Hello from the Himalayas! Here’s my view this morning:
Today is Day 6 of the Artist Residency Program hosted by Sparrow’s Song Cottage. The journey here wasn’t easy. I took the longest train ride of my life to get to Chandigarh from Mumbai, stayed in a nice hotel overnight, met the other members of the program and we shared a cab to Fagu. The last section of our drive was on a kaccha road and I think the driver was scared too even though he was a local. He also was too far down the road to turn back. It helped of course that there was no space for him to turn. Either way, we made it safe and sound, and I am eager to share all the insights and tidbits from the program once it’s over! Which means, you’ll have to wait till the next week.
But I do have a bunch of commentary I wrote on the 25 hour train journey in an attempt to curb my more impulsive tendencies.
August 1, 2024
08:00 PM
The train is ambling along its tracks, and the father of the family that shares my booth is full of facts. For example, we crossed a big river he identified as Sabarmati. It’s always been fascinating to me how men, especially Indian men, often don’t carry the capacity for doubt. Everything they say is simply a fact of life and existence as true as the floods that come to Mumbai every monsoon. I wish more women would go about their life with the confidence of a mediocre man.
I’m being a little mean though - he’s a doctor of some kind so he must be a little above the Indian average. I know because his wife used his title to taunt him but I’m not sure what for - “what kind of a doctor are you?” They are accompanying their daughter to Chandigarh, presumably to drop her off to college or boarding school. It’s difficult not to eavesdrop in such close quarters. There are no eaves to drop over in India, we are loud community in tight-wound communities and plywoods for doors. Sounds ricochet off the buildings facing each other and everything is audible. And to help the case, we are nosy. So I suppose we door-drop and nose-dive into that gossip. I both missed this about India and also find it one of our worst but fascinating traits.
I feel tempted to ask her if she’s moving to some boarding school in the north and if it’s her first experience. I’ve been in a boarding school for two years and I have experience you see. Maybe I can impart some great wisdom she may benefit from. We already bonded over feeling cold in the air-conditioned compartment to which her mom said, “I doubt you’ll be leaving your quilt once you settle there”. Where was there, I wonder. It’s none of my business, I remind myself and attempt to distract myself with one of my many hobbies. I can’t stop myself from overhearing but I can be polite enough to pretend. I came prepared with entertainment options befitting a 25 hour train journey! My options were as such:
Stretch my legs out by making the brisk walk to the loos between two compartments and rush back before someone had the chance to steal any of my belongings
Read on my Kindle app where I had the Mahabharata by Kamala Subramanian, some Brandon Sanderson books and On the Road by Jack Kerouac waiting
Listen to my Normal People by Sally Rooney on Audible
Write in my journal or iPad
Sketch in my little travel sketchbook
Colour in a digital colouring book on my Procreate I won in a giveaway
So I did at least three of them.
10.15 PM
I’m seated on my upper berth as they have their dinner in shiny aluminium plates. Every spoonful of biryani is wafting warm scents to my seat and if hadn’t had my dinner already, I’d be shameless enough to ask these strangers for a serving. I just peeked over across the narrow passage into their box of biryani, and sure enough there’s leftovers. Aunty is already looking forward to dessert, and has sternly instructed her husband to stop the rabdi-walla if he passes by. She has mentioned rabdi 4 times already, and her love for the sweet is now making me wonder if it’s a must-have dessert I’m missing out on. The rabdi-walla had to convince uncle that his rabdis were the best in the world and would lead to absolutely no regret. “Eat and see, if you don’t like it come and find me”, he said as he counted change. We will leave Palampur soon and the rabdi-walla will be gone forever. The daughter decided to keep the small earthen pots as keepsakes of the journey. See? She’s definitely leaving for a longer time. I’m no Sherlock and he’s not even necessary for this.
10.37 PM
The new bespectacled girl that has been allotted the upper berth across me is scared of climbing up her berth. She asked the family if any of them could exchange their place with her, but uncle gently asked her to go ask her own family for help. The only young one in their family - their daughter - was already assigned the upper berth. The new girl shrunk into her body and said that her father must already be asleep. Uncle ushered her a few seats down where her father presumably sleeps, and she hasn’t come back yet.
10.43 PM
The scared girl scurried back, took her minimal belongings and ran away. I wonder who’s empty lower berth she will be occupying tonight.
August 2, 2024
10.22 AM
The morning bustle has settled down. It’s always an adventure to maintain your hygiene in an Indian train. My mom would drink as little water as possible and be armed to the teeth with tissue paper rolls and wet wipes. I am the same; I learnt from the best. I bought a breakfast of fried cutlet with thin white bread. The family had breakfast from their massive food bag, same as yesterday. I was too groggy to catch what their home-cooked breakfast was, but know that is was not enough. Aunty complained about the peanuts not being fried properly in the vendor’s poha. Uncle also alighted from the train to get two plates of pakodas, leaving his wife and daughter hyperventilating at the possibility that he’d be left behind.
One thing has been confirmed this morning when the daughter laughed over the pakodas and said, “it feels as if we are going for a picnic, not to college”! Good for her. It reminds me of the time my mom had come to settle me to my boarding school back in 2012, and it had been grounding to have her familiar presence amidst 200 other excited students and 400 frantic parents.
Turns out the father of the scared girl took her place on the upper berth. I slept quite soundly myself despite the snores that most Indian men are afflicted with and therefore were echoing in the entire compartment. I was aware of my phone in my zipper pocket and even more so of my tiny bag with all my important belongings. A little paranoid, I had also carried a little lock to close the main compartment of the bag. My iPad was expensive and I could not afford another. My big rucksack was not an issue however, there was nothing worth stealing in there.
11.40 AM
This family reminds me of my own. Perhaps not in a train, but we’ve always carried home made food with us on our long drives to our village. We’d eat along the journey. I made an oversight this time, and I blame it on my period brain. I am reliant on these vendors for my food source, and am glad I made a stop at the ATM before boarding this train.
Another 3 hours to go, and I will choose from one of my hobbies again to keep me company. Probably sketching.
P.S. I took a nap for 2 hours and did nothing for the last hour.
But I have a bunch of announcements!
Giveaway tomorrow!
People in India can participate tomorrow in my postcard giveaway of hand-drawn original art from my trip! All you need to do is be the first to respond on my Instagram story with your full mailing address to claim a design. Last time all postcards were gone in under 3 minutes.
🗓 August 9, 2024
🕓 4.30 pm IST
Vedi’s Postcard Club!
My Postcard Club has two patrons so far, and the July artwork has been sent already! The Postcard Club allows me to combine my love for art, sending postcards, and writing personalised messages. It allows you to receive affordable original art, develop a low-effort hobby for collecting postcards and hopefully encourage you to send out your own!
Every month, you will receive a postcard dedicated to you with artwork I make specially for the club's members. For subscribers of this Postcard Club, there will also be some bonus content including newsletters, giveaways and goodies! The monthly subscription is USD 3 = approximately INR 250.
Freestyling Words: Wishes & Dreams
Join me and Rujuta of Art & Emotions Inc. for an online workshop on free association journaling. It's beginner-friendly and we combine some awareness exercises to get you into the flow. This month’s topic is wishes and dreams!
🗓 August 18, 2024
🕓 4.00 pm IST
💸 Early bird fees = INR 200 until August 12 & INR 300 from August 12 onwards
Get Writing! With Vedi & Sanj
from Rest My Opinion and I are hosting a 'Get Writing!' workshop online where we will work on prompts for all levels and learn the basics of creating compelling pieces of writing. Half of the proceeds will be donated to Khartoum Aid Kitchen through watermelon art fair.🗓 August 24, 2024
🕓 4.00 pm IST / 12.30 pm CEST
💸 Pay as you please with minimum of INR 300 or EUR 5!
Coffee, Connect & Create - August
An engaging meet-up for like-minded artists from different fields to chat over coffee while creating with each other’s company over video call!
🗓 August 25, 2024
🕓 4 pm IST / 12.30 pm CEST
💸 Pay as you please with minimum of INR 100 or EUR 3!
Hope to see y’all at one of these events over the month!
Writing from the Himalayas,
Vedi
Your writing is so warm and fluffy, hope you’re having a lovely time during your trip 🫶🏼