Keeping My Hands Warm
It’s been getting seriously cold here; the night temps now hover around freezing. Our neighbors are dipping into their charcoal sacks, and I’ve been learning about the unique local heating system. It’s called a kangar. 
The theory here is that heating up a whole house, or even a whole room, takes lots of fuel. So it’s better to simply heat up each individual family member.
The kangar is a personal charcoal heater. It consists of a clay bowl in which coal is burned, set into a holder made of woven rattan. The holder can be carried by its handles, so each person is able to bring his personal kangar with him wherever he goes. Paired with the wool ferrin everyone wears, it’s an efficient system. The kangar can be worn under the ferrin hanging from a cord around the neck. At home in the sitting room, each person keeps his or her kangar close, where it can be used to warm hands or feet. My neighbor showed me how to sit on the floor with the kangar between my knees, then arrange my ferrin over it like a tent. Then I pull my arms to the inside so that my whole body can soak up the kangar’s warmth. Not bad! She told me that she has her kangar with her all the time in the winter; she even sleeps with it under her quilt! (She added that this is only safe if you can sleep all night without moving!) 
It’s a unique and efficient system, but it has its drawbacks. Every child has probably been burned at least once by upsetting a kangar, and the same could probably be said for every rug. The charcoal smoke stings the eyes, and there is a high incidence of respiratory problems among our neighbors. But I find it fascinating to see how people in different places use the resources they have to solve problems in creative ways. The people of this region have been keeping themselves warm with kangars for centuries. Our electric heater only works when there’s electricity, which is around half the time. As the winter closes in, perhaps I’ll be warming my hands over a kangar more and more often!
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Kangar by Lisa
Smoky Winter Ritual
Preparations for the winter are continuing here in the foothills of the Himalayas. Making charcoal is an important ritual that I have been observing up close—so close that my sweater smells smoky. 
Can you spot the man at work high up in the poplar tree? He’s cutting off branches that will be gathered below. Most of the poplars that we see from our window are now completely bare, shorn of branches and golden leaves.
I watched our neighbors making charcoal in the yard next door. I noticed that it was the women doing this heavy and dirty work, and they explained that in their family, the men brought the wood but the women did the burning. They first piled up bark, leaves, and the smaller branches, and then they made a teepee over the pile out of the long branches. After setting the pile on fire, they continued to add more small branches, leaves, and bark to cover the fire.
Occasionally they splashed it with water to keep it from burning too fast. You can imagine that this smoldering pile sent up plenty of smoke. Since charcoal-making is done by many families in the valley this time of year, our normally crisp view of the surrounding mountains is obscured by smoky haze (smog?) most days.
I watched as the women continued to add fuel to the smoldering fire and then turned it over and over with shovels. The goal was a slow and even burn. The finished product: a pile of shiny charcoal, bagged up the next day, ready for use in winter heating.
I enjoyed being out in the yard with the women, where I could move close enough to the fire to warm my chilly hands. My neighbors didn’t need any warming; the hard work of lifting and tossing wood, turning the burning pile over and over with a shovel, and raking coals in from the edges kept them sweating. My experience with our neighbor women so far has been mostly sitting with cups of chai, or greeting in the bazaar. Seeing them laboring all day in this hot and dirty ritual has given me a new appreciation for their energy. They only do this particular job a few times a year, and I imagine there were some sore backs the next morning. But as the days and nights get colder, their children and husbands will feel their strength and love in the warmth coming from the black coals.
Next time: How they use the charcoal for heating—I didn’t believe it until I came here and saw it with my own eyes…
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged charcoal by Lisa
Are You Ready for Winter?
Sharp changes in the weather over the past two weeks have signaled that winter is on its way. The sun sets earlier each day. The poplar trees are turning golden, and the chinars a brilliant red.
view from our window
Yesterday it rained most of the day and into the night, and when we looked out our widow this morning we saw snow on the mountains for the first time since April! We have never lived in a place that freezes in the winter; dealing with snow and below-zero temperatures will be a new experience for us!
Among the important things we have to learn from our local friends are the traditional ways of surviving the cold. Among the most significant: a heavy outer garment, something between a poncho and an overcoat, usually made of wool. This garment is called a “ferrin,” and two weeks ago I visited my friend Shaha to get her advice on having one made. She pulled out one of her ferrins and showed me the special style of sleeve that only married women wear.
wool ferrin, wool sheep
She taught me the words for the embroidery around the neckline, the pocket, and the hem, and encouraged me to look for the heaviest, warmest fabric I could find. She showed me how the hem should reach halfway down my calf in order to be the proper length, and of course urged me to buy plenty of extra fabric because I’m so tall! She gave me suggestions for where to shop; in areas that were flooded, fabric shops may have lost all their inventory. Finally, she ticked off all the other clothing I would need: Sweater? Long underwear? Warm socks? Wool headscarf?
As we talked in Shaha’s sitting room, seated on her rug, we shared a blanket draped over our legs. Her daughter brought us cups of chai. The warmth of her home and friendship made me reluctant to leave for the chilly walk home. Speaking of home, our apartment also needs some serious preparation for the winter—insulation on the walls is next on the list! But most important for surviving the winter: good friends and the warmth of their care for me.
Posted in Uncategorized by Lisa
Sister Time
Last weekend I had the privilege of hosting my sister for a short but sweet visit. Her husband and two friends were along as well; the four of them were enroute to teach some seminars in central India. I had been looking forward to her visit for months, and had made lots of plans for all the things we could do together. I wanted to show her all the beautiful places and introduce her to all the interesting people that I have discovered in these past months. 
One of those beautiful places is a hillside garden planted among Moghul-era ruins, which we enjoyed despite the rain.
Two and a half days went by much too quickly, so most of the places and people I love will have to wait until my sister’s next visit. But her presence here meant a great deal to me. In this place where no one has known me for longer than 7 months, it was tremendously refreshing to relax with someone who has known me almost all my life—and loved me for most of it! Some of our adventures here brought back memories of other adventures together in different places. And sharing new experiences added to our already deep memory bank. My sister and I are similar in many ways, and it was such a pleasure to appreciate the same beauty together, and laugh at the same funny situations.
One of our favorite memories is of a trip across the lake
to picnic on an island. We were rowed in a traditional boat called a “shikara,” in which we relaxed on soft cushions and watched the shoreline slip by. During rare breaks in our conversation, we soaked in the quiet and peace of the still lake. In some way this new world of mine is richer and more real now that my sister has shared it. As I learn to love this unique place and its people, I know that she is loving it with me.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged sister by Lisa