Posts
33 -- A Trip to the Museum
NOTE: This blog is a continuing dialog between the two faces of rilla. The identity crisis is explained (if such a thing is possible) in the first edition. Click here to read: 1 -- Introduction
Rilla: BET you’ll never guess what those are.
rilla: They’re ancient hair-dryers…
Rilla: Wha…? How did you know?
rilla: Umm… it says so in the picture…
Rilla: Oh. It does. Aren’t they cool? I guess they combed through their hair with those tongs, to dry it … maybe they even heated them first.
rilla: Where did you get the picture?
Rilla: The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum in Pune.
rilla: You went to a museum?
Rilla: A one-man collection of Indian folk-arts and crafts collected over sixty years! There are more than twenty-thousand artifacts, including the largest collection of lamps in India!
rilla: Raja Kelkar… so, he was a king?
Rilla: No, no. He named his collection for his son, Raja, who died very young.
rilla: Oh. Sad. Hey, this is cool.
Rilla: Bet you’ll never guess what that is!
rilla: It’s a… vegetable cutter!
Rilla: Urghh…
rilla: Same as these.
You were a little too careful including explanation cards in the photos to play guessing games, dimbulb… ha ha ha! I know what this is too!
Rilla: Yes. It's a vajri, a foot scrubber. What you giggling for?
rilla: Nothing... just with all those bells, the whole house would know when you're doing a bit of foot cleansing... hey hey...
Rilla:Ok, enough of that. I know you know what this is…
rilla: Yup! It's a betel nut cutter for paan.
Rilla: He was very fond of them. He has a huge array in his collection. Tells you what an important household item that was. Some of them are so beautiful…
rilla: Mm.. I love paan, the sweet kind that is, with the betel nut all chopped up to tiny chewable bits... the bright green leaf, the cool refreshing...
Rilla: ...yes... the bright red color it turns your mouth, the sudden urge to seek out a spitoon or use the closest street corner...
rilla: Oh, no... I've never eaten the paan with lime in it, the one that makes you spit like a chewin' tobacco veteran... but these betel nut cutters are lovely...
rilla: … hmm... and these others are downright…ahem.
Rilla: Well, paan chewing was considered sexy because of how it stains your lips red... it's said that Radha...
rilla: Moving on... moving on... Ooh! Cool-shaped water pots.
Rilla: Yes, but get a load of this... the collector loved weapons too.
rilla: Beautiful, but deadly!
Rilla: Deadly's right. Here, take a closer look.
rilla: Hang on a second. Are those what I think they are?
Rilla: Sure are, baby!
rilla: TIGER CLAWS! Like in Shivaji's story, the deep and treacherous tale of how he killed Afzal Khan of Bijapur. Lucky for him he had the claws and armor hidden under his clothes when he went for 'peaceful negotiations' with the dagger wielding Khan.
Rilla: Bet his armor wasn't made of fish scales like this one here.
rilla: Fish scales! Never heard of that before.
Rilla: OK. How about something more pleasant. Here, I took these pictures of miniature toys for your friend Laini, to give her ideas for her toy house.
rilla: CUTE! You even have the dolls to go with it!
Rilla: Ahem. Those aren't dolls! At least, not ones you play with. That's a miniature of Lord Krishna washing the feet of his older brother, Balarama.
rilla: Cool detail. I LOVE the hairdos! But, wait a minute, WHAT is that!
Rilla: Oh. The collector was totally in love with musical instruments. There were all kinds, including a sitar with its sound box made from an ostrich egg! And of course, this swan-shaped one here...
... and this fishy thing...
...here's another wierd one...
... and my favorite... this dragon-looking harp.
OK, OK, I BET you'll never guess what this is...
rilla: Mm... let's see now... it's all pointy, and loads of detail, and very elegant, and... did I say loads of detail, oh and really quite beautiful and...
Rilla: STOP STALLING AND GET ON WITH THE GUESSING.
rilla: All right. I guess you got me there. I have no idea!
Rilla: Finally! Ha ha! It's a LOCK! Can't you see the huge key sticking out there at the right.
rilla: A Lock!
Rilla: And, how about these things...?
rilla: Can't begin to imagine.
Rilla: Got you, got you! They're spoon holders.
rilla: Spoon holders?
Rilla: Yes. They're called Appakodus. They were hung from the ceiling or the wall and cooking ladels were stuck into the holes to keep them out of reach of children.
rilla: Huh!
Rilla: And now... for the lamps! Get a load of these...
..and finally, the coolest one of all...
rilla: That's a lamp! Wow! Well I can see you sure bent over backwards to put these pictures together... snicker... snicker...snurf...
The Official Museum Website
Info on the Practice of chewing Paan
Go the museum site above and click on Tambool to get more interesting stories about Paan
Shivaji's Battle with Bijapur
More about Krishna in Indian Mythology
For Lynnerd:
How You Use a Vajri or Foot Scrubber:
Lamps, not candle-holders.
Oil is filled into the well of the lamp and cotton wicks are dipped into the well. The wicks stick out in each of the little protrusions from the well and are lit with a slow-burning flame.
You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women. 