Jee too, a chai wallah near the ghats where I take my daily swim in the Ganges, reminded me of what I believe we are all in the quest for. Shanti. Peace. Stillness. Calm. Contenment. (see more definition below)
"Shanti is good, Shanti is the way to live", Jee too says as he shares his story of how his wife died at child birth in the dusty streets of Delhi.
"Here I make little money but have much Shanti. In Delhi I have much money but no Shanti. Shanti is good".
Jee too came to Rishikesh 7 years ago on pilgrimmage and never left. Three of four yearly trips back to visit his mother and father to give them the little money he has saved, and always eager to return to his simple life of selling chai to the pilgrims on their way to puja.
Chai is black tea with milk and sweetened with sugar, a common drink throughout India. Chai used to be served in clay cups that when thrown away became dust, but now plastic cups are being used....
Wikipedia brings you to this definition: "Inner peace (or peace of mind) refers to a state of being mentally and soiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understaning to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Peace of mind is generally associated bliss and happiness." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_peace)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
another planet
The graduate program I participated in focused a lot on being PC politiacally correct, and then living in Vermont, that was the buzzzzzzzzzzzz word. Be PC.
And then I diassociated myself from all of it, choosing to be naive again rather than fight some silent cause. Classmates may consider me lame (my graduate classmates. My highschool classmates-who are in fact meeting tonight or tomorrow night for our 25th reunion...-days allude me here in India- who would scoff at or at least not quite understand...but do I?....what the hell do I really mean by PC).
This is another planet. Period.
I have been trying to get through 20 emails on the internet of a fairly well established (AKA expensive) hotel's internet for a day now. I am in Jaipur-one of the bigger cities in Rajasthan, I am not in the middle of a wheat or rice field. I am surrounded by miles of construction, vehicles, (albiet many are camels, donkeys, horses ricksaws are also here but...), sky scrapers of a sort, ect.... and it has taken me 2 visits and 3 computers to simply get through my 20 hotmail emails.
I can not open facebook here, nor can I download an image or skype or go to you tube.
Thailand of course can spoil anyone, but I never imagined in the 21st century that using the internet would be as tiresome as finding ...what what example can I even use?????
Ok, I am done ranting. maybe just one more thing....I need to get to Delhi. It is a 5 hour train or bus ride away. I prefer train for obvious reasons, and as a result there is a price to pay. And just out of curiosity, I timed the process.
I stood in line for 21 minutes to get a form that needed to be filled out prior to going to window 769 to book the train ticket.
At the window, I was pushed aside by an Indian man and a couple who also needed this form.
Gratefully the man behind the counter appreciated my Indian dress and greeting of Namaskar and shared the information I needed freely. Step 1.
Once completed, I stood in line for window 769 (used for senior citzens and foreigners-which category do I fall in????) and waited an additional 33 minutes (there were 2, two, TWO people in front of me) (an additioanl 2 more people tried to get in front of me during this time period) to hand the piece of paper to the ticket man for him to process a ticket for me.
Forutantely-because during this process you are PRAYING that there are still seats available...
and remembering the last station I was at where there were no more seats so the crowd of at least 50+ fought for the luggage car-literally....I got my seat. I arrive in Delhi at 10:45pm. Not ideal, but I have a sample order being processed...to be finished at 2, which means 4, which gives me just enough time to get to the train station, if they happen to be an hour or so late...thankfully they will offer me some chai.....
I should have listened to my dad and taken up a job with the State or Gov. or some job.... today I think it is nuts being an entrepenuer.
But... that being said
And then I diassociated myself from all of it, choosing to be naive again rather than fight some silent cause. Classmates may consider me lame (my graduate classmates. My highschool classmates-who are in fact meeting tonight or tomorrow night for our 25th reunion...-days allude me here in India- who would scoff at or at least not quite understand...but do I?....what the hell do I really mean by PC).
This is another planet. Period.
I have been trying to get through 20 emails on the internet of a fairly well established (AKA expensive) hotel's internet for a day now. I am in Jaipur-one of the bigger cities in Rajasthan, I am not in the middle of a wheat or rice field. I am surrounded by miles of construction, vehicles, (albiet many are camels, donkeys, horses ricksaws are also here but...), sky scrapers of a sort, ect.... and it has taken me 2 visits and 3 computers to simply get through my 20 hotmail emails.
I can not open facebook here, nor can I download an image or skype or go to you tube.
Thailand of course can spoil anyone, but I never imagined in the 21st century that using the internet would be as tiresome as finding ...what what example can I even use?????
Ok, I am done ranting. maybe just one more thing....I need to get to Delhi. It is a 5 hour train or bus ride away. I prefer train for obvious reasons, and as a result there is a price to pay. And just out of curiosity, I timed the process.
I stood in line for 21 minutes to get a form that needed to be filled out prior to going to window 769 to book the train ticket.
At the window, I was pushed aside by an Indian man and a couple who also needed this form.
Gratefully the man behind the counter appreciated my Indian dress and greeting of Namaskar and shared the information I needed freely. Step 1.
Once completed, I stood in line for window 769 (used for senior citzens and foreigners-which category do I fall in????) and waited an additional 33 minutes (there were 2, two, TWO people in front of me) (an additioanl 2 more people tried to get in front of me during this time period) to hand the piece of paper to the ticket man for him to process a ticket for me.
Forutantely-because during this process you are PRAYING that there are still seats available...
and remembering the last station I was at where there were no more seats so the crowd of at least 50+ fought for the luggage car-literally....I got my seat. I arrive in Delhi at 10:45pm. Not ideal, but I have a sample order being processed...to be finished at 2, which means 4, which gives me just enough time to get to the train station, if they happen to be an hour or so late...thankfully they will offer me some chai.....
I should have listened to my dad and taken up a job with the State or Gov. or some job.... today I think it is nuts being an entrepenuer.
But... that being said
- I found a perfect place for a group to stay in Jaipur
- After 19 hours of shops, fatories, wholesalers, I may have found my missing link to product design of garments and home furnishings......................anyone want to start a kids clothing line??????
time for bed-thanks for listening. it is all good. and pretty darn cool if you can step outside the neat little box I want to create for myself.....
Monday, September 21, 2009
Clickety Clack
So delighted that a mere $10 (which just a few short years ago would last me several days in India), can move me from the cattle car compartments jammed packed with men, women, babies and bundles, to an aircon eat complete with meal service, newspaper and reclining chair. Basking in the delight of "stepping up" of no longer having to travel bare bones (or aka-getting soft), I rest my head against the chattering train. Within minutes something is crawling on my head. Swoosh, yuck, it is still India and I rest my head on my book away from the window pulling my scarf over my head only to have the bug wigglying on my nose.
Note: AC cars on India (and Thai) trains are terribly frigid. Be sure to have a pashmina, coat or something to keep you warm!
Note: AC cars on India (and Thai) trains are terribly frigid. Be sure to have a pashmina, coat or something to keep you warm!
India says yes in a world of so many no's
Each time I come to India I am in awe, surprised, delighted as a kid (or grown up) at Christmas). Each time I step on the sub-continent I am a virgin. And then slowly I begin remembering..the horns, the stench, the constant waves of color, the cows, incense. Saddhus with their deep knowing stars. Children gazing with kohl lined eyes. The noise. How many different tones can horns have? Does each horn have it's own distinct sound like a snowflake or we humans?
How do I prepare a traveler for ALL THIS? All that is impossible to put into words. Pictures may do a better job, but tucked here in foot hills of the Himalaya, I can not easily download photographs because of their size and words are merely words.
Damp clothes
Electric shortages
Locked internet
Lassi's
Steaming cups of chai
British cabs
Toliet paper that costs as much as a towel or a box of biscuits.
Digestives (a wonderful British cookie that hits the spot on a long train ride)
Wondering if the the auto (rickshaw/tuk tuk...)
A. understands where you want to go
B. Will actually take you there
Sing song conversation
Nonsense conversation
The wobble
Evening aatri by Lake Pushkar
Asking for the sale and then upselling-I could learn a lot from their sells tactics!
Turbans and swirling sarees
Camels beside the vegetable cart
Bicycles that are 50 years old
Tight alleys
Cars that pass within inches if each other
Thali's
Fistfuls of rupees from an exchange of $100
India makes you look in the crack and corners of every day. India is and if you let it, it will seep into the threads of your clothes, pulse through the pores of your skin. India is in it's entirety saying take me or leave me. I am here.
India gives me breath. India makes me laugh at myself (yesterday I managed to use the Gents instead of the Ladies-the entire staff laughing at me when I walked out). She excites me and infuritates me. She reminds me of how very alive I am. India does not give me time to think.
India says yes in a world of so many no's.
How do I prepare a traveler for ALL THIS? All that is impossible to put into words. Pictures may do a better job, but tucked here in foot hills of the Himalaya, I can not easily download photographs because of their size and words are merely words.
Damp clothes
Electric shortages
Locked internet
Lassi's
Steaming cups of chai
British cabs
Toliet paper that costs as much as a towel or a box of biscuits.
Digestives (a wonderful British cookie that hits the spot on a long train ride)
Wondering if the the auto (rickshaw/tuk tuk...)
A. understands where you want to go
B. Will actually take you there
Sing song conversation
Nonsense conversation
The wobble
Evening aatri by Lake Pushkar
Asking for the sale and then upselling-I could learn a lot from their sells tactics!
Turbans and swirling sarees
Camels beside the vegetable cart
Bicycles that are 50 years old
Tight alleys
Cars that pass within inches if each other
Thali's
Fistfuls of rupees from an exchange of $100
India makes you look in the crack and corners of every day. India is and if you let it, it will seep into the threads of your clothes, pulse through the pores of your skin. India is in it's entirety saying take me or leave me. I am here.
India gives me breath. India makes me laugh at myself (yesterday I managed to use the Gents instead of the Ladies-the entire staff laughing at me when I walked out). She excites me and infuritates me. She reminds me of how very alive I am. India does not give me time to think.
India says yes in a world of so many no's.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Mother Ganga
Today began around 2 am with the rattling of the grates on my window. Hesitantly I pulled back the curtains to find myself face to face with a family of monkeys.
From then until an hour or so before sunset, the day was more or less a blur. Checking out ashrams, hotels, inquiring about journeying to Deoprayag-the source of the Ganges, trying the ATM, downloading pictures onto a CD, several attempts at the internet....
The day cleared while writing my group-destined to begin arrving 7 days from today. An incredibly handsome Westerner; dressed as an Indian on spiritual journey with a Brahmin cord; sits bedside me and we begin the typical foreign banter. "Where are you from? How long have you been here? What brings you here..." I share with him my scouting mission to find an ashram for my group and he suggests several places. Our stories unfold and I share my concerns about how to gently warn these newcomers to India how very different India really is.
"Just allow it to be. Freedom of thought" says the man who studies with a guru deep in the wooded Himilaya. "say too much and they come with expectation".
Behind us a blue eyed, blond in teeny tank interjects, "You should tell them something, I never knew how unnerving their stares would be and the, the, everything of India is beyond anything I have ever experienced and I have been in South East Asia for 4 months. . Tell them, prepare them but in a light hearted way. India is everything and more." (she is refering to the chaos, the noise, the pollution, the masses of people.........)
The wise white Brahmin smiles with a smile only someone who has spent months, if not years, in India would smile. "yes, but if they practice yoga they must know, they must understand India to some degree". True. I am sure they are grounded and have strong foundation, but even I find myself surprised over and over again with each visit....no words....
"Come" he says, "I will introduce you to an ashram where I take yoga classes just past the bridge." Having exhausted all but a few leads gathered today, I gladly follow.
We walk, dodging cows and dung, passing stretched hands and murmering saddhus. Sidestepping beeping motorcycles and throngs of Indian pilgrims. Conversation resting on his stint in Japan as a model and dating the "Hilton sisters" of Tokyo. Forays at the Oriental in Bangkok to finding his guru and studying Sanskrit here in the Himalaya.
The ashram holds promise. It looks clean, is quiet, and supposedly there is yoga on a daily basis. But none of the 8 men mingling around reception could give details of accommodation, prices, availabilty. "Tomorrow come to reception, but not here at Shwarg Ashram, to the office"
"But this entire area is Shwarg Ashram, where is the office?"
"Up"
"Up?"
"Yes, up at the office."
"Is there a name to the office so that I can find it?"
"Yes, shwarg ashram up 5, 10 minutes walking"
"walking where?" I ask, "If I come here tomorrow, can someone bring me to the office"
"Yes, the office make reservation tomorrow after 10 morning time" says the young man with a wide smile.
I do so love this country.
Sunset on the horizon, the Brahmin asks if I'd like to join him for a 3 dip swim in the Ganga.
Alarms sound...Didn't the CDC doctor tell me I that the only fresh body of water that I need to avoid is the Ganges? Aren't there nasty little parasites that can bore into your skin and begin eating its way out? Isn't it a sacred river and I am white, Catholic woman? I am in my street clothes...
and to the Brahmin I say "why not, I've never taken a swim in the Ganges" and we chatter about maple sugaring in New England and our days of homesteading when Martin and I lived in Vermont.
It was marvelous. Diving into the current, emerging with a burst of air to see the hazy sun dipping behind domed temples, the sacred moutnains rising above dozens of bathing ghats, men and women dunking away Karma both past and present.
Three times we dove, allowing the current to take us to shallow waters. Three times I surfaced from the cold waters reborn. Pure delight.
I left him to his evening prayers and warmed my body, clothes soaked, with a tea from Jeetal, the chai wallah who is teaching me a little Hinid. Remembering. really remembering just why I am so addicted to travel.
I believe, India is the discovery of yourself....
sorry no pictures, still trying to figure out how to make that happen here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)