Back from Bloody Batti...

I was going to write about my recent trip to Batticaloa. I would have been bitchin' about the baking sun, ghostly invisible mosquitos, a heat rash, a broken watch and a caput mobile phone. Before I got around to writing the entry, though... tada! it was Vesak.

Vesak, yet another religious holiday, is the celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Well.. maybe they celebrate the first two and commemorate the latter. Anyway, I decided that in stead of writing about Batti, I would bitch about being alone during the holiday. I was alone because all my local friends' numbers are stored on the phone, and only there. The phone not working, I could only hope to meet one of them by coincidence, roaming the streets.

So I made sure to visit the downtown Cargills supermarket every day- sometimes several times a day. Jill and I have a way of stumbling upon eachother in the checkout counter there. It must have happened.. what? ...at least 4 times. I have a difficult time walking past Cargills without going in, anyway. Maybe it is the western consumer in me, taking control. That my sense of persistance is reliant on a neverending supply of commodities. That the beer, biscuits and peanut butter I buy is in fact an umbelical cord reaching back to Europe. Who knows? I know I didn't meet Jill or anyone else in there, though.

But then, Monday night, after having elbowed my way through Vesak-crowds, admiring the Vesak-lanterns by the lakefront, for as long as I could take.... Hm.. Timeout! I should take time to explain for you non-Lankans that a big part of Vesak is the traditional decorating of homes and public spaces with lanterns of various colours, sizes and shapes, some of them with undeniable artistic qualities, others.. ehm.. a bit tacky. I don't know about this, but I suppose the lanterns symbolize enlightenment. Makes sense, doesn't it? On the lake promenade a number of stalls had been erected, each stall for a separate lantern, and here people had unleashed their creative energies, competing in creating the most mind-blowing piece. Some of the lanterns, equipped with electromotors, were rotating, donning flashing lights, reminding me of robots or UFOs from 70s sci-fi movies. Others included figures of buddhist monks and Buddhas, or models of the Dalada Maligawa (Kandy's "Temple of the Tooth" where a tooth relic from Buddha is said to be kept). Some lanterns were huge and bulky - others done with exquisit detail, showing off intricate carvings and fancy shadow play. Some lanterns were just... uhm... tacky.

Alright, back to the story: Monday night, after having elbowed my way through Vesak-crowds, admiring the lanterns by the lake, for as long as I could take, I felt an urge for pizza. Pizza Hut-pizza is by no means a favorite of mine, but in Kandy one can't be picky when it comes to pizzas... or italian food... or foreign food at all. (I have seen a resturant called Milano, although a dingy and deserted interior has prevented me from giving it a go). Standing outside Pizza Hut I pondered wether to take away or to go in. The, for Kandy, uncharacteristic crowds made me take refuge inside. Lucky decission, for who did I meet there but Re(sri)becca and her friend Jeremy! A happy coincidence, in deed. Just the company I needed. And as if that was not enough Gavin and his girlfriend Christine arrived a few minutes afterwards. Vesak was saved, but I would have to find a new approach to writing about it.

Wednesday things were beginning to return to normal for me. The mosquitobites were itching less, though marginally, and I had picked up my mobile after having it repaired, (the display needed to be changed) a job that was quickly and successfully accomplished and easily worth the 7000 Rupees I paid for it. I would now be able to call Stewart, my American fellow-anthropologist (not one of the Fulbrights) who had recently returned from a month in India. Before I got that far though, he found me. We usually go the same place for using the Internet. Considering how much time I have spent here lately, calling that one a coincidence may be stretching it.

Today I've been visiting his field. I went with him to a Hanuman ritual in a private home here in Kandy, involving regualar puja but also a rather intense possession part. The medium, a Tamil lady, stood on knives while she was garlanded with betel leaves, fed burning camphor and grabbed members of the chanting audience by their heads or arms, making them tremble with her divine presence, before pushing them away or having them pass out on her (or him, I suppose). I have seen possession rituals in the upcountry too, but never upclose like this. She even grabbed and roughed up my hair, an act I am not quite sure how to interpret. Am I in Hanuman's good book now? Or does he want me to get a hair cut?

If I had still wanted to write a bitchin' blog entry I could have complained about how the ritual seemed to go on forever after the possession part was over. There was the cleaning, redressing and viewing of and chanting to the god, that just never seemed to end, while lunchtime had long since passed. I am not in the mood to complain any more, though.

When the mosquitobites disappear I'll probably even remember Batti in a much more positive way.

/haakon/