Friday 24 April, 2009

tropical rain

It's raining , it's pouring ; listen to the falling rain , listen to it's fall; and with every drop of rain I love you more..........
I had a bag full of chips watching the rain in the dusk with no electricity and internet. Bad fro the figure since I did not do any exercise today. Will catch up tomorrow.
I sent a case with Edward to PIH and it seems everybody there asked about me. howzat for popularity. I spoke to one anaesthetist who has come to PoM just 10 days ago and was sounding quite lost.
Will try and attend the sahasranamam session tomorrow. Thefrogs are going full bore now croaking away merrily. There seems to be a jam session out there in the garden. May be I'll visit the botanical garden tomorrow.

Wednesday 22 April, 2009

Wantok system

I saw a documentary called "Black Harvest" about the tribals of the highlands of PNG. This half Australian/half Tribal, educated modern chap is trying to teach his tribes-people to grow coffee; they do all the work and are very co-operative till the day comes for harvesting.
Suddenly a fight erupts between two different clans and these were asked to pitch in. And, they do, forgetting the rotting coffee, their loans , and pathway to better economy. Four days later, after losing a man and several injured they come back to pick coffee demanding a higher wage and their share of land. This is Highland province of PNG.
Wantok meaning same talk( language) is a large extended family ,they can be of the same clan, same tribe and same province eventually. They will not work with the enemy, will not stay in the same ward as the opposite clan. In fact we still see similar fights in our Tamil movies. Only the bows and arrows are missing.
The wantok in the city will give shelter, feed and look after anybody who comes to town, give them money to spend, take them around and maintain them till kingdom come. Reminded me of my father and the wantoks from Kancheepuram.
Anything that happens in the family ,community is common knowledge. Even rape is not a private affair; It is so public that retribution is called for, compensation paid and then all is well; like our village panchayat.
Nobody goes hungry; women grow food and feed the family while the man goes around collecting wives and enjoying his fights. He might die but then that is honourable. Since the time paper money and cash took over pigs and shells this system, their harmonious life has been left behind. Now slowly the modern values of thieving, robbing, cheating have all creeped in.
The whites used to pay them for their labour with axe blades and arrow heads; trade shells for women. Reminded me of that book by Chinua Achebe' When things fall apart'. Colonisation teaches bad values and while the invaders act holier than thou.

Monday 20 April, 2009

Bush walking in PNG




The australians call trekking bush-walking. That is what I did last Sunday. A group of people get together and go trekking around Port Moresby once a fortnight. They go mainly for keeping fit and were real guttahua bush walkers. They have come prepared with all their gear for tough walking; like two frozen blubbers -one with water and other with gastrolyte solution with tubes for sucking while walking without stopping; leggings, walking sticks ,etc it was WOW.Gave a complex straight away but I matched them with my stamina!haha. They even applauded me in the end when I made it.
We drove out 50 kms to a place called Variruta Park which has a thick dense rain forest. I got set very peppily at the beginning but when they started climbing sometimes steeply , my poor lungs started panting. I merrily slid on the slippery mountain trail; climbed fallen trees; dodged prickly thorny cane and managed to do the same strenuous routes as the others albeit 15 minutes late. The guides offered to take me the shorter easier way but this old war horse held out.
It was great fun ; I had these two guards who gave me company and looked after me; they kept me regaled with the local stories and showed me wild mushrooms; fern that they cook with chicken; large leaves which give out a fragrance which they cook as well as make skirts of for ceremonies. They pointed out a frog which changed colour from green to brown accoding to its environment. I discovered that most of the poisonous snakes live in the coastal ares and not in the highlands. In fact I had the pleasure of seeing a poisonous water snake standing still in the clear mountain stream before he noticed us and slid away; We stalked a bird of Paradise but it flew away in the wrong direction: I never got to see it.
The guards also learnt a lot from me--about oxygen in the altitudes; indian mountains; turmeric ; herbal medicine, etc;etc;
The view from the lookouts in the clearing of the forest was spectacular. I took some photographs but with sweat pouring from every pore of my body it was not an easy thing to do.
Ever since this trek I am tucking away a lot of food saying that I must compensate for the loss.
The next trek is on undulating grasslands but I will be in Tari next fortnight climbing the mountains again.

Wednesday 15 April, 2009

It is only 33°c but it is hot and humid. Sweat literally runs down like multiple rivulets. Stillness all around; even the toads have stopped croaking. Winter in Australia should start in May/June and PNG cools down a bit, if I am lucky. It has become a routine that wherever I go in the summer, Home enjoys a cool summer and either I get roasted roast or get steamed in Iran or Port Moresby.I maroed the pedastal fan from the office to supplement my 24" ceiling fan in my room.
The hospital in Port Moresby seems to be a modern one with airconditioning all through the wards and departments. The Professors are Gods and there is so much of wailing when someone dies; reminds me of Madras Medical College during med-school days.
I spend the evenings watching TV serials of British origin with English sub-titles, drinking white wine while sweating like a “pig”. The past week I have been eating out a lot and hence have to do exercises even on a Sunday, lest I become one real one. The restaurants over here belong to the old colonial-Australian style and are so familiar. Italian, Japanese, Indian-continental-Thai-Indonesian, and even Indian. The ambience is on par with those in Europe; the Australian wines compliment their cuisines.

Sunday 12 April, 2009

Vishnu Sahasranamam in Papua New Guinea!

This little family was parlaying in Tamil in the cafetria attached to the supermarket. I just walked up to them ;introduced myself; in a minute we were all merrily chatting away in Tamil.
The surprise did not end here. I was invited to their house for dinner after a small spiritual seesion in somebody's house that evening. They just assumed that I would be interested. The performing flea that I am went along.
It seems this gathering happens every Saturdayfor the past 20 years, in somebody's house of the other where mostly South Indians recite Vishnu Sahasranamam. I missed the major recital but then joined for Hanuma Chalisa and others. Met a lot of Thambis who have been there for 23-25 years ; some engineers, doctors, pharmacists, marketing managers, technicians , you name it they are all there. Most of them are very happy here in spite of the poor security. Good pay, children can afford education, evrything from murungaikkai to pagarkai is available. Maids are dime a dozen.
The colony where my young friends live is absolutely wonderful. Very expensive rentals but mostly Indians, phillipinos(teh embassy is here) , chinese and the lot. Security is very strict so much so it was nice to see children playing outside, men and women walking alone on their evening constitutional, couple strolling at 9 at night without a worry. Such is the freedom they enjoy in their little colony so aptly named Islander Village.
I went a tad late and missed the Vishnu sahasranamam but joined in Hanuman chalisa and all others for a good 40 minutes. Met a lot of tamilians including two from Kancheepuram!They have invited me next Saturday and for a picnic on monday to a waterfall 60kms away.
When they asked me to go to PNG , I asked where in the world is it. Little did I imagine that I would be singing ''ayigiri nandini'', eating kadalaiparuppu sundal and talking in Tamil to the heart's content, wah wah wah!
PS I discovered three kari patha bushes in our garden. The smell of paragikkai sambar "7 oorai asathiduthu"

Vishnu Sahasranamam in Papua New Guinea!

This little family was talking in Typical Tambrahm Tamil in the litlle cafeteria within the supermarket. I just walked up to them and started talking to them in Tamil too. So began our acquaitance. Both accountants but she stays at home looking after her two year old daughter Sharada.

There are many Indians in Port Moresby and many from South India; they are in all sectors :health, accountants,engineers, marketing managers ; some have lived here for 23-24 years. Their children either studied in Australia / India post school and are doing very well. Many have not seen the country beyond PoM; they are not comfortable with highcrime rate to take a chance.

So, I was invited to dinner in their house after a small session of VS recital in somebody else's house. Most of them live in a very beautiful colony called the islander village which has the best security in town. Children can play outside; couples can go for a walk after 8PM; men and women walk alone at any time for their constitutional walk.

I reached a tad late for the recital of Vishnu Sahasranamam but joined in in all the other songs/slokas and stotrams. It seems that this has been the usual every Saturday for the past 20 years for all South Indians; there is a sai group on Thursday and a Gita clss on Sundays.

When they asked me to go to PNG, I asked where in the world is it. Little did I know that I will be singing Äyigiri Nandini"eating Kadalai paruppu sundal and talking to people in Tamil! The small world that this is , two of them are from Kancheepuram if you please.

The dinner then was idli , sambar, vendaikkai poriyal, rasam and vathal!!!!!!!

Could anyone ask for more.

PS I discovered three Karipatha bushes in our garden with fantastic smell. The smell of the sambar I made "äsathiduthu"

Friday 10 April, 2009

I was just listening to a story of a young man who wanted to make mony, more money and more money. He had built up businesses and lived life full. Had an accident with not too serious injuries and his whole life changed> He just wanted to take a break; so sold his

Sunday 5 April, 2009

pot pourri culture

In PNG people are rich because they are rich. Not by selling their land but leasing it out even to the Govt. for either 49 or 99 years. If they have planted just one tree that area belongs to that person. There are no written documents, just a man’s and his clan’s word of honour. If anybody contests one man’s claim, then clan fights start; sometimes in front of a court of justice, in full regalia. Then after a heart’s content fight, with a few killed, and many slashed away, they agree to compromise and exchange pigs. Some of them slaughtered then & there, a merry feast follows and everything forgotten till the next disagreement.

This is an Agro-based country and anthropologically speaking , it is mix of race from all over the world; there are curly haired fair skinned people with Afro features; Thick long faces reminiscent of Dravidians; a few flat faces like the Far-east Asians – quite a pot-pourri.

The Parliament is built in the late 80 s in the architectural style of their spirit houses called Haus Tambaran. The pidgin language has taken words mostly from English but one can also find words like Haus – a fall out of the German occupation. Only men are allowed to enter the Haus Tambarans where the spirits of the ancestors reside and the living draw strength from these spirits. The exterior is decorated with beautiful carvings in wood of animals, flora and fauna of the land.

Saturday 4 April, 2009

Trip to Tari

Tari is a small district head quarter’s town in the Southern highlands of Papua New Guinea at a height of 1790 mts. The province of Southern highlands is now divided and Tari falls into the new Hela province. They have discovered Gas and soon it will be a very rich area.
The people here belong to a clan called Huli tribe. These tribes are called Wantok.

They speak the same language within the tribe that is in general known as Tok Plas. The men are short with thick long faces: not like the aboriginals, nor like the African but more or less like those we see in the evolution of Man pictures between metal age and that of few thousand years ago. Like that.

Soft spoken and gentle but their actions are violent and aggressive. Honoured to be warriors and hunters. Even today use bows and arrows and bush knifes to fight. They fight at the drop of a hat more often with a many beers within and land up in the hospital with an arrow sticking in their sides. They settle their disputes in a panchayat and celebrate the peace treaty by slaughtering pigs and exchanging them. Very tough guys. Last night a guy walked 5-6 kms alone after one half of his face was slashed away with a bush knife. Now what do you say? A woman went to the market place searching for blood donors after an ectopic pregnancy when she was told that she needs an operation and blood transfusion. Women are taller than men generally.
They use rocks and grass to clean their bottom after defecation. No water.
They celebrate events with a sing-sing and a mumu (mumu is killing a pig and having a feast)
Women have no place in their society except to procreate, satiate and look after kids and home.
A man has a status in his community if he has five wives and ten children, then he is considered an important man.
The landownership system is crazy. Anyone who has planted a tree has ownership of the land around it for generations. Even if they have sold the land for money, generations after they can come and claim it. No documents or papers only word of mouth.

The house where I stayed is a prefabricated bungalow with modern amenities but no hot water. With temp between 18°C by day and 12°C by night the water is cold. No electricity–only generator that is used to light up in the evenings till 10Pm. After that total darkness, one is left with the option of counting sheep thereafter, listening to the night sounds. There was this CEO of the hospital, our neighbor practicing with his band the same tune for three nights, which drove us mad.
Hot water once a week for a shower. Rest of the days either cold water for bath or none.
The guards build a fire in their hut and bake sweet potatoes to eat all night as dinner. They gave me one -very tasty.
Air Niugini operates thrice a week to this place a propeller plane that can take about 30 passengers. It seems they even carry a dead cow in the plane. My friend had that for company in the seat in front of hers. The land is lush with dense trees and mountains all over. Unspoilt landscape.
Trip to Tari

Tari is a small district head quarter’s town in the Southern highlands at a height of 1790 mts. The province of Southern highlands is now divided and Tari falls into the new Hela province. They have discovered Gas and soon it will be a very rich area.
The people here belong to a clan called Huli tribe. These tribes are called Wantok.

They speak the same language within the tribe that is in general known as Tok Plas. The men are short with thick long faces: not like the aboriginals, nor like the African but more or less like those we see in the evolution of Man pictures between metal age and that of few thousand years ago. Like that. Soft spoken and gentle but their actions are violent and aggressive. Honoured to be warriors and hunters. Even today use bows and arrows and bush knifes to fight. They fight at the drop of a hat more often with a many beers within and land up in the hospital with an arrow sticking in their sides. They settle their disputes in a panchayat and celebrate the peace treaty by slaughtering pigs and exchanging them. Very tough guys. Last night a guy walked 5-6 kms alone after one half of his face was slashed away with a bush knife. Now what do you say? A woman went to the market place searching for blood donors after an ectopic pregnancy when she was told that she needs an operation and blood transfusion. Women are taller than men generally.
They use rocks and grass to clean their bottom after defecation. No water.
They celebrate events with a sing-sing and a mumu (mumu is killing a pig and having a feast)
Women have no place in their society except to procreate, satiate and look after kids and home.
A man has a status in his community if he has five wives and ten children, then he is considered an important man.
The landownership system is crazy. Anyone who has planted a tree has ownership of the land around it for generations. Even if they have sold the land for money, generations after they can come and claim it. No documents or papers only word of mouth.

The house where I stayed is a prefabricated bungalow with modern amenities but no hot water. With temp between 18°C by day and 12°C by night the water is cold. No electricity–only generator that is used to light up in the evenings till 10Pm. After that total darkness, one is left with the option of counting sheep thereafter, listening to the night sounds. There was this CEO of the hospital, our neighbor practicing with his band the same tune for three nights, which drove us mad.
Hot water once a week for a shower. Rest of the days either cold water for bath or none.
The guards build a fire in their hut and bake sweet potatoes to eat all night as dinner. They gave me one -very tasty.
Air Niugini operates thrice a week to this place a propeller plane that can take about 30 passengers. It seems they even carry a dead cow in the plane. My friend had that for company in the seat in front of hers. The land is lush with dense trees and mountains all over. Unspoilt landscape.

Friday 3 April, 2009





























It is only on these kind of mission that one realises the value of knowledge and expertise. We have a boy in Tari with Severe infection of the brain , thanks to an arrow into his left eye.To manage this case without any modern lab support with just clinical skills is really a challenge. The team out there is doing this superbly --with first hand information. When one has to decide further whether to evacuate or enhance the treatment with somebody else's finding is even more a Himalayan task. I do not want to regret the loss of this boy's life by making a wrong decision. The HoM says You tell me what to do and I'll move heaven earth to get the boy here in PoM. The airstrip is closed ; He has to be moved to MT Hagen or Mehndi both ' hour drive from Tari; then airlift him to PoM; He may not even take the journey. God is great. With all our efforts he is hanging on there and InshAllah will become better.
I took some fabulous photos of the sunset in PoM and am sending them today for you all to see.
I want to make a Panarama with the software available. Alas, that software will work only on windows. I'll have to wait till I load it onto the other laptop.

Thursday 2 April, 2009

today I had a quiet evening with Edward the Finco. he showed me his fabulous photos mostly panaromic views of landscape and also taught me how to do it.
We have started planning what to do during th easter break. i brought the office laptop home to read some documents but after a dinner of Tomate mozarella and viewing beautiful photos, I had time just to wait for Vartha's call. now that he has not switched on his skype still and there is no scope of having a bath--water is not coming, I think I'll turn in after reading the lonely planet for a while.

Wednesday 1 April, 2009

Today spent my time in a meeting with the judiciary and teh police of PoM. I think I did well than Marc, the aggressive French man . Later went to a private hospital which is full of Indians,; Doctors, pharmacists, marketing managers, lab technicians, you name they are there; The CEO is from Delhi and he said that he'd call me for the next Indian meeting.
I spent the whole afternoon trying to write a report with Marc sitting across my table, on his side of the office interviewing a candidate for Project co-ordinator, talking all the time and that too in French. He actually briefed her for three hours. All because she is French!!!!!!
Fons the Financial Co-ordinator who has come for three weeks asked me if I will fulfil my promise of cooking an Indian meal albeit vegetarian, just the day Vartha came on Skype at 6 pm my time. I think he is leaving this W/E so I decided to agree.
Fabulous news that Seb and his cousin are getting promoted. All Aditi's raasi. Grihalakshmi is coming.