Our album of pictures from Bastar, more than 100 of them, can be seen through the following link:
I got up and out a bit earlier than Daisy this morning – did write-ups and took breakfast ahead of her.
Got away 8:30 to visit Nayanar, (speaking Halbe, Gondi and Bhatri). Bison Horn Maria village.
No school today – Sunday – but plenty of kids who enjoyed the skipping rope.
Then the tribal dance – older folk do the dancing in this tribe (no ghotul system) and so it is a slower, more sober affair (they’ll be drinking soon enough in the market).
The chief came out to welcome us and after the main dance & invited both of us to join the respective female and male roles – good photo fodder and we both seemed to amuse the locals.
After a stroll through the village we were all dressed up with no place to go – 11 o’clock in a place where the market gets going at 2:30 to 3 o’clock. We decided to go back to Jagdalpur.
Daisy donated Jolly’s skipping rope to the children, which was very kind of her/him.
A girl from the village has been feverish and sick for some time and a fever has returned so we agreed to take her to the local village hospital which turns out to be a rudimentary doctors clinic but better than the shamen stuff as she probably has typhoid or at least some form of dissentry. Uncle comes with her and touches Jolly for some money, which looks dodgy to me and turns out later, via Chetan (Jolly’s fixer) to be just that.
On to Jagdalpur.
First stop, The Palace, site of the Jagdalpur massacre in 1966 and home of Jolly’s cousin Hari. Hari isn’t there but we look around.
Then Jolly phones Hari to say we’ve been, only to find out that Hari was arriving home, so we have the whole thing explained to us again by Hari who seems very sweet.
Next stop the Rainbow Hotel, Bunty’s place. Primarily for toilet and refreshment (coconut water) but it transpires that Bunty’s restaurant overlooks the local cricket pitch and there is an Interstate 25 over match in progress.
Bunty suggested that I might help out with some commentary, which I thought was a joke, but it turns out they like English commentary and a semi-pro commentator is announcing away over the PA in immaculate English.
Soon enough there is a kerfuffle and I am told to get on the back of a motorcycle as my commentary stint is due to start very soon.
I am welcomed into the chair while the commentator quickly summarises the game so far, then the scorer keeps whispering the score and key facts to me.
Daisy is also biked around to join me.
Soon I’m in my stride, but towards the end of my five over stint I can hardly see what’s happening on the field of play as I’m surrounded by reporters and photographers.
When a wicket falls, I am two balls shy of my stint and I decide to handover (heck, I can’t see) and am then taken aside for interviews at length for the local TV cable network City Cable Jagdalpur & quizzed by some other reporters. Daisy is also interviewed. Tremendous fun.
My 15 minutes of fame as a cricket commentator has been reported separately on Ogblog – click here and was reported back in 2011 on King Cricket with predictably hilarious results in the comments section, click here or link below:
We say our goodbyes [to our new friends the cricket commentators and jourtrnalists] and walk back round to the hotel. Jolly is thrilled too.
We set off back towards the market, stopping at a Dhaba – Keslur Dhaba in Keslur – daal fry, chicken curry (half), tandoori roti.
Then on to the market, which is named Pamela market and is far more of a fun fair than a market. Cock fighting is the centrepiece. Stalls are mostly food and booze and the people are almost all very friendly, some drunkenly so!
Back through Jagdalpur, where we buy a couple more hard tennis balls and another skipping rope, +3 pairs of sandals for me. Then back to the resort late, but Jolly and the lads all seemed keen for a quick match.
Ged made a bad decision to field in a fading light game, but in any case Jolly and his team are much better today scoring 54 and Ged’s team manage a paultry 14. Jolly top scored with 30+.
Then some time to wash and change. Chicken supper (hot and sour soup to start) and Gulab Jamun desert.
Relatively early night. That had been some day.
In addition to the Bastar album, linked above, there is a collection of over 200 photos from that part of the adventure that didn’t make the album, which can be seen at the link below:
