Day 4

Actually I wanted to sleep early. But I have a lot to say. So I decided to be up and say what I wanted to say and then go to bed. After yesterdays’ trip things almost came to an end. Nevertheless the congress had to go on with the list of invited speakers. The participants were still excited about the sessions and not tired yet.
As for me it was another day of intellectual feasting. I began the day with a documentary film. It is very unusual that I do that but I did so just because I had not been to that area before. I peeped in and found a good movie about a Chinese village. It was an anthropological film that was based in rural China. I was not surprised to see the face of poverty and superstition remain the same in all parts of the world. It was quite disturbing to see the state of people. I did reflect on the dichotomy of Indian life. We have the Agni and Chandrayaan we also have the farmers’ committing suicide.
The next stop was the anthropological book fare. I am sure that it was filled with some great books but I did not understand a single word, it was all in Chinese. It gradually led me to the ethnic exhibition. Embroidered work, silver jewelry, wood carvings and so on were on the display. The most impressive was a suit made from a bark of a tree. I will have the photos sent when I get them.
Since I did not have a camera I have been asking some volunteers to take pictures of me and email it to me. It has worked well so far. Only hard thing was to make them understand to send it to me. I used my dramatic skills to tell them.
It was time to go for a talk by Dawn Chatty, from the Oxford University. I had met her last year. Her talk was on the mobile people and the laws concerning the land. She discussed the case study of Oman. The oryx (a type of deer) lived in this area. Due to excessive hunting they became extinct in the area. They were now found only in two zoos. The Sultan of Oman decided to re introduce the oryx and demarcated a huge piece of land to be protected. Within a period of two years they multiplied. It was reported as a huge success story. This did not last long. The local people were not consulted in the process, they also felt that a minority community that lived on the edge of the forest got more attention. Lo and behold jealousy took control and the hunting began. In about a year they were reduced to only four pairs that could multiply. For the first time in History UNESCO with drew its world heritage site status from Oman.
By now I was ready to see some of Kunming and look to buy a cheap camera. So I got into a bus and left for the market. In Kunming, all the conference participants get to travel free of cost. You just have to show the card and they let you in. I went to the Flower and bird market. Saw a lot of hand work. It appeared beautiful. Also saw a lot of animals that were up for sale. Their behavior would put the funniest home videos to shame.
With no luck for my camera, I kept walking for a long distance. I decided to take a bus because I wanted to attend a talk that was given by Dr Veena Das. Bus no 82 and 84 were destined to the university. I checked about No 84 and confirmed that it was going to the university. But I did not check about 82. Since the guide book said that I could reach the market on that, I assumed that it would go back to the university.
The two buses came simultaneously. I got in to the bus no 82. I was in it because I thought that it would head in the right direction. The bus kept going. I did realize the strangeness of the place. Since all the places appeared the same I just went on. I then asked around for help. The sixth person helped me understand that the bus was on another route. I had to get off.
The bus stand was my next destination. Using a small guide book I asked around and tool a bus number 69 and reached the university. By now Dr Veena’s talk was over. I felt very stupid. I walked along.
A familiar face walked towards me, it was Dr Chellaperumal, he used to work in St Xaviers College Palayamkottai. I had met him in the US and now was meeting him again. He introduced me to Dr Hilderman, a person who had done his doctoral work in the Niligiri hills. He was currently working on the Badagas. As we sat down to chat Dr Joan Mencher, the mother of Anthropology came by. Infact she was looking for me.
We sat down to chat. It was a deep intellectual discussion on the issues of tribal’s, dalits, forests Act and so on. After many days I felt like I was in a good group that was discussing some great intellectual stuff. Joan with her 60 years of experience of Indian culture was able to give so many insights from all over south India.
Later I went for a session on visual anthropology. They screened a short film on Ambedkar. I thought that it was a great idea to discuss the history of Ambedkar in a conference like this. The people at the session were in tears after they saw the work of him.
That took me to the end of the day. I dinner and was off for my long walk. Now as I walked what did I stumble upon. A cell phone mall, a series of stores with so many cell phones. Impossible to ignore the varieties. But the fact was that the Chinese products were cheaper in India than in China.
I got back to my dorm and interacted with my volunteer friends and got to my room. By now the time is well past mid night. I have to attend an interesting lecture at 8:30 am.