More Indian Experiences

Only in India would you have your photo surreptitiously snapped on a cellphone camera by a police officer who you stopped to ask directions from (who didn't know the directions anyway). I hope I was blinking.

I have been invited to an Indian wedding in Kashmir by a man I met in a coffee shop. Now I have bought a plane ticket to Kashmir... just a slight change in plans! I will only be in Rishikesh for 3 days. Not very long, but oh well. Hopefully it will be enough time to actually do something.

It's strange how some days just completely escape me. I really have not done anything today. I guess I did all my Christmas shopping today (I didn't get any very good deals, my bartering skills are not that great) and then posted it (I hope it makes it!). I meant to go to the art gallery, but I got intercepted by Abdulla (the man who invited me to the wedding). We had lunch together. He's a funny man. I know instinctually that he's a good person, but I still wonder at why he invited me to his niece's wedding. He's not even going, but his brother, Noor is. I met Noor and he also has a very good vibe. I think that this hospitable/inclusive nature that many Indians seem to possess is still a bit of a mystery to me. I don't quite understand it yet. Often I feel a bit suspicious of them at first, but then it (usually) turns out that they really are just being nice and that they are not expecting anything in return (like that man from the plane when I arrived). It's difficult to find the right balance between being smart and open. I mean, if you're too open you can be naive and get in trouble, but if you're too "smart" you become closed and don't meet anyone. Sometimes you have to take chances on people. Anyway, I feel good about this one. I'm excited to go so far north!! Good thing I still have the sweater I bought in Istanbul! Many times I have thought about ditching it to lighten my load, now I am pleased that I am still hauling it about, mind you I have used it a few times in Delhi as it can be a bit chilly at night and in the mornings.

Last night I went for a beer. I met a couple of other travelers who were super sketchy and weird. I have met many nice travelers here, but I also see that it is easy for less-than-savoury types to be drawn into the Indian life. The affordability of India and the availability of anything you could possibly wish for, including drugs, opens the door to everyone. One of the travelers I met last night looked like a crack head. He depressed me deeply and it was easy for me to not stay for more than one beer!

money = evil, Hari Krishnas = weird

Today Abby, my Persian travel mate left for Goa. This morning, while I was eating breakfast on the terrace of the hotel, this man, Boaz from Israel, said he had arranged a tour for the day around Delhi and would anyone like to join him? I had initially planned on walking around and going to the art gallery today, but it sounded like it could be fun, so I told him I might be interested in going. I decided to go. Delhi is huge, so it is hard to see much without a car. Well, it turns out that Boaz paid way too much for the car hire and then expected me to pay half! Meanwhile, I thought that he was just looking for company on a tour he'd already paid for, but I had thought I would pitch in a bit anyway. Ultimately, it sucked. We had a pretty good day which ended in a bit of a fight. I told him I wouldn't have agreed to come if I thought I was going to have to eat half of his mistake. I mean, the guy is a bit of an idiot!!
Earlier, he wanted to catch a bike rickshaw so I said I would negotiate the price (he was absolutely clueless about these things!). I negotiated 20Rs, and when we got to the site I paid the driver 20Rs. Boaz, the idiot, asked if it was enough and then took the 20 back and gave the driver 50, which he took, happily. I was like, wtf? He didn't understand that I had negotiated this price already... argh. It's so silly really, but it drove me nuts!

But yeah, I'm so frustrated over this simple issue. I still have to give him a bit more money, and here I am feeling angry and spiteful about the whole thing. I hate the way money makes us act.

In other news, I went to this super weird psychedelic show at the Hari Krishna temple in Delhi today. I don't even know how to begin to describe it! It was just totally wild, tacky, a little scary, super cheesy, hilarious fun. Boaz didn't want to see the show because it cost too much, so I did it alone. It was worth the money actually.

It began with a little intro video displayed on 12 tvs which were surrounded by mirrors to make it look like there was a globe of tvs. It was pretty cool actually, even if the graphics on the video were a bit old school. Then you go into this room where there is a life-size figure of Krishna, Arjun and his chariot. [Some of you may know that I am slightly terrified of mannequins, wax figures, any of these sorts of things, so this was actually a bit scary for me.] All these lights start flashing around and a voice booms overhead starting the story of how Krishna convinced Arjun not to fear death and send his troops to war. The next room is like the first, only the figures are behind glass and when you enter a bright light shines on you so that all you can see is your reflection in the glass. Then the loud voice (like god himself!) asks who you see in the reflection. Who are you? Are you your face? Are you your body? Are you your hands? Are you your eyes? etc. Then he asserts that we are not the container of our soul, but that we are our soul. It was rather effective. When the light changes to behind the glass, we see that the figures are actually the stages of life, from baby to skeleton. After this, the most terrifying room of all! A dark room with all these huge scary images, flashing lights and loud, booming scoldings about the motivations in our life. We are either driven by goodness (not scary), passion (a little scary) or ignorance (very scary). The Indian guy, Samir, who was taking me through the Sound & Light tour thought I was funny for being scared, but he stood with me through all the sets, especially this one. There seemed to be a lot of these mannequin rooms and sets, at some point there was also a room where I watched a video on reincarnation (that was good). The show went back and forth telling us about how we should behave in modern day, and back to the story of Arjun and Krishna. From what I understood, it seems that Arjun doesn't know if he should go to war or not. Krishna comes to Arjun on his chariot and tells him not to fear: everyone will die on both sides, except for Arjun, which gives him courage to follow the words of Krishna (weird, no?). The last room is a simple maze of mirrors which I was instructed to walk aimlessly through while listening to the Hari Krishna chant:

Hari Krishna Hari Krishna
Krishna Krishna
Hari Hari
Hari Rama Hari Rama
Rama Rama
Hari Hari

The more I know about Hari Krishnas, the stranger I think they are.

wasting time

i basically came all the way to delhi so that i could find reliable internet access to write the CASPer exam. so here i am, at reliance world web, poised and ready for this damn test to begin! i tested the system, and it works. unfortunately, i forgot about daylight savings time, which i guess they don't have in india, because now the time difference is even greater and i have to wait. i have already been waiting for more than an hour and i have another half hour to go... ugh, this is killing me!!!

so for the past hour + i have been looking into ashrams in rishikesh, which is where i'll be heading next. there are so many ashrams it's crazy. i think i'll have to just roll in on monday and then go visit a few to see how they are. it's too hard to tell online. i also booked my flight to goa. i am going to goa on the 8th of december. so i have been looking into huts to rent on a beach there. again, it's just too hard to know. i think i have to book something for my first night though, because i will be arriving after dark and it's just safer if i have something planned.

i have been really jonesing for a drink these days. i haven't had a sip of alcohol in india. i did, however, have a glass of wine on one of flights on the way to india... my, that was a long time ago. abby doesn't drink at all, and he quite disapproves of it, so it wouldn't even be fun to have a drink while hanging out with him. he is flying to goa tomorrow though, so maybe i can go have a beer somewhere tomorrow evening... if i meet another traveler who will want to join, that is; i'm not going out drinking alone in india. in greece? sure. india? i don't think so.

hm... nine minutes.

i just checked my bank balance and it seems i'm not doing too bad. in the last 2 weeks i've spent less than 200 bucks. india really is cheap. mind you, i spent at least 2 days sick in a scuzzy hotel room where all i took in was a bit of water. days like that are very economical, but not especially fun.

i am still crazy homesick. i don't know why it has hit me so hard. i keep waiting for these feelings to subside. for some reason, i feel like i will be less homesick once abby leaves. maybe i just know that i'll have to be on my toes, so i won't have to time to be pining for the comforts of home.

5 minutes... wow, it's going by pretty quick actually.

after this test i think i'll call mum and dad.
oh, and speaking of this test, it goes from 7-9pm, india time. this place usually closes at 8pm i just found out, but luckily, they are opening until 9pm tonight because some company is doing some video conferencing here. wow. looks like i am supposed to write this test this time around! i would have been quite irritated if it didn't work, considering all the trouble i've gone to to take this test...

okay, i only have 2 minutes now. so i'll post this insipid blog for you to waste your own time reading. :)

***

I finished the exam!! Wow. It was awful, and I was interrupted by staff about a million times (which was weird, because they never spoke to me once in the 2 hours I spent sitting here before the test), and then a guy started playing LOUD video games right beside me and trying to show me his awesome moves (wtf?)... but, it's OVER!!!

18 hours on a bus...

and it was surprisingly not that bad. not that i wish to repeat the experience any time soon. when abby and i first got to the bus station we were quite horrified to see the bus we were about to inflict upon ourselves for (what we thought was only) the next 16 hours (but we were 2 hours late in the end due to traffic). it was just another crummy city bus, like a school bus really, only not yellow and with an additional bar going along the inner perimeter of the windows. the shocks are non-existent and there really is no seating protocol, unless you've reserved a seat, which we had, when we were under the illusion it was a coach: like a greyhound. luckily, the conductor was helpful in allowing us to actually secure our seats. we briefly considered trying to sell our tickets and then finding some other way to ahmedabad, but the prospect of spending another night in our dingy, smelly hotel in aurangabad was enough to spur me into proclaiming "come on abby, be positive! it will be an adventure!" abby was not too keen on the idea, but he didn't wuss out, thank god.

well, it turns out it wasn't too much of an adventure, because nothing much happened. the most notable happening was perhaps when i woke up because i was lurched from my seat as my head crashed into the bar over the window, from which i now have a small goose-egg. it was more startling than dramatic though, and i quickly fell back asleep.

i also made friends with the family behind us and took their pictures for them. i have agreed to make prints and send them their pictures. they were so sweet. they really wanted me to come home with them, but it wasn't really on my way.

well, now we're in ahmedabad. it's a pretty awesome city so far. i can't wait to go get some food! abby and i are basically just killing time so that it will be a reasonable time to eat dinner... and i think it may just be that time!

bon appetite!

???

I just let Abby cut my hair... pictures to follow. One day. When I'm brave. He insists it looks marvelous. Very stylish... right.

Incredible, Inedible !ndia

After an exhausting, enthralling day at the Ellora caves I suffered my first bout of food poisoning in India. I knew it would come sooner or later. In fact, as I was eating the chana masala at the canteen in Ellora I was fairly certain it would make me sick. Luckily, I managed to stave off being sick until I was back in my room at the formidable Crown Plaza. After spending all day yesterday being ill and sleeping, this morning I was finally up to leaving the dank room.

Last night I had an incredible dream though. I dreamed that it was Halloween and I was dressing up like Hunter S. Thompson. I was getting ready at Libby's house, and her and Greg just lived down the street from Mum and Dad. Katy and Nate came over, and Katy helped me fix up my costume so that I was now Beetlejuice. The party was at Nate and Katy's place so Claire, Simon, Katy, Nate and I all left to go their place. We had to fly to get there, so we jumped in a plane. The pilot was a super funny guy and he took us on a bit of a tour. We were flying low and there was this scout camp exhibit. It was some strange fair where everyone was dressed up like old fashioned peasants. They were training for some shows and practicing throwing darts and daggers into apples perched atop of ladies' heads. We decided to crash the fun and the pilot landed, more like crashed the plane. Nate, Katy, Simon, Claire and the pilot got dressed up and performed a silly show while I went through the crowd encouraging people to clap along to the music. When the show was over it was clear that the people were not so impressed with the performance, or the destruction of their fortress-like gate. Luckily, there were enough cars in the plane for us all to jump in one, and I had a little red sporty car, which looked like it belonged to Savary as it had plants growing in the back seat. We all sped off to the party.

It was an awesome dream. Super fun and I was so happy to be with my loved ones.

Well, I have to figure out what my plans are now. This day of sickness and now today, which is still a day to recover, have thrown off my original ideas. I have to start considering what plan B is...

Aurangabad

Arrived into Aurangabad last night from Nashik. It was a little hellish trying to find accommodations, but we finally settled on a crusty, not too clean, "Crown Plaza" which bears no resemblance to the chain I think of at home. It seems that most of the hotels in Aurangabad are either for Indian citizens only (news to me!) or they were full. The youth hostel was completely empty, but if you saw the place you would know why.

Today we planned on going to the Elora caves. Rather, we did go to the Elora caves, only they're closed on Tuesdays... damn. When we were trying to figure out which bus to catch, this one rickshaw driver told us the caves were closed, but we didn't believe him. When we finally got on the bus to the caves but were still at the station, this guy tried to pickpocket Abby, but Abby caught him and he fled from the bus in a hurry. An old woman kept going on (in Hindi) that that man should have been beaten! A bit of excitement anyway. This evening we saw that same rickshaw driver who told us the caves were closed and he asked us about the caves!! I had to laugh and give it to him. He was, indeed, telling the truth. Anyway, it wasn't so bad, on the way to the caves I saw another tourist attraction which is this massive fort, Daulatabad, so we caught a taxi there. It was really really cool. So I'm happy we went, if the caves had been open today I never would have seen that fort. So there you go, it seems things really do happen for a reason. Tomorrow we'll go see Elora.

I also talked to Rishi today, he said he would help me find accommodation in Delhi when I arrive next week. He also said that he might be able to arrange for me to go to an Indian wedding. YAYAYAYA.

I'm starving though. I'm not quite sure why. I guess all this running about has stimulated my manipura! Heh, just kidding.

As an aside, when I was taking the Ayurveda course I thought it was weird that they showed us all these eye cleansing techniques. Now I think it makes perfect sense. Every single pore and cell, inside and out, feels filthy right now. I feel cleaner after camping for 10 days. Showering almost seems pointless since the sheets I'm sleeping on are possibly crawling and I feel like an extra layer of grit on my skin might actually protect me! Lovely lovely. Still, India is incredible.

new travel partner

I have a new travel partner now: Abby. He is the best barterer I have ever met, yes, he may actually rival Umit in his bartering abilities (although Umit is an excellent barterer also). As I mentioned in my last post, someone stole my sandals, so naturally I needed some new sandals.
Today Abby and I had a bit of time to kill so we decided to go look for some appropriate ware (the flip-flops I have will not do for any real length). We found a little shoe store and I found some suitable, albeit plastic, sandals which will suffice. The salesman quoted me 210 INRs (which is about $5.25), Abby said 150 ($3.75). Of course, the salesman laughed and said something about 210 being the price and there is no haggling in here. Then Abby, with a tweak of the salesman's mustache (I am not exaggerating, Abby really does this!), a laugh, a head bobble, and a "very nice, very nice" he simply took the money out (150) and gave it to the salesman. In response, the salesman asked us to sit down and have tea, and of course we were much obliged. It turns out that the salesman also teaches yoga so we had a nice chat with him about pranayama and suryanamaskara. After our tea Abby asked for a gift (was he joking? I'm not sure) and the salesman gave us both a PRADA (fake, of course) change purse. I find these types of interactions absolutely fascinating, and hilarious.

So yay, I now have some plastic sandals (with silver flowers!), a little blue PRADA change purse, and a belly full of warm, milky, sweet chai, all for 150INRs.

Well, I must dash. We have a date with an Indian to go see some temples this afternoon and we wouldn't want to be late!!

love love love and all that good stuff! Hari Om Tat Sat.

Ayurveda and beyond

I have spent the last week in an Ayurveda course in Nasik. It was a course mostly to do with beauty products like face, eye, and ear cleaning. The eye cleaning was perhaps the most remarkable experience, considering there were a large array of different annointments we could put in our eyes to "clean" them. Mostly, they just felt like acid drops, albeit, your eyes did feel quite cool after, but I'm not sure if it's just from the relief of them not burning anymore or if it actually does cool the eyes. Nevertheless, we all entrusted Joshi (our instructor, pictured below) with our tender eyes.


Unfortunately, I got a sore throat and an ear infection during the course. Luckily, it seems to be clearing up on its own. I'm glad, because I really did not want to take any antibiotics for it, and also because I was kind of miserable for a few days which is never fun. I still managed to see the silver lining, which is that this is the first time I've been sick since I left, and I didn't even need any antibiotics, and it's better than the stomach flu or something like that!

My sandals also got stolen, but I don't mind. They were stolen from the Therapy centre where I'm staying, so I had other shoes. Also, they're good quality sandals, so they should last the next woman (I presume) who has them for a lot longer than I would have kept them I'm sure.

It seems I've been writing this blog for ages, but that's because I've been distracted about 100 times, so it is disjointed. I can't even remember what else I wanted to say...

On Monday I am going to Aurangabad with Abby, an Iranian guy I met in the ashram. He's quite a joker, so it should be an interesting trip for sure. For now, I am spending the next couple of days taking it easy so that I can completely recover from this earache and sore throat before we leave. I am excited to get going though. I am ready to be on the road again; living the adventure! The ashram and therapy centre are so safe and caring. It's really nice, but sometimes I feel a little too watched. I am eager to have my own room... ah, luxury. I would love love love to find a place with a bath tub, one that I would use, that is. This seems like an unlikely dream at the moment, so I think I'll just keep that desire as a distant promise to be delivered when I get home.

Speaking of home, I have no idea when I'll come home. I've been looking at other places I can go, and if I manage my money well, it looks like I can go to Sri Lanka, then Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam... pretty amazing.

Initially I had every intention of actually relaying some stories, but it seems like this has turned into just another one of my random thoughts entries. Next time I'll try and actually tell a story. For now, I'll put up a picture from lunch today, which was delicious.

yoga teacher and story teller

i have finished my exams!!! here is a picture of the class i had to teach. we were split into smaller groups so that the lesson exams could be done in just a few days, so this is only 7 out of the 32 students in my class. we all became close through this learning experience. first we had to teach a trial class, which was, in some cases, quite hilarious. then yesterday and today we taught our final exam class (the one we were marked on). anyway, this photo was taken today. the indian man on the left, was our examiner. although a hard marker, he is very sweet.

this morning, after the exams were all finished, a group of us decided to do some of the hatha cleansing techniques again. it was [oddly] fun.

yesterday i had to give a presentation on the paper i'd written. i am ashamed to say that my paper was very bad. i did not want to read my paper, let alone really tell people, in 5 minutes, the lack of substance which was my paper. instead i told them a story.

thousands of years ago there once lived a sage, agastya. agastya decided one day to visit a demon named atapi. atapi had a brother, vatapi, and together they were a dangerous pair.

whenever they would receive guests, atapi would magically turn vatapi into a goat. he would then prepare a delicious goat curry to serve to his guest. when the guest had eaten all he could, atapi would suggest that the guest meet his brother and call "vatapi, please come out!" vatapi would then burst out from the guest's stomach, thereby killing them.

when agastya went to visit atapi, atapi as usual morphed his brother and prepared him into a spicy goat vindaloo. agastya began salivating as he approached atapi's home, the aroma was intoxicating. agastya ate and ate and ate and when he had polished off the entire curry he sat back patting his stomach and complimenting atapi on his culinary prowess. atapi smiled and sweetly said "you should meet my brother, he would adore you. come out vatapi!" but agastya said "vatapi, stay where you are. it is better for everyone that you are digested in my stomach." and thus was the end of vatapi.

agastya was able to digest vatapi because he had a fully awakened manipura chakra. the manipura chakra governs our digestive system, and therefore, if you awaken your manipura, you can digest anything, including demons.

and that was my presentation. or at least, the gist of it. i think it went over pretty well. at least, it made people laugh. then i told them a few ways to eat like a yogini/yogi. for instance, you should eat with your hands. each bite becomes a mudra as you lift your fingers to your lips. also, this preserves your pranic energy; for your hands are an extension of your heart and they radiate prana (life/vital energy). when we use utensils we are breaking the flow and losing prana.