Pushkar

Pushkar must become a destination for my tours! http://www.stressescapetours.com/ wouldn't it be great to hold a yoga retreat here????

Page 211 in the Lonely Planet's Guide to Rajasthan: PUSHKAR pop 14,789.

I was here in 1991 while traveling on my 'round the world airticket', the trip that made me hopelessly in love with travel. Pushkar was a very differnet so long ago. Most buildings were one story. Sadar bazaar road was a quiet road without any vehicles mind the occaisional camel or mule. The few shops that lined the streets were tailors, in fact, I remember having a pair of nifty pajamas made for my dad here. The quiet has long gone. Banana pancakes and Isreali signs dominate Sadar Bazaar now, internet signs and money changing stalls abound. India 'world cafe music' floats from stalls. Somehow all this, and the stream of tourists seamless blend in with the daily routines of Indian life. The weddings still take place, pilgrims from both city and desert come to puja at the holy lake.

"It's a Hindu pilgrim town, a cluster of pale onion domes, with 400 milky temples, where regular pujas (prayers) create the town's episodic soundtrack of chanting, drums, gongs and devotional songs booiming from the crackling loudspeakers. The town curls around a holy lake said to have appeared wth Brahma dropped a lotus flower. It also has one of the world's few Brahma temples." ~Lonely Planet Rajasthan pg. 211

Fifty two ghats edge the lake, allowing for worshippers to touch their hands or emmerse their entire body inthe dirtied water. I too touched the magical water only to see charcoal blasck water stream through my fingers.
Unfortunately motorized traffic has made it's way onto the narrow streets, at one time illegal. Now the bikes weave through the crowds blaring thier horns which have been adjusted tot he shrill whine. Together with the camels, cows, goats, mules and carts, we pedestrians wind through the alleys mesmerized by the scene

puja

"Pūjā (Devanagari: पूजा) (alternative transliteration Pooja, Sanskrit: reverence, honour, adoration, or worship) is a religious ritual that Hindus perform on a variety of occasions to pray or show respect to their chosen Gods or Goddesses. Puja basically involves making offerings to a chosen deity(s) so as to seek their blessings. The offerings are made with an acknowledgement – “I dedicate to you O God, what is truly yours.” The whole Puja is thus an acknowledgement of one’s smallness and humility, i.e. performance of Puja removes Ego, which is truly the only hurdle on the path to success." ~Wikapedia

Through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals, puja is preformed. An essential part of puja for the Hindu devotee is making a spiritual connection with the divine. Most often that contact is facilitated through an object: an element of nature, a sculpture, a vessel, a painting, or a print.
During puja an image or other symbol of the god serves as a means of gaining access to the divine. This icon is not the deity itself; rather, it is believed to be filled with the deity's cosmic energy. It is a focal point for honoring and communicating with the god. For the devout Hindu, the icon's artistic merit is important, but is secondary to its spiritual content. The objects are created as receptacles for spiritual energy that allow the devotee to experience direct communication with his or her gods.

Often during puja, especially if in the presence of a priest, the reciepant may be smudged on their forehead with a colored power and a few grains of rice.

weddings

February and March are wedding season in Rajasthan, possibly in all of India. Pushkar has become a place for destination weddings. The small charming town stretches along the banks of a very dirty Pushkar Lake. Entire havelis are rented out for several days as entire villages will make the trek (often by foot) to celebrate the event. And an event it is. Multi-tasking apparently is not only a trait of the West. The party goers come to bathe in the holy waters, visit the Brahma temple (there are only a few in the world) that sits slightly higher than the ghat of it's name. In the evening the streets become a thundersous series of processions. Bands are hired to play as loud as they can as they can while the groom's family and friends weave through the narrow streets with the groom and a young boy fully decorated in the saddle of an equally dressed horse. Peasants are hired to carry huge lamps strung together by electric wire, powered by an exhaust spewing rickshaw following at the tail.

The men, typically the young lads, dressed in western pants and button down shirts (you would never see an Indian man in a T-shirt), will stop the procession every few hundred meters to begin dancing in a circle, twirling money above each others head to bring on good luck. I suppose those with more money can afford to hire the band for longer periods of time, often until late in the night. This past Friday it also happened to be full moon. Dozens of weddings took place on this auspicious eve. I was invited to a wedding of 10,000, the mayors daughter. Rgerettfully I declined-to go with the fellows at the hotel (who invited me) could have been taken the wrong way and besides the only clothes I have are 2 salawar suits that I got at the 'second hand' vendor by the train station in Bikaner. Feigning exhaustion, I snuggled into the heavy camel hair blanket, welcome in the cool windowless chamber I had made home. Even if I had been sleepy, the firecrackers and bands celbrated until well past midnight.

(and it sounds like I missed a good party)

Moustache competition

Pride swelled from their chests as they sat in the desert heat. Foreigners clicking away while they kept a stern face. Occaisonally taking a moment to sooth a stray hair or add an extra curl. I believe there were 8 in all and the gentleman with the thick rimmed glasses won the overall competition. Prizes were awarded for shine, length and overall apperance.

The bullock decorating contest was won by a man worn rom the Thar desert but obviously loving his favorite cow! These cows/bulls have humps in their backs and the 'coats' their owners made for the, often out of old burlap bags always had an extra piece sewn on to cover up the hump. The Minister of Tourism assembled a tug of war between foreigners and Indians-we lost both times.

Donkeys and camels continue to tramble the roads with wares. Rickshaws, buses and trucks blasting horns demanding they move aside, swerving cross the road narrowingly missing pedestrians or bicycles piled with 3 or 4 boys. I just close my eyes and pray.

hugs-b

women

Waiting for hours. zippping thru the sands of the Thar dessert, passing camel caravans, donkey cart and oil trucks. Landscape is dotted with the brick 'factories' I recently read about in the NY Times. Women are scarce, a wisp of color inthe stark landscape. Always in groups. Rarely if ever alone.

"Men are like kings. The birth of a male child is greeted by great rejoiceing and celebration, while the birth of a female child is a cuase for commiseration." ~Lonely Planet

The dowery system is still a significant part of the social framework. It has become an illegal practice, but is remains rooted in the Rajasthani bloood. Parents of the bride to be can be plunged into incredicble debt while trying to keep their honor. If the dowery-electronics, clothing, jewellery, cash is not adequete, further demands can be made. As India grows into a super power, these treads are slowly changing. Girls are begining to go to school and stay in school. They are not marrying immediately out of childhood and love marriages are even begining to take place.

Women wear a saree every day regardless of the day's task. Six meters of fabric folded and tucked while they cook, do laudry, sweep the roads, build a building, milk the cow. Girls, and we foreigners wear a Salawar suit-big baggy trousers and a long tunic top with a scarf around our shoulder backwards. Women, especially one that is married, always covers her head if not her face, going through life looking through a veil. Here in Pushkar, the women on pilgrimmage from the desert are also barefoot with somesort of jewellery that indicates the tribe they are in.

Naguar Camel Fair

Five thousand camels, several thousand heads of cattle

The dessert sucks the moisture out of your skin

Swirls of color as women skim the barren land

Camels in the streets, pulling mountains of hay

Maddening noise fromthe horns as we wiz by other vehicles

Tight alleys crowded with sarees, ramshakle carts overflowing with vegetables
Every day someone gives me a carrot

First hot shower in 5 days

Cows aimlessly wander

Thali's, parathas, curries, chai

Namaskar, danyavaad, ek, do, teen, chaar.... chello chello

2 1/2 hours, 12 hours, 2 hours driving the dessert- the mind goes quiet

India has numbed me or over stimulated me. Which ever, it is doing just as I needed. I am fully present.

Leaving a comfort zone

Leaving the comfortable life I have grown so fond of in Thailand. Knowing some of the language, the food, the geography puts me into a state of non thinking which has been marvelous. I know I do not need to worry about my safety, my belongings. I know I can get to the internet to connect with all of you. I can dress in all the clothes I so love and feel confortable that wearing

jewlery will not drawn unnecesary attention to me.

Such will not be the case in India. I am sure many of you are asking just why I need to go there. I too question my decisions. At home, in cold and windy Honeoye, it seemed perfectly logical. Now I second guess, as I seem to do so much these days. These weeks away have confirmed my desire to have some sort of boutique hotel/bed and breakfast-regardless of "all the work" it will be. I need to be working at something so why not at something I love. So a part of me wishes to hurry home and begin packing to ....and then I get stuck with my dream in mid air and realize I have no where. So India is a place for me to reach back into the memory banks to a life that held endless possibilities in developing worlds. Maybe nothing will come of my time there, or maybe my world will shift. Maybe I am just bidding time....

I have someone picking me up at the airport and a decent hotel in an area of Delhi that I am familiar with. Once everyone left on Sunday I was able tomake more solid plans about where to go and how to get there. This made the entire journey seem less daunting. I look forward to India in so many ways, but the selfishness in me knows I will miss this feeling of complete non worry. There is an organization in Biknar that may be taking volunteers for 1 month commitments, it is there that my direction leads (with a stop in Naguar for a camel fair if I am lucky).

So sawatee ka for now and chok di ka

I look forward to sharing India with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

b

Muay Thai

I am doing alot of things this time in Thailand that I have never done before. In my attempt to do something new every day and to hold a deeper understanding of various aspects of this culture I call second home, I finally went to a Muay Thai match. I held the camera bfore my eye for the majority of the event, unable to comprehend the psychology behind a game where one gets clobbered. My travelers, who have joined me to study Thai yoga and indulge ina yoga retreat, loved the event: http://www.stressescapetours.com

Boys as young as seven swing in the dim lit ring. Drops of sweat splash on photographers as we kneel by the ropes to get the best shot. The shutters on our cameras unable to snap as quickly as the hits came.

Prior to the fight, each man (and woman also) performs a ritual, a gentle melancholy dance. Embracing each side of the ring and offering some sort of prayer or blessing.

Kicks are high, blows flying with certainty and force. On lookers cheer, waving tickets and money. In between the fights a group of girlie boys-far more beautiful than any woman I have ever laid eyes on perform lip-sync versions of popular Western tunes.

elephant heaven

Our tours http://www.stressescapetours.com to Thaland always include a visit to the Elephant nature park http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/ . Stepping onto the sanctuary grounds, we are surrounded by these magnificant creatures. One loves to kiss, others love to play in mud, still others are flirts , a few recluse. Thirty threee elephants have been rescued from the terrible fate fo Thai elephants-working the tourist and logging trades.

I believe there is going to be a special on The Animal Planet this week about the sanctuary for elephants-if you have a chance, please check it out!

Our day was spent feeding, kissing, bathing and following the elephants through fields.

love to all! b