The Kingdom of Kalley Bai

Kalley Bai is a genial man in a tidy safari suit with a friendly face and a ready smile. He is the unofficial king of Chanderi.

Chanderi was once a major tourist destination, but only if you were an invader heading south or part of a caravan on the Silk Road. Chanderi is still known for its hand loomed silks. These days it isn't even on the tourist map. There's one hotel in town that serves other Indians and the locals do not beg or increase prices for foreigners since that ugly commercial dynamic has not yet evolved. Here you do not haggle prices. What you do is attract a crowd. When we stop anywhere people crowd around to watch us. Small children beg us to take their pictures and barge into any buildings we enter, including private homes, to stare at us. Yesterday we were taking chai at the house of a friend of Kalley Bai and a huge wall of children built up around us until they were shooed out. C took a photo of H surrounded by children and some of them are staring at him in open-mouthed awe. An almost 6 foot white man with blue eyes in a long orange tunic and turban is quite a sight even if you have seen a white guy before, and if you haven't, well....

Kalley Bai is a man of many interests. He is an exceptional guide to groups who want to see Chanderi, he is an author, a historian, an archaeologist, a linguist, a calligrapher, an advocate for Chanderi; he is the man everyone in town knows and respects. As he tells us, "I can walk into any house in town." We have done exactly that. He has taken us into homes to show us how they have the weaving looms set up in their main room and we have always been welcomed. On our first day here we ran into a lawyer friend of his who invited us all over for chai and carrot halwa. We arrived in his home flanked by hordes of the aforementioned neighbour children. At the end of a pleasant visit we were invited back next day for a dinner that we had to negotiate down to a chai and kheer (dessert) to make it less imposition on a family who do not use purified water and use more chilies than some of our group can tolerate. Our tastes range from white guy mild to brown guy hot so we need a range available to us. Dessert is safest. We did return and were treated like gods, both by the lawyer friend and then by Kalley Bai when we dined at his home.

Kalley Bai has taken us to many historic monuments in Chanderi and museums. In fact, he is able to show us numerous exhibits that he donated and signs he painted. I was particularly enamoured of a caravanserai where spice and silk traders met up to haggle and the idea of the camel and elephant stables at ground level. Imagine parallel camel parking! Last night he took us to see a series of Paleolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic cave paintings that he had discovered, they were utterly amazing but it was disheartening how little the Indian government does to take care of them.

Last night our dinner was taken on the back lawn of the hotel and Kalley Bai had engaged a band and dancer for us. The dancer was a slim reed in a black spangled skirt, top and veil. The band played fast local music while the surprisingly strong dancer pulled up either one by one or in groups to dance. I got pulled up a lot and I got right into it. J was dancing with the dancer when she jumped straight at him and wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked a tad shocked but went along with the dance like a good sport. This morning the desk staff were ready to greet me with "you good Indian dancer" as soon as I left my room. It wasn't until we went to breakfast that we learned it was an all-male revue - including the dancer. Mama G and Kalley Bai had cooked up excellent fun for us.

Two of our best surprises here have been picnics at archaeological sites he has had opened for us. The first was at a gorgeous ancient stone hunting lodge. We feasted and napped on a balcony overlooking a lake, surrounded by statues. Today he brought us to a temple ruin near a stream. We jointly created an Indian meal with an audience of villagers and cows, while women and children did their washing in the stream. Our chapatis, potatoes and eggplants were roasted directly in the cow patty fire. First time I've ever knowingly cooked my lunch in turds. I should do it more often. It was a perfect relaxing afternoon. We ate and lounged and chased cows away from our food. Perfect and magical. Chanderi: The Magical Kingdom of Kalley Bai.