Delhi: Sansrikiti Terracota Museum

 Ep.50

22 July 2012.

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Annonymous.

DEL – Delhi, India.

Me and Earth

Here it comes, another unexpected trip. Indian port has never been a popular one among us, cabin crews. Not due to the destination, but more about the flight that we consider tough as “an early Christmas in the cabin”. And as explained before, there were no chance to swap and get away from this flight. So, I did it. This time, we flew there with mix based crew, Bangkok base. Different base, new friends and new experience is yet to come.

horsie horsie

Arrived Delhi around midnight, I directly made my trip to dreamland. Even for my super fit body, there is no way that I feel no tired from Indian flight. I did made a pre-arranged breakfast in the hotel restaurant appointment with the other crews. It wasn’t because I don’t want to visit Taj Mahal, which is closer to Delhi. I did asked the hotel staff about how to get to Taj Mahal located in Agra, but it was impossible. My stay would be approximately 21 hours in Delhi. One way to Agra from the hotel would take at least 5 hours *don’t forget India’s traffic*, I already spent 6 hours sleeping, will at least spent 2 hour for breakfast and that leaves 13 hours. Well, after doing the math, it was too risky and would be too rush. Anyway, I thought I will just spent my time at the hotel and prepare myself to face another flight back to HK. 

snakey snakey

I made a stop at the crew lounge before going to have a breakfast, I was the only one in the room at first and then there is this man, entered the room and stated to asked me some absurd questions, offered me a drink and I was just like “whatever!”, I wrapped up my things and went down to have a breakfast. I met the cockpit crews and join their table. I dig a very considerable portion of breakfast. I am such a fat ass that really love buffet breakfast. It cost only USD 7 for the breakfast. I guess I just ate enough for lunch as well. Ha-ha!

Me and Jaymee

And there another senior crew came and join us. She said that before she came down, she went to the crew lounge and the door was locked. She asked the hotel staff to open it up for her and as soon as the door opens, a man ran out pass them and they found out the computer that was provided for the crew to do the “crew-related things” was used by that man to watch porn video. And based on my hunch, I absentmindedly asked the description of that man, and it was the man that I met when I was in the crew lounge. Darn! If I spent like another 15 minutes in that room, I could imagine only for the worse. 

Terracota wall

Anyway, I’m perfectly fine and I don’t want anything to ruin my breakfast. By the end of the breakfast, there were 2 crews approached our tables and they asked us to join them to go to a nearby *about 40 minutes by taxi* museum. As none of us got any idea, we agreed and agreed to meet up in the lobby in half an hour later. We took a cab there and I forgot how much did it cost.

Indian Cab

The Museum is called Sansrikiti Indian Teracotta Museum. It is a conduit for the preservation and presentation of indigenous heritage, craftsmanship, aesthetic functionality and cultural practices. Tradition and modernity are not two separate categories - one transmutes into another. The preservation of cultural heritage, therefore, has its own validity. The museums at Sanskriti are a base for such preservation as great attention has been given to the socio-cultural context of the objects.

Museum raider?

It was a very beautiful place rich of heritage and cultural feels. The earthy colors and spacious ground laid before my eyes. Different soil samples and different terracotta result of what it produced. Paintings and textiles from several hundred years before and most importantly, the story behind each item. I guess I am one of those persons that loves past time. I might consider sometimes I do belong to medieval era. I know it was so stupid. Anyway, history is one of my thing. Have I told anyone of you that become an archeolog is one of my dreams when I was a kid? Lara Croft is my idol. Back on the track, we took loads of pictures here and there. It was none like an ordinary museum, where everything is hidden behind a glass, this one is freely open. 

the party

Terracotta, a functional art, is the first creative expression of civilization. From the common earthen pot that stores drinking water to the giant-sized cultic equestrian figures of the rural Tamil deities of the Aiyyanar cult, terracotta art occupies a central position in Indian life and culture. It would be a long search for a village or locality in India where a potter is not to be found. In the world of Indian terracotta, we find the shared expression of an entire community. 

donkey?

Terracotta art bears testimony to the varied and ancient traditions of its practise in India over five millennia. Having always had their existence outside the rigid rules of the shilpashastras or the constituted Hindu canons governing artistic expression, terracotta art enjoys enormous freedom in terms of imagination and conception. Sanskriti’s Museum of Indian Terracotta is a systematic attempt to comprehend the rich living traditions of this art form in India. Displayed in the museum are over 1500 exuberant forms and sophisticated shapes created on location by master craftspeople from India. A special gallery has been installed in the museum to provide a historical perspective to the ancient tradition of terracotta art. As a regular practice, Sanskriti has been inviting some of the finest terracotta artists, both traditional and modern, from all over India to live, work, and display their work at the Kendra. 

Incredible India!

Good times we spent in the museum and we were ready to operate back to HK. But before, of course a great amount of sleep and rest were necessary. To make it short, it might me just a short visit to Delhi. But I did get a message. There will be always a place to enchant the little adventurous spirit within you, as long as you searched for it, this time, I wasn’t the one who search. Thanks Delhi. May be I will visit you later as a tourist, that’s much more better, I guess.

“The earth is too big, and the world is wait for you to explore it.” – Me.