As our intrepid readers left us last, they found us entering Madhya Pradesh with the vigor of Louis and Clark as they proceeded to reach the western edge of the new world. We, of course, have more to report than the mundane grizzly bear or Native American though it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we saw at least a million Indians on the route as we continued our perilous journey.
We decided to continue to hoodwink our crew into believing we knew what we were doing by stopping at quaint little villages along the way and pretending to be interested in local culture, which for Radhika involved rushing to the nearest tea shop. She would then try to convince me that the said tea stall was clean and perfectly safe; I would then proceed to point out how the said tea stall had diversified into a roaring side business of breeding flies. It is after all a recession and judging by the rest of the village they had followed suit.
As we met the tea stall owner, I realized the secret to his success was customer service. Who would have thought good marketing was all it took to convince me to share my cup of tea, the table, chair and parts of my face with flies. Madhya Pradesh fascinated me the very first time I entered it, I liked the people who were always polite to me and this time around was no different. I loved the green landscape, the men and women working in the fields …Sorry no images to illustrate my point-We were too busy not tweeting, blogging etc.We needed to keep the camera crew in suspense.
Driving through Baranpur, I was surprised to see Radhika jump out of the car and dash off in the opposite direction. Following suit, I pursued to find her running behind an old man in a Gandhi cap. I’m sure everyone’s read Radhika’s post about her discovering the Unani Medicine Man, but what she failed to mention was the following conversation.
Wrapping up our work, as we headed back to car Radhika said “Weird- Did you know that two guys on a bike stopped and asked ‘do you have a problem? To which she apparently replied “Do YOU have a problem?”
I went on to explain to Radhika that she must have been the only woman in the history of Baranpur to attempt to beat the land speed record for no express purpose other than to catch up to an old man wearing a Gandhi cap and the question was purely out of concern.
I’ll put down the misunderstanding to cultural differences.
Reading up about Indore we were lead to believe that it was, and I quote “mini-Bombay”. Let me be the first one to tell you -Don’t believe everything you read. We entered Indore with high expectations and our initial impressions were that it seemed quite progressive. We drove on taking in the sights of the city. Armed with information we went about hiring an auto rickshaw to guide us through the city. He of course took one look at us and instantly insisted we pay him upfront. I was indignant until I looked into the mirror.
We set off following as we dodged and weaved through what we thought were narrow roads, until the roads proceeded to become smaller in dimension with every turn till memories of Varanasi came flooding back (read Varanasi or Bust). How we managed to get through is still a mystery to me, but before the organizers start calling about the condition of the car I shall assure them the car is in perfect condition provided we ever get around to washing it. Did I mention the auto rickshaw driver, a very pleasant fellow, then convinced us that he had to detour through the gully and therefore required an extra Rs20…..  Welcome to Indore.
 

While driving through Maharashtra and the border of MP, we noticed people wearing the Gandhi cap which for me is an unusual sight. Looking around I realized that we pass by the smaller details of our culture because we are so used to seeing them. Thought it would be fun to show you portraits of the 3 people I conversed with and the cultural significance of the details they adorned.

Bangles have been worn in India since 2000bc and were made up of shell, bronze or copper.

While single women also wear bangles in India, they usually signify matrimony in the same way that the western wedding ring does. Red bangles symbolize energy, blue bangles symbolize wisdom and purple symbolizes independence. Green stands for luck or marriage and yellow is for happiness.

Bindi is derived from the Sanskrit word bindu or drop and suggests the mystic third eye of a person. The area between the eyes is known as Agna or the 6th chakra where all experiences can be gathered in total concentration. The red color signifying strength also denotes the status of marriage in a woman.

Caps have been worn in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka throughout history but became immensely popular when Gandhi started his non-violent movement and spun his Khadi version of it, becoming a symbol for politics in independent India.

Chasing an old man down the streets in Baranpur for my ‘Gandhi topi’ story, with Bharath following me with a concerned look on his face (for the safety of the old man, I think) we stumbled upon this quaint looking store with herbs into which the old man had entered. After coaxing him my ‘sweetest voice’ and having gotten a few images, we spoke to Tariq Siddiqui who runs the store about all the herbs around us… Bharath and I both follow alternative medicine and I am completely fascinated by different healing methods. Explaining to us about his healing practice called the Unani; I knew it would be my next info-post for this evening.
The threads of Unani or Yunani (pronounced /juːˈnɑːni/) healing can be traced back 5000years to Anatolia, Greece based on the teachings of Hippocrates. Developed further by a Persian healer called Avicenna, Unani –tibb is supported on the theory that the presence of 4 elements in the fluids of the body when not in balance causes illness. Based on scientific principle, it uses herbal remedies for healing and like most other alternative medicine believes in the balance of the mind and body.

Brought predominantly into India by the Muslim invasion, the families of Tariq Siddique have been practicing Unani healing for over 200 years. Chatting away with Tariq surrounded by jars of herbs and roots, we completely lost track of time.

Tariq’s remedy for burning fat without moving a muscle!
Jeera 100gms
Saunf 100gms
Ajwain 100gms
Lac 25gms
Mint 25gms
Nutmeg 25gms
Crush into powder and have 3-5 Gms twice a day.

P.s I have a feeling there was a certain hint when Tariq gave me the recipe.

P.P.s- I love that traveling lets me tumble right into fascinating stories.

Reached Dhule late in the night very very tired, we found a quaint place off the highway. I think I should look up the meaning of quaint again in the dictionary ...I digress. Driving in, we were greeted by no one and even found the furniture covered in sheets. Our minds wandered into thoughts of motel No 6 but being egged on by my partner, (after all what is the purpose of a travel buddy but to infuse a false sense of security!) I entered to find a manager waiting at the reception. Quietly slipping on my dark glasses to prevent the glare from the bright pink walls from distracting me I proceeded to find out about available rooms.
“We have deluxe A/C and super deluxe A/C rooms’ available sir”
“So what is the difference between the two?” I replied.
“It’s the same room sir but the super deluxe has been renovated” he said without missing a heartbeat.

With those ominous words I proceeded upstairs with an uninterested bellboy in tow. First the deluxe A/C was clean by most budget hotel standards I have found, as I tried to avoid stepping on the cockroaches that were busy taking part in a 100 meter dash as we entered. Rather reluctantly, I decided to inspect the “super deluxe A/C”, lead by the unfazed bellboy I entered to find a very similar room but devoid of cockroaches, I speculated that no one had informed them about the to-let sign outside the door after the renovation. Their loss was my gain. After all the real estate market is a cut throat business.
I shall not get into the details of how I pacified Radhika. Suffice to say that I have now signed a pact with the devil.
We left the next morning, rearranged our luggage and set off towards Yawal Sanctuary. Any veteran traveler will tell you about the value of local knowledge, so in the indomitable spirit of travelers we proceeded with local knowledge, which involved stopping, asking, crowd gathering, Goutham (our video man) continuing to shoot me speaking in my broken Hindi (while Radhika continued to smirk and not help me out). Try explaining to a crowd of eager onlookers what we’re attempting to achieve, while each word uttered is consumed with an eagerness of a T20 match.
False enthusiasm to provide travelers from a far-off land with information complicates an otherwise confused plan. We head towards the elusive Yawal to find that Yawal is so elusive that even the animals have a tough time locating it. 
Prompt and feverish discussions between Radhika and me about how not to appear lost in front of the camera crew, we put on our all-knowing faces as we turn towards the crew and sound confident as we update them on the change in route. Jalgoan to Biswada, then onto Khandwa and to Indore all while driving through Yawal. I haven’t even heard of these places. After criss-crossing many a tiny village in Maharashtra we now see our camera crew looking at us as though they’ve just made the biggest mistake of their lives. I hate to tell them they’re right! Did someone forget to mention to them that traveling with us involves impromptu detours to photograph a hundred cows on dusty village roads? Hmm..They must have forgotten to read the tweet. Wait a minute ….What tweet!?!

As we proceed further into the heartland we notice that we had even managed to confuse our GPS. As she tried to cajole us back on to the straight and narrow road, we persevered with a stubbornness that would have brought a smile on the lips of the stubbornest donkey in Khandwa.
A proud moment for us as we entered Madhya Pradesh!

Exit Maharashtra. Stage right!