Re: [meteorite-list] Orissa India--- Of Floods,meteorites and Man-and Turtles too

[Jose Campos]

Hi Mike Farmer, Atul Kumar and List,   First of all, many thanks to M.F. for his very interesting emails on India and his "adventures" in meteorite-chasing there. I am pleased to know that he has a fragment already and that, probably against all odds, burocracy, etc, he has managed to examine and photograph the pieces in the hands of the local authorities, well done!! His very brief description of that part of India - a beautiful country, I think, - brought me memories (excluding the car traffic parts), of Kipling's "KIM" that I read many years ago! He also mentioned the houses without electricity: Could it be that, in the process of the meteorite having hit a thatched house, the reported fire might have be caused by some oil lamp being knocked down by the impact?   On another subject: Atul mentions the word "Arribida" as being Spanish: This word (the correct spelling is "arribada" or "arriba") exists in both the Portuguese and Spanish languages and most probably it is rather of Portuguese origin as Portugal's occupation and influence on some areas of India lasted almost 500 years (untill 1961 to me more exact); in fact, to this day, there is still large Indian comunities of Portuguese extraction in Goa, Dam�o and Diu, who speak excellent Portuguese and have Port. surnames. Yes, "arribada" means "arrival" - in fact, in the 15th Century Portuguese language, it was (and still is) a NAUTICAL term, meaning "to enter a sailing ship in a harbour other than it's destiny, as a means to avoid/escape a sea  storm".   During the golden age of the Port. sea-discoveries, expansion and trade, many Port. words were adopted/used (often in a corrupted way) by people from several other countries in Asia and elsewhere. For instance, during the height of the Port. commercial trade in Asia during the 16th Century, Port. traders carried in their ships a specially made box where they put the coin money in; So, whenever they wanted payment to be made in coins rather than in other objects, they insisted in a payment to "p�r em CAIXA" (to put in the BOX) - and to this day, the Port. word CAIXA  became CASH  (and therefore, caixeiro = cashiers), used worldwide through the English language. So much about meteorites, India and arribada! That's explains the "diversity" of cultures and meteorite people that makes this List (whenever there is no ugly arguments), so interesting. Keep up the good work and good luck, Mike, and please keep that meteorite fragment plus that CASH of yours in a safe place! Cheers!   Jos� Campos Portugal             ----- Original Message ----- From: Atul Kumar To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 10, 2003 7:36 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Orissa India--- Of Floods,meteorites and Man-and Turtles too Dear All- and Mike Farmer While  poor people of the area have just had their thached (straw) roofs blow off their Mud houses ,and their mud houses are turning into more mud,and people are dying and even more will die from the diseases to come,we get to hear about the carnage ,and learn about their misery sitting at our computers.   Into this mayhem  that is India arrives one Foreigner(as they are called)  in 2 cars/jeeps with a purpose.He wants the rocks that fell from the sky.  Mike travels exactly half way around the world for meteorites,and ends up with a flood,starvation,and disease.Not to mention he is among people who have never seen a refrigerator- and would not know what to do with it even if they did see one. They have never known electricity- unless they travel to town. Maybe he can do something to help the poor people there,even if they dont have METEORITES TO BARTER FOR FOOD.   COWS- They are a part of the household- almost a member of the family- like a pet dog is- sort of- They wander during the day looking for foliage,and in the evening come back home - to be milked.The reason they are on the road in Mikes way is because they are lost- or decide they dont want to sit in the flooded area today.They are trying to stay dry, or maybe their way home is blocked by water. Milk is the major source of protien and fat for most of India.The milk extracted is usually gone fast -They dont need refrigerators- there are more mouths in the  household than the cow can fill.   ROADS Mikes description of the road travel left out this- As the only decent part of the road is the middle every vehicle travels in the middle of the road.There is nothing dividing oncoming traffic from your vehicle. When you see a vehicle coming- you have to make a quick decision whether you want to get off the road or if you want to get him off the road or if you want to see if he wants to play the who,s going to get off last game. The larger (read TATA) usually wins the middle ground.   I must  tell you about the TATA tramplers  - (These are 7 ton trucks loaded with 20 -30 tons of freight- i call them Tramplers) hopelessly overloaded ,usually leaning to one side,engines over-revving under the load,and they do trample everthing in their path.     Travelling in rural India can be  great fun.I go as often as i can,doing volunteer Wildlife work while i am there.   INDIAN HOSPITALITY If there is one bed in the home- the guest sleeps in it- the rest on the floor. If there is one meal- for the whole family to share- the guest gets it. It is very very humbling to learn that there is so much we can learn from these poor people.   The tone of mikes email seems to suggest he has finally found what enthalls people of the world with India.There is so much to love - and so much to dislike. It is a land of paradoxes. His emails exude a sense of resigned acceptance about the things he is seeing.makes me homesick just reading his emails.       Anyway my contact reports that Recovery efforts have been dismal.The water is everywhere as the mini cyclone from last week brought the ocean to the peoples doorstep in more ways than one.   MIKE- Ask about when the Arribida is- Millions of Indian Sea Going turtles come to the very beaches you are near to lay their eggs and then  even more millions hatch and go back to the sea to continue the cycle that has continued from times immemorial .It is a sight of a lifetime. The turtles that hatch here- will only come back to the very beach they were born - in a few years to lay their eggs.Radio telemetry has established this recently. And it took us 2000 AD yrs to discover GPS.The turtles have us beat by a few million years. PS- the word Arrabida  was coined by the spanish inhabitants of India-I think it means the arrival.   Regards Atul kumar