Matiari

Monday morning we awoke to find the Ganges Voyager II moored next to another barge. Once again staff members helped us over the obstacles to be sure we didn’t trip and then down the gangplank which was a metal section followed by a bamboo section. This morning would be a walk through the town and a visit to the metal works this area was noted for.

It was a holiday. Some sort of day where the stock market was supposed to pay out and not take in. Then again, maybe our guide had said it facetiously. I made a mental note to mention that to our financial advisor at home. I’m sure it will bring a smile.

The streets were narrow and mostly trafficked by motorcycles and bicycles and carts. Right by our boat was a ferry “dock” with a large sampan filled with people crossing to the other side. Goods were also being moved back and forth. I was glad we weren’t crossing the river.

One of the first places we passed was a school where the kids had a testing day. I’m guessing because of the holiday it would be a shortened day as the parents were sitting outside waiting for the students to finish.

The walk took us past a chicken coop of sorts and an overloaded cart of goods and then past another large bamboo arched structure that was probably for the upcoming Diwali celebration.

A man came by us with two baskets on his head. There were chickens inside on their way to market.

The local door to door fish salesman had two large buckets of fish attached to his bicycle and had stopped to sell or deliver. Uber Eats? InstaCart?

The main industry in this town was producing brass products from recycled scraps of metals. The village history dates back over 100 years. The senior leaders of the village had gone to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and worked in the brass utensils factory. When they grew older and slower in their work, they returned to their village and incorporated their skills into building a livelihood for the village. The operation is set up in several locations throughout the village.

 Our first stop was to where they were cutting the pieces up for melting. Huge cutters were used and piles of scrap metal lay scattered about.

Next, off a small alleyway was a room with a very hot fire blasting up through the furnace in the floor. As they tossed scraps into the fire, you could see various colors of red, blue, orange and green. As we were taking pictures, we turned and noticed two fellows taking pictures of us. We were as much a novelty to them as what we were seeing with our tourist eyes.

Another stop was to a place that was pressing out the hot metal into round pancakes. You didn’t have to get too close to feel the heat radiating from them as they lay in piles to cool.

The last stop in the process was to show how the designs were hand stamped into the brass and of course to have the opportunity to purchase items. There was no high pressure like other usual tourist stops for shopping. It was nice to just be able to look and ask prices. And yes, I succumbed to spending a bit. Prices were good.

This was a tour where wearing closed toe shoes was a good policy. You had to be careful where you stepped with all the animals roaming freely about. I had taken a picture earlier of what I believed was some sort of decorative clay tiles on the walls of a building. It turned out that those “tiles” were pressed clumps of cow dung that was drying. When dry, they use if for fuel for cooking fires.

It must have been a somewhat lucrative business since there were several places we found it plastered on the walls. One such operation had their cow dung supplier (the cows) penned up. The woman making the clumps of dung for drying had her hands in a large pile of dung and was making the “patties” for drying by hand.

The people here were the friendliest. When you consider we had invaded their town and were taking pictures of everything in sight they greeted us with smiles, brought their children to show us and even a group of girls on their way from school saw my phone raised for a picture and stopped to pose with big grins.

My favorite stop so far. It was so much fun I didn’t even mind the heat but I was grateful to know our shoes would be cleaned on the riverboat when we returned. 

As we crossed to the boat on the gangplank again (I never had so many young men hold my hand before), I looked over and saw a small group of women washing clothes in the river. I checked to be sure it wasn’t the clothes we’d turned in to the laundry. Just kidding. I’m sure there are machines on the riverboat.