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原文
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THE DAYS BEFORE THE FESTIVAL
One evening in the second week Mr. Banerjee, the
assistant managersand I met.I talked a little
aboutmy experiences in the plantation and then
they thought about what I could do in the following
weeks. One of them had seen, that I know how to
draw.So my new task became to draw, paint and sketch.
I was pleased that from now on I would work
independently and on my own responsibility.
I was asked to decorate one of the maps ofMakaibari,
which shows the outlines of the areas cultivated
with tea and the villages in the plantation.
So the next one and a half weeks I was busy copying
lots of birds and animals from books on the map,
filling the blanks with plants and simply covering
the whole big pieceof paper with color.
It wasn't
a tremendously interesting work and it took me
very long. I really wanted to create something
beautiful. On one hand because Makaibari has
earned good work and I was thankful that I
could stay there, on the other hand because
I am a perfectionistconcerning drawings and hate
to look at drawings which should be muchbetter.
While I was working lots of people came in to
admire the map. I was thankful for their cheering
up. The final product looks nice,although some
things could be better.
The day I finally finished
the work was the beginning of the festival season.
The same day I saw my first Tea Deva, a truly
magic sight, and Mr. Banerjee came back from
Kolkata with the needed money to pay the incentive
bonus, which meant the end of some difficult days.
Tea business was bad this year and most
Tea Estates didn't know how to pay the bonus.
Workers went on strike. In Makaibari they protested
in front of the factory gates for some hours on
3 mornings. In other Tea Estates it came to violence
and a few even had to close down. For about a week
people were worried and the atmosphere was very
tense. So when money finally arrived everyone was
really relieved and the air was filled with
laughter and jokes. I had never been so happy
seeing someone counting money. From that moment on
everyone got into the holyday mood, everywhere
the preparations for the Durga Puja were going on.
The rainy season was really over and the next
weeks were going to be warm and sunny.
The views amazed me every day and everywhere
flowers burst into blossom.
I was planning to do some sketching outdoors,
portraits and village scenes. I didn't know how to
proceed, since I had never done this before and I
couldn't imagine how to explain to people what
I wanted to do without speaking their language.
But when I started it turned out quite easy.
Nobody misunderstands a blanc piece of paper and
a pencil, especially when I showed some finished
drawings. So I started with the portraits of
the two old men who worked at the guesthouse as
guards. They turned out good and I wasn't to
worry anymore what to do during the festival days.
When those days approached Uli and I, a German
student who also stayed in Makaibari, didn't know
what was going to happen and what we would do.
Everyone of the men working in the office we had
had most contact with were going to spend the
holidays with their families in Siliguri or
Kolkata. But then everything turned out a little
different than expected.During the following week
I was busier than ever before in Makaibari. I
didn't even get to do any drawings.
One day
the Banerjees took us and some other guests to
Darjeeling. We went to the Planters Association,
a Club for high society and tourists. The place
and people there seemed to be quite influenced
by the British heritage. Then we were treated
with a delicious lunch. I wasn't allowed to
finish before my belly wouldn't take a last
grain of fennel anymore. After some minutes
being stuck with the cars in a street only
allowed for pedestrians, supposedly being
stopped by an angry drunk man, surrounded by
a crowd of curious people,we were saved and could
proceed in our way to meet the princess of the
Burdwan (?) Maharaja dynasty in her summer palace.
There we were shown the house, sat a while and
had a chat until we went to drive back the
curvy and bumpy road to Makaibari.
