In an attempt to leave the urban traffic of Calcutta behind before heading south to Puri I decided to visit the Sundarbuns Tiger Reserve, a national park about two hours east of Calcutta. I had never been to a national park in India before and the thought of having a chance to maybe glimpse a tiger intrigued me. The truth is the that the chance of actually encountering a tiger are quite slim but seeing the other wildlife in the biggest mangrove forest in the world felt like it would be a good change of pace.
Sundarbuns is rumored to be home of the only man eating tigers in the world and they kill a number of local fisherman of the nearby villages each year. There has been a lot of research done on the tigers in the area and there are theories about why the tigers of this region actually seek out humans as prey while tigers in the other areas of India are not inclined to eat humans. The lack of other food sources is likely one facet of the equation (and from lack of wildlife this theory seems plausible) along with a theory that the salt water that they drink in the mangroves irritates the tigers and makes them more fierce. Lucky was not on my side as I did not come face to face with a tiger on this trip.
In the end, the three days at the Sundarbuns Tiger Camp were a disappointment. Along with not getting to see tigers there really wasn’t a lot of wildlife on display. Perhaps I am jaded from the time I spent in Africa but a couple of crocodiles on the distant shores, a smattering of rhesus macaque monkeys and a few birds just didn’t feel like a wildlife adventure to me. Not to mention that by the end of this trip my cold had morphed into a nasty sinus infection…this was no fun but a few antibiotics in Calcutta cleared it right up.
The best part about the entire experience was visiting the local village one afternoon that is set among rice paddies that were in full bloom. There are few things more beautiful to me then the intense green of a rice paddy in full bloom as it slowly dances in the breeze. It was also nice to be out relaxing on the lazy boat rides through the rivers that divided the mangroves. While Sundarbuns did not rise to my expectations it was a good change of pace.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Calcutta Days
I have always wanted to visit Calcutta. At some point I had gotten it in my mind that Calcutta is the “real” India – that it would be gritty and full of all the destitute images that are regularly associated with India. What I found upon actually visiting Calcutta is a modern Indian city that has its traffic and dirt issues but was really quite modern. The Calcutta of my mind was not the reality I experienced – and yet the days spent in Calcutta were really great.
One of the things that I was really excited to see in Calcutta was the Kali temple at Kali ghat, which is said to be Calcutta’s holiest spot. Kali is the ominous evil-destroying aspect of Lord Shiva and is normally depicted in black, dripping blood and with a necklace of skulls around her neck. The temple engages in regular ritual sacrifice of goats to satisfy Kali’s “appetite.” The sacrificed goats are then cooked up and distributed to feed the poor. While I was looking forward to this visit it turned into an Indian fiasco. Upon entering the temple a “priest” began to move us through the crowd and we were whisked by the Kali statue in the middle of the temple in a matter of mere seconds before being moved along to the purifying bathing area to pray to Shiva. After prayers to Shiva this Hindu “priest” extorted us for a huge donation. Normally, I am keen to these situations and protest before getting to the donation portion of the program but it happen so fast. Now as I look back I can laugh, but as it was actually happening it did not seem funny in the least and triggered one of my India moments where the country infuriates me.
The best part of that day in Calcutta was wandering the streets of alleyways that surround the temple and meeting the local people and taking pictures. One of the Mother Teresa projects, Nirmal Hriday, is also in the area. This facility is the home for the dying and Lew and I visited briefly and viewed the nuns attending to the patients. While there is a Christian community in Indian the images of Jesus always strike me as out of place here. While in Bombay during my first trip in India the local bus I took every morning would pass Christian monuments on the roadside and many of the riders on the bus would cross themselves and it always struck me as strange. Seeing things that are familiar from our culture within a land that appears so foreign tends to catch my attention.
The most delightful surprise in Calcutta were the Jain temples. These temples were covered in colorful glass mosaic and glittered and danced in the sun with quiet, serene parks around them. The Jain temples I have been to in the past were monochromatic – they were nice but had struck me as nothing special. These Jain temples were the complete opposite. They were a feast for the eyes and I was drawn in by their magical quality. Jainism came about in India as a reaction to the caste system and its restraints on the people that pervaded Hinduism. Jainism was started by Mahavira and is founded on the idea of purifying the soul through fasting and meditation to attain an enlightened state and remaining non-violent in thoughts and actions. The most orthodox Jain monks sweep the path in front of them before each step as to avoid stepping on any living creature. When in Calcutta these Jain temples should not be missed.
When the Hindu faithful arrive at their temples to pray they very often bring rings of flowers as an offering to the god of the temple. In order to satisfy the immense need for these flowers in urban Calcutta there is an enormous flower market each morning under the Howrah Bridge in central Calcutta. After many a misadventure trying to locate the Mullik Ghat Flower Market, Lew and I finally came upon it and were happy that we had persisted in our search for this morning activity. The lanes were piled high with bright orange and yellow marigolds with sprays of pink and purple popping everywhere. People were snakes through the piles of flowers as vendors hawked their wares. It was a morning of color upon color followed by meeting the children that live in the area. This ended up being a fantastic time getting to be a small part of Calcutta daily life.
Stay tuned for tales of Indian tigers and Orissan tribe life…
One of the things that I was really excited to see in Calcutta was the Kali temple at Kali ghat, which is said to be Calcutta’s holiest spot. Kali is the ominous evil-destroying aspect of Lord Shiva and is normally depicted in black, dripping blood and with a necklace of skulls around her neck. The temple engages in regular ritual sacrifice of goats to satisfy Kali’s “appetite.” The sacrificed goats are then cooked up and distributed to feed the poor. While I was looking forward to this visit it turned into an Indian fiasco. Upon entering the temple a “priest” began to move us through the crowd and we were whisked by the Kali statue in the middle of the temple in a matter of mere seconds before being moved along to the purifying bathing area to pray to Shiva. After prayers to Shiva this Hindu “priest” extorted us for a huge donation. Normally, I am keen to these situations and protest before getting to the donation portion of the program but it happen so fast. Now as I look back I can laugh, but as it was actually happening it did not seem funny in the least and triggered one of my India moments where the country infuriates me.
The best part of that day in Calcutta was wandering the streets of alleyways that surround the temple and meeting the local people and taking pictures. One of the Mother Teresa projects, Nirmal Hriday, is also in the area. This facility is the home for the dying and Lew and I visited briefly and viewed the nuns attending to the patients. While there is a Christian community in Indian the images of Jesus always strike me as out of place here. While in Bombay during my first trip in India the local bus I took every morning would pass Christian monuments on the roadside and many of the riders on the bus would cross themselves and it always struck me as strange. Seeing things that are familiar from our culture within a land that appears so foreign tends to catch my attention.
The most delightful surprise in Calcutta were the Jain temples. These temples were covered in colorful glass mosaic and glittered and danced in the sun with quiet, serene parks around them. The Jain temples I have been to in the past were monochromatic – they were nice but had struck me as nothing special. These Jain temples were the complete opposite. They were a feast for the eyes and I was drawn in by their magical quality. Jainism came about in India as a reaction to the caste system and its restraints on the people that pervaded Hinduism. Jainism was started by Mahavira and is founded on the idea of purifying the soul through fasting and meditation to attain an enlightened state and remaining non-violent in thoughts and actions. The most orthodox Jain monks sweep the path in front of them before each step as to avoid stepping on any living creature. When in Calcutta these Jain temples should not be missed.
When the Hindu faithful arrive at their temples to pray they very often bring rings of flowers as an offering to the god of the temple. In order to satisfy the immense need for these flowers in urban Calcutta there is an enormous flower market each morning under the Howrah Bridge in central Calcutta. After many a misadventure trying to locate the Mullik Ghat Flower Market, Lew and I finally came upon it and were happy that we had persisted in our search for this morning activity. The lanes were piled high with bright orange and yellow marigolds with sprays of pink and purple popping everywhere. People were snakes through the piles of flowers as vendors hawked their wares. It was a morning of color upon color followed by meeting the children that live in the area. This ended up being a fantastic time getting to be a small part of Calcutta daily life.
Stay tuned for tales of Indian tigers and Orissan tribe life…
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Land of the Buddha
The shift from the frenetic energy of Hindu India to the calm of Buddhist India always takes me a little by surprise. In 2007, when I moved from Varanasi up to the Buddhist area of Darjeeling I had the feeling of being able to breath again in the slower paced Darjeeling but within a few days I longed for the chaos and intensity of life in Hindu India. The transformation from frenetic to serene this trip came upon leaving Benares and entering Bodhgaya. Entering the land of prayer flags as they flutter in the wind and send the prayers written on them out into the world always warms my heart…
At the beginning of February, the streets of Bodhgaya had become of sea of red robes moving toward the main Mahabodhi Temple in the morning and then a flood of crimson leaving the temple in the afternoon. The World Peace Ceremony was taking place and 10,000 plus monks from around the world had descended on Bodhgaya and were spending 10 days chanting for world peace. The chanting would go on from early morning through early evening around the temple. Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment sitting under the bodhi tree. The Mahabodhi temple is situated on the spot of Buddha’s enlightenment and there is a bodhi tree at the back of the temple which is not the originally tree but a sampling from the original tree brought in from Sri Lanka. The sound of the monks’ chanting was fantastic, I sat many mornings and afternoons as the rhythm of the chanting washed over me. It was really special to be a witness to part of this ten day ceremony.
As the Buddhist monks and pilgrims flowed out of the temple they encountered the Indian beggars of Bihar looking for hand outs in order to survive. Bodhgaya is situated in the India state of Bihar, which is the poorest state in the entire country. To watch the interaction between these two groups as the Buddhist monks coming by the thousands encountered the few hundred beggars made for an interesting dance. I can’t put my mind around the words to describe these two worlds flowing together and then apart.
Through the dark and quiet streets one early morning at 5:00 am a bicycle rickshaw made its way to one of the Tibetan temples where a small group of monks from northern India were chanting their morning prayers. The drums boomed, the horns sang out and the monks swayed back and forth within the chants. The group of young monks that their teacher had the task of chanting before sunrise and just before sunset at the Tibetan Karma Temple. The afternoon chanting was witnessed by many visitors coming in and out taking pictures and chatting but in the morning it was an uninterrupted flow and Lew and I were only outsiders in attendance. The entire experience was profoundly beautiful and one that will always be in my memory.
Like Sarnath, Bodhgaya is home to Buddhist temples from around the world and each has its own personality and transports you to a different place. The Japanese temple is very simple with clean lines and wood styled Buddhas. The Thai temple is covered is mirrored mosaic and glitters in the sun. In Bodhgaya there are two Tibetan structures - the Karma Temple and the Namgyal Monastary. Normally, my favorite Buddhist temples are Tibetan temples because they burst with color from the murals to the hanging fabrics to the large Buddhas at their centers. Plus Tibetan temples often have prayer wheels…sometimes they are small (maybe a foot in height) and line the perimeter of the temple and sometimes they are huge (maybe 20 feet in height) and take up entire rooms. I have fallen in love with prayer wheels…they way they spin, their colors and the idea that on each revolution of the wheel the prayer written on the face of the wheel is sent out into the world.
As much as I am always taken in by Tibetan temples, I thought the most amazing temple in Bodhgaya was the Bhatanese monastery. It had all the colors associated with Tibetan gompas but the murals instead of being painted on the wall where actually intensely colorful 3-D reliefs that made you feel part of the story. In all the temples I have ever seen I never seen anything like this and was mesmerized by the entire interior of the Bhutanese temple. Even as I attempt to put words to the experience I know that I am failing miserably at conveying its beauty but I am touched by the feeling I had that day as turned round and round awestruck in the middle of Bodhgaya.
Even within the serenity of Buddhist India I managed to have what now term “India moments.” These are moments when all force come together and I get supremely frustrated and irate at the way that India works (sometimes these “moments” last longer than an instant!). These are the moments when my love for India is clouded by a hatred of how things work in this blasted place! I think that during my first trip in 2007 I let my frustration with India get the best of me and it took me a long time for my love affair with India to develop. This time around I feel like India is family, you love it and it’s a part of you but at times you makes you want to scream.
At the beginning of February, the streets of Bodhgaya had become of sea of red robes moving toward the main Mahabodhi Temple in the morning and then a flood of crimson leaving the temple in the afternoon. The World Peace Ceremony was taking place and 10,000 plus monks from around the world had descended on Bodhgaya and were spending 10 days chanting for world peace. The chanting would go on from early morning through early evening around the temple. Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment sitting under the bodhi tree. The Mahabodhi temple is situated on the spot of Buddha’s enlightenment and there is a bodhi tree at the back of the temple which is not the originally tree but a sampling from the original tree brought in from Sri Lanka. The sound of the monks’ chanting was fantastic, I sat many mornings and afternoons as the rhythm of the chanting washed over me. It was really special to be a witness to part of this ten day ceremony.
As the Buddhist monks and pilgrims flowed out of the temple they encountered the Indian beggars of Bihar looking for hand outs in order to survive. Bodhgaya is situated in the India state of Bihar, which is the poorest state in the entire country. To watch the interaction between these two groups as the Buddhist monks coming by the thousands encountered the few hundred beggars made for an interesting dance. I can’t put my mind around the words to describe these two worlds flowing together and then apart.
Through the dark and quiet streets one early morning at 5:00 am a bicycle rickshaw made its way to one of the Tibetan temples where a small group of monks from northern India were chanting their morning prayers. The drums boomed, the horns sang out and the monks swayed back and forth within the chants. The group of young monks that their teacher had the task of chanting before sunrise and just before sunset at the Tibetan Karma Temple. The afternoon chanting was witnessed by many visitors coming in and out taking pictures and chatting but in the morning it was an uninterrupted flow and Lew and I were only outsiders in attendance. The entire experience was profoundly beautiful and one that will always be in my memory.
Like Sarnath, Bodhgaya is home to Buddhist temples from around the world and each has its own personality and transports you to a different place. The Japanese temple is very simple with clean lines and wood styled Buddhas. The Thai temple is covered is mirrored mosaic and glitters in the sun. In Bodhgaya there are two Tibetan structures - the Karma Temple and the Namgyal Monastary. Normally, my favorite Buddhist temples are Tibetan temples because they burst with color from the murals to the hanging fabrics to the large Buddhas at their centers. Plus Tibetan temples often have prayer wheels…sometimes they are small (maybe a foot in height) and line the perimeter of the temple and sometimes they are huge (maybe 20 feet in height) and take up entire rooms. I have fallen in love with prayer wheels…they way they spin, their colors and the idea that on each revolution of the wheel the prayer written on the face of the wheel is sent out into the world.
As much as I am always taken in by Tibetan temples, I thought the most amazing temple in Bodhgaya was the Bhatanese monastery. It had all the colors associated with Tibetan gompas but the murals instead of being painted on the wall where actually intensely colorful 3-D reliefs that made you feel part of the story. In all the temples I have ever seen I never seen anything like this and was mesmerized by the entire interior of the Bhutanese temple. Even as I attempt to put words to the experience I know that I am failing miserably at conveying its beauty but I am touched by the feeling I had that day as turned round and round awestruck in the middle of Bodhgaya.
Even within the serenity of Buddhist India I managed to have what now term “India moments.” These are moments when all force come together and I get supremely frustrated and irate at the way that India works (sometimes these “moments” last longer than an instant!). These are the moments when my love for India is clouded by a hatred of how things work in this blasted place! I think that during my first trip in 2007 I let my frustration with India get the best of me and it took me a long time for my love affair with India to develop. This time around I feel like India is family, you love it and it’s a part of you but at times you makes you want to scream.
Life on the Ganges in Benares (Varanasi)
After a few harried days in Delhi settling in and getting over the jet lag I boarded my first overnight India train of this trip with Benares (also known as Varanasi) as my destination. When I was in India in 2007 Varanasi was my favorite stop and where I really fell in love with India. The Ganges River is probably the most sacred river in the world and thousands of Hindu pilgrims from India and abroad congregate on its banks in Varanasi for a purifying bath. It is said the bathing in the river at this city of Shiva will purify and a lifetime of sins. Each morning the waters of the Ganges teem with people bathing and performing puja (Hindu prayers) to the god Shiva. The river truly has a life and rhythm all its own. My favorite spot is in a boat on the river at first light watching the ritual take place as the sun rises at my back.
In addition to the morning rituals that individuals perform, there are nightly pujas full of incense, song and the ringing of bells at the Dasaswamedh ghat on the banks of the river. Through the all the noise and chaos there is a peace and a rhythm within these ceremonies that I love. Varanasi sits above the Ganges and there are sets of steps called ghats that come down to the river in the dry season but during the wet monsoon season (starting in June/July) these steps are under water. Each ghat has a name which usually corresponds with the person or family that originally financed the project.
One of the best things about returning to a place that you have previously been is that you are able to reconnect with people that you met along the way. Back in 2007, I spent many afternoons sitting on the steps of the ghats hanging out with the children. I became friends with a young boy named Deepak and I was able to see him again and he had grown so much in the past two years (he is nine now!) but he still had those shining eyes and that easy smile. I was also able to reconnect with Manish. He owns a silk shop and his business had expanded from a small shop to a much bigger enterprise and he now has an 18 month old daughter.
India has numerous festivals throughout the year and they were celebrating Maha Mela and Saraswati while I was in Varanasi. The Maha Mela brought even more pilgrim than usual to the banks of the Ganges and the activity when on from dawn into the night. As pilgrims bathed, participated in pujas and offerings of rice to the beggars and sadhus tht lined the ghats.
Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge and students pray to her before exams. During the January festival, effigies are created of Saraswati and they are paraded through the streets down to the river. Once at the river there is usually a celebration involving really loudly amplified music and dancing in the streets. Following the dance party the effigies are taken out the middle of the Ganges on a boat and drowned in the river.
The Hindu faith believes in cremation at death and the most auspicious place to be cremated is on the banks of the Ganges. Following cremation the ashes flow into the river. There are two ghats along the river that are burning ghats and families of the dead come to say there last goodbyes as the bodies of their loved one are released to the flames. Normally, only the men of the family attend the cremation because it is said the women are too likely to cry and there should be no tears at this event. The burning ghats run 24 hours a day. It is amazing to sit a watch the comings and goings but I find the energy to heavy that I can’t sit for very long. Just down from one of the burning ghats is the ashram of Lali Baba. Lali Baba is a sadhu, a Hindu holy man, and he performs beautiful pujas at sunrise and sunset. He invited Lew and I to his ashram and we went up one afternoon but he was engaged with a Finnish film crew at the time and we were not able to spend time with him.
While Benares is one of my favorite places in India it is also one of the most filthy places I have ever been. With the sheer number of pilgrims filtering in and out and the sacred cows and buffalos all along the bank the dirt and poo can be hard to take. To me this is the paradox of India, one of the most sacred places in the country is also one for the dirtiest and a place where you could be blinded by the intense filth the beauty shine through.
While enjoying the sacred Hindu rituals on the Ganges I decided to take a dip into the Buddhist side of life. About half an hour outside of Varanasi is Sarnath, one of the most important Buddhist site in the world. After the Buddha attained enlightenment he came to Sarnath to preach his message of the middle way to nirvana to his followers. Today, Sarnath is home to Buddhist temples from around the world. Around 400 monks live in the area at monasteries built by Tibetan, Chinese, Thai, Burmese and Japanese Buddhists. It was great to be back in the land of serene Buddhas and prayer wheels. I have a fascination with Buddhist temples and it was great to see all the styles from around the world. This whet my appetite for the next part of this journey into Bodhgaya.
In addition to the morning rituals that individuals perform, there are nightly pujas full of incense, song and the ringing of bells at the Dasaswamedh ghat on the banks of the river. Through the all the noise and chaos there is a peace and a rhythm within these ceremonies that I love. Varanasi sits above the Ganges and there are sets of steps called ghats that come down to the river in the dry season but during the wet monsoon season (starting in June/July) these steps are under water. Each ghat has a name which usually corresponds with the person or family that originally financed the project.
One of the best things about returning to a place that you have previously been is that you are able to reconnect with people that you met along the way. Back in 2007, I spent many afternoons sitting on the steps of the ghats hanging out with the children. I became friends with a young boy named Deepak and I was able to see him again and he had grown so much in the past two years (he is nine now!) but he still had those shining eyes and that easy smile. I was also able to reconnect with Manish. He owns a silk shop and his business had expanded from a small shop to a much bigger enterprise and he now has an 18 month old daughter.
India has numerous festivals throughout the year and they were celebrating Maha Mela and Saraswati while I was in Varanasi. The Maha Mela brought even more pilgrim than usual to the banks of the Ganges and the activity when on from dawn into the night. As pilgrims bathed, participated in pujas and offerings of rice to the beggars and sadhus tht lined the ghats.
Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge and students pray to her before exams. During the January festival, effigies are created of Saraswati and they are paraded through the streets down to the river. Once at the river there is usually a celebration involving really loudly amplified music and dancing in the streets. Following the dance party the effigies are taken out the middle of the Ganges on a boat and drowned in the river.
The Hindu faith believes in cremation at death and the most auspicious place to be cremated is on the banks of the Ganges. Following cremation the ashes flow into the river. There are two ghats along the river that are burning ghats and families of the dead come to say there last goodbyes as the bodies of their loved one are released to the flames. Normally, only the men of the family attend the cremation because it is said the women are too likely to cry and there should be no tears at this event. The burning ghats run 24 hours a day. It is amazing to sit a watch the comings and goings but I find the energy to heavy that I can’t sit for very long. Just down from one of the burning ghats is the ashram of Lali Baba. Lali Baba is a sadhu, a Hindu holy man, and he performs beautiful pujas at sunrise and sunset. He invited Lew and I to his ashram and we went up one afternoon but he was engaged with a Finnish film crew at the time and we were not able to spend time with him.
While Benares is one of my favorite places in India it is also one of the most filthy places I have ever been. With the sheer number of pilgrims filtering in and out and the sacred cows and buffalos all along the bank the dirt and poo can be hard to take. To me this is the paradox of India, one of the most sacred places in the country is also one for the dirtiest and a place where you could be blinded by the intense filth the beauty shine through.
While enjoying the sacred Hindu rituals on the Ganges I decided to take a dip into the Buddhist side of life. About half an hour outside of Varanasi is Sarnath, one of the most important Buddhist site in the world. After the Buddha attained enlightenment he came to Sarnath to preach his message of the middle way to nirvana to his followers. Today, Sarnath is home to Buddhist temples from around the world. Around 400 monks live in the area at monasteries built by Tibetan, Chinese, Thai, Burmese and Japanese Buddhists. It was great to be back in the land of serene Buddhas and prayer wheels. I have a fascination with Buddhist temples and it was great to see all the styles from around the world. This whet my appetite for the next part of this journey into Bodhgaya.
Delhi – Let the Journey Begin
Ah, Incredible India! As always, getting settled in India took some time but within the first couple of weeks I started to get into the groove. The journey through India has proven to be wonderful at times, frustrating at times and awe inspiring at times. So, fasten your seatbelt (oh, wait no seatbelts in India !)… so just hang on for a bumpy ride…
After the long plane flight from NYC my friend, Lew, and I landed in Delhi. I anticipated being met by the intense chaos of India and the screaming rickshaws drivers upon exiting the terminal. Instead, much to my delight and surprise, the Delhi airport has instituted a pre-pay taxi system to reduce the chaos. This was a huge difference compared to the jostling and pulling of two years ago and I began to wonder, has India changed?
Never fear the chaos of India still exists in all its intensity with a slight shift at the airport only! The first days of this trip were spent in Delhi seeing Sanjay Rath, a jyotish, who reads charts and Dr. Nitin, a new ayurvedic doctor. It was great to spend the afternoon with Sanjay having tea as he perused my chart…the check in with Sanjay was the perfect way to start this Indian adventure. Your chart is determined by placement of the stars and planets on the date, time and place of your birth. Then it was off to meet Dr. Nitin. Ayurvedic medicine does diagnosis by reading a patient’s pulse to determine what is out of balance in the body. Dr. Nitin read my pulse and prescribed some new herbs to keep me strong while in India. The herbs are working well, with the exception of a yucky sinus infection, I have been in good health! I was hoping that Dr. Nitin would have his pancha karma clinic up and running before I leave India so that I could do a cleanse with him before returning to the States but it looks like his clinic will be ready before I return home.
The highlight in Delhi was the morning spent at the 108 foot tall Hanuman temple. Hanuman is my favorite Hindu god. He is the monkey god and in the Vedic mythology he befriends Rama and helps to save Rama's wife Sita when she is kidnapped by the evil Ravana and taken across the ocean to Lanka. Hanuman embodies the ideas of friendship and loyalty. One of the themes of this trip has been to stop at Hanuman temples that cross my path. This temple in Delhi has been by far the greatest and the most magnificent.
After the long plane flight from NYC my friend, Lew, and I landed in Delhi. I anticipated being met by the intense chaos of India and the screaming rickshaws drivers upon exiting the terminal. Instead, much to my delight and surprise, the Delhi airport has instituted a pre-pay taxi system to reduce the chaos. This was a huge difference compared to the jostling and pulling of two years ago and I began to wonder, has India changed?
Never fear the chaos of India still exists in all its intensity with a slight shift at the airport only! The first days of this trip were spent in Delhi seeing Sanjay Rath, a jyotish, who reads charts and Dr. Nitin, a new ayurvedic doctor. It was great to spend the afternoon with Sanjay having tea as he perused my chart…the check in with Sanjay was the perfect way to start this Indian adventure. Your chart is determined by placement of the stars and planets on the date, time and place of your birth. Then it was off to meet Dr. Nitin. Ayurvedic medicine does diagnosis by reading a patient’s pulse to determine what is out of balance in the body. Dr. Nitin read my pulse and prescribed some new herbs to keep me strong while in India. The herbs are working well, with the exception of a yucky sinus infection, I have been in good health! I was hoping that Dr. Nitin would have his pancha karma clinic up and running before I leave India so that I could do a cleanse with him before returning to the States but it looks like his clinic will be ready before I return home.
The highlight in Delhi was the morning spent at the 108 foot tall Hanuman temple. Hanuman is my favorite Hindu god. He is the monkey god and in the Vedic mythology he befriends Rama and helps to save Rama's wife Sita when she is kidnapped by the evil Ravana and taken across the ocean to Lanka. Hanuman embodies the ideas of friendship and loyalty. One of the themes of this trip has been to stop at Hanuman temples that cross my path. This temple in Delhi has been by far the greatest and the most magnificent.
March 8, 2009 - Puri, India
The first half of my three month trip in India has whizzed past me very quickly and I am now catching my breath in Puri (on the east coast south of Calcutta) and reflecting on my experiences. In the coming days I will be taking you through my time in Delhi, Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Calcutta and finally the tribal area of Orissa south of Puri.
From here I plan to head further south through Chennai, Tirupati and Madurai.
Hoping all is well with everyone and that you enjoy the adventures.
From here I plan to head further south through Chennai, Tirupati and Madurai.
Hoping all is well with everyone and that you enjoy the adventures.
Monday, January 19, 2009
India Awaits...
Over the past three years I've had the pleasure of sharing my experiences out in the world through images and stories. Those depictions are a snapshot of my experiences around the world and are meant to bring them to life. This year, I am planning to bring my travels to life in a new way.
Through this blog, I am providing an opportunity for everyone to follow my journey through India. You will be able to map my route over the subcontinent and get a taste of what life is like there. My adventures are never planned; I normally drop into a region for three months and open up to what comes my way. This trip follows the same format but I am going to share more of my daily experiences through this blog. I fly into New Delhi on January 21 and plan to fly back to California on April 18, what happens in between is up in the air.
You are about to embark to India with me and hear about all the highs and lows. Let the experience begin...
Through this blog, I am providing an opportunity for everyone to follow my journey through India. You will be able to map my route over the subcontinent and get a taste of what life is like there. My adventures are never planned; I normally drop into a region for three months and open up to what comes my way. This trip follows the same format but I am going to share more of my daily experiences through this blog. I fly into New Delhi on January 21 and plan to fly back to California on April 18, what happens in between is up in the air.
You are about to embark to India with me and hear about all the highs and lows. Let the experience begin...
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