Wedding of He Hongyu and Joe Carter
1989
January 1
Although Hongyu is in the US, I am a welcome guest at her family home. I wrapped gifts for everyone. I had told them I would arrive at her parent’s home in the People’s Daily (Ren Min Ri Bao) residential district around noon. The family referred to it as Grandma’s house (Lao Lao Jia). I arrived about forty minutes early so I walked around for a while. At noon I went to Yu Ning and Mao Mao’s place, nearby Lao Lao Jia. Bate came downstairs from the third floor to greet me. Only he and Yu Ning were there. Mao Mao was already at Lao Lao Jia. Twenty minutes later we go over too. Happy to see everyone. Hongyu’s cousin from Xinjiang, an Islamic part of China, was there. His mother is the Head of the Women’s Federation in Xinjiang. She has been here many years and speaks the local Uighur language.
Hongyu’s father is quiet. He gave me a magazine published by the Central Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and recommended an article called “A Reconsideration of Religion”. He used to be on the editorial board of the magazine. Hongyu’s mother (Lao Lao) asked about my parents. Huge wonderful meal. There were so many of us, that Bater (13) and Shan Ying (just turned 6) sat at a separate small table. Shan Ying was shy with me for about 5 minutes and then warmed up. She loved the gift from Hongyu and I; a plastic board covered with small pegs. You could slip small variable-colored cylinders over the pegs and make different patterns and shapes. She quickly figured out the possibilities. We also gave her a necklace made in Taiwan. She wore it proudly, and after dinner spent a long time in front of the mirror arranging her necklace and jacket in different ways. She played the piano for a while. Then she played with the gift for Bate - stiff paper, printed and scored so it could be folded into dodecahedrons with Escher designs on the surfaces. Bate was less interested. Yu Ning liked the gift of stamps we gave him. Bate liked the stamps better than his own gift.
At supper, Bate kept his eyes glued to the TV in the other room while sitting at the table near us. At one point he shook his hand near some bread, indicating someone should put bread in his hand so he wouldn’t have to break his concentration on the TV. His mother gave it to him. I didn’t feel brave enough to comment on that.
A telephone call with Hongyu was planned for 4:00pm. Calls are expensive. She called right on time. On the phone, she sounded a little agitated, nervous, her voice a little strange. I gave her my bank details so she could send the $1200.00. This topic consumed our time. Then she said, “Let me talk to Mao Mao”. Song Hong Gang is helping finish up the divorce paperwork. When she came back from the phone, Hongyu had hung up. We never talked; she never said goodbye. I felt sad and strange.
Later they played a tape recording of a reunion of people who had been sent to Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution. Hongyu’s first husband was part of this circle and could be heard on the tape. Bate said, “That’s Hongyu’s husband!” If Hongyu is still legally married, why am I with her parents like this? They have accepted the first marriage is over.
I told Mao Mao (Song Hong Gang) about the olive oil I bought at the Friendship Store. At the time I complained to the salesclerk that I was paying Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC) for something made in China. Mao Mao and Liang Liang also complained; it wasn’t fair that Chinese people could only shop at the Friendship Store if they could get some FEC on the black market, and they had to be accompanied by a foreigner just to go into the store. January 2 I study Jose Ospina’s book, “Housing Ourselves”. Cook more vegetables and lamb. I accidentally spilled my boiled noodles into the mop sink; had to make more. When I went to the government store where rationed food was sold, the shopkeepers asked what my relationship was with Li Rui Hua. I had an interesting conversation with Mr. Qian, my neighbor, about housing. He told me quite a lot that I didn’t know. His wife, also about 70, has a kindly, young-looking face. I have no telephone in my flat. Most people have no phone. An elderly couple lives on the ground floor of my building, which has about 150 apartments. In the entrance to their flat is the public phone for our building. They collect a 20 cent fee for each call. I got to know the old couple quite well. They were usually in their living room drinking tea. Often there are a few people waiting in line. Spending too long on the phone is not well received. The public phone in my building could only be used for local calls. I made long distance and the rare international call from the China National Telecommunications Office (Dian Bao Da Lou) west of Xi Dan on Chang An Avenue, about 2 Km. from my home. From there I called Dave Landringham in Tianjin. He said a letter had arrived from India and he had already mailed it to me. I asked him to please hold future mail. January 3 Arranged to visit UNICEF next Monday. I went to the Dian Bao Da Lou again to call Hongyu. After paying a deposit of 200 yuan, and getting a ticket with a number, I sat in a large high-ceiling waiting room. About half the chairs were filled. We all watch a small box on the wall that will show our number. When mine appeared, I went to one of the many doors that lined the wall, like confessionals in a Catholic Church. In the dark sound-insulated booth I picked up a telephone and waited as an operator dialed the number I requested. A ring tone sounded. Pause. A voice. “Hello”. It was Hongyu. “Hi! How are you?” It was working….at 80 yuan per minute. She had met nice people and would soon audit classes in Land Economics. She said the divorce agreement had been signed by her and her husband but was still going through the courts; it might take another two months. The call went by so quickly. We didn’t seem to say much. This time she didn’t sound so strange. She said about the January 1 call, “You are too sensitive!” Doubts and hopes rattled together in my mind and heart. I walked home; that was the event of the day. Bought a chicken and made soup. Keep reading “Housing Ourselves”. January 4 Made a call to He Jian Qing and her husband. Huang Hui came to my home for a visit. Zhang Long invited me to go to her place for supper; other guests are Sun Hua Sheng and the editor of Women in China magazine. For most of this conversation I used my simple Chinese. Finish reading “Housing Ourselves”. January 5 Making notes from “Housing Ourselves”; helps me understand my British materials. One month before I go to India. Prepare, prepare. He Jian Qing and her husband Song Kai Lin came to see me. My apartment is on the third floor and is one of three that share a corridor that leads to the staircase. I am at one end of the corridor, the staircase is at the other. The staircase is not well lit. In the darkness, my guests could not read the apartment numbers beside the doorbells. They pushed two of the three, but not mine. One of my neighbors came and said some people were looking for me. She didn’t let them in because they were strangers. The other neighbor came out to look at my guests. We had an interesting discussion; He Jian Qing peeled pears they had brought, and made tea. January 6 I was getting settled in my home and had started to do preparatory reading for my next “research” trip. The first was to Tangshan; the second to Canada, the US, and England; this time I will go to Bangkok, India, and Honk Kong. This morning, Beijing was blessed with a heavy snowfall. The whiteness on the gray city, and the refreshing moist air pushed me outside. I skipped work and headed for the Summer Palace; I wanted to be somewhere beautiful. The lake was frozen over. Hundreds of young people were playing on the frozen lake, making snowmen, throwing snowballs, taking group photos. Cheerful sounds. I spent the day alone, but happy. I climbed Longevity Hill and photographed corrugated snow on wet black tile roofs. Sponge toffee, made with molasses for lunch. On the way back I took a small van taxi called a “mian bao che” (bread-loaf taxi). We stopped at Beijing University on the way and picked up a modern-looking young Chinese woman with an elegant sweater coat. Her head was wrapped in shawl like a Renaissance Virgin Mary. We chatted. She was in business, making anti-pollution devices for cars, I think. Not sure with my Chinese. She had also been to Yi He Yuan and was carrying a very fancy camera. She said she had been standing on the bus, then got off, because she was too sore to sit down. She had slipped and hurt herself on the ice. As we went our separate ways she gave me her phone number and asked me whether I was married. Came home and ate. The letter from India, forwarded from Tianjin has not arrived. January 8 Sun Hua Sheng came by. He was concerned I would have trouble taking care of myself. To sit down in my living room, he walked carefully around the edges of my reed mat to avoid stepping on it. He had to be very skillful because the mat spread almost to the edges of the sofa and two chairs. I didn’t know that my reed mat rug was a Liang Xi, a special grass reed mat used in the hot summers to cover a bed. It made summer sleeping a lot cooler compared with sleeping on a cotton sheet. The reed mat was not meant to serve as a rug. Sun Hua Sheng was too polite to point out my error. He took me for lunch to a very nice vegetarian restaurant between Xuan Wu Men and Xi Dan. We continued to Xi Dan to a large shopping district including a very big indoor food market with live fish, ducks, and chickens. January 9 I drafted a letter to Jose Opsina and listened to the recording I made of our conversation last year in Lewisham, London, England. I think it can be transcribed and used in my report almost as is.
I went to back to Wangfujing; money from Hongyu had not arrived. I asked them to check at the Central Bank; it had arrived there! Go to fetch it; celebrate with a dinner at the Jian Guo Hotel. Write thank you letter to Hongyu. Phoned Dave Landingham in Tianjin; still no letter from Dennis Barry or CIDA. And the letter from India that he forwarded from Tianjin has not come to Beijing yet. January 10 Review my Chinese material in preparation for visit by Gao Xiao Hui of the Institute of Urban Housing. Brought my cloth to He Ping Men to be made into curtains. January 11 Now I can enjoy a hot shower, oatmeal with raisins and coffee (from Hainan Island) in the morning. Got my curtains, wine red, soft; feels more like home. I danced a little to Kassav, an Afro-Carribean band singing “Kassav Zouk La Sé Sel Médikaman Nou Ni” (Zouk is the only medicine we got). A western restaurant opened halfway between here and Xidan. Sandwich with dry white bread, a small fruit salad, and a simple vegetable salad, 8.00 yuan. Food not so good, but the place was clean and the service very friendly. Ate my own soup for supper; chicken stock. Good! I am Domestic Man! My neighbour, Mr. Qian, dropped by. Good chat about: Cultural Revolution, neighbours, future of China, housing. I gave him my Herald Tribune (sold only in international hotels) that I had finished reading. He was happy to get it. January 12 AM Prepare an outline of my work for Sun Hua Sheng. PM: Gao Xiao Hui arrived. He lives in the south of Beijing and must ride for an hour on his bicycle to get to work at the Ministry of Construction at Bai Wan Zhuang. At least my place is closer to his home. He went to Indonesia recently to attend an Asian conference on housing. He will leave some materials for me to look at. He said he could take me anywhere in China to investigate local housing. He was enthusiastic about my materials. He will borrow them while I am away for two months in India. Later he will tell me what parts he thinks relate best to China. It feels very good to exchange with him. Supper at Zhang Long’s was a banquet. She had done a lot of work to prepare, and had invited her friend Zhu Yi Yun, editor of Women in China magazine. I’m hoping I can help them find ways to circulate their magazine abroad. Sun Hua Sheng was there as well. He brought a video tape we all watched. We stayed late. Zhang Long said she would help me find work in China. January 13 AM
Kong Qian, the visual artist, and a friend of his, a plastic surgeon and dentist, arrived from Tianjin to talk about getting a show of his art in Canada. A letter came from Hongyu, with photos.
PM
Huang Hui, an architect from BIAD, came by. She is very interested in the design of housing; few architects are. Because of this, she says, she has to work long hours. Most of our conversation is in Chinese; it’s difficult for me. I will visit her institute next week. I go to the Jian Guo Hotel; spaghetti supper with foreign newspaper and coffee.
January 14 Zhang Long gave me 200 yuan for the work I have done for her. Read a good article about housing by Lin Zhi Qun and Gu__ __ Head of Institute of Urban Housing. Make notes from recording of conversation with Don Johnston at CMHC, Canada. January 15 Friday In the morning, I went to the Beijing Railway Station to buy a ticket for tomorrow’s train to Tianjin. While I was at the station, Zhang Long had come to my apartment by subway from her place and left a note on my door. It concerned work for me in a design office. I have no telephone, so she could not call me.
Nor could I call her. I went to her place at the China Building Technology Research Center, but they were not home. I left them a note on their door. At about 8:00pm she and Li Rui Huan arrived at my door. She had talked with Yan Xing Hua, the head of the biggest private office in Beijing. At this time there are only two in Beijing. All other architectural work is done by government work units. Yan Xing Hua’s office has about 90 people and he is interested in meeting me. I will be picked up by his driver at 1:45 on Tuesday afternoon. Zhang Long = “action”! January 16 Monday Take train to Tianjin. Go to my old home, the Foreign Experts Building (Zhuan Jia Lou) Dining Hall for lunch. Most of the foreigners are traveling for the Spring Festival holiday. Stay with Dave and Marcie. Wonderful soak in a big tub. Get a little money from my Tianjin bank. Called Dennis Barry in Newfoundland. He said he had put 50% of the money from the sale of the house into my account in St. John’s. Good news letter from CIDA. They approved my application for an additional 3,000 Canadian dollars, permissible in this program. They said my report No. 3 was very interesting and well presented so they agreed to provide the additional funds. Beautiful notes and cards from John Joy (an actor I knew in Newfoundland) and his wife in New York; my brother Tom, now in Ecuador; Sandra Lynn Hutchison, a Baha’i from the US living in Hefei; Chris Crabtree in London; and, an enthusiastic, warm welcome from Meera Bapat in Pune, India. Met with Yu Mao Lin on the Tianjin University campus; he translated my talk in 1985. January 17 Return to Beijing At 1:50 pm Zhang Long, Li Rui Hua and Yan Xing Hua all came to my apartment to pick me up. Mr. Yan reminds me a little of John Schreiber, animated. We have a good talk and he welcomes me to come and work in his office. They are not a government office. They are financially self-supporting although administratively they are under the Beijing Institute of Architecture and Design (BIAD). He said their office overhead is 1,500,000 yuan/year. We have a big lunch together at a restaurant just west of Cheng Xiang Mao Yi Zhong Xin at Gong Zhu Fen. Their office designed this huge project. Zhang Long, Li Rui Hua and Yan Xing Hua were all at the same Gan Xiao (farm labour camp) in the 1960s where they went for re-education.
Cheng Xiang Mao Yi Zhong Xin (The Urban Rural Commercial Center)
A letter from Hongyu; she’s not happy with my refraining from courtship until she is legally divorced. January 18 Wednesday I received a registered letter from Zhang Chi in Tianjin. He and his wife will visit me next Sunday morning.
A postcard came from Bate saying he and his parents were coming to visit me on the same Sunday morning. I went to the Indian Embassy to apply for a visa and to the Thai Airlines Office in the Noble Building to book a flight. I can have a free stopover in Bangkok.
While I was out I phoned Hongyu’s mom; please tell Mao Mao, Yu Ning, Bate (who live near her) to come to my place next Sunday afternoon instead of the morning.
January 19 Wrote letter to Canada Council asking for help to find Canadian Galleries interested in Chinese art. Gao Xiao Hui dropped by. Good visit and discussion; he is teaching me a lot about China. I took him to a western restaurant for dinner. Food not great; place full of young fashionable entrepreneurs.
January 20 Work for a day at Zhang Long’s office; proof-read two and a half articles. I hand-wrote changes in the margins. Here I am made to feel at home; she wants me to work there one day a week starting in September. Fine by me; very friendly atmosphere - also a good place from which to make phone calls. I made an appointment with an Australian doctor to get shots. January 21 Letters to: - Judith Kjellberg, editor of Women and Environment re help for Women in China.
- He Hongyu
- Meng Chang Ming, artist in Nanjing
- Sandra Hutchison, teaching English in Hefei. At home, I accidentally dropped my spoon down the squat toilet. Went to He Jian Qing and her husband’s place for supper; very good. Play wuziqi. They live in one room and share a bathroom with others on the same floor. It’s a dormitory that belongs to the Ministry of Construction. January 22
Heat up water for thermoses for tea for Zhang Chi’s visit. They were supposed to come at 9:00am, but they came at 8:15am just as I was in the stairwell dumping garbage down the garbage chute. They had come straight from the train from Tianjin. He needs a sponsor; I can’t help him. I don’t have enough money. By 9:30 they’re gone.
Song Hong Gang, Yu Ning and Bater could have come this morning. I wonder whether I have inconvenienced them. At 3:00pm they come followed soon by He Hong Liao and Shan Ying. The two sisters went off to Xi Dan to buy some food for supper. The others made themselves at home. Shan Ying drew pictures and stuck them to the refrigerator. Bate played with my typewriter and listened to my music. The sisters came back, took over the kitchen and made a little feast. I feel adopted. They told me my rice pot is actually a chamber pot; no wonder when I bought it, they thought it strange I didn’t want the top.
January 23 Get visa from Indian Embassy. Pick up my ticket to Bombay at the Noble Building. Phoned Huang Hui about going to her office tomorrow. She says maybe tomorrow’s not good because there will be no electricity and the elevator will not be running. She is on the ninth floor. I said it doesn’t matter. I got a cholera shot from Dr. Carpenter, an Australian at a clinic in the Jian Guo Men Foreign Diplomatic Compound. He asked me whether I was an American. I said “No”. “We don’t serve Americans”, he said, “because they like to sue people”. He also said the cholera shot is useless in India, but you can’t get in without it. I visit Larry Inch and his wife. They are working at the Canadian Embassy. He is the son of one of my father’s WWII buddies. They have a big apartment in the same at Jian Gou Men compound as the doctor. Living in this walled compound, they have less contact with Chinese people. The elevator operator watches who comes and goes. Larry bought a car from a dealer in Beijing. Because they are foreign diplomats they pay less than a local buyer. There is a very high tax for local buyers of cars. When they leave, after using the car for two years, they can sell it for twice the price they paid, to middle men who sell it to Beijing taxi companies. They gave me a ride home. In the tape deck, they played recordings they had made of radio stations from their different postings around the world. Sounds of Manila came from the dashboard lights. Turn left at Tian An men. Drive by the Great Hall of the People, boom-chakka-boom, turn right at the biggest Kentucky Fried Chicken store in the world and soon I’m home. Through the squeaky, swinging, spring-loaded entrance, up the black stair, pass the three-bell door, through the corridor crowded with our things nowhere else to put, to my home. The cholera shot was taking effect and my arm was quite sore.
January 24 Write letter to Ann Wilson. At one of the buildings at the Beijing Design Institute, I climbed nine floors to meet Huang Hui in her office. She showed me her design for a housing project at Xiao Hou Cang. Most of the original residents stayed. They moved into 5 or 6 story apartments that were built on the original hutong road structure; something from the past was kept. She said China’s administration is organized in a very vertical way. Although there is more power if you move up the ladder, she is tired of managerial work. She would rather move down the ladder so she could concentrate more on design. Just outside her office, Nan Li Shi Road, has a human scale, about 35 meters wide. Fuxingmen Wai is so wide, 100 meters, red line to red line (property line to property line). I went to Gan Jai Kou with Bater to Liang Liang’s home. Had supper with her, Xiao Shan (her husband), Shan Ying, and Shan Ying’s friend from downstairs. We made a Spring Festival card for Hongyu. They gave me a gift of date juice and yoghurt to take home with me. January 25 Letters to Meera Bapat, and John and Joyce Edmonds in Pune. A letter came from Zhang Long saying please phone her quickly. I went to the big Post Office on Chang An Ave. After waiting for fifteen minutes I got through. She said Zhong Jing will offer 1500 yuan per month (half in $US). I said, “OK!” I’ve got a job!! Thank you, Unseen Force, divine assistance, confirmations, fate, angels…..!!! Read Rewi Alley’s biography. January 26 Went for walk. Cultural Minority Palace closed for lunch. A woman and two children wanted to deliver a 50 kg bag of rice to my next door neighbor who wasn’t home. They left it at my place with a note, so I could deliver it. After supper, I decided I would like to go to a movie. As I was leaving, the third neighbor in our corridor came out, brushing her teeth, and asked me about the bag of rice. I said I could take care of it, no problem. She looked suspicious and concerned. I bought a ticket to a movie at a theater nearby; first time I had bought a movie ticket by myself. Because I can’t read I had to ask whether or not the building was a theater. The movie was terrible. The audience was bored. The word I understood most in the movie was “Jiu jiu wo”, “Save me!” Walk home in the cold night.
January 27
Another letter from Zhang Long saying getting the job at Zhong Jing might be more difficult than we thought. She can’t make any promises. “The vorpal blade went snicker snack!”
Gao Xiao Hui and Liang Xiao Qing came by to talk about co-operative housing all afternoon. Gao Xioa Hui took me out for a jiaozi dumpling supper at the little restaurant next to my apartment. After supper I went by myself to the Jian Guo hotel for coffee and ice cream, by myself, consolation for the not-so-encouraging news this morning.
January 28
I phoned Zhang Long. She said there is still a good chance. She took down details of how I came to China in the first place (someone was asking). We talked about a back-up plan, namely, pursuing work at Qinghua as a teacher of design. If I worked there and they agreed to be my work unit, I would still have time to help Zhang Long with her magazine. I phoned Gao Yi Lan, Head of the Architecture Department. She was receptive to the idea of my working there, especially since I had my own place to live.
I made a selection of books and articles from my housing research resources and put them into three boxes for Gao Xiao Hui. He came by with a driver and small van to take them away - borrow them for a while.
I sense I have been really hurting Hongyu with my posture of, “Let’s just be friends until you are divorced.” I think maybe she has given up even on our friendship.
The meter lady came by today to check my consumption for the month of January:
Water: 183 m3 @ 0.12 yuan/m3 = 21.96 yuan
Electricity: 63 KWH@ 0.20 yuan = 12.60 yuan
[Montreal Electricity, 2021: 360 KWH@ $0.07= $25.2 = 133.6 yuan]
Gas: 30m3 @ 0.14 yuan/m3 = 4.20 yuan
Total: 38.76 yuan.
My neighbour, Mr. Qian said my water consumption is very high because I am paying for a previous tenant who lived here in November. Also, he said I leave my lights on all the time and use incandescent lamps which are more costly to use than fluorescent.
January 29
Write letter to Gao Yi Lan.
There was a note under my door
Li Rui Hua had come all the way by subway to tell me there had been a new “development”, but I was out when he came. I called Zhang Long later. She said I need a letter of introduction from the Tianjin University Foreign Office. I go to the railway station to buy a ticket to Tianjin for February 1.
January 30
I went to the bank at Fu Cheng Men. I was expecting US$2300, but only US$1735 was sent. Why? Neither the money from CIDA or Dennis Barry has arrived.
Sun Hua Sheng and Luo Chi dropped by to borrow some of my materials and to have a chat. We arranged to meet again when I come back to Beijing in April.
Photocopied letter to Gao Yi Lan and sent copy to Hongyu.
Western lunch at Jian Guo Men Hotel. I walked to the Jian Guo Men subway and then got on the wrong train, heading north instead of south. And, there was Li Rui Hua on the same car! Strange! We reviewed the requirements of the letter of introduction that I should get from Tianjin University. He said this may be the first time a foreigner has worked for a Chinese firm in Beijing as a full-time employee. If we succeed, he said, “It’s a ‘venture’”.
Transcribe interviews with Colin Munro and Jean Winninger.
Mr. Qian’s wife handed me a little note.
February 1
Go to Tianjin.
Pick up my mail. Letters from Hongyu and from India. And, a new VISA card.
Zhang Chi came by in the evening to talk about his plan to go to Australia. He said many of the young teachers I know are now living in a dormitory for young couples at Liu Li Tan(r).
February 2
Go with Zhang Chi to Tianjin Telegraph and Telephone Building (Dian Bao Da Lou) to help him telephone Australia. Successful! He got good news about graduate study program and a scholarship. He agreed to write a letter of recommendation from the Department of Architecture to help support my application to work at Zhong Jing.
Take 10:38 am train back to Beijing. Nearly finish proof-reading an article for Zhang Long. Walked to a little market at the west end of Liu Li Chang. I bought vegetables from a woman who said she was a middle school student and was studying English. Bought cakes in a little shop. Fun to use my Chinese. I enjoyed walking through the hutongs to get there and back.
February 3
Work for Zhang Long at China Building Technology Development Center. She liked very much the photos I gave her of her and her husband.
February 4
I haven’t had a proper bowel movement since I moved to Beijing in late December. It might be my home cooking.
Write letters to Jai Sen, Colin Munro, Li Ping, and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
At Tu Pian She, the large photography center at Xuan Wu Men, the staff - an old man and a young woman - were very friendly, helpful, polite.
February 6
I spent most of the day at my home with Song Hong Gang, Hongyu’s eldest sister, and her husband, Yu Ning. Other members of the family came and went. This was a goodbye until I came back to Beijing on April 5.
Hongyu’s extended family all gathered at “Lao Lao Jia” (grandma’s house) about every other week. Even though Hongyu was not there; I was invited to join these gatherings. Great company; great food. I play with Bate and Shan Ying, and talk with the adults.
Mail my letters in the Post Office at He Ping Men. I used a Tianjin University envelope for my letter to Colin in Canada. A lady in the Post Office said here was a regulation saying envelopes with red characters on them could not be mailed out of the country. She refused to sell me stamps. I was a little angry. I worked for a while sticking stamps on my other mail. She waved me over. I could buy the stamps, but I had to stick them on top of the red Chinese characters to obscure them. She had figured out a way!
The workers in a small bank near Tu Pian She asked me why I wanted a lot of new ‘ten cent’ notes. I told them it was “Ya Sui Qian” (reduce age money) for “Xiao Peng You” (little friends). It’s a Chinese custom to give children a little money at Spring Festival. Everyone in the bank looked at me and smiled.
Some Spring Festival fireworks are exploding.
February 5
Getting ready to leave. PM go to Mao Mao’s home, stay with them overnight.
February 6
Return to Xuan Wu Men, finish packing and go back to visit Hongyu’s parents.
Hongyu had phoned that morning to tell her parents that, in a few days, she will be divorced. And I received a letter from her which said, “I am patient; I understand you”.
February 7
Li Ping came to pick me up at my Xuan Wu Men home to send me to the airport. She had a white Dai Hatsu and she laughed as she squealed the tires, flying around corners. Almost no-one owns a private car; how did she get one? I don’t ask. She’s wearing stylish clothes and wants to go to Australia to study English. Her husband works at the airport and helps me go through. It’s an evening flight; I’ll arrive in Bangkok late at night.
In a toilet stall in the Bangkok airport washroom, I take off my pants and my long underwear. The latter is cheap and I didn’t feel like carrying long underwear all over India. I left it in a trash can. Felt a bit guilty. I hope someone will take it. Hot smells in the city roads, oily clouds of diesel fuel. I stay at the Malaysia Hotel on Rama 4 Road. I drink a coke in a garish night club on the main floor. Very affordable rooms, but the band noise from the club beats its way upstairs.
February 8
I confirm my flight to Bombay on the evening of February 10. I visit the Baha’i Center in Bangkok. Unfortunately, just as I am flying to Bombay, I will miss a presentation by Mr. Hasan Sabri from the Office of Social and Economic Development in Haifa.
Got a cholera shot in a hospital on Convent Road. Get a banana split at a Dairy Queen; no DQ in China.
February 9
I visited the Asian Institute of Technology, a beautiful campus, way out of town. It took two hours to get there. I met the CIDA coordinator Prof. Weber and the Head of the Human Settlements Division. I also met and interviewed Zhang ____from Harbin and Liu Bo Min from Nanjing.
I bought books and tapes re housing, self-help. Including “Building Together” by Shlomo Angel. Didn’t realize at the time that he was one of the authors of “Pattern Language”.
“Building Together is a small project to house 202 low-income families using mutual-aid and self-help methods. These families were grouped into clusters which worked together in a graduated process. Building Together combines three fundamental objectives: shelter, community and self-reliance. Community interaction, unity, and trust is generated in the process of building together. The 1.6 ha. site for the project is located in a developing area in Bangkok, accessible to transportation facilities and work opportunities essential to its residents. Protected against flooding by a perimeter dyke, this low-lying site has been divided into ten clusters and has spaces for community structures and activities. The interlocking blocks require no mortar for assembly and are produced on site with a simple block machine. The floor joists, which fit into the interlocking blocks, are cast into steel moulds also on site. All the building components fit together into one integrated building system, easy enough for semiskilled and unskilled labor to handle.”
February 10
In England I had bought a book called Building Community: A Third World Casebook, by Bertha Turner. It documented good examples from various countries of contributions by Community-based Organizations (CBOs) and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) to local housing and infrastructure solutions. I planned to visit two of the projects mentioned in book: Khlong Toei in Bangkok and Ganeshnager in Pune, India.
Khlong Toei is a hutment area just north of the river and surrounded by dockyards. It started as a squatter settlement and was under constant pressure from the Port Authority to move out. After decades of contentious struggle and strong NGO assistance, they won the right to a 20-year lease. This meant they could invest in the improvement of their neighborhood without fear of eviction. This had just happened in 1983.
[Note from 2021: Khlong Toei was still there in 2021.]
Khlong Toei, Bangkok, 2020
I was beginning to see that the principle of participation as practiced here and supported by international aid agencies was thanks to a mixture of limited government ability to help these people, some goodwill from the government, and a degree of freedom or even anarchy. The most advanced socially-oriented housing developments occurred in the economic margins. Bottom-up, self-help approaches worked to the extent that they were in an administrative no-man’s land. This applied in the New York City TIL projects and here in Khlong Toei in Bangkok.
This would not work in China where the government presence was strong everywhere (no NGOs), where the authoritarian social tradition was very strong (no CBOs), and where Chinese people had great capacity for large-scale social organization. The implementation of participation was going to take a different path in China. So why research something in conditions that don’t apply in China? I asked myself this question.
As I walked around the hutment area, I felt like a voyeur. They were not hostile; nor were they welcoming. I found an elementary school just to the north of the area and was ushered in to the Principal’s office. She was dedicated, and proud of her school. She showed me around. Before I left I was given a little coffee and food. The whole school was clean and tidy. Children can’t enter in the morning unless they are clean. If they aren’t, they are sent to the washroom. I took pictures. The children press their hands together under their chin and smile. The Principal’s name was Mrs. Smai Boonyapsob. She was head of the Chum Chun School, Kleong Toey, Pakanong District, Bangkok. She invited me to stay as long as I liked and when I was done, a young man would send me back to my hotel. His transportation was a motorcycle. I got on the back and we turned into the heavy traffic. He sped along the white lines of the roads between the dense lines of cars. I kept my knees in close.
I checked out of the Hotel Malaysia and took an air-conditioned bus to the airport.
Gratefully sit in airport air-conditioned snack bar, soaking with sweat. How do all these people look so comfortable and cool?
My plane to Bombay was delayed; I wrote a letter to Hongyu about parental consent for marriage. Finally, when we lined up, the man behind me, seeing that I was traveling light, asked whether I could check in one of his bags. OK.
Got off the plane at 1:30 am, Bombay time. Flights from Bangkok and HK stop off in India and then go on to Europe. Europe doesn’t like airplane noise during the night. Flights are scheduled so that India gets the night noise and passengers bound for Europe arrive in the early morning after everyone there has had a quiet sleep.
I met a fellow passenger from Ottawa, Ontario, also called, “Joe”. Joe Kukol and I help each as we both encounter India for the first time. We share a hotel room and found out later we had heavily over-tipped. Finally get to sleep around 4:00 am.
February 11
Feel surrounded by grasping hands; afraid to trust anyone. Joe is also going to Pune. We share a taxi. The driver said 90 rupees each. After we get in he says, “180 rupees ‘each’”. We get off, fighting the taxi man. “Baksheesh! Baksheesh! (Tip! Tip!)
We find a third man who wants to go to Pune. We end up paying 135 rupees each. Mr. Git, our driver, is a Sikh and keeps up a running commentary.
- Low salary is 800-900 Rp/month
- High Salary is 2200 rps/month
- Some private business people make 10,000 rupees/mo.
- Some beggars make 200 rupees/day maybe 4,000 rupees/mo.
- Children of normal people are a liability; children of beggars are an asset.
- He said 3000 people per day come to settle in Bombay.
In Pune, I stay at the National Hotel near the railway station. I was told it belonged to Baha’is and that Martha Root had stayed here.
I went to a Baha’i youth gathering that evening. I was invited by Mrs Malik to join her family for lunch tomorrow. Pune is prosperous, an overflow from Bombay. People are speculating on land. There is a 20 to 70% capital gains tax but everyone under-quotes the real price.
February 12
“Joe” from Canada joined the lunch at Mrs. Maliks. Tasty food; we eat with our fingers. Her husband died 6 years ago; he was a carpet merchant. “How do think I felt when I got to the hospital and saw him covered with a white sheet?” They bought 4 apartments. They will trade these flats with a developer in exchange for a flat in his new development.
Supper at Savero vegetarian restaurant.
February 13
Meet Prof. Christopher Charles Benninger, an MIT and Harvard graduate, award-winning architect and planner and founder of the Center for Development Studies and Activities. We went to see the college he designed, the Mahindra United World College. In Ahmedabad he innovated the concept of ‘Site and Services’, an approach to housing providing access to shelter via small plots with infrastructure. This allowed poorer families to construct their own homes, according to their means. Chris introduced me to a staff member of the Center for Development Activities and Studies (CDSA), Mr. Mohandas, who knew people in Ganesh Nagar, the area I wanted to visit. Ganesh Nagar is a district with a population of about 7000 people located in the north east suburbs of Pune, India. The community (in 1989) was well known for its organizational capacity. The local people created self-help programs and activities, and prided themselves on multi-ethnic, multi-religious harmony. There were programs and facilities for kindergarten children, youth (a gymnasium), and the elderly. They planned and managed open space, garbage removal, and public toilets. The affairs of the community were run by sub-district committees. Each committee chose a representative to participate in the larger community decision-making.
When I met the community leaders. I asked whether they had a map of their area. They said. “No.”
I said. “How about I draw one for you?”
“OK!”
I promised to come back in a week after a visit to the New Era Development Institute (NEDI) in Panchgani, a hill-station town south of Pune. Later that day, I took a colourful bus, from 660 m. to 1250 meters. The last kilometers were hairpin turns on a narrow road. I stayed with John and Joyce Edmonds. Monkeys jumped from the trees and clattered across the metal roof of their home. They both worked at NEDI. This Baha’i-inspired social and economic development project was started in 1987 as an outgrowth of the well-established New Era High School. Note from 2021: It’s name was recently changed to the New Era Teacher Training Center (NETTC) to reflect its current focus on providing a degree programs on education in schools across India.
February 16
I start to draw a site plan of the NEDI campus; they have plans for expansion.
Sandra Hutchison is here as well. We talked about China at the local Baha’i Center.
February 17
I walked the site with John and later interviewed Joyce - part of my research.
In the afternoon we went to a local village called Ranjani, where NEDI had a program. Guests and many villagers all squeezed into the village head’s home and sat on the floor for a Baha’i Feast. The head man of the village was also the chairman of the Baha’i Local Spiritual Assembly. The men were in one room and the women in another; the two joined by a large door-opening. A cow was looking in the window. After devotions and some consultation, refreshments were served, a handful of rice. It was lightly spiced and when my nose got near it I exploded a sneeze into my hand. Every grain of rice flew out over the people in front of me. I was embarrassed; I don’t recall being given a refill. For a while we talked about how nice it would be if some villagers from India and some villagers from China could meet each other.
February 18
Interview Soheil Mohajer, a counselor at NEDI.
February 19
Interview John Edmonds. He said they work on developing teacher training methods and curriculum materials Community Development Facilitators which reflect Baha’i principles and stimulate holistic development of the student’s potential. NEDI uses this curriculum to train Community Development Facilitators. The Curriculum (three semesters) includes:
- Orientation and Introduction
- Baha’i Studies
- Communications and Community
- Technology, useful for Villages and Towns
- Agriculture
- Community Health
- Women in Development/ Home Management
- Adult Education
- Early Childhood Education
- Administration and Management Interaction with nearby villages (mostly on weekends) was part of the program. I attended a meeting where Community Development Facilitators reported on their activities in a village where the local people had abolished alcohol and drugs. They had cleaned up the water supply, established literacy programs… all to promote grass-roots community development, to encourage development of local leadership and initiation of programs by local institutions of the Faith. The program in the villages included community education through a cycle of study, consultation, action, and reflection. They would start with something the villagers could do. Involve the women. February 20 I went back to Pune. Stay in Room 11 at the National Hotel. Went to CDSA and talked with S.K. Mohandas about going tomorrow afternoon to Ganesh Nagar to meet one of the community leaders. Eat at Severa. February 21 I met Mr. Kumar Pacharne at Ganesh Nagar. He is the secretary of the Shri Ganesh Nagar MandaI (Committee). I told him I wanted to draw a map that would be useful for them and their community. After dinner at Savera, when I got back to my hotel, I realized I had left my bag in the restaurant with my camera, passport, Chinese ID, and all my money. I ran back. They had kept it for me and nothing was missing. Honest people! I gave them a thank you reward. February 22 I visited CDSA to see S.K. Mohandas. He and Mr. Pacharne went together to the Berlin Habitat Conference in 1987. He gave me a copy of a video about Ganesh Nagar to give to Mr. Pacharne. I bought some drawing supplies at a stationary store near the Prabhat Cinema. In 1971, the citizens of Ganesh Nagar elected their leaders by secret ballot. In 1974, they legally registered as the Shri Ganesh Nagar Mandal (Organization). In 1976, they used local people as labour to clean up garbage and public toilets. Skilled workers helped others build houses. In 1979-80, they built the small plaza and the kindergarten. In 1980-81, they built the Temple and a gymnasium.
Poona Municipal Government considered Ganesh Nagar Mandal as most outstanding community organization. There were nine wards with a ten-person committee for each ward. Total land area was about 8 hectares; population 7000 people, or 875 people/h.
Supper at Vechey’s. Get there on a tuk-tuk that weaves around the occasional cow. The restaurant is fast food; I’m indulging. While eating I'm reading “Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh”.
[The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, alternatively known as the Amritsar massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in the northern Indian city of Amritsar where, on April 13, 1919, fifty British Indian Army soldiers, under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted for ten to fifteen minutes, until ammunition was running short. [1] Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379, and with 1,100 wounded.[2] Civil Surgeon Dr Smith indicated that there were 1,526 casualties.]
A noisy children’s birthday party next to me; “Happy Birthday, Rajan!” After supper, the tuk-tuk passes by a man lying in the street; looks near dead.
February 23 First real day of work at Ganesh Nagar. There was no base map, aerial photograph, or instruments to work with. From February 21 to March 13, 1989, using my eyes for sight-lines and footsteps to measure distances, I walked every street and lane, and built up an overall hand-drawn map. They gave me an “office” workspace, a room in the podium of the temple. Upstairs was the large red elephant.
I first started drawing a 1:1250 scale map of the whole area. I take measurements between path intersections by pacing and note them in site sketches. The site is slightly sloped so I can get alignments from some taller landmarks. Cows roam free; droppings are gathered for fuel. Long line-ups in the morning for the public toilets. People ask me, “What is your good name?” The people are curious.
One man said to me by coming here I might be punished by the Pune Corporation. I was hoping to stay under the radar of any officials. I’m not doing anything illegal, but I don’t want to attract bureaucratic attention. Perhaps the city has a good map of this area, but the people here don’t have one and I don’t want to go to city hall to ask. I explained to the inquirer my relationship with CDSA – he said, “Oh well, then that’s alright.” I wrote a letter to the Pune Baha’i Spiritual Assembly to let them know what I was doing.
Mr. Chavat announced my presence over the PA system that was set up in the temple yard. "A Canadian architect is going to be with us for a while drawing a map of the community, please cooperate with him". The loud speakers could be heard by everyone in Ganesh Nagar. He warmly asked people to let me take photographs; he said I was a professor from Canada and China. February 24 I completed a draft of one half of the district at 1:1250 scale. Everyone is asking me who I am as I pace the streets, counting out loud as I go, then making notes in my little book. I am able to convince most and dampen suspicion. Mr. Pacharne, at the end of the day, said he heard about a survey that was done by the Pune Municipal Corporation. One the one hand I am curious to see it and even have a copy, but I also don’t want to in case some official says I shouldn’t. In any case, I never saw the document. Mr. Pacharne introduced me to Ramderrao Chavat who was the leader of Ganesh Nagar for twenty years. He was elected, four years ago to the city council, one of 85 members. He represents 10,000 voters, 3500 from Ganesh Nagar. February 25 I was invited into a Christian’s home; one-room with a double bed. He, and many others, asked me what caste I was. His home was solidly built. He said he will add another floor in the monsoon season. He has five children; one has already moved out. Where does everyone sleep? I visit another family; their son was studying environmental science. Many children ask me questions; they want my address and my signature. People seem more trusting now. The Hindu Temple has a budget of about 1000 Rp/month collected in small donations from the community. Regular contributor’s names are posted on a sign in the temple. The caretaker gets 330/month and the watchman 100. They buy and distribute “barada”, a white sweet “food of the gods”. February 26 I went to a Baha’i Intercalary Day celebration. Beautiful performances by the children who then passed out roses to the adults. I’m reading Riding the Red Rooster by Paul Theroux. “All genuine knowledge originates in experience”, Chairman Mao, p 285. February 27 I’ve nearly finished my 1:1250 map. It shows the street layout and block outline. Many people invite me into their homes to drink water or tea. In one, they were getting ready for a marriage. Baba is walking around with me. I went into his home, or half of it, he owns two rooms, one on each side of the road across from each other. He has three sons. I see runny stools from children in the drainage ditches.
A construction crew is digging a trench for a sewer line through solid rock. There is almost no soil. One man hold a large nail-like pick with tongs while another man hits the head of the nail-pick with a sledge hammer. Slowly, all by manual labour, a trench is dug. Women pick up and carry away the rock shards in baskets on their heads. The temperature is about 33 degrees C.
Lunch with Aslam, the local Baha’i; he has set up a photography shop. There are some political demonstrations, by Shiv Sena, in the streets.
[Shiv Sena is a far-right political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray. The party originally emerged out of a movement in Mumbai, the then-Bombay, broadly favouring increased influence of Marathis in Maharashtra. It built a strong base amongst the Marathi community in the sixties based on its ideology that Maharashtra belonged to the Marathi community and that they be given preference over migrants from other Indian states.
Although the party's primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. Gradually the party moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist agenda as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party has taken part in numerous Maharashtra state governments at several times and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance cabinet that ruled India between 1998-2004. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shiv Sainiks.]
I had supper at Venkey’s, a noisy fast food place. Only chicken burgers here, ham-burgers would need sacred cow meat.
I called Meera Bapat, an “Urban Researcher on Challenges facing Indian Cities”. She accepted my request to meet her and talk about “participation” in housing. I will visit her March 1.
February 28
Experiencing fever and diarrhea. People see me in the hot sun and offer me, so kindly, stainless steel cups of water. I cannot refuse. I will work tomorrow at CDSA to enlarge my 1:1250 maps on their photo-copier.
March 2
I start to place each house on my 1:500 scale street maps. A Muslim man invited me so strongly, and with such a spirit of hospitality, to have a drink of water in his home, I broke my fast. He talked about the good quality of the community leaders and of the unity in the community.
That evening I visit Meera Bapat. She lives in a beautiful courtyard house off a busy commercial street. Wood frame with brick infill. She said vested interests control the land supply. “There is a lack of justice; it’s tyranny, in fact”. These interests have a powerful influence on government and the courts.
March 3
I’ve finished about 80% of the 1:500 sketches showing each house. People are more and more accustomed to me. Fasting, hot. One home had steel beams and columns and a concrete floor, with two comfortable rooms. Another was one room, 2 meters x 2 meters; a bed is half of the space and a kitchen the other. At night six people sleep on the bed and 4 sleep under it.
March 4
I finished recording all the houses on my 1:500 maps. I bumped in to Mr. Chavat and a group of community leaders. They agree I can meet with them for an interview Monday evening.
During my survey work, someone asked me if I brought a bomb. I said, “No bombs, only a pencil!” He said, “OK, more powerful!” Everyone spoke English.
I got some tracing paper at CDSA to draw all my separate sheets of 1:500 maps as a composite.
March 5
I wrote to Mom and Dad about consent to marry Hongyu.
March 6
The tracing paper overlay of my 1:500 sketches revealed some distortions in my original 1:1250 map. I make adjustments. Went to meet Ganesh Nagar leaders at 6:00 pm; only Mr. Pacharne showed up; actually, I was relieved. It’s easier to talk with one person. He offered me tea. I mentioned I was breaking my fast for the day. He said in his language, Marathi, fasting is called “Upawas”, which means “near to the soul”.
March 7
I met the nursery school teacher at the Temple and arranged to visit Thursday morning to take photos. I introduced Joy to Ganesh Nagar and we bump into Mr. Pacharne. He was about to attend a funeral procession for a member of the community. A few days ago, I was crossing a large bridge and a woman was standing on one side slowly blowing ashes from her hand and they floated down to the river. Joy is helping me at 50 Rp/day. He is a Christian. He says that if you offer work to the beggars, they won’t take it because they make more money begging.
Had supper who Joyce Edmonds who was in town. Nice chat.
That night in my room at the National Hotel I finished the pencil version of the 1:500 map of the whole district; now I can start inking.
Wrote long letter to Hongyu.
March 8
I try to but a ticket to Hong Kong. I was told to be at the Indian Airlines office at 9:00 am but it didn’t open until 10:00am. I went to the TWA office nearby; they had just opened. Before I could buy a ticket, they had to photocopy my passport and visa; and, I had to fill out a long two-page form. Then I had to go to another place far away to get a paper proving I used foreign currency to buy my rupees. I gave them 6286 rupees for the ticket and they refused to give me a receipt.
At CDSA a young woman, Manisha Boradkar, offered to lend me her ink drawing pens on Friday so I could ink my map. She kindly gave me an architectural magazine, a special issue about Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi. [Doshi won the Pritzker Price in 2018.]
At Ganesh Nagar I met with Ramesh M. Sonawane, a young 2nd year civil engineering student who lives at house 38 in Ward 5. He has volunteered to help me finish my map. He’s great; his family is very friendly. When offered a drink, I mentioned “upawas”. He asked, “Your idea or from God?” “From God”, I said. “Which God?” he said. “Baha’i”, I said, and gave him a picture of the Temple in New Delhi. Everyone was pleased when I mentioned “upawas”....they accept that I don’t accept their offer of food and drink. They looked happy at something familiar; a fellow believer.
Ramesh helped me indicate in our field notes which houses are stone, which are sheet metal, entrances to houses, where trees are, etc.
Had supper at Ferdos Roberts mother’s place. I met Ferdos when I lived in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Her mother played a video with a Chinese circus; made me happy and homesick.
Diarrhea for three days running.
Evening interview with Mrs. Faroodi about their co-op, the Five Stars Co-op Housing Society. Developer had land, looked for clients who paid up front. Five small apartment blocks on the land, 20 families per building, 5 floors high, the ground floor is for parking. You know all your neighbours. Twenty year loans are available but only against a surety. Maintenance, taxes and electricity bill is 300 to 400 Rs/month.
March 9 Go to the Temple children’s nursery. The teacher was very kind; the children performed a dance for me. Supper with Ramesh and his family. We sit on the floor and eat delicious food. I picked up some sweet doughy pieces using my chapatee. Mrs. Sonawane laughed so hard she covered her face in her sari. Mr. Sonawane was a Rickshaw driver. He was a part-time driver in a textile mill but they went on strike so he’s working rickshaw full-time. He took the mill job because he had a heart attack. They have five children; three are still at home. We took a group photo. His sister put her hands on shoulders, felt like a waterfall. Mrs. did all the cooking and waited until we had eaten before she ate. After dinner, Ramesh and his father escorted me to the temple to see me off (just like China).
March 10 Digestion has returned to normal. Go to CDSA to continue working on my final map. Manisha lent me her pens. Met with Chris Benninger. He said, “Start an Institute!” He had; I should too. Late evening, continue inking. March 11 All day inking my map at CDSA. At 5:00 pm Mr. Pacharne dropped by with more useful information for the map. He said, “Don’t mention the group ‘Shiv Sena’”; it is political and potentially contentious. “Our Mandal (district) is not political. Please include the mosque even though it is just outside our boundary, many people from our district go there.” He wanted all the religions represented. He said a new brick house (10 x 20 feet) cost Rs 60,000 He invited me to a send-off tomorrow morning. 11:30 at night, I’m still not finished. March 12 Take many photos at Ganesh Nagar ( 'Nagar' means Huttment). Receive thanks and a bouquet of flowers from Namderrao Chavat on behalf of the Ganesh Nagar Mandal.
Take more field notes. Watch preparation for gathering of rice around the community. It will be made into a sweet confection and distributed in the temple yard, March 21. Continue drawing my map. March 13 Finish drawing map. Get copies made at Maharashtra Printers at Deccan Gymkena. Go to CDSA to return pens to Manisha. She heard I was a Baha’i and knew that I was going to meet Baha’is in New Delhi. She asked me to say hello to her ex-roommate Meera Iyengar at the New Delhi Baha’i Center. Interview S.K. Mohandas about housing coops. Have Chinese food at the Chung-fa restaurant 2435 East Street Poona A-1.
Go to Ganesh Nagar to deliver copies of the finished map. Mr. Pacharne gave me photos of the various Mandal committees and the women’s group. He gave me coins and stamps of India as souvenirs. He gave me something to eat and some tea. An important purpose of this activity is to get to know the community, to see how much they take initiative and are united.
March 14 Getting ready to go to New Delhi. I have USD700 budget between here and home in Beijing. Mr. Pacharne and Joyce Edmonds came to see me off at the railway station. I introduce them to each other. Share compartment with grandparents, daughter, and new baby son. The daughter had come to her parents home to have the baby and stayed about 40 days (until the baby could hold his head up). Now they were sending her home to Bhopal. I heard about “Panchayat”, five people appointed by God to dispense justice; some similarities with the Baha’i Administrative system. [A South Asian political system mainly in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. "Panchayat" literally means assembly (yat) of five (panch) wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the village community. Traditionally, these assemblies settled disputes between individuals and villages. Modern Indian government has decentralised several administrative functions to the village level, empowering elected panchayats.]
March 15 Arrive New Delhi. Stay at Ashok Nivas Hotel. March 16 Meet Dr. Steven Waite, at Baha’i Center, Department of Social and Economic Development at the Concept of education stressing knowledge that empowers individual growth and enables self-reliance; individual becomes conscious object of their own growth and responsible participants in society-building. Visit Baha’i Lotus Temple via tuk-tuk. March 17 Last night dreamed of a golden goddess with two eggs, also gold. Several times it all quickly turned to liquid. [ To see a goddess in your dream, symbolizes your femininity or feminine side. For a man to dream of a goddess, indicates his fears about the female. To see gold in your dream, symbolizes wealth, riches, natural healing, illumination and/or spirituality. To find gold in your dream, indicates that you have discovered something valuable about yourself. This may be some hidden talent or knowledge. To see or eat eggs in your dream, symbolizes fertility, birth and your creative potential. It indicates that something new is about to happen.]
I sent a telegram to my McGill schoolmate, Jai Sen, in Calcutta. Looked at the Craft Emporium near Connaught Circle. Wandered around Old Delhi and the Red Fort. Supper with the Campeau family. They are leaving tonight for Canada; they offered me the use of their home while I am in Delhi. Servants manage the house while they are gone. Luxury hot shower; watch video; eat popcorn. Amoeba problem (coated tongue, bloody stools and stomach cramps). Use Humatin and Tinadazyl. March 19 Take train “Rajdhani” to Calcutta. Arrive at Jai Sen’s home. March 20 Attend Naw Ruz celebration at Unnayan Library. March 21 Go to Unnayan Library to talk about China. March 22 In the morning we celebrated Holi, Hindu Spring Festival, by throwing coloured powder and water on each other. [ Holli is a spring festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and others. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations, such as Suriname, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United Kingdom, United States, Mauritius, and Fiji. ]
Jai at left, I'm in the middle at the back. Jia's wife at the right.
PM Sleep, feel sunstroke, so tired. Eve: Chinese meal with Jai. March 23 Headache. Went to Jai’s office, interview him. Met his assistant, Ram. Jai does not take rickshaws; he considers them a form of exploitation. He will not take me to see a hutment area; they are not for “tourists”. 4:00pm take train to New Delhi. Air conditioning on train was so cold, I covered myself with every piece of clothing I had with me. I couldn’t sleep in the chair seat; the food was not good. My muscles were getting very stiff. I went out to the platform between cars to escape the air-conditioning; I stood there for a few hours during the night reading a book. March 24 When we arrived in Delhi I had a bad headache, perhaps from reading on a bouncing train. I was so grateful I could go to the Campeau’s house. As soon as I got in the door I threw up for a while then went to bed. The headache was so strong I couldn’t sleep. Headache all day, eat aspirins, can’t keep food down. In the night, I thought I better not die; it would be so inconvenient for “Cyril” the man looking after me and the house. March 25 I’m supposed to catch a 9:30 flight to HK. I feel so weak I can hardly walk. I told Cyril I will go the airport and try to change my ticket to tomorrow so I can rest another day. I brought my bag with me. He got a taxi for me. I tried to eat before I left, but couldn’t. I found out I could change my ticket, but the next flight would not be for another five days. So, I had to take the flight I had already booked. At the counter where you get your exit visa, I was about to have my documents looked at when the diarrhea urge came. “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked the man at the counter. He pointed to one; it was past the checkpoint, but he let me through anyway. “That’s alright”, he said, “I’ll watch your things.” A timely act of kindness. I ran and just made it to throw up in a toilet bowl. In the waiting room, just before boarding, I slumped to the floor next to a wall and lay there. On the plane, I could only drink a little tea. Two days now without food. Hong Kong felt so efficient. From the free phone in the airport, I booked a room at the Rainbow Lodge in Causeway Bay for 200 HK dollars/night. Went to bed with a strong headache. March 26 Headache reduced, ate salad at Pizza Hut, not throwing up, but mucous in stools. March 27 Still have headache. Went to Kowloon Hospital, excellent service. Doctor said it might be dysentery. Doctor wants stool samples tomorrow morning. Receptionist-manager at Rainbow Lodge asked for some “advice” about her 17-year-old son Pang Ho who will go to Canada this summer to enter Grade 11 at a High School in Toronto. I wrote a letter to Ginny Rochester asking her to help. Steve Townsend phoned, He said I had missed a meeting with Counselor Arbab today at a location near my hotel! Very disappointing!
Comments