I'm back on a sticky keyboard. Dang, but my belly is full. I just had a dinner of Indian Thali, all I could eat of yummy Indian cooking. One of the dishes was horseradish, potato and something like spinach, of course with all the indian mouth watering spices. THen I got a bananna lassi at a shop that I'd never tried. To top it all off I got a pan, the indian version of chewing tobacco, minus the tobacco. THey meake a "sweet" version with a bunches of spices in it. Pack it in your cheek and chew away. So basically, I'm content, for little over a dollar I'm full to the brim with tasty food!
During my trip I have been flipping a coin to decide what to do next when I'm unsure. I have a membership to a website called workaway.info I've been looking for different volunteer opportunities through this website. I recieved two positive responses from an eco-lodge in the Jeff Corbett tiger reserve and a small school outside of Deradun where I was previously. I flipped the coin and I'm going to go and help at this small school after I take a short jog to where Buddha recieved his enlightenment. Wow, I ahve a plan! haha kind of odd to say, I still don't know when, but I'm going if all goes well.
On a side note I just sold my heavy and expensive guide book for 1/20 the price that I bought it for. Which is just fine because I'd like to put an emphasis on heavy. THe guide book has been a love hate relationship but really using just means that I follow the same paths of all other travelers rather than forge my own.
Last full moon I was invited by a Brahmin that I met, he spends the mornings sitting under a handmade bamboo parasol along the Ganges preforming small poojas. We've become friends, because I pass him everyday on my way to Hindi class. He told me about Kirtan (Indian devotional singing) that happens everynight at a small Brahma Temple. Full moon seemed liek a good night to take him up on the offer so I walked over to where I understood the temple was, well I didn't understand him well enough (he doesn't speak english) so I went to the wrong spot. Luckly in my error I met someone else who has become a friend of mine and well, more stories, anyways, my new friend Ram Krishna showed me where this temple was. When I arrived at the temple everyone was inside a small tarp shelter. Turns out the Baba who lives at the temple is preforming a 100 day ceremony that keeps him basically in the shelter tending the flame that cannot go out. All the others who were there brought small offerings. THe Baba could speak almost perfect english, his name is Muni Baba, which means silent Baba. He spent six years in silence some years ago.
Varanassi's chief diety is Shiva, who smokes marijuana, has dred-locks and lives as an asthetic on mount Kailash. The greeting with the holy men here is Mahaday, whcih is another name for Shiva. Not only are there a million hindu gods but multiple names for each one. Anyways, in Shiva's name these holy men smoke weed. So before Kirtan a chillum is passed around, haha. I'll be totally honest and say that I didn't smoke, this place is crazy enough without any substances. I can just sit as a passive observer here and get enough stimulous to never get bored. After everyone smoked they busted out the dolac, a two sided drum, small cymbals and a harmonium.
Well that's as far as I gor before the internet closed on me.
We sang Kirtan as the full moon rose in the sky cupped by the Gigantic Bodhi tree above our heads. It was magical, the power was cut at some point during the process and an owl flew into the tree and landed above our heads. The energy was amazing, a bunch of stoned guys banging away on instruments in the name of god. That's only one perspetive though being amongst the energy and the closeness of everyone, especially after the power was cut a veil held us wrapped in its mysterious arms. I left Kirtan with the sounds of cymbals banging in my head and chants pulsing through my body. It was a good night!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Change is Here!
Sinking into the Indian culture has finally begun in earnest! Ha, the adventures to tell! My Hindi is still quite poor, but I'm getting better every day. I'm just doing my best to surround myself with the local people. I walk everyday to a suburb outside of Varanassi called Nagwa. The walk would be about 45 minutes but now I have to give myself at least double that to talk with everyone that I know along the way. I bought a dhoti, basically what we'd call a sarong. Indian clothing is often more than not just different sizes of cloth wrapped around the body. Really it's pretty ingenious because they become multi-purpous to the imaginations end. Just wearing the dhoti means that people just assume that I know Hindi! haha, which really I don't but it's awesome to have people start conversations with me in Hindi. Yesterday a man just stopped me in the street and told me (in Hindi) that can come to his house any time!? Indian people are amazingly open and inviting. The last two adventures I've had I just said yes two invitations, even though I had no idea what was going on.
I would love to stay in this city, Varanassi is absolutely amazing in a way that I've never felt before. This city is alive, an entity. I'm reading a book about the city now and the stories surrounding this city are inexhaustable. Sadly, the volunteer work that I'm doing isn't the most rewarding. I'm volunteering totally unsupported and well, without a cirriculum to teach on and kids that only ant to learn the way that they've been taught. Makes an extremely difficult challenge for someone like me, who isn't really a teacher. They have been taught to copy what they see, I keep them occupied in class by just writing things in english on the board and having them copy it. I've tried songs and other things but they won't have any of it( it ended with me locked into the classroom).
The kids themselves are not street kids. I've been invited into one families home, another story entirely, and the family refers to what I'm doing as coaching. The kids go to school during the day and then in the afternoon they come to Saraswati education. This of course isn't necessarily the case for all the kids but the situation I've described is for most of them I'm sure. This really doesn't change anything though, because these families live on maybe a couple U.S. dollar a day, if even that.
I'm going to stay in Varanassi until the second of march when the Shivaratri festival will happen. The festival is devoted to the god Shiva who is this cities principle deity. After that I'm not sure where or what next but I'm looking for other volunteer opportunities!
I would love to stay in this city, Varanassi is absolutely amazing in a way that I've never felt before. This city is alive, an entity. I'm reading a book about the city now and the stories surrounding this city are inexhaustable. Sadly, the volunteer work that I'm doing isn't the most rewarding. I'm volunteering totally unsupported and well, without a cirriculum to teach on and kids that only ant to learn the way that they've been taught. Makes an extremely difficult challenge for someone like me, who isn't really a teacher. They have been taught to copy what they see, I keep them occupied in class by just writing things in english on the board and having them copy it. I've tried songs and other things but they won't have any of it( it ended with me locked into the classroom).
The kids themselves are not street kids. I've been invited into one families home, another story entirely, and the family refers to what I'm doing as coaching. The kids go to school during the day and then in the afternoon they come to Saraswati education. This of course isn't necessarily the case for all the kids but the situation I've described is for most of them I'm sure. This really doesn't change anything though, because these families live on maybe a couple U.S. dollar a day, if even that.
I'm going to stay in Varanassi until the second of march when the Shivaratri festival will happen. The festival is devoted to the god Shiva who is this cities principle deity. After that I'm not sure where or what next but I'm looking for other volunteer opportunities!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Lassi and More
This post is devoted to food. I haven't written about it once. Since it occupies my thoughts almost constantly it's about time to write about it.
When I was in the Vipassana Meditation retreat I realized how much food means to me. Sitting for hours a day made me remember how much I miss my mothers cooking and for some reason meat. I was craving meat like I never had before. I'm my mothers son, and most definitely Italian. In the past the daily life of Alex Landt was spent walking around aimlessly in cities and looking for new foods to try... Well that was then, now I sprint between my activities and snag food on the run. It's not quite that extreme, but India provides a ceasless stream of food to indulge myself in.
Varanassi is at a confluence of Indian culture. There are quite a few South Indians here, The South Indians have brought their breakfast foods which can be found at almost every corner of the city. Dosas and Idili, dosa is like a crepe, the batter is different but it looks about the same. Different things are put in side of it and it is dipped in different sauces and of course eaten with the hands. It is quite good and I found a man who makes masala dosa, dosa filled with chillies, tomato, peppers and other greens, for only 6 rupees, 12 cents. Idili is... steamed something rathe, I don't have a clue what the batter is made from but it is like a steamed dumplng eaten with the same sauce as the dosas. The sauce, chutney, is supposed to be a coconut sauce with black pepper in it. But I never taste the coconut. I would imagine that it's because Varanassi is a far cry from the coast and coconuts.
For lunch and dinner, when I have to buy them. Really, I've been eating almost a meal a day with one Indian family or another. I have to write about that separately because well there is so much to write about. Being invited to eat with the Indian families has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my stay here in Varanassi. Thali, is the go to food of india, Thali means plate and it means a lot of food for very little money often times it is an unlimited fare. Thali is rice, roti (indian flatbread), Sabji (Mixed veggies cooked indian style, spicy and extremely tasty), Dal(lentils cooked one way or another) and some sort of pickle or salad. The food comes on a plate that has little ridges to separate the many food stuffs. And the best part is that it's all you can eat. The traditional places will refill without charge or minimal charge. There are no menus in these places but the fare will change daily, at least the type of dal or sabji. Rice and roti are ever present in the indian diet. I'm not sure why except I guess that because these places are traditional and we are in a holy city, some days these retraunts serve food for free. This means a long like of rickshaw-wallas and all other types of poorer people. somehow two nights in a row I went to two different restaurants and ate for free. The first time I didn't know about it and I walked into the restaurant before the people started yelling free food which of course attracts a huge line. I was unaware that I was going to be eating for free. I watched the workers pile food onto plates stacking them on top of eachother. when the restaurant filled they served everyone simultaneausly, everyone went to town, the only sound was indians chewing, no mouth closed politeness here, just lip smacking enjoyment. The workers came around and dolloped more onto the plates when people cleared them. Then it was out as fast as possible so that the restaurant could fill up with a new wave of people. I didn't understand what was going on and when I first went into the restaurant a little begging boy sat down next to me and was staring at me, I made a mistake and firmly asked him "What?", thinking he was trying to get something from me. He changed tables and sat down, three other guys came in and occupied the table. That was when I realized that something was happening that I didn't understand. I never cease to learn lessons here.
Lassis are the best, if I'm addicted to anything, it's lassi. Lassi is a mixed yogurt drink. They mix milk and sweet curd together, in the traditional places, by hand and then top the drink off with the cream of the curd. Flavors are added to the lassis, rosewater is traditional but I've also seen lemon and makhania ( No idea what it is, but tasts great!) The lassis are served in unfired clay bowls. these bowls are made by hand and then when the wonderful elixer is finished they get tossed into the street. They return to the earth as mud. It blew my mind the first time, a beautiful hand made pot, just getting tossed away after one use. But that's the way it's been done for thousands of years and is still done. There is no lack of manual labor here! It also explains why there is no waste management. For thousands of years everything was decomposable, now plastic has infiltrated every corner of India, it burns, and so it is burned, or eaten if it has something tasty inside. Watching a cow eating a plastic bag is no longer startling, but normal since I see it literally every day! All this writing is making me hungry... off to Hindi class, I'm sure I can find something yummy along the way!
When I was in the Vipassana Meditation retreat I realized how much food means to me. Sitting for hours a day made me remember how much I miss my mothers cooking and for some reason meat. I was craving meat like I never had before. I'm my mothers son, and most definitely Italian. In the past the daily life of Alex Landt was spent walking around aimlessly in cities and looking for new foods to try... Well that was then, now I sprint between my activities and snag food on the run. It's not quite that extreme, but India provides a ceasless stream of food to indulge myself in.
Varanassi is at a confluence of Indian culture. There are quite a few South Indians here, The South Indians have brought their breakfast foods which can be found at almost every corner of the city. Dosas and Idili, dosa is like a crepe, the batter is different but it looks about the same. Different things are put in side of it and it is dipped in different sauces and of course eaten with the hands. It is quite good and I found a man who makes masala dosa, dosa filled with chillies, tomato, peppers and other greens, for only 6 rupees, 12 cents. Idili is... steamed something rathe, I don't have a clue what the batter is made from but it is like a steamed dumplng eaten with the same sauce as the dosas. The sauce, chutney, is supposed to be a coconut sauce with black pepper in it. But I never taste the coconut. I would imagine that it's because Varanassi is a far cry from the coast and coconuts.
For lunch and dinner, when I have to buy them. Really, I've been eating almost a meal a day with one Indian family or another. I have to write about that separately because well there is so much to write about. Being invited to eat with the Indian families has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my stay here in Varanassi. Thali, is the go to food of india, Thali means plate and it means a lot of food for very little money often times it is an unlimited fare. Thali is rice, roti (indian flatbread), Sabji (Mixed veggies cooked indian style, spicy and extremely tasty), Dal(lentils cooked one way or another) and some sort of pickle or salad. The food comes on a plate that has little ridges to separate the many food stuffs. And the best part is that it's all you can eat. The traditional places will refill without charge or minimal charge. There are no menus in these places but the fare will change daily, at least the type of dal or sabji. Rice and roti are ever present in the indian diet. I'm not sure why except I guess that because these places are traditional and we are in a holy city, some days these retraunts serve food for free. This means a long like of rickshaw-wallas and all other types of poorer people. somehow two nights in a row I went to two different restaurants and ate for free. The first time I didn't know about it and I walked into the restaurant before the people started yelling free food which of course attracts a huge line. I was unaware that I was going to be eating for free. I watched the workers pile food onto plates stacking them on top of eachother. when the restaurant filled they served everyone simultaneausly, everyone went to town, the only sound was indians chewing, no mouth closed politeness here, just lip smacking enjoyment. The workers came around and dolloped more onto the plates when people cleared them. Then it was out as fast as possible so that the restaurant could fill up with a new wave of people. I didn't understand what was going on and when I first went into the restaurant a little begging boy sat down next to me and was staring at me, I made a mistake and firmly asked him "What?", thinking he was trying to get something from me. He changed tables and sat down, three other guys came in and occupied the table. That was when I realized that something was happening that I didn't understand. I never cease to learn lessons here.
Lassis are the best, if I'm addicted to anything, it's lassi. Lassi is a mixed yogurt drink. They mix milk and sweet curd together, in the traditional places, by hand and then top the drink off with the cream of the curd. Flavors are added to the lassis, rosewater is traditional but I've also seen lemon and makhania ( No idea what it is, but tasts great!) The lassis are served in unfired clay bowls. these bowls are made by hand and then when the wonderful elixer is finished they get tossed into the street. They return to the earth as mud. It blew my mind the first time, a beautiful hand made pot, just getting tossed away after one use. But that's the way it's been done for thousands of years and is still done. There is no lack of manual labor here! It also explains why there is no waste management. For thousands of years everything was decomposable, now plastic has infiltrated every corner of India, it burns, and so it is burned, or eaten if it has something tasty inside. Watching a cow eating a plastic bag is no longer startling, but normal since I see it literally every day! All this writing is making me hungry... off to Hindi class, I'm sure I can find something yummy along the way!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Volunteering download
I'm not sure if I've made it clear that the kids I'm trying to teach are little wild Indian children. Because if I haven't then I should. It's an adventure every time I step into the classroom, a couple of classes ago class ended with me locked in the room. I pounded on the door until Somit, the man who runs the school, let me out. I didn't find it as funny as the kids did. Then, last class they tried to pull off the same trick. But I learned my lesson and wouldn't have it. Really though,got their way. They ended class early on me, half way through my lesson: 10 little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head, Momma Said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed! 9 little monkeys... etc. I'm not sure if we ever made it past 8 monkeys. I was trying to teach them this little song. Get some numbers and English pronunciation. But ooh well, I've gotta roll with the punches. Me with my extremely limited Hindi trying to teach a bunch of rowdy kids... I'm not sure what to do honestly, I've got no teaching support and I'm expected to hold class for two and a half hours. It's fun and rewarding, even when the kids don't seem to care at all :D
My Hindi is coming along, it's amazing how fast I'm learning. I'm surprising myself. I can have a conversation now, my Grammer isn't good and I can't talk about things outside what's immediatly relevant but it's a start. My teacher is impressed with my progress, I just spend as much time outside of class talking to Indians who can't speak English. Teaching of course is great for my language practice but I can't understand a word that the kids say, haha.
Happy Valentines Day to Everyone, I tried to call you Mom and Dad, but for some reason the internet cafe isn't coo-operating with me. My photos are up on Flickr! alexlandt is my user name and I wish that I could write a description for each photo but that would take forever. More posts to come, every day is an adventure here, it's one of the few constants in my life.
My Hindi is coming along, it's amazing how fast I'm learning. I'm surprising myself. I can have a conversation now, my Grammer isn't good and I can't talk about things outside what's immediatly relevant but it's a start. My teacher is impressed with my progress, I just spend as much time outside of class talking to Indians who can't speak English. Teaching of course is great for my language practice but I can't understand a word that the kids say, haha.
Happy Valentines Day to Everyone, I tried to call you Mom and Dad, but for some reason the internet cafe isn't coo-operating with me. My photos are up on Flickr! alexlandt is my user name and I wish that I could write a description for each photo but that would take forever. More posts to come, every day is an adventure here, it's one of the few constants in my life.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Travel
This happened a while ago, 3 weeks or so ago. It is such a perfect example of India that I just have to tell the story. Traveling in India, no matter what distance, from my front door to the market, or from one city to another. Is always interesting. There are too many hazards to be even written about. Long distance travel especially, is when us "travelers" loose all control or grasp on our affairs (or percieved balance as it may be). This is when the resourceful, flexible and patient qualities of a person come in handy.
I was in Rishikesh, and it was time to had out to catch the Dalai Lama's teaching in Saranath. It was myself, Laura (Australia), Haley(Hawaii) and Elody(France). Laura, Haley and I had sleeper class tickets and Elody had 1st class. In sleeper class there are beds but not much else. Anyways, we caught a bus to the train station that was in another city about an hour away. We arrived, went into a restaurant and had some dinner. Our train was set to leave at 11:55, we mosied over to the station at about 11:30. We asked someone at a counter which platform our train would arrive at. Platform 8 I was told. Ok great, so we go out to the platforms and we see 1,2,3,4... no 8 ok. Well, what do we do, we sat down, waited and sang some Beatles. Ok, well it wasn't the smartest thing to do. I also think that if any one of us had been alone we wouldn't have made this mistake. But, we were in the station, and there was no platform 8. Sadly we waited until 11:55 when we heard the whistle blow. At that point one of us had the bright idea to check with the station master. Who told us that our train has left... But that we could catch the train that was supposed to arrive at 9 PM but was running late. A few hours he told us. Well it wasn't a couple of hours. The train didn't get into our station until 5 AM. The only tickets that were available were 3rd class. Which is infamous. Gandhi wrote about them as equating humans with cattle. Thankfully our compartments weren't that bad. Anyways, we spent a long and sleepless night on the hard floors avoiding a crazy man who wouldn't leave us alone. When our train arrived first came some compartments. We hopped into those as fast as we could, but it wasn't as fast as the Indians as soon as the train had slowed they were sprinting and leaping into the compartments. We managed to secure two seats and two luggage racks. We had to defend them for the rest of the trip. We joked that we traveled forward in time and then back again to get the train that we were on. Really we were just delerious, and the delirium remained because our train took 23 hours to reach Varanassi, the Express train that we were supposed to catch would have been 13 hours. Since I've been in India I've avoided bottled water like the plague. i had a water purifier but then it broke... so I was doing what shouldn't be done. I was drinking the water. It's a ig no-no, and everyone knows it. but if you know me, sometimes I have to figure stuff out for myself. I'd been fine drinking the water in the mountainous regions. But when the train pulled into Lucknow and i filled my water up it spelled doom for me. I got sick. And the meagre fare of station food i.e. Samosas, triangle shaped potato fritters, and puri, exited in the fastest way possible. without being too graphic, I was really, really sick. Some how in the delirium of not sleeping for two days I took it in stride. The rest of the ride was monotonous, bumps, long delays for no reason, and of course just as sleep was entering the conciousness some chai-wala would scream "chai" as loud as he could. It was fun, a good experience, that's how 90% of the Indian population travels... I've entered the club.
I just got over being sick again. But, I'm healthy and well. I'm doing yoga, taking hindi classes and volunteering. more soon to come! Love from India to everyone. This place has a strange way of teaching lessons, being sick is one of them.
I was in Rishikesh, and it was time to had out to catch the Dalai Lama's teaching in Saranath. It was myself, Laura (Australia), Haley(Hawaii) and Elody(France). Laura, Haley and I had sleeper class tickets and Elody had 1st class. In sleeper class there are beds but not much else. Anyways, we caught a bus to the train station that was in another city about an hour away. We arrived, went into a restaurant and had some dinner. Our train was set to leave at 11:55, we mosied over to the station at about 11:30. We asked someone at a counter which platform our train would arrive at. Platform 8 I was told. Ok great, so we go out to the platforms and we see 1,2,3,4... no 8 ok. Well, what do we do, we sat down, waited and sang some Beatles. Ok, well it wasn't the smartest thing to do. I also think that if any one of us had been alone we wouldn't have made this mistake. But, we were in the station, and there was no platform 8. Sadly we waited until 11:55 when we heard the whistle blow. At that point one of us had the bright idea to check with the station master. Who told us that our train has left... But that we could catch the train that was supposed to arrive at 9 PM but was running late. A few hours he told us. Well it wasn't a couple of hours. The train didn't get into our station until 5 AM. The only tickets that were available were 3rd class. Which is infamous. Gandhi wrote about them as equating humans with cattle. Thankfully our compartments weren't that bad. Anyways, we spent a long and sleepless night on the hard floors avoiding a crazy man who wouldn't leave us alone. When our train arrived first came some compartments. We hopped into those as fast as we could, but it wasn't as fast as the Indians as soon as the train had slowed they were sprinting and leaping into the compartments. We managed to secure two seats and two luggage racks. We had to defend them for the rest of the trip. We joked that we traveled forward in time and then back again to get the train that we were on. Really we were just delerious, and the delirium remained because our train took 23 hours to reach Varanassi, the Express train that we were supposed to catch would have been 13 hours. Since I've been in India I've avoided bottled water like the plague. i had a water purifier but then it broke... so I was doing what shouldn't be done. I was drinking the water. It's a ig no-no, and everyone knows it. but if you know me, sometimes I have to figure stuff out for myself. I'd been fine drinking the water in the mountainous regions. But when the train pulled into Lucknow and i filled my water up it spelled doom for me. I got sick. And the meagre fare of station food i.e. Samosas, triangle shaped potato fritters, and puri, exited in the fastest way possible. without being too graphic, I was really, really sick. Some how in the delirium of not sleeping for two days I took it in stride. The rest of the ride was monotonous, bumps, long delays for no reason, and of course just as sleep was entering the conciousness some chai-wala would scream "chai" as loud as he could. It was fun, a good experience, that's how 90% of the Indian population travels... I've entered the club.
I just got over being sick again. But, I'm healthy and well. I'm doing yoga, taking hindi classes and volunteering. more soon to come! Love from India to everyone. This place has a strange way of teaching lessons, being sick is one of them.
Friday, February 4, 2011
sickness... and volunteer!
I am sick again. I've never been this sick before, at least that is how it feels. I got free medicine though by taking part in a study for Europeans... I'm British, didn't you know? haha, I did a great job of lying. But now I've broken one of the precepts of the vows I took with the Dalai Lama, one little lie hopefully won't affect me too much.
I found a small school to volunteer at, so I will be taking Hindi and volunteering at this school. You can see the project here: http://www.varanasivolunteer.blogspot.com or http://www.varanasiindiango.jimdo.com I taught my fist day of class yesterday, just before I got sick with a horrible fever that shook my body to the point that I couldn't even hold anything. The school is for street kids who don't have money to go to school otherwise. Many of these kids work and during the class one young boy had to leave to go to the tailor shop where he works. As you can imagine it's crazy. When I was in Ecuador I taught at another school similar to this with other exchange students. But here I am alone, there is no teacher for the evening classes. The school has both morning time and evening classes. So it was me, all lone trying to reign in 12 little monsters... haha, it was crazy, and in Ecuador at least I could speak Spanish. Now though I have almost no Hindi to speak of. It was difficult to explain what I was teaching or even what to do. I was bordering on helplessness, but I'm determined to stick with it. These kids have no one and at least my presence can help a little bit.
I found a small school to volunteer at, so I will be taking Hindi and volunteering at this school. You can see the project here: http://www.varanasivolunteer.blogspot.com or http://www.varanasiindiango.jimdo.com I taught my fist day of class yesterday, just before I got sick with a horrible fever that shook my body to the point that I couldn't even hold anything. The school is for street kids who don't have money to go to school otherwise. Many of these kids work and during the class one young boy had to leave to go to the tailor shop where he works. As you can imagine it's crazy. When I was in Ecuador I taught at another school similar to this with other exchange students. But here I am alone, there is no teacher for the evening classes. The school has both morning time and evening classes. So it was me, all lone trying to reign in 12 little monsters... haha, it was crazy, and in Ecuador at least I could speak Spanish. Now though I have almost no Hindi to speak of. It was difficult to explain what I was teaching or even what to do. I was bordering on helplessness, but I'm determined to stick with it. These kids have no one and at least my presence can help a little bit.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Varanassi!
Excuse me for my absence, so much to write about and so little time. From January 18-29th I was in Vipassana meditation retreat. It was meditation boot camp, awake at 4:00 AM and 10 hours of meditation each day... Maybe I'll write about it later, but events seem to be passing me by much faster than I can write about them.
Yesterday I was sitting along the Ghats writing, I think that it came out nicely so here it goes.
I am poised between the serene calm of the baba (Hindu Holy man) sweeping the small temple to my left and the crazyness that pervades all of India. Hopefully none of the kids with flowers (for prayers in the Ganges River), postcards or sad hungry faces will attempt the climb to my perch. Dusk is falling on the sacred Ganga, the activities of the day wane with the setting sun. No longer do the Dhobi wallas beat the clothes on the stones and nothing is left out to dry. Now, it is the dominion of games, kite flying, cricket and other ball and stick games, not mentioning marbles and kids rolling hoops. Work is done and it is time to play. The serious cricket games overtake everything and errant balls upset evening walkers.
Babeshanan, who is a Bramechari, not a Baba, likes the U.S. We exchanged a few words as he was sweeping towards me. Like so many Indians there is no bad report for the country that has set the gold standard for India's dreams. Little do they know that their country is what should be an example to the world. No where else do tolerance, co-existance, compassion and kindness have so much meaning. Here all religions and people have a place, no matter how small. The co-existance between humans and animals is unbelievable.
Nothing is hidden here, no veil to pull back. The cadaver has been laid open for all to see. I'm in the background, an observer to the daily play that dances away across this wonderous city. The lepers and beggars sharing the streets with the animals, countless puppies, and huge water buffalo are the most apparent. Even though I can see the cadaver from afar I can't speak with it and hear it's story. That is why it's important for me to stay here, and to learn Hindi. This country has so much depth, and multitudes of facets. I must break through the thin Ice that I've been walking on and plunge into India, as it is for the millions upon millions of people who eek their lives from this absurd place. I heard that for 500 governmental positions there are 200,000 applicants... that's competition.
If something exists in this world, it exists here more likely than not. Everyday I see something that suprises me. Like shovels for two people, there is no shortage of human labor. We are also not so far from the days when it was kings and queens walking these ghats, not tourists. And here fantastic stories are truth. As my friend said recently, "India is more of a state of mind than a country."
I'm going to plug along and keep on writing, any responses are highly appreciated so I know your reading my blog :D
Yesterday I was sitting along the Ghats writing, I think that it came out nicely so here it goes.
I am poised between the serene calm of the baba (Hindu Holy man) sweeping the small temple to my left and the crazyness that pervades all of India. Hopefully none of the kids with flowers (for prayers in the Ganges River), postcards or sad hungry faces will attempt the climb to my perch. Dusk is falling on the sacred Ganga, the activities of the day wane with the setting sun. No longer do the Dhobi wallas beat the clothes on the stones and nothing is left out to dry. Now, it is the dominion of games, kite flying, cricket and other ball and stick games, not mentioning marbles and kids rolling hoops. Work is done and it is time to play. The serious cricket games overtake everything and errant balls upset evening walkers.
Babeshanan, who is a Bramechari, not a Baba, likes the U.S. We exchanged a few words as he was sweeping towards me. Like so many Indians there is no bad report for the country that has set the gold standard for India's dreams. Little do they know that their country is what should be an example to the world. No where else do tolerance, co-existance, compassion and kindness have so much meaning. Here all religions and people have a place, no matter how small. The co-existance between humans and animals is unbelievable.
Nothing is hidden here, no veil to pull back. The cadaver has been laid open for all to see. I'm in the background, an observer to the daily play that dances away across this wonderous city. The lepers and beggars sharing the streets with the animals, countless puppies, and huge water buffalo are the most apparent. Even though I can see the cadaver from afar I can't speak with it and hear it's story. That is why it's important for me to stay here, and to learn Hindi. This country has so much depth, and multitudes of facets. I must break through the thin Ice that I've been walking on and plunge into India, as it is for the millions upon millions of people who eek their lives from this absurd place. I heard that for 500 governmental positions there are 200,000 applicants... that's competition.
If something exists in this world, it exists here more likely than not. Everyday I see something that suprises me. Like shovels for two people, there is no shortage of human labor. We are also not so far from the days when it was kings and queens walking these ghats, not tourists. And here fantastic stories are truth. As my friend said recently, "India is more of a state of mind than a country."
I'm going to plug along and keep on writing, any responses are highly appreciated so I know your reading my blog :D
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