Come Christmas time in America, it's time for some downtime by taking some time off from work to enjoy the holidays, shugg off the jaded nerves recharging your batteries. As human beings we all are entitled to take a break from the daily drudgery and nothing helps better than taking a vacation. Being a busy year for me (each following year it invariably gets busier) a vacation had been long pending to prevent any burnout.
We decided to spend a few days in the historic city of Savannah, Georgia - a place diametrically opposite of the city of Columbus where we live. Georgia is a big state, area wise it is pretty much close to Odisha, my home state back home. If you fold a map of Georgia by the Piedmont line extending from its North West corner to South East, Columbus on South West and Savannah on North East will probably overlap on each other.
Georgia was one of the first 13 states forming the United States of America. Savannah was a major port city down South, a center of trade where most of the cash crops produce - especially Tea, Rice, Indigo and Cotton were exported. It explains why cold Sweet Tea, (rather than hot tea we are accustomed to in India) is very popular in the South, served in almost every restaurant to help wash down the food.
Savannah was a prosperous city in the 18th and 19th century. But slowly except Cotton the demand for Tea, Rice and Indigo reduced over time as the main customers British started Tea and Indigo plantations in India. And India being their prized colony Great Britain, they got Tea, Indigo and Rice from India at darn cheap price with plenty of cheap labor to exploit.
The English found a better way of profiteering - plunder your own colony than compete with an independent country. However Savannah still remained the main port as far as exporting Cotton was concerned as England still needed American cotton. Though the Americans drove the British out of their country, the trade between the nation continued. Business and Politics have a strange contradictory relationship. Like married couples they bicker with one another, yet stick together for the sake of mutual gain.
The city of Savannah has enough history to showcase. The first tour a Trolley ride through its historic streets. We stopped by the oldest house, its first owner was a Pirate in 1735 and still preserved. The tour guide stopped by the bench made famous by Tom Hanks in his iconic movie "Forrest Gump" who sitting on the bench delivered in his thick, Southern accented monologue - "Life is a baax (box) of chaacklates (chocolates). You don't know what yaa going to geyt (get)".
Prohibition started in the year 1908 in Georgia which went dry 12 years before the complete prohibition was imposed in rest of America. It led to flourishing of bootlegging and the rich, port township of Savannah was its epicenter in South.
History has vindicated that prohibition has been a failure across the globe. Great Innovators they are, Americans distilled some of the best Bourbon Whiskeys during the prohibition era. (Lot of English words are shortened in American English, e.g. colour is called color, Cocoanut as coconut. But Whisky is called Whiskey in America, a rare instance of a longer version of the word in American English vis a vis British).
On a cold, blustery day saw a couple smooching and fondling each other with youthful enthusiasm ahead of us. They were high on Holiday spirit. The bald beau looked much older than the girl. Remembered a popular Odia DHAGA (Couplet) used in my village about Sugar daddies - the much older husbands of younger wives.
LANDA MUNDA KU SORISA TELA,
BUDHA GHAITA KARUCHI GELA.
Mustard oil atop Bald Head
Old hubby is Kissing Ahead.
More later...
No comments:
Post a Comment