Khusbagh, India, And A Henna Tattoo

Wednesday would be a little earlier start in order to beat the heat. Our excursion would start at eight with a ride on a Sampan to shore. The Ganges Voyager II was anchored mid-river. I should note here that to our surprise, this river was not heavily traveled by large boats. Other than the GVII, we could count maybe three others we’d seen of any size. Most of the river boats were smaller Sampans or small fishing boats.

The Sampan we had been towing behind our riverboat was the mode of transportation for this morning. We had to stagger groups again to fit everyone on it. Life jackets had to be worn but it was such a short trip to shore that it really wasn’t that uncomfortable. It was fascinating though to see how the Sampan operated.

Once we were all seated, one of the crew members raised the lid on the compartment that housed the engine, attached a handle somehow and cranked it to life much like the old Ford Model Ts. We were off. The captain had one hand on the rudder to steer and the other held a rope attached to a lever that controlled the throttle. It took a bit of skill to navigate that vessel. We were all impressed.

Hands again helped us off the Sampan and up the steps to the pathway we would follow on our walk through the agriculture of the area. There were large fields of rice, squash, eggplant, some corn, some grains and other vegetables I was unfamiliar with.

A grove of trees turned out to be mangoes and Sachi pointed out some date palms and a couple palms that produced coconuts. There were a few structures that were homes and one that was some sort of government wash building.

Our walk took us to a royal cemetery where there were graves of the Nawabs of Bengal. Several graves of the historic ruling family. Graves of men and women were separated in their own small compounds.

Rice

The walk to the cemetery had been pleasant enough along the path through the fields. A slight breeze was almost refreshing. The walk back was already beginning to heat up. I was thankful the morning excursion had been planned earlier in the morning.

The afternoon would pass a bit more leisurely. We had a long way to go to reach Mayapur, our next stop. In the meantime there was a talk about the festivals of the Ganges. Tonight would be the eve of Diwali, the festival of lights.

For several hours, two very skilled staff members began drawing henna tattoos for any who would be interested. The list of women was long and I was almost at the end. The tattoos were quite intricate but not as much as the tattoos would be for the traditional Indian bride. I thought we were going to get more of an explanation of the tattoos but I would have to learn more online later.

We went down to lunch while I waited my turn and I quickly ate something, then went back up to the lounge to check on my turn. I arrived just in time to see him finish the tattoo on the foot/ankle of the lady ahead of me. I sat down and said I only wanted something small on top of my forearm. He obliged with an intricate design of what I think is a carnation. It was perfect.

The process is a little like decorating a cake with tubes of icing. The henna ink comes in tubes with a fine point. It goes on a thick dark brown. You let the design dry for an hour which is a little tricky depending upon where you get the tattoo and if you plan to move much. Some were on the underside of the arm and on the palm and fingers. 

When mine was done, I rejoined Bob  who had been talking with another passenger in the dining room while I was gone. I had a “second” lunch since I hadn’t eaten much the first time around and watched the timer on my phone as the hour passed by.

Up in the lounge at the bar was a little bowl of lemon juice which needed to be dabbed onto the tattoo after an hour. Then there was another ten minutes to wait before washing it off. When the time had passed and I got to wash it off, I was a bit disappointed. With my tan, the design was so faint you could hardly see it. I was promised that it would be darker in the morning. We would see.

Later in the afternoon we went to the dining room for a cooking demonstration with Chef Mayukh. They made a spicey tea for us. The spices were combined in a flat pan and browned gently to release the aroma and flavor. Then they were crushed and added to a hot mixture of water, tea, milk, honey and sugar. It was very flavorful.

Next the chef made a sauce from the same type of spice mixture but added tomatoes, garlic, onion and a few other spices along with boiled chick peas that were slightly mashed to thicken the sauce. It was a bit spicey but not as much I’m sure as those who asked for the green chili to be added to their sample.

Last was dessert. Lo and behold it was a type of funnel cake! There was a tube of batter squeezed into a design in hot oil mixed with ghee (ghee looks like clarified butter). Once the batter was browned and crispy, it was coated in a syrup and served to us in samples. Tasty. We couldn’t help but remember our son making funnel cakes at an amusement park back home as a summer job when he was younger.

There was a small reception for returning guests (those who had previously cruised with Uniworld) on the sun deck. The deck had been decorated with all sorts of colored lights and we decided that this was probably more for Diwali than for the guests.

After dinner we all went back up to the sun deck for what was promised to be a surprise from the crew. Over the speaker system as we waited for our surprise came the chant of “Ohmmmm” over and over again. A little while later, one of the guides told us the surprise was on one side of the boat. We looked out and saw the Sampan releasing floating lighted candles—hundreds of them! They formed a stream in the middle of the river and we watched them float past the boat and down the river. It was quite impressive. 

Happy Diwali!