Ladies Day
Today Mani told us that Alex and I would be heading out separately for our field trips today. I tried not to be envious of Alex as he headed off on the back of a motorbike with a big happy/smug grin on his face, and although I didn't get to see or do as much as he did, I had a really nice day.
Mani and I travelled into Penukonda in the jeep with Shammy, and although I had hoped to have a day with Manni so that I could work on strengthening our relationship, it turned out that she had other work to do instead. She dropped me off in Penukonda to spend the day with another field worker, Govindamma, and checked if I was comfortable with catching the bus back afterwards before heading off to do her own work.
Govindamma took me walking down some of the roads of Penukonda, until we came to a small area where all of the households were engaged in pottery work.
We went to one place where a man was making pots on a wheel. The technique was different to what I've seen before. To begin with, the wheel had a weighted outer ring that seemed to keep the momentum going, and the wheel was started spinning by pushing it round with a pole. The time it could keep going for without further intervention was very impressive!
The second difference was that the clay was not thrown for each pot. Instead, a column of clay was on the wheel, and a section from the top was worked into a pot, twisted off when it was completed, and then the next section was worked into the next pot, and so on. I saw 4 or 5 pots being made, so I think that probably 8-10 pots could be made from one column of clay, before starting with the next.
Then Govindamma showed me a large pile of broken or imperfect pottery. I don't know what happens with the waste, but the way it was collected made me wonder if it could be reused in some way. I also found a plate that didn't seem to be damaged in any way, but for once I didn't have my wallet with me and so I couldn't buy anything :(
Walking through some of the little streets in this area, we saw more evidence of the work - people preparing the clay - mixing it with soot to make it black, removing any stones or pieces of plant matter (the clay is unprocessed clay that is just collected from the ground). Wheels leaned up against houses, and various pots and plates sat drying in the sun.
Although we were still in Penukonda, the main town in our area, this little section of the town felt like a little village of its own, and it was very pleasant strolling through the small quiet streets. I realise that it sounds a bit obnoxious and it's a very privileged thing to care about, but our companionable walk allowed me to really enjoy that we were in a place with no tourists and no concessions made for visitors. I loved that it was entirely authentic and only existed to serve the people who actually lived there, and I felt exceptionally lucky to have a connection that allowed me to experience this place as a welcome visitor.
We went in to one house, I think that Govindamma knew them through the biogas project, where we saw women making plates with the clay. The plates were made in a different way, without using a wheel, and a bit of a production line was happening with one women preparing fat disks of clay and the next making these into plates. Another women was checking the plates that were drying, and Govindamma explained to me that while the area needs rain, the current damp weather is really bad for the potters as their clay can't dry properly in the wet conditions.
After seeing a few pottery workers, Govindamma took me through another couple of small streets, passing a couple of temples on the way.
We continued on to some houses where the families are SEDS biogas users. We met with one lady who took us to see her fields, showed us her water pump for irrigation, and plucked some flowers to put in Govindamma's and my hair.
We visited a couple of homes to see their biogas cookers in action, and then we sat outside on a sort of village square, where several ladies came to join us. We talked about Australia, our families, the old ladies inspected my earrings, people took selfies with me on their phones... Even though it was a bit strange for me to be the centre of so much attention, the attention was gentle and kind and it was actually really nice talking with the old ladies and complimenting the younger lady's cute little baby.
As we talked about the biogas, some of the ladies enthusiastically talked about how much better it is to cook on a biogas stove rather than a wood fire. They talked about how they could make more sophisticated recipes with the stoves, and we had a bit of a conversation about food. When I mentioned I like upama, one of the older ladies sent someone off to cook us some upama, and so when it was ready Govindamma and I went down the road to her house where we had tea and upama. It was really nice, and it felt very special to have been invited into someone's home in this more intimate way.
After we finished our food and tea, which we decided constituted an early lunch, Govindamma and I set off for a bit more of a walk, including a brief visit again to the Muslim shrine in Penukonda. It was raining a bit by this point though so I put my camera away.
By 2pm we had finished everything on our to-do list. I would have liked to maybe go shopping with Govindamma to look at some Indian jewellery, but as I didn't have any money with me there didn't seem like much point. Instead, I asked for Govi's phone number so that we could try to organise a bit of shopping in the future. Govindamma sat with me on the bus until it was ready to depart - I think it's connected to the hospitality that is part of the culture here, but people really do seem to go out of their way to make sure you are ok!
After arriving back at the SEDS farm, I spent the afternoon doing some more uni work.
Mani and I travelled into Penukonda in the jeep with Shammy, and although I had hoped to have a day with Manni so that I could work on strengthening our relationship, it turned out that she had other work to do instead. She dropped me off in Penukonda to spend the day with another field worker, Govindamma, and checked if I was comfortable with catching the bus back afterwards before heading off to do her own work.
Govindamma took me walking down some of the roads of Penukonda, until we came to a small area where all of the households were engaged in pottery work.
 |
| The pots which have holes in the bottom - these holes are plugged later once the main part of the pot is dried |
We went to one place where a man was making pots on a wheel. The technique was different to what I've seen before. To begin with, the wheel had a weighted outer ring that seemed to keep the momentum going, and the wheel was started spinning by pushing it round with a pole. The time it could keep going for without further intervention was very impressive!
The second difference was that the clay was not thrown for each pot. Instead, a column of clay was on the wheel, and a section from the top was worked into a pot, twisted off when it was completed, and then the next section was worked into the next pot, and so on. I saw 4 or 5 pots being made, so I think that probably 8-10 pots could be made from one column of clay, before starting with the next.
 |
| Moulding a pot |
 |
| Moulding the base ready to twist off the new pot |
 |
| Removing the finished pot, note the stack of clay that is still on the wheel for the next pots |
Then Govindamma showed me a large pile of broken or imperfect pottery. I don't know what happens with the waste, but the way it was collected made me wonder if it could be reused in some way. I also found a plate that didn't seem to be damaged in any way, but for once I didn't have my wallet with me and so I couldn't buy anything :(
Walking through some of the little streets in this area, we saw more evidence of the work - people preparing the clay - mixing it with soot to make it black, removing any stones or pieces of plant matter (the clay is unprocessed clay that is just collected from the ground). Wheels leaned up against houses, and various pots and plates sat drying in the sun.
Although we were still in Penukonda, the main town in our area, this little section of the town felt like a little village of its own, and it was very pleasant strolling through the small quiet streets. I realise that it sounds a bit obnoxious and it's a very privileged thing to care about, but our companionable walk allowed me to really enjoy that we were in a place with no tourists and no concessions made for visitors. I loved that it was entirely authentic and only existed to serve the people who actually lived there, and I felt exceptionally lucky to have a connection that allowed me to experience this place as a welcome visitor.
We went in to one house, I think that Govindamma knew them through the biogas project, where we saw women making plates with the clay. The plates were made in a different way, without using a wheel, and a bit of a production line was happening with one women preparing fat disks of clay and the next making these into plates. Another women was checking the plates that were drying, and Govindamma explained to me that while the area needs rain, the current damp weather is really bad for the potters as their clay can't dry properly in the wet conditions.
After seeing a few pottery workers, Govindamma took me through another couple of small streets, passing a couple of temples on the way.
We continued on to some houses where the families are SEDS biogas users. We met with one lady who took us to see her fields, showed us her water pump for irrigation, and plucked some flowers to put in Govindamma's and my hair.
We visited a couple of homes to see their biogas cookers in action, and then we sat outside on a sort of village square, where several ladies came to join us. We talked about Australia, our families, the old ladies inspected my earrings, people took selfies with me on their phones... Even though it was a bit strange for me to be the centre of so much attention, the attention was gentle and kind and it was actually really nice talking with the old ladies and complimenting the younger lady's cute little baby.
As we talked about the biogas, some of the ladies enthusiastically talked about how much better it is to cook on a biogas stove rather than a wood fire. They talked about how they could make more sophisticated recipes with the stoves, and we had a bit of a conversation about food. When I mentioned I like upama, one of the older ladies sent someone off to cook us some upama, and so when it was ready Govindamma and I went down the road to her house where we had tea and upama. It was really nice, and it felt very special to have been invited into someone's home in this more intimate way.
 |
| The colourful view as we ate our upama |
After we finished our food and tea, which we decided constituted an early lunch, Govindamma and I set off for a bit more of a walk, including a brief visit again to the Muslim shrine in Penukonda. It was raining a bit by this point though so I put my camera away.
By 2pm we had finished everything on our to-do list. I would have liked to maybe go shopping with Govindamma to look at some Indian jewellery, but as I didn't have any money with me there didn't seem like much point. Instead, I asked for Govi's phone number so that we could try to organise a bit of shopping in the future. Govindamma sat with me on the bus until it was ready to depart - I think it's connected to the hospitality that is part of the culture here, but people really do seem to go out of their way to make sure you are ok!
After arriving back at the SEDS farm, I spent the afternoon doing some more uni work.
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