possessed by the ghost.” The person poking your shoulder is a ghost who died on a road beside the dispenser from a traffic accident. Children also said, “If you turn to the ghost by mistake, you should make an angry face to the ghost so that it doesn’t possess you.” I was tense when I bought canned drinks from the dispenser.

Bunny-hopping Granma

The road beside the dispenser had another rumour. The story is if you go to the road at midnight, you can see an old lady ghost going all out bunny-hopping on the road. However, when I told the story to my friend, she also knew the story and said that the lady was not a ghost but actually a grandmother of our neighbour who lost her mind. The friend was told that by her mother. I am not sure if it was true. Even if the grandmother lost her mind, she was too old to bunny-hop on the street, or can people who lose their mind do impossible jobs? Anyway, it was a kind of horror story, too.

Chewing Granma

Talking of strange old ladies, there was a lady called “Chewing Granma” in my town. She moved her jaw all the time like she was eating something and never stopped chewing. I don’t know if she was suffering from senile dementia, but she might have some problem in her jawbone or in the connection between her brain and her jaw. Since she had taken a walk with her stroller through a parking area of the biggest grocery store in the town every day, she was quite famous in our small world. Why she became “Chewing Granma” was because she drank too many bottles of coke in her childhood. This was such a famous story that we believed that coke would melt human bones. I suspect that the story was created by some mother of my friends addicted to coke, because I can’t believe Chewing Granma could drink so much coke in her childhood days. It was obviously well before World War II. However we had no idea about the history of coke, so my friend and I avoided drinking coke in those days. We didn’t want to be a “Chewing” anything.

Men-Dou Granddad

Now again I recalled one impressive old man who lived on the way from my elementary school to my house. He was called “Men-dou Granddad” because he shouted “Men! Dou!” to children, practicing with a bamboo sword when they passed by him. “Men!” and “Dou!” are Kendo words. (In Kendo, they shout “Men!” when hitting an enemy's head with a bamboo sword, and they shout “Dou!” when hitting an enemy's waist.) I suppose he was a teacher of Kendo. My friend and I visited his yard every day after school and called him at his front door, “Men-dou granddad, Can we have water please?!” Then he shouted “Men! Dou!” to us. We believed that was the positive answer, so we drank water from a faucet by his small pond every day. Even when we weren’t thirsty, we visited him for fun. After all, I have never heard any other words except “Men! Dou!”

The Man Who Has An Axe

It is not a story of old people, but there was a young crazy man called “The man who has an axe” He lived on the way to school and was waiting for children who came back to their house with an axe. If children said bad words to him, he got angry and chased children shaking the axe. Because I hadn’t met him, when I heard the story I thought that was a rumour as usual. However, one day all the children in my school were gathered in the school yard and the principal started to tell us not to use the road by the crazy man’s house. Some kids actually seemed to have been chased by him. I was surprised that the story was true and shocked by the way the teachers protected the children. I must have considered the contradiction between social security and the privacy of people who have mental problems.

Commentary Guy

In my university days I met a man I named “Commentary Guy” on a train. The train was crowded so I was standing in the corner beside the guy. When I became slightly sleepy I closed my eyes and put my hand on my face and he suddenly started to broadcast my activities beside me in a low voice. “She closed her eyes and put her hands on her face….” he said. First I thought I was mishearing, but when I sat on the floor he clearly said “Now she sat on the floor.” I saw him but he didn’t face me but was staring at one point of the train’s floor. I was watching him in order to find the purpose of his commentary, and I felt it was his habit and he might not to be able to stop the commentary. He continued until I got off the train at the second stop.

I have heard many strange stories and seen many strange people. I would like to write about “Origami Uncle” and “Skirt Uncle” and “Patriarch in driving school” too, but it would be too much for now. My friends and I used to talk about them all the time as if they were hobgoblins. For me, many people still look like hobgoblins, whose behaviour and mind I never understood and never connected them to each other. I have tried to imagine their nature and logic but almost all of my efforts have failed so far.

The Sixth Finger

One day Yoko told me that an owner of our favorite kurta shop has a sixth finger on his hand. The finger has grown from the root of the little finger. The length is about 7 cm and is longer than the little finger. I always check his sixth finger when I visit the shop now.

The finger has no function. It doesn't look useful, just a fake finger. I suppose he can’t move that finger at all. There seems to be no meaning to having a sixth finger because it can’t even grip anything. However, while I am thinking of the finger, I believie that it is the very finger he needs for his life and that an unnecessary finger is a very essential part at least of my life in this small town in India. This kind of necessarily but unnecessarily helps me to adjust to the world.

There are many stories in his life with the finger. I don’t know any stories but I can imagine that there must be. The start of the story is that his parents didn’t cut the finger off because they believed that it was something special. I can agree with them; I can’t cut the finger off if my child comes with a six fingered hand. Now he is in his sixties or seventies. This is a long story.

A Dangerous Shower

You should concentrate all the time, be awake to all around you. Even while taking a shower, when you are relaxing, be aware, otherwise you will surely be in danger. I am always awake while taking a shower in my apartment in Mumbai.

Firstly I watch the temperature of the water every single second because it can suddenly change. You may dream you've set the proper temperature in advance, twisting the cold water tap and the hot water little by little. It’s just a dream.
It’s possible the shower wil suddenly splash boiling water and you get scalded. So you should check the temperature all the time. If you feel something hot, twist the cold water tap as soon as you can.

Secondly when I find dust on the soap, I remove it quickly and it doesn’t stay there. Soap can be covered with dust very quickly. It is not easy to remove dust from soap and it takes a long time. Moreover it is really not easy to remove dust from the soap while you are naked. You can easily feel empty. Once when I was naked and was removing dust from my soap, I thought that my life would be over removing dust and hair from the soap while I was naked. It was not a good feeling at all.

The world is not a theme park, but it includes some real dangers. I believe that even taking a shower is not easy work for us.

Yellow boys in Vashi

When I was walking on a street, a big yellow T-shirt group appeared. They were in the same T-shirts. I automatically imagined the charity event, “24 hours TV” in Japan. The yellows were gathering under an electric wire decorated with flowers and a ball. It was September 4, 2007.

I asked a man by me what they were going to do. The man explained they were going to make a pyramid of men to reach the ball on their heads. If they caught the ball, they would get 1 lac rupee as the prize. The distance was about 15 to 20 meters. “Is it possible for them?” He answered, “Of course.” I suspiciously stared they were making a big pyramid of men.

The pyramid was tall. About 5 boys climbed on 30 boys, 3 younger boys climbed on the 5 boys and one tiny little boy climbed on the 3 boys. Taking pictures, I asked the man, “And, what’s it for?” The man said, “For cerebrating a birthday.” “Of whom?” I patiently asked again. Actually, he was totally not a foreigner-friendly guy and he offered information a little at a time. He replied, “Of Lord Krishna.”

The yellow pyramid didn’t reach the ball and moved away. White and orange boys were also trying to get balls placed all over the city. All of them were too excited and wove their hands and shouted something to me just to express their joy.

インド郵便局から学ぶ諦観

Vashi駅からリキシャで５分のところに郵便局がある。今までに３回郵便局をおとずれましたが、一度としてスムーズにことが運んだためしがない。いまいちその事情というかリズムというものがつかめないでいます。

12時ごろにSTAMPと書かれてある窓口に行くと人がいない。ハロー！と叫んでもほかの職員は誰一人こっちを振り向かない。うーん、どういうことだろう？と思っていると、隣に並んでいたおじさんも困った様子で「おい、誰か一人ぐらいこっちに来てくれよ」と叫んでいる。それをどういうわけか全員が無視。通りかかった人を捕まえたら、「スタンプ係、ランチに行ってるからいない。30分はもどらないよ」と他人事のように言って、足を止めずに歩いていった。分業にもほどがあるんじゃないかと思いながら、おじさんと2人、しかたなく郵便局を後にしました。

大きな荷物を送るときには、注意が必要です。というのは、切手が途方もない面積になるため、切手の裏をちょっとなめてはっつけてやればいいや、という甘い考えではすまないのです。窓口のおばさんは、荷物の重さを量ると、その分の切手をちぎって渡し、「向こうに行って貼って来い」と指示してきます。郵便局の中にはもちろん水を含ませたスポンジといった類のものは置いてありません。しかたなく端から端までべろべろと切手をなめて貼り付けて持っていくと、おばさんが怒った顔で「ここ、ちゃんと付いてない」とつっかえしてきます。わたしは、一度に使用できる唾液の量には限界があるんだ、ということを学びました。

エアログラムという切手つきの封筒の存在を知った私は、早速郵便局に買いに行きました。一枚8ルピー。10枚くらい買っとくか、と思い「テン」というと、おばさんは「ティン？！」と繰り返す。「イエス！テン！」と再び言うと、やり取りを聞いていた隣のおじさんが「ダズ！」と叫び、にやっと笑いながら指を10本広げている。それを聞いたおばさんは「ダズ？」と怪訝な顔で私をにらんだので、しょうがなく「・・・ダズ」と頷くと、おばさんはフッ、と笑いながら10枚分のエアログラムを手渡してくれました。（ちなみにティンはヒンディ語で3という意味でした。）

なんだかよくわからんけど、まあ逆らったってしかたないよな、という一種の諦観のセンスは身に付くと思います。インド郵便局。

Mumbai, On The Way of Jogging

In the morning, I jog around Sampada station in Navi Mumbai. I guess you don't know Sampada station; let me explain, Sampada station is a just local train station which it takes 10 minutes
from my apartment. Why I can keep this jogging practice, though I'd never continued in this habit, is maybe because just I am free. Other reason is that the view on the way of jogging is quite interesting.

Some delivery men are gathering at the entrance of our apartment when I go out the gate. they have packs of milk or breads. One day I got one milk man and asked him to deliver milks to my room, but he said,"Oh, I'm too busy, you can take it", he put one pack of milk on my hand and troted off. Milks are packed in thin prastic bag like refilling liquid soaps; It's hard to hold. So I was afraid to break the bag that I held the milk bag with both of palms like bringing jellyfish to my room.

At 6: 30AM, chai house has already opened, and commuters or walkers are sitting and taking something. There are many peolple taking a walk in this town, and their walking style is very calmly. That looks not like body exersises, but mental trainings. They intend body exsersize, and just I can't percept like that? Or maybe "Calm Walking Exersise" is popular for senior pepole in India, now, I guess.

A newspaper shopper is unfolding a choth and placing the today's newspapers on it. He makes empty place for newspapers which isn't delivered. a shoes fixer has also started his business. Their targets are businessperson on the way to their offices. Here is changed into the fluits/vegitables market in the evening targeting people who is on the way to their homes, and I think, oh they share the place well, and run through.

The market in the morning lose the sparkle, and there are few people. vegitables shoppers sleep on a cart. While I wondered if they were bitten by mosquitos, one man slept wrapped with a mosquito net. That's it. Yes, I know it's cooler to sleep outside rather than inside except mosquitos. Now I remember, track drivers sleep on their track's roof at night, parking on a side of a road. I'm sure, they will die when they will roll over.

Children like junior high school studens stand on a side walk. They seem to waiting a school bus. There is a small girl's high school and it shows a picture gathering girls in school uniforms in front of the gate. However at this timing I've never seen school children in the school.

In a sports park, which takes 5 minutes from the station, many people gather in the early morning, and various exersises are showed. One is a yoga lesson under the blue sky, a instructor sits in front of his students, and about 30 middle age people practice how to breath, or up and down their legs. Other one is like "Shouting Lesson"; many guys shake their arms and shout something together. Last one is a common exersise lesson, that seems to be opened by housewives. In addition, walking couples, mom and son who helping his mom to walk, a young man who practices bridge on a bench, people who do mental trainings, and puppies which fight each other.

Dogs are one of problems, it is the timing of their breakfast so that dogs are very irritable in the morning. In the daytime, they are too calm, or almost die, but in the morning they often fight each other; if you pass beside them as though unconsciously, you may get them angry and are chased by them. When it happen, I run away saying "I'm sorry, this is my fault...", and after that I feel poor. Sometimes someone helps me hitting dogs with a bar and shout them.

Anyway, like this, jugging in the morning in Navi Mumbai, is quite interesting.

ムンバイ、ジョギングの風景

朝、Sanpada駅周辺を走る。Sanpada駅といきなり言われても困る人が多いと思いますが、うちから歩いて10分の距離にあるローカル線の駅です。日本ではまともに続いたことのない早朝ジョギングが続いているのは、まあ暇であることが一番の理由かもしれないけれど、朝の6時から7時の時間帯のジョギングとちゅうの風景がなんとなく面白いからついつい見に行ってしまう、というのも理由のひとつだと思う。

アパートの入り口には宅配の牛乳屋とかパン屋が集まり始めている。ある日ジョギングの帰りにおじさんをつかまえて「うちにも牛乳配達してくれ」と頼んだら、「俺いそがしいんだ、とりあえず今日の分ね」といって牛乳を1パック私の手のひらにべちゃっと置いて小走りに去っていった。インドの牛乳は詰め替え用の洗剤みたいなかんじでビニール袋に詰めてあるからすごく持ちにくい。袋が破れても困るし、仕方なくクラゲを持つような感じで両手の平に乗せて部屋まで持って帰った。

6時半に隣のビルの横を通ると、チャイ屋が店を開けていて、通勤や散歩の途中の人が腰掛けてお茶を飲んだり朝食を取っているすがたが見える。散歩の人がわりとたくさんいて、一様に「悠然」という感じで歩いている。エクササイズというより精神統一のためというような雰囲気だけど、本人たちはエクササイズのつもりなのかもしれない。あるいはゆっくりあるき健康法みたいなのがシニアの間で流行っているのかもしれない。

駅を抜けるときには新聞屋が地面に布を広げてその日の朝刊を並べ始めている。6時台だとまだ届いてない新聞のためのスペースが空けられている。それから靴修理・磨き屋も営業を始めている。この人たちのターゲットは早朝出勤のサラリーマンである。このあたりは夕方を過ぎると帰宅途中のサラリーマンを狙った果物・野菜市場と化していて、時間帯によってうまく住み分けているんだなぁ、と感心しながら通り過ぎる。

マーケットは夜の活気が完全に抜けていて、人はほとんどいない。八百屋のおじさんが荷車の上で寝ている。そんなところで寝て蚊に刺されないのかな、と思っていると、一人のおじさんが体を蚊帳でぐるぐる巻きにして寝ているのが見受けられた。やっぱりね。でも蚊の問題を抜きにしたら、室内よりも外で寝るほうが涼しくて気持ちいいだろうことは共感する。そういえば、トラック運転手は道の脇にトラックを止めて、トラックの屋根に布団をしいて寝ていた。これはさすがにあの高さから寝返りを打って落ちたら間違いなく死ぬと思う。

歩道を走っているとところどころに中学生ぐらいの子供が制服を着て立っている。たぶん通学バスを待ってるんだと思う。近所にはちいさな女子高があって、制服を着た女の子たちの集合写真が門にかけられているけど、この時間帯にはまだ誰も人がいない。

駅から5分ぐらい走ったところに小さな野球場ぐらいの運動公園があり、早朝でもかなりの人数の人が集まってさまざまなエクササイズが繰り広げられている。ひとつは青空ヨガ教室で、講師が前に座って、30人ぐらいの中年の人々が座って呼吸法の練習をしたり、足を上げたり下げたりしている。もうひとつは男性シニアばかりを集めた掛け声教室ともいうべきもので、おじさんたちが腕を振り回しながら声を合わせて何かを叫んでいる。あとは普通の体操教室で、これは近所に住む主婦が集まって始めたような感じ。そのほか、ウォーキング夫婦、母親を支えて歩く息子、公園のベンチでブリッジの練習をしている青年、胡坐をかいて精神統一をしている人々。けんかをしている子犬たち。

犬は問題で、この時間帯は犬の食事の時間と重なっているのでやたらといらだった犬が多い。昼間はほとんど魂が抜けたように寝ているのだが、朝は犬どうしがよくけんかしているし、うっかりそばを走ると怒って追いかけてくることがある。そういうときは「すいません、ごめんなさん」と日本語で謝りながら小走りに逃げたりしてあとで情けない気分になる。その辺のおじさんが犬を棒でぶったたいてしかってくれることもある。

というように、ナビムンバイにおける早朝マラソンはわりとおもしろいです。