All kinds

You get to meet all sorts of people in Rishikesh - mostly people who come for spiritual succour, but nowadays people who come for lots of other things as well.

I met a young man from California in yoga class who's been here in India for four or five years, leaving occasionally only to renew his visa. He's only in his 20s. He's getting really good at the yoga. He wants to get as good as he can at it, so that he can sit for longer and longer in meditation! He's been to four Vipassana sessions so far (10 days each) and wants to be able to go for one that lasts longer, such as 20, 40, 60 or even 90 days (if there is such a thing). I was very impressed that someone was spending years of their life in pursuit of the ability to sit in long hours for meditation, ultimately in the hopes of attaining realization and seeing the world for the illusion that it is, especially at such a young age, when most others are into making money, making or breaking careers and so on. His response was that well, once he'd attained his realization, he could just work at McDonald's (or anywhere and at anything for that matter) and still be blissful. That seemed to make a lot of sense. He was very articulate and spoke with a soft, steady tone of voice. He seemed halfway there already as far as I was concerned. He said he'd had a recent change of heart about needing to balance worldly affairs with this lofty goal of self-realization, so he was now also learning to play the flute and something about classical Indian dance!
I told him that in some book I'd read recently it said that people wouldn't get that everything was God until they got that Hitler was also God. And I asked him if he tried to see good in everyone and God in everyone and hence tried not to react to anything not so nice that they did or said. He said he didn't play games and that he was just trying to get to realization, not be taken for a sucker! (my words, not his) If Hitler (or anyone else for that matter) came and tried to beat him up or said something nasty to him, he'd be beating them up or verbally defending himself or whatever was necessary for survival. Just that he'd be watchful and observant of everything he was doing as he was doing it. Great answer! In the interest of making his money last one meal longer (he planned to stay on for another year or two or till whenever his money ran out), I asked him if he wanted me to take him out to dinner - he asked me what sort of question that was - so I re-phrased it and asked him if I might take him out to dinner. And he was thrilled to accept that invitation. So maybe I will play a minuscule part in someone's attainment of realization, even if not my own.

And then there was this woman from Israel. She'd come for the yoga originally a few years ago. But then decided to make India her second home not just for the yoga, but because it was cheap, and crammed with people and therefore (she said) it was easier to have company when one needed it. She found it convenient enough to live here for a large part of each year going back only to see the family and so on. She didn't seem too interested in the spirituality aspect of India, her main focus was in having yoga help fix her bad back. Other than that it seemed mainly about the food, which she said she loved and the fact that it was cheap to live here.

Then there were these two young women I got along well with, one from the U.S. and one from Ireland. They were both here because the Divine Life Society (the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh) was here and they both followed the teachings of Sivananda and were part of the ashrams in their respective countries. They seemed like grounded, together people, who seemed to have found their spiritual path but weren't abandoning the rest of their lives to pursue it (yet). They were here to soak up anything and everything they could from the birthplace of their school and the home of their Guru. Sometimes, it seemed to me like they felt more at home here than I did. And they both seemed to be loving it here and getting from this place and these surroundings exactly what they were looking for. They had a sense of openness and adventure that made every little thing seem like fun - even the occasional inconveniences were handled with aplomb, as if they were as wonderful experiences as any others. They took no offense at anything and just brushed off all kinds of things that someone like me who'd grown up here would probably get all rattled by.

And there was this gay man from Delhi - a fashion designer, no less, who actually called me honey and kept using the word fabulous. He was very cool - and very easy to get along with, and was here with two 'aunties' - a mother of a friend of his and her friend. He said he came here several times a year to recharge himself with the energy. And aunty was very cool too. She smoked ten to the dozen - in spite of my warning her that smoking wasn't really allowed here and someone may come and tell her to stop - or worse, leave. But the folks who worked at the place we stayed did see her, but it seems they didn't know how to tell her to stop and gave her a wide berth, so she just sat puffing away on the balcony all evening long. This while I was wondering how I could sneak in a cigarette in my room or somewhere else without being found out - since I'd been told when asked that it wasn't allowed - a'h, and therein lies my stupidity - I should have known, don't ask.

Thought for the day

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." - Kris Kristofferson

Rishikesh - a few insights

What to bring:

A torch - half the time there's no electricity - so it's useful.

An umbrella.

Clothes pins - unless someone nice leaves some for you -there probably won't be any around.

If you're here in the summertime or any other time it's hot, go into the market in town and get yourself a matka - a mud pot - it keeps the water cool - if you're at a place where you can fill your bottle with filtered water (at the Omkarananda Ganga Sadan they have an RO filter), you can just pour that into the pot and in a few hours you'll have really cool water - the hotter it is, the cooler your water - only costs Rs. 20!

A knife, a plate, a cup or glass, a spoon and/or fork and maybe a pair of scissors - except for the knife, you'll have to go to town to get the other things (at least if you're staying at Ram Jhula - I don't know about LaxmanJhula) - the knife can be gotten at a little store on the way to Ram Jhula the taxi stand (on your left - you can ask at any store and they'll direct you) - Rs. 40 for a quite-nice pen knife. All these things will be quite helpful when you want to make your own fruit and vegetable salads - the healthier and cheaper option.

What not to bring:

Too many clothes. If you're staying at a place where you can wash and dry your clothes (and most likely you will be - if not, you could always use the ghats on the Ganga like some people seem to be despite the signs warning against this), you can just wash clothes every day and get away with only two or three sets. If you need more clothes, you can just buy them at the hundreds of stores all over the place near the Ram Jhula taxi stand, on the other side of Ram Jhula around LaxmanJhula. They are cheap (by both Indian and Western standards), may not be the best quality - but if you're looking to travel light and don't mind spending a small amount of money you can just buy what you need here - you get everything from shorts and
t-shirts to salwar kameez and yoga



The sun rises - from my balcony.

Where to stay:
I stayed at the Omkarananda Ganga Sadan - in a really nice, clean room facing the Ganga on the 3rd floor - great views, super-clean newly redecorated bathroom, quite quiet if the bathroom door is closed (and hence not letting the terrific noise from the street side in) and your room is cleaned at request. But, by other folks accounts, this is expensive (at Rs. 395 a night, I thought it was cheap - but it depends on what you can afford I suppose), though perhaps not for the amenities. Most of them preferred to stay on the other side of the Ganga at Ram Jhula there are lots of little guest houses and ashrams. The guest houses offer rooms in the range of Rs. 200 a night (and they typically come with their own bathrooms at that price) - the ashrams are usually below that (and of course you don't have a private bathroom) - and lots of folks in yoga class were paying no more than Rs. 100 (with some paying only Rs. 50) a night at these places. Personally, I'm a little spoiled (at the moment I can afford to be), so I liked where I was, plus the yoga class was right there - but even at the Ganga Sadan, one can get a slightly cheaper room on the 2nd floor if one is willing to use a bathroom at the end of the hall (something like Rs. 250-Rs. 300). They also have a separate building with rooms and a courtyard away from the building that houses the yoga kendra, tried a room here the first couple of nights, though they're bigger and have their own bathrooms as well and a little kitchenette (so it was more like a suite) and was actually cheaper than the room I eventually moved to (which had no kitchenette) - Rs. 350 - there were lots of insects and it just wasn't that pleasant. Plus there was no balcony overlooking the Ganga, just windows. The rates were slightly higher the first 3 days - they come down when one stays longer than 3 days.

After the weekend crowds go home -
a lonely oarsman on his way home









LaxmanJhula, a 2 km walk or 5 rupee ride away, also attracts a lot of people and has lots of guest houses and ashrams. A couple of the young people I met said they stayed there because it was more 'happening'. It all depends on what you're looking for.

You could also stay in the High Bank area - where the Bhandari Swiss Cottage (and a few other hotels/guest houses are). I went there for food a couple of times. It's a nice enough area - great views, secluded and away from the noise of Ram Jhula and LaxmanJhula - but one either has to walk a bit (about 5-6 minutes uphill) from where the rickshaws heading to Laxman Jhula one off at the fork in the road, or get a 'private' rickshaw - i.e. pay for the whole thing, since most everyone except you will want to go to LaxmanJhula you use a shared one. When it gets dark and rainy, it's not the safest thing to walk up. I found that most of the people staying up here were not the 'spiritual' types - rather the bikers and t

he trekkers - at least that's the sense I got.

Another option is to stay in Rishikesh town - which one Canadian girl I met was staying in and she used a bike to get herself to yoga class everyday. One can also rent apartments on the road from Ram Jhula town, some of them within easy walking distance from Ram Jhula(cute apartments run about Rs. 10,000 a month - but can probably be shared).

Where not to stay:

In an airconditioned room - it's just not worth it - since there's no electricity half the time - and especially when you most need it - unless you're staying at a place with a generator - like the Ananda Spa and Resort (perhaps there are other places too - like Vasundhara place), but then you'd be shelling out huge amounts of money every night (like perhaps $300 instead of Rs. 300) and probably have an agent booking things for you, so you wouldn't be researching things on your own.

In a room overlooking the road on the taxi-stand side - at the Omkarananda Ganga Sadan (or anywhere else in that area) - the noise will do you in!

Recommendations (and not) - places to eat:

Next to the Ram Jhula taxi stand are 3 or 4 little holes in the wall:

Ganga Vaishnav Bhojanalaya - this is an Indian dhaba and the two kids who run it are the two hardest working people I've met in my life (I also almost nearly fell in love with the younger one, who is quiet and sweet, when he started greeting me with a hand to his heart - until I realized that this was a common way of greeting people in these parts). But this is Indian food cooked early in the mornings usually (almost always channa daal or some other daal and a potato and capsicum curry) (not to order - only the chapatis or rotis are made on demand) and is quite hot and spicy. Not the most nutritious, but it's not bad. They also make aloo paranthas for breakfast and chai. These kids work from 6am in the morning till 11 at night. And they're always there on time - though it's usually 6:30 by the time they serve their first cup of tea since they're cleaning up till then.

Shanti's Health Food cafe - run by a couple. Clean and good made-to-order food. They cook everything from scratch - soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas etc. Even the pasta is made from scratch (not dried pasta).

Mukti's Health Food cafe - Similar to Shanti's. Mukti makes the food here, his wife doesn't help out. Mickey's special is tasty - roasted potatoes with other vegetables and a sauce.

Madras Cafe - a little beyond the taxi stand. I think the prices are slightly overblown for the food. But they have a generator and so it's a great place to go when there's no electricity - and it's also a regular restaurant so there's comfortable seating. They have a good Himalayan Health porridge (or something like that) and a Himalayan Health pulav (lots of dishes are pre-fixed with the word 'Himalayan' down here) and the Chow Mein can be a cheap option when on a budget.

Flavor's (yes, that's how they spell it) - I had dinner here once. And I would have gladly skipped it. We ordered felafel there. The felafel tasted like Manchurian (it was Manchurian - though the server insisted it was felafel) and the hummus was ok, except that it was absent all the ingredients that hummus normally has, except for watery chickpea paste (no garlic, tahini or olive oil).

Sanskriti - a formidable looking 'spa' - I guess the large, expensive-looking front deters a lot of people. But the best coffee in all of Rishikesh is to be found here. At Rs. 40 a cup - the Americano or at Rs. 35, the espresso are both real coffee and really delicious. I spent twenty unhappy days in Rishikesh before someone told me about the coffee here because I couldn't get my morning fix - since most places only have chai and the places that do serve coffee (even 'filter' coffee - serve substandard versions of the real thing). I still really couldn't get it even after discovering this place since it opens only at 9:00 - but it was still better than nothing. After that, I was downing two or three cups a day here regularly. They also have good mushroom and paneer puffs.

Madras Hotel (different from Madras Cafe) - one has to take a rickshaw into town to get here. It's just before the Chandra Bagha bridge (sp?) on the left. A little place, but very clean and cheap and very good South Indian food (idlis, dosas, upma etc. etc. etc. - much better than Madras cafe for South Indian fare).

Pappu Lassi - I actually didn't visit this place, but I heard from a few people that the best lassi in town is served here - also downtown and needs a rickshaw to get to.

Gita Bhavan - on the other side of Ram Jhula (from Omkarananda) - a big, noisy place that sells sweets. I would never have walked intot his place normally, but I went in with someone who wanted to buy some sweets one day and noticed that they served kachoris and samosas there also. So I went back one day when I had a yen for those and found that they were the best kachoris and samosas I'd had in a long time (and at Rs. 4 each, a bargain) - - the samosas are served in the afternoon and the kachoris in the morning. They also sell Amul's Masti lassi and Chaach (buttermilk) here - fairly safe options (since they have a generator) when you're looking for yogurt products but want to avoid eating fresh yogurt in case you get sick (I'm sure I got sick one day from some lassi I drank at a dhaaba). If I had discovered (or rather ventured into) this place earlier, I would have bought the buttermilk everyday.

Juice Center - there's a juice center across from Gita Bhavan that makes good juices.

The Office - also on the same side of Ram Jhula as Gita Bhavan - they have good samosas here (this I was told - I actually didn't try them).

Gurudev - on the other side of Ram Jhula (from Omkarananda) - a restaurant with an extensive menu and extremely reasonable - I had a cheese and tomato crepe here one day and it was really good. The Belgian and Italian people I was with were wondering if there was an Italian in the kitchen because the sauces on the pastas they had ordered they said were on par with the best in Italy. But the next day I went back for a thaali - it was cheap - but had nothing much else going for it.

The Little Buddha - off of Laxman Jhula. They have an extensive menu - the food was ok - they couldn't make us juices when we went because there was no electricity. But there was egg in an avacado sandwich we ordered (that fact not mentioned on the menu) and the person who I was with and had ordered that was allergic to eggs. The waiter was upset with us for not having asked him if the dish contained egg - and when we asked him why we would dream of asking when the fact wasn't even hinted at on the menu, he was even more offended!

The German Bakery - this is a much touted place, but mostly frequented by foreigners - hardly any Indians here. I went here a few times and thought it was overrated. But the sizzler that the person I was with once had was apparently delicious.

The Freedom Cafe - another restaurant in the Laxman Jhula area which a lot of people raved about - a place where you can lounge around for a long time, check your mail (on your laptop with wireless broadband that you bring with you) etc. etc. It was ok - just a lot of flies. But that's a problem in lots of places in Rishikesh.

The Welcome Center - towards town from Omkarananda (but walkable - just a 15 minute walk at most). A really nice place. Very nice setting. The food is cooked from scratch (even the ghee's made from scratch) and it's really good food with the best ingredients. They have dishes cooked to ayurvedic specifications. They also serve Panna, a delicious raw mango drink which I have never had anywhere outside of people's homes.

Omkarananda Ganga Sadan - the food here is the best. Home cooked in a really clean kitchen by a wonderful woman who cooks the food as if she's cooking for her family. Lunch and dinner have to be ordered well in advance though - by 10:30 am for lunch and by 5 or so for dinner.

Other things:

The shared rickshaws only cost Rs. 5 a person (to most anywhere) and that's what you should pay whether there's one of you or ten of you in the rickshaw when you get in, unless you specially commission it for yourself (also known as 'getting a private rickshaw', in which case of course the tarriff's going to be much, much higher, because essentially you're not going to let anyone else get on. I wasn't aware of this at first, and the first couple of times I was in it with just one or two other people, I paid a lot more than the Rs. 5 - thinking it was only fair since I got to be in an almost empty rickshaw and the driver didn't inform me otherwise! - o'h well. These aren't really rickshaws (like the ones in the rest of the country) - they're more like Delhi's phat-phatis - with a noisy motorcycle engine and carry 8 people - though sometimes even 20 squeeze in.

Do check whether the place you're staying at has a water filter so that you can minimize the buying of plastic bottles. Till I found out that the place I was staying had a filter, I was buying and disposing of many bottles a day.

If you buy clothes that you need altered (like shortened, have sleeves added to, etc. etc.), just ask the person at the place you buy it whether they will do the needful (they'll usually do it for free).

You can recharge/top-up (it's called different things depending on the state you're in - but basically add money to your pre-paid cell phone or extend the validity of your SIM) at a little shop to the left of Omkarananda Ganga Sadan as you come out of it.

The yoga in Rishikesh

A month in Rishikesh - it was way too short. I wish I could have stayed another five, or ten, or more. Was there for the yoga and boy was it worth it. Usha Devi, who runs and teaches at Omkarananda Ganga Sadan, is the best yoga teacher I've ever come across, not that I've been to anything more than the casual studio in every town I've ever been in. In between taunts and smacks on peoples' behinds, softened by her smiles, she gave really great instruction. Half the class or more was made up of students who had been there in most cases many times before. The rest was made up of students who planned to come back many times in the future. I only met one person who seemed dissatisfied and discontinued the class. He was a young Israeli man who'd hurt himself with a lifetime of surfing and was hoping that she'd be able to help him, but felt that she was really doing nothing for him. Everyone else with injuries seemed to benefit greatly from the class and the modifications in various poses she introduced them to. There were people from everywhere - Australia, New Zealand, England, the U.S., Canada, Israel, Ethiopia, Spain, Italy, Belgium,Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, El Salvador, China etc. etc. etc. And surprise!, there was even an Indian kid who hailed from Gangotri (in the same state as Rishikesh) and who had lived in China for a few years and had just moved back to Rishikesh (he said it was different than what he thought it would be) and actually wanted to head back to China but was having trouble with job and visa, who lasted two or three days - after which I was the only person of Indian origin in the class for the remainder of the month - weird. When I bumped into him a few days later, he told me that the pace was too slow for him and he was already adept at yoga, though not this Iyengar style, and he needed a more fast-paced class. What he didn't realize was that it was a very advanced class, with her paying attention to the various little nuances that no one really did in regular classes and that made what one was practicing beneficial, or not. And since new students tended to usually show up on Mondays, the beginning of the week, she also was in the habit of starting off a little slowly and repeating the basics at the beginning of the week - but by Thursday and Friday things were in full swing and by Saturday people were ready for the Sunday break. The greatest thing about the class is that because new students keep coming in, the basics are gone over again and again. People doing things grossly incorrectly (or even slightly incorrectly sometimes) were picked on and made to demonstrate their lack of understanding, knowledge, coordination - basically everything, so that the others would understand what not to do. This is really great for everyone - even teachers and people who've been practicing for decades appreciate the 'back to basics' lessons. And the class being open to everyone - adepts as well as the most basic beginners, allows for everyone to learn - how to and how not to, and how to correct someone who is going wrong. This is unusual since in most of the serious centers in India you get grouped based on the number of years you've been practicing, who recommends you, etc. etc. etc. - So it's nice to be in a crowd where there are people of all levels. On my first day, I was thrilled when I was one of the people who got touched in the middle of some pose and then all the people who got touched were asked to come up and repeat what they had been doing. I thought, wow, I thought I was really lousy with my yoga - never giving it the seriousness it needed, practicing in fits and starts, sometimes regularly (like once a month), but infrequently, sometimes frequently, but irregularly and so on - but I must have done something right, if she was picking on me to demonstrate to the others! That's when I found out that you usually get picked on when you're going wrong everywhere! A lesson in humility!

Don't complain too much in class - unless you have injuries or something - if you complain of pain - then you'll get told that only dead bodies don't feel pain. You'll sweat a lot - because the electricity likes to go out specifically during yoga class for some reason - but Usha's response to that is that in Bikram yoga they charge you to sweat - and here it's free! Also, if you're a woman, you'll get asked if you have 'period' - everyone who has 'period' gets to go to one end so they do something different than the asanas that are not good when one is in 'period'. Sometimes you get asked that (and you're not a woman)! And sometimes you should get asked that (and you're not)! - Just jokes - hopefully!

So, in short, the yoga was great. The studio was just wonderful, with the view of the Ganga, the props and the atmosphere and the open hours of 7:30-11:30 for self-practice. Usha, as I said, is someone I will definitely go study with again - and again - I really wish that I had found her long before March when I did and had gone to Rishikesh soon after I came to India, rather than just the month before she's due to go to BKS Iyengar's shala in Pune for her annual yoga studies. I was told that this was pretty serious yoga, as far as the postures go, and that no other class in Rishikesh came close. An Austrian lady I met and became friends with, who had studied with Gita Iyengar and worked with BKS Iyengar himself, who was a yoga teacher herself, but who unfortunately has been suffering from emphysema for the last couple of years also recommended Trika yoga, which she said was much more gentle and do-able for her in her current condition. She also recommended Yoga Niketan, which is an ashram with a two-week minimum stay that has yoga classes twice a day, apart from meditation and other aspects of ashram life, where per her, the yoga is taught quite well. I met several people who went to the Sivananda yoga classes as well, though what they offer is a little different and more sedate. One girl I met from Canada who was a teacher certified by the Sivananda ashrams (or institutes?) in Canada, said that after studying with teachers like Usha she would not recommend the Sivananda course to anyone. But each person and what they're looking for is different and I'm sure that what they teach also has merit, even if it doesn't pay rigorous attention to form in the asanas and so on.

Sikkim anecdotes..

I was telling my cousin Ajay that I probably couldn't come to Lake Tsongmo with him and my parents because as a foreigner (U.S. passport holder, that is), I needed to have another foreigner with me to go - some funny Sikkim and Indian government rule. We were conjecturing why this might be and I told him what a friend of mine had relayed to me. She'd visited Sikkim a few years ago and had told me that their guide had told them that cannibalism was still alive in remote areas of Sikkim, which is one of the reasons for various funny rules and permits that they had. I told him that the government probably didn't care if a few Indians were consumed here and there, there being so many of them, but the foreigners needed to be safe and hence travel at least in pairs. He thought that was very funny. (The real reason for this particular restriction is that Tsongmo is a sensitive military base (almost at the Chinese border) and foreigners have been known to wander off on their own (the average foreigner being much more adventerous than the average Indian) and get lost in the past, during times of day when the area is closed to tourists).

Just before our day trip to the Pemyangtse monastery, I mentioned Guru Rinpoche to Ajay and he said 'O'h - now I see what that Havells ad means'. Apparently there was a TV advertisement in India for a Havells light bulb in which all these people keep prostrating before this young oriental boy who has a halo of light surrounding his head, chanting 'Rinpoooooche, Rinpooooche..'. The boy, wondering what everyone is up to, gets up and joins the crowd to do the same. Only when he does that do they see that the halo wasn't some divine light, but the light from a Havells bulb positioned far behind the boy's head. I thought that was cute.

Incidentally, Ajay came first in all of Maharashtra in the state high school board exams a couple of years ago, in spite of the fact that he has 20% of normal vision, and is now in the final year of his degree studying economics and statistics at Xaviers in Bombay. He's contemplating going to the London School of Economics next. Even though we were all sent the newspaper clippings and so on at the time, one forgets about these things. We shouldn't though, we should let it be an inspiration.

Land of Enchatment - Part 2

Ajay, Dad and Bikas - flanked by the Kanchenjunga range








Mt. Narsing resort













Shangri La (Mt. Narsing resort)






Rustic quarters - Mt. Narsing resort







Sudha and Kanchenjunga








Mount Kanchenjunga (methinks)











A couple of leeches had their fill









The Teesta River













Yak ride? (Tsongmo Lake)









Sudha at Tsongmo








Gangtok






Tsongmo - in all its glory (12400 feet approx)






Last but not least -
tea pickers - Darjeeling

India's own Land of Enchantment - Sikkim

Our retreat - perched on the edge (in Darjeeling - not in Sikkim yet)





Man at prayer - in Darjeeling











Outside the Ghoom Monastery - just outside Darjeeling
(Yours truly, mom, cousin and two handsome monks)










Bikas, our driver and guide, mom and cousin Ajay - outside prayer wheel at Pemyangtse Monastery - Pelling, Sikkim











Pemyangtse in full view










Ajay in meditation in front of pretty Thangka - in resort (Pelling)












Completely forgot my previous trip to the Himalayas and have been thinking that
the Blue Ridge mountains looked just as high.











Sikkim schoolboy Ashish (even 3-year olds walk miles to school on mountains' edges) with dad - on steps of roadside home.

Heidi kept coming to mind.







Dubdi monastery - built in the late 17th-early 18th centuries
(Yuksam)









Dubdi - checking for leeches













Making way on mountain roads

Nostalgia

The Diamond Cutter

Nothing Rhymed

A way to end

First breakups and soppy love songs

One of my later favorites

Planet of the Apes

My favorite sci-fi movie (yes, I am getting up there)






Can you spot my simian friend in my parents' garden?






On the fence

Thought for the day

The road to hell is paved with good intentions


And a couple of great interpretations of the meaning of this proverb.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/82392
from AntigoneRising and StableBoy.

Illusions

I tried googling Mrs. Susan George recently and found her. She teaches in a school in Delhi - or is headmistress or principal there. I knew it was her and not someone with the same name because the picture was of her. I wanted to see if I could get in touch with her. To thank her. For having picked out Richard Bach's Illusions to give as a prize to the person who won the high-school elocution contest one year at IPCL school. It has always been one of my very favorite books - and my introduction to New Age. And for being such a great teacher - the only good one I had at that school and one of the best I'd ever had. And she was the only teacher I thought (rightly so) that I would miss when I moved on to my next school. But there was no contact email. I'm sure I can find a number for the school if I really want to and get in touch with her. But that would be weird. So, here's the alternative. Maybe she'll do an ego search and find herself here, on this page, and then she'll know.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." - from Illusions.

Street Scenes

Trust and a hand stuck out is all it takes to make it across the road.







They must be dressed snappily under there!













"Customers are kings and queens.
They never bargains." :-))




Miracles will get you there











Room for one more?

The way we are

Is it just me? Or does everyone do this? I find that the way I talk, enunciate my words, pronounce things, the parts of my vocabulary that I exercise etc. etc. etc., all change depending on who I'm with. When I'm talking to someone who speaks good English, has a large vocabulary and can understand everything I say, I find myself exercising my vocabulary as well and speaking a certain way. When I'm with people who speak a little differently, don't pronounce things correctly etc. etc. - I speak in a way that mirrors them. It's an unconscious thing - I don't make the effort to use words in incorrect contexts, malapropisms, use grammatically incorrect English or pronounce things in totally unpardonable ways! I've decided it's because I'm too nice (or maybe it's because I'm sort of like Sybil!). I want people to feel comfortable around me and I want to take myself to whatever level they're at (no matter where that is). But lately, it's been getting a little annoying. When people start thinking you don't know any better and start correcting you all the time and adopt a supercilious attitude on top of that (it's the supercilious attitude that gets you)- then it's time they were brought down a peg or two, or cut out of your life (okay - perhaps that's being a little extreme).

Addendum: Now, is this the same as being condescending? I don't think so - it's never done with a view to putting anyone down, insulting anyone or showing that I know better than them and am deliberately doing this, it's just that I lose the ability, knowledge, whatever, whatever temporarily - like I really don't have it. I can't for the life of me talk in the same way with my aunt who mostly speaks Tamil and very little English, for example and my aunt who mostly speaks English and with whom I mostly communicate in English. If I try, it comes out all contrived and weird. And people have told me I'm anything but condescending. But if you beg to differ and read this blog and think I am, then please let me know. Now, this is only with language that this happens, not with anything else (that I am aware of), and since the people who read this blog probably all are more well-spoken than me, I guess I'm asking the wrong people.

Things that lie in the recesses of my mind....

One of my all-time favorite poems, which a friend of mine scribbled on a letter to me two decades ago - I'm not sure in what context then, but now it seems like she was prescient.

A dream deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

If you build it, they will come

I've been meaning to make a go of this new career I had planned for myself - or at least part of a new career (the other part was to spend time doing random things - things different than what I normally did for a living, some of which would make me money, and some non-profit work). The new career was in energy healing - and specifically Reiki. I thought I'd set up a studio in Hyderabad - if not a separate thing, at least have a room in my apartment that I could work out of...

But no apartment yet. And no real plans. And some random writing thing sort of working out, but haven't started on it yet - and no real income can be realized from it for a while. And realized that I really have to make a commitment to set up this studio thing. But not sure if I want to take the plunge yet - I thought I was - but am reconsidering. And people telling me that no one's going to come to me or pay me here for this sort of thing unless I establish a reputation first. Vicious cycle.

But still. I thought I could at least try something that didn't really need an investment. Craigslist!!!! - they actually already have a listing for Hyderabad - so why not - put in an ad for Reiki under the therapeutic services category. Aunt and cousin offered me the use of a shed they have in their compound - nicely enough appointed. It's really a cute little den/office masquerading as a shed. We moved a bench (more than 60 years old) from their sit-out into that room - to function as the treatment table. And I added my healing books and certificates to the other books on the bookshelf. And I watched a request come in for the Reiki. But when the person called me, he asked me what sort of massage it was. I was slightly disappointed, but I explained what it was to him and he said he'd see if he needed that sort of a treatment. Then one more. And this person seemed much more interested after my explanation - and he showed up. We talked for a bit. My first real paying client! Though I have had a few relatives pay me a dollar or two in the past, as a token - this was different. And he was from Princeton, NJ - what irony. Six thousand miles from there and my first customer used to practically be my neighbor all that distance away.

I treated him for a while and he went to sleep soon after we began. Then he suddenly started coughing and needed to get up to slip some Halls into his mouth - he aplogized - then he went "you're really good" and promptly went back to laying down again and I went back to working on him. We talked a while after we got done. He felt my hands to see if they were still hot as they had been during the treatment - not really. He told me about other people he knew who did this sort of thing - and about some other random stuff. Then he paid me - and tipped me as much as the session had cost. I have to admit it was weird - to charge for this sort of thing and then to be tipped; but I think it really should be charged for to be valued, and that if I want to spend large chunks of my time doing this, then I really need to accept money for it. I told him it wasn't necessary. But he insisted - so I told him I'd donate the tip. Gave it to aunt and asked her to give it to the charity of her choice. It's nice of family here to facilitate all this - they're all rooting for me, even though they thought this didn't have a chance. I'm sure that energy alone is plenty - and more, for me to make a start.

And then another email, and another. I'm not sure if it will go anywhere by itself. But I know now that if I get serious and commit myself, come they will.

Are you fit?

"Representative Assessee must sign the application if the applicant is minor/ deceased/ idiot/ lunatic/ mentally retarded"

That was in the instructions for how to fill in the application for a PAN (the equivalent of an SSN) in India. I read it with my mouth open. This instruction probably also applies to the people who drew up these instructions, or if that was very long ago, then to the people who haven't changed them yet.

Seeing the sights

Went to see the Chowmahalla palace in (downtown) Hyderabad recently - a set of 4 palaces in the same compound. This was the official residence of the Nizams (a dynasty of rulers whose founder worked for the Emperor Aurengzeb) of Hyderabad.

The taxi took us to the unimposing gates of the palace through the crowded area of Charminar (another famous landmark). Considering the area we had just driven through, with crowds thronging the streets, the strangest goods for sale, all sorts of pollution clouding the atmosphere and the roads, and various unpleasant smells assailing our nostrils, I didn't expect much. But once we entered the gates and paid the entrance fee for ourselves (and our cameras) I felt like I was Lucy and had just walked through the wardrobe. It was a different world. The gardens on the grounds and the various palaces and other buildings that form this complex are just gorgeous. No crowds, no garbage, just wonderful architecture, fabulous flowering trees and shrubs, a reflecting pool and quiet all around.

Some pictures from the trip:





It took up a lot of our time and energy walking around and wandering through the various palaces, leaving me little of both to take pictures of the even more interesting things outside on our way back. But some of the interesting things we saw:
-A little shop where they were making those sheets of ultra-fine silver foil that commonly go on top of Indian sweets. There were 2 or 3 men in there. One of them had a hammer in one hand and his other hand on what looked like a square leather bound book on the floor. He was pounding the hammer on that book very rhythmically, using the free hand to rotate the 'book' a little every time the hand with the hammer went up. He seemed to look everywhere else but down at that thing. I'm not sure that I would ever trust myself enough to do that, regardless of how many years I may spend pounding away with a hammer. He, however, had never made any mistakes, or at least no serious ones, it seemed. He even looked at me and smiled at me looking at him. Too bad I didn't ask if I could take his picture. But I guess there's been an end put to my eating any sweets covered with this stuff anymore. That leather bound book was pretty much that, cow hide (or buffalo hide, or something's hide) - I guess it makes sense to use that, but now my vegetarian brain will conjure up images of this little scene every time I bite into one of those things. I guess ignorance really is bliss, especially in these matters.
- A man with just 2 things for sale - again very deserving of a picture (but unfortunately there isn't one) - the hide of a sheep or goat laid out on the street to resemble the animal and the wolly hair from whatever it had been (probably a sheep) also laid out the same way. It was the day after Id, a Muslim festival during which people traditionally slaughter one of these animals in honor of Ibrahim's willingness to undertake the sacrifical slaughter of his son.
-A naked woman lying on the area that served as a divider for the street we were on. She was probably very poor and possibly mentally unstable. Such sights are not uncommon here. I didn't personally see this, but heard my aunt describing what she was seeing out of her window. It's sad that there are hundreds of thousands of people all around (ourselves included), just walking/driving/riding by and not doing anything to help. There are tons of organizations and many people trying to help, but it seems like the there's no end to the misery here. And for this particular one, I'm glad I don't have a picture.

Keeping the faith

It's kind of late

to start again

but then, what's the option?
Things look rosy in the rearview mirror
but in your heart of hearts you know
that they looked different when they were up ahead
and that it would be the same if you turned around
So you ride on
hoping the scenery changes
or that something inside does
as it did once before
so that what lies ahead
or behind
doesn't really matter anymore

On first name terms

So I took the train to Hyderabad after all and it was alright, though I think I’ll use the train only for shorter distances from now on. It would have been better if there had been fewer roaches crawling around. I’m sure this isn't the norm in the more expensive air conditioned compartments, but this wasn't one of the better super fast trains, just an express, so this sort of thing is probably to be expected. The young man sitting on the seat opposite me complained to the conductor about the roaches and received the response that this was a common problem in the air conditioned coaches. He was not too happy with the response – he said that the conductor could have said something that conveyed that he gave a damn, such as perhaps that he would let people in the yard (where trains are taken to get cleaned) or someone else know so they could better address the problem. He also said, ‘imagine if there are foreigners on this train, what will they think?’ I thought to myself, I could care less what anyone else thought, but I could tell him a bit of what I was thinking.

I exchanged email addresses with him. He was into computer graphics and animation – that’s what he did for a living. He only had a first name – no last name. I asked him how that worked, when he applied for official documents and such. He said that so far he had been able to get away with it and on the rare occasion when official type people insisted he needed to fill in his last name on a form, he split his only name into two. It seems he was named that way because his father did not want anyone to have an inkling about what caste they belonged to and so on and use that as the basis for discrimination (negative or otherwise). So to all those who deny that problems such as these exist in India (and of course they need to have their heads examined), it seems they are alive and kicking.

He also asked me where I lived, what I did and all the usual questions – and when I told him that I lived abroad (‘O’h so you are an NRI?’) and was thinking of living here for a while, he told me he would never leave India. He said that he had not even applied for a passport, even though his father had suggested he should on several occasions. He said he that he did not believe he could live as freely anywhere else as he could in India. Other than that elsewhere he would always be viewed as a foreigner, where else, he asked, could one freely throw garbage wherever one wanted or drive or ride a vehicle with a total disregard for any rules that existed, on any side of the road? I asked him if he thought that was a good thing – and he said it was total freedom – he hadn't thought about whether it was good or not. He then promptly proceeded to remove the plastic wrapper on the lid of the water bottle he had just bought and throw it on the floor. I asked him if he was just exercising his freedom and he retorted that well, it was not like there was anywhere else he could throw it, since the windows could not be opened in these compartments! I pointed to the dustbin in the little alcove outside of the doors (of course I’d ended up in a seat at the end of the compartment closest to the loo) and said what about there? It was ultimately probably going to end up just being dumped somewhere anyway, probably get thrown all together outside the train by the person who emptied it – since there is really no system to get rid of garbage yet in India, but at least the process would be slightly delayed. And it’s probably easier to address mounds of garbage than individual bits and pieces all over the place. He grinned sheepishly but from then on used it and complimented me on my powers of observation (to the people who think I don't have those - see?).

He was telling me that he owned a flat (aka ‘condominium’ in the US) in Hyderabad and had moved to another city for work and was now moving back. He lived with his sister, who was a couple of years younger than him. She, too, worked in Hyderabad, though they were from elsewhere. So she had been living there alone for the past few months while he had been away. I was quite impressed, considering that she was probably only 22 or 23. When I asked him how he commuted to work, he said he had a motor bike and when I asked about her, he said she used an auto (autorickshaw) to get around. When I asked him how come she did not own a scooter or a moped or something to get around, he said he would not allow it. He said it wasn't safe, he’d seen so many accidents. She was free to do whatever she wanted after she got married, but until then, he said, he wanted all her limbs intact. I thought that was very thoughtful of him.

I got to read only a couple of pages of the book I had carried to keep me company (Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry) thanks to this fellow. But I guess your horizons can be expanded any which way. I also left the book on the train. Probably the universe letting me know that there are better sources of entertainment here.

Backwards and Forward

Kokila (the maid) told me that she does not accept the gently used cotton saris my mother has offered her, not because she does not like them, but because she wears only synthetic saris. When I asked her why, since the cotton ones are so pretty, she said that it’s hard to pull the pallav (or the part of the sari that’s left hanging over the shoulder) of a cotton sari over her head and face when in the presence of her father-in-law, brother-in-law or other ‘elders’ in her home – since it is so thick. The Hindi phrase she used for this act translates to something like ‘removing her shame’ or ‘taking out her shame’. As usual, these things always amaze me, that people in this day and age live like it was a hundred years ago (or at least 50 years ago). When I asked her if she did not know that this was the year 2008 and why people still clung to customs such as this, she said that that is just the way things are and there is nothing one can do about it (though my mother assured me that her father-in-law was a really nice man and would probably never object if she did not ‘remove her shame’). I continued talking to her saying things that I hoped would emancipate her (though it is totally none of my business) while thinking that for myself, perhaps it would not really be a bad idea to go even further and acquire a burqa (one of those long garments, usually black, though people are lightening up on the color these days, that you wear to cover your body and your head – with only an opening for the face or slits for the eyes) to wear when using public transport. It would be so freeing! I could wear whatever I want to and ‘take my shame out’ along with myself without having to worry about being groped or stared at!