予報ぴったりに、火曜日に最初の雨が降った。
会社で残業をしていると、ルームメイトから電話に「雨だ！早く帰っておいで」とメッセージが届いていたので、ひとりで暗いオフィスの窓にへばりついて外を見たら、外はちょっとした嵐になっていた。いそいでオフィスを出てアパートに戻ると、雨に興奮して酔っ払った2人の友人がへろへろに笑いながら階段を下りてくるところに出くわした。大人も子供もなんだかわくわくして浮かれてしまう、それがインドのモンスーン。
道では傘のない人がびしょぬれになって人が歩いている。シーク教の人たちがターバンの上にシャワーキャップのようなビニールのカバーをかけて歩いている。町の男たちは黒い合羽やレインジャケットを着て仕事をしている。街角ではどこでも折り畳み傘を売っている。去年買った傘を全部壊してしまった私は、今年また新しく黄緑色の傘を買った。
モンスーンは涼しい。
じわじわと部屋を侵略し始めたカビにおそれおののきながら、それでも夜はなかなか快適になった。実際のところ、ムンバイで本気で暑い時期というのはあまり長くない。モンスーンの前の4月から5月にかけてと、モンスーンをすぎてからの10月、11月あたりを除けば、かんかん照りで死にそうに暑い、という日はそう多くないのだ。
あと1ヶ月もすれば、真っ青な空が懐かしくなるだろうな、と去年を思い出しながら雨を眺めている。
June 7, 2008
極楽は去り難し。
ムンバイから日本へのトランジットでシンガポール空港に立ち寄った。動く歩道に乗っていると左の壁にこんなシンガポール空港のキャッチコピーが何枚も掲げられていた。
If you find a heaven, it’s always hard to leave.
極楽は去り難し。確かに。しかし去ることを強いられるのが世の理です。切ない。もちろんこれはシンガポール空港がいかに快適であるかを訴えたコピーですが、よくよく考えてみると空港は天国に似ていると言えなくもない。
音のしないフロア、ぴかぴかのショップ、そして数え切れない数のレストラン、バー、カフェ。あのふわふわと所在のなく、目的的行動と目的的行動のはざまで一時その目的自体を忘れるような心持が、まだ行ったことのない極楽の様子に似ているような気がします。しかしもちろん本当の極楽とはちがって、お金がなければどの店にも入れない。
ひとりで空港のバーでビールを飲みながら、フロアをうろうろする人たちをぼんやり眺めていると、自分がこれから再びインドに戻って暮らそうと望んでいる、その意思をふと遠くから見つめているような不思議な感じがする。うーん、なぜ戻りたいのだろう？と思いをめぐらすが、よくわからないのでまたビールを飲む。
ゲートまで移動して、いよいよ搭乗の手続きをして、「さて」、と飛行機に乗り込むと、ようやく生きた心地がしてくる。意思を持つことと生きることとはかなり密着した関係にあるのだな、と思った。その意思や目的そのものに、自分や人を説得できるような何かがあっても、なくても。
If you find a heaven, it’s always hard to leave.
極楽は去り難し。確かに。しかし去ることを強いられるのが世の理です。切ない。もちろんこれはシンガポール空港がいかに快適であるかを訴えたコピーですが、よくよく考えてみると空港は天国に似ていると言えなくもない。
音のしないフロア、ぴかぴかのショップ、そして数え切れない数のレストラン、バー、カフェ。あのふわふわと所在のなく、目的的行動と目的的行動のはざまで一時その目的自体を忘れるような心持が、まだ行ったことのない極楽の様子に似ているような気がします。しかしもちろん本当の極楽とはちがって、お金がなければどの店にも入れない。
ひとりで空港のバーでビールを飲みながら、フロアをうろうろする人たちをぼんやり眺めていると、自分がこれから再びインドに戻って暮らそうと望んでいる、その意思をふと遠くから見つめているような不思議な感じがする。うーん、なぜ戻りたいのだろう？と思いをめぐらすが、よくわからないのでまたビールを飲む。
ゲートまで移動して、いよいよ搭乗の手続きをして、「さて」、と飛行機に乗り込むと、ようやく生きた心地がしてくる。意思を持つことと生きることとはかなり密着した関係にあるのだな、と思った。その意思や目的そのものに、自分や人を説得できるような何かがあっても、なくても。
May 31, 2008
アリババ店主の理屈
石ころは思いがけない方向にころころ転がるもので、インドで二度目のモンスーンを迎えようとしている。5月の最後の週になってから、少しずつ青空を覆う雲の面積が増えてきた。予報では来週中に最初の雨が降るという。
5月中に久しぶりに日本に一時帰国して、家族や友達など都合がつく人たちにできるだけたくさん会ってきた。私の出不精に似合わず、榊原温泉や伊勢神宮に行ったり、熊野古道を歩いたりしました。和食がなにを食べてもおいしかった。日本に着く前は、さしみ、すし、うなぎ、なっとう、たけのこごはん、ラーメン、お好み焼き、うどん、そば、カレーライス、牛肉、豚肉…と念仏のように唱えて、想像上の和食を拝んで暮らしていたが、それらもしっかり成仏してくれるほど、みんなが協力していろんなものを食べさせてくれた。
インドに3週間ぶりに帰ってきて何を食べたい？と聞かれて、考えた挙句、行き着けのレストランのフレンチフライと卵ヌードル、という取り合わせになった。ほんとは一番大好きなタリー屋「アリババ」のタリーが食べたいんだけれど、どういうわけかずっと屋根の工事をしていてタリーが出せないという。
よくよく話を聞いてみると、「タリーは人気メニューだから、タリーを出すとお客さんがたくさん来てしまう。しかし屋根がないからたくさんの人を収容できない。だからタリーを出さないで人気のないメニューだけしばらく出す」という。理屈は通るけれど、それにしても奇妙な理屈である。アリババ店主はメニューを差し出しながらさりげなく高いもの勧めるやり手の商売人のはずなのだが、やる気があるのかなぁ、と少し疑う。こういう、商売人が心底がっついていないところも、このあたりで暮らすことの気持ちよい点ではあります。
5月中に久しぶりに日本に一時帰国して、家族や友達など都合がつく人たちにできるだけたくさん会ってきた。私の出不精に似合わず、榊原温泉や伊勢神宮に行ったり、熊野古道を歩いたりしました。和食がなにを食べてもおいしかった。日本に着く前は、さしみ、すし、うなぎ、なっとう、たけのこごはん、ラーメン、お好み焼き、うどん、そば、カレーライス、牛肉、豚肉…と念仏のように唱えて、想像上の和食を拝んで暮らしていたが、それらもしっかり成仏してくれるほど、みんなが協力していろんなものを食べさせてくれた。
インドに3週間ぶりに帰ってきて何を食べたい？と聞かれて、考えた挙句、行き着けのレストランのフレンチフライと卵ヌードル、という取り合わせになった。ほんとは一番大好きなタリー屋「アリババ」のタリーが食べたいんだけれど、どういうわけかずっと屋根の工事をしていてタリーが出せないという。
よくよく話を聞いてみると、「タリーは人気メニューだから、タリーを出すとお客さんがたくさん来てしまう。しかし屋根がないからたくさんの人を収容できない。だからタリーを出さないで人気のないメニューだけしばらく出す」という。理屈は通るけれど、それにしても奇妙な理屈である。アリババ店主はメニューを差し出しながらさりげなく高いもの勧めるやり手の商売人のはずなのだが、やる気があるのかなぁ、と少し疑う。こういう、商売人が心底がっついていないところも、このあたりで暮らすことの気持ちよい点ではあります。
November 7, 2007
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.
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.
September 21, 2007
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.
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.
September 19, 2007
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.
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.
September 7, 2007
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.
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.
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