Mother India, She Laughs

mother india, she laughs
i wasn't sure if i was going to have any "aha!" moments when i got to india, this being my fifth trip...mostly because i've learned to expect nothing when i visit this land, land where the hot water faucet is [usually] on the right instead of the left, and "hot" means lukewarm more than actually hot...land of light switches [usually] being in the off position to actually mean turned on...land where we see boys playing soccer with bare feet but soles having been hardened over years of wear...this is india to me...the hardened sole of a foot, grown tough, trodden over sharp pebbles and stones until this too feels natural and almost comfortable. if taht's my comparison for india...my analogy for america? well that sort of arose when mike and i were talking about ben and jerry's ice cream, which is sweet, yummy, and easy to take in...but makes you sort of fat and unhealthy when enjoyed with too much abundance. i'm fortunate and blessed to live in america; i know this...but right now i'm in a land of opposites that forces you to see the good in the bad, the bad in the good...take the shizah with the sugar, if you will ;)

circumstances that have tested my patience and sense of humor:

* well there was the time about 4 days ago that i showed up at the mumbai airport with my confirmation number and e-receipt in hand, only to be told that my reservation to fly south to kerala did not exist. i'd booked on yatra (like an india expedia), and after a frantic phone call to my parents to get online, while mike's iphone searched for a connection at the mumbai airport to retrieve my flight details, and heated phone call to yatra - - - i came to accept that i did not actually have a reservation [hahaha says mother india ;] but i was fortunate enough to be able to buy a seat on the nearly-full flight, and a few bucks cheaper at that!

* and then there was the time, 2 days ago i think, that we arrived at the train station with plenty of time to make our train, only to be told that the train was running 4 hours late [mother india issues a belly laugh here], and we hopped a rickshaw to the bus station, where it was hot and crowded, but at least we had seats...and i met a sweet keralan girl, and we chatted about arranged marriages and keralan culture...all's well that ends well!

a couple more days of sussing hotel rooms and train bookings until the group tour 'officially' begins. i'm proud of mike's progress in learning the indian culture - he ate a whole meal with his hands the other day, and is starting to use the indian head-bobble, and asking questions using the "is possible...?" version, understood anywhere in india...

so far [knock on wood], i feel i'm in good with mother india...understanding her little pokes and jokes on me, rolling with the punches, and happy to receive a break when it shows itself...we're in varkala right now, where the living doesn't get any easier...it's a westernized touristy beach spot, where the ladies dress like harlots: strapless dresses, oh my! mike called me a 'sloozy' for wearing a tank top today, but when in india, do as the indians do...and when in varkala, do as the floozy western tourists do...

last but not least - happy shivaratri, birthday of hindu god shiva...om namah shivayah!

Monday February 28

Monday, Feb 28

Today is a travel day to Varkala. It was a 5-turned-six hour ride from Thrissur. After a breakfast and a brief stop at the local travel agency to research festivals in Thrissur the end of March. The book of festivals in India is as thick as the Bible. Fortunately, there is one so we will return. There is also an Indian film festival during that time. We caught a rickshaw from the travel agency back to the hotel to retrieve our backpacks and off to the train station. We were lucky to get two adjacent seats in the air conditioning. My ipod is introducing Heather to Randy Newman. He came up in conversation a couple of days ago when our train to Thrissur was not and we ended up on the bus. I often recall his lyrics, "you have to roll with the punches white boy." Heather had never heard of Randy Newman so here she sits with her eyes closed listening to Randy Newman as the lush tropical jungles of India pass by outside (as best you see thru the grime on the window). This is as far as today has progressed.

Not ten minutes after I wrote the last sentence we were busted in Aluva. At the train station in Aluva the owners of the two seats in the A/C class had showed up. We were quickly pointed the way to the next car which was second class and no A/C. Once the backpacks were stowed in the overhead we looked for two seats together but there were none. Women need to sit next to women so they directed Heather to the rear of the car where a shuffle of Hindu and Muslim bodies took place. I think there were seven people who got up and moved around to make room. They directed Heather to the empty bench seat and motioned for me to come join her. How thoughtful is that? That all those people got up and moved around to make room for two westerners and that they were happy to do so.

As it turned out the second class seating was actually more enjoyable than the A/C section. There is no glass on the windows so there was a nice breeze and the view was unobstructed. Our seats were in the rear of the car the last row in front of the exit so we could stand by the doors and hang out of the doors like you see in every railway scene in India. The people (almost all men) were friendly and pleasant and made the entire 6 hour ride a very memorable event. I almost forgot the chai and coffee walla's walking the aisles uttering "chai chai chai" or "coffee coffee coffee." The farther south we got the more beautiful the scenery became. There are pineapple fields, banana trees, and rice paddies all along the way. We passed one large body of water that was dotted with long slender wooden fishing boats with small white sails. It was absolutely beautiful. Finally arriving at Varkala we hopped on another rickshaw and made our way to yet another hotel. The Krishnatheeram hotel which sits above a cliff overlooking, which happened to be my first view of, the Arabian Sea. After dinner at a vegetarian restaurant we headed back to our rooms to complete yet another fascinating day. I think we're staying here two nights.

Sunday February 27

Most businesses are closed on this holy day. Heather, with her Lonely Planet guide to South India in hand, set off in search on the India Gate restaurant. We walked around the oldest Hindu temple in Thrissur, passed a herd of cows grazing in the middle of this huge traffic circle, up this street, down this street, left on this street, right on this street until we finally found the restaurant only to find that it was closed. Fortunately, the Modern Restaurant was open for idli, dosa, and chai.

We stopped in at another Hindu temple, removed our shoes, and entered as far as we could as only Hindus were allowed to enter. We milled around and walked perhaps two minutes and came across The Shrine Of Our Lady of Dolours Basilica. We arrived just a mass was ending. We removed out shoes and entered complete with our third eye and neck chakras dotted with red. It was a beautiful ornately decorated church with life size brightly colored statues of all the Christian deities. Heather was raised Catholic and hadn't been in a Catholic church in the recent past. We sat down in one of the many rows of benches and just sat and felt the presence of our surroundings. Heather sat with her hands resting on her knees with her thumbs and index fingers touching to form a mudra. She said she felt like kneeling and praying so I left to get a closed look at the church and she could find comfort in her prayers.

Where can you go and experience a Hindu temple and a Catholic basilica in a time span of a couple of minutes? Very moving moment.

We rested on the steps of the basilica and decided to walk back to the hotel and take advantage of Sunday like everyone else. Instead we took an indirect route as street vendors had set up shop in the storefronts of the businesses that were closed. We met many very nice people who all love to have their picture taken which we accommodated many times. Finally back at the Lucia and A/C.

A couple hours and a nap later we set out for dinner at a restaurant on the main circle near the hotel. After dinner we walked across the street to the park where the oldest Hindu temple is. In the distance we could hear music and we were lucky to be entertained by a free Sunday evening live dance and music event. We watched the end of the dance part and enjoyed the beautiful voice of a famous female Indian singer whose name is Vani Jayaram. She was accompanied by a three musicians playing the harmonium, the tabla, and the flute.

Tired from another day we headed back to the hotel and called it another wonderful day in India.

Saturday February 26

Saturday Feb 26

What a day! We had a very pleasant breakfast with a Danish couple before checking out around 1130. A short ride to the ferry on three wheeled rickshaw. We took the ferry across Kochi to Willingdon to catch the train to Thrissur. On the way to the train station we stopped at an Ayurvedic restaurant where I ate my first meal with my fingers. It was one delicious meal. The day before Heather had been told by a travel agent that the train to Thrissur departed at 2 pm. We arrived the train station and were told that there was no 2 pm departure and that the next train departed at 4pm. So we left the train station via another rickshaw to the bus terminal. We boarded the next bus for Thrissur and some two hours later we arrived. We got a front row seat and settled in to watch Mother India to pass by. One more rickshaw ride to our Luica Guest House where we'll be staying for two nights. There is an Ayurvedic massage business adjacent to the hotel so off we went. This was my first massage of this type. Traditionally, men only massage men and women only massage women. Traditionally, you strip down to your birthday suit which I had some apprehension thereof. But there I stood in all my glory. As it turned out this business used a disposable loin cloth which was put on by the gentlemen giving me the massage. The massage was performed on a large slab of wood that had been carved out to form a large bowl are in which you laid. It was kinda like laying in a shallow casket. There was no padding just hard wood. So for the next hour he poured warm oil on me and gave me my first Ayurvedic massage. The massage itself was more like a oil rubdown that a massage but it felt great nonetheless. We paid a bit more and got a head massage as well.

We walked back to the hotel where we enjoyed yet another delicious Indian dinner. Exhausted from the day we went to our rooms to call it a day. I wanted to document the day before I go take a shower and get the rest of the oil off of my ankles. Again, what a day!

Friday February 25

Friday February 25

We departed Mumbai for Kochi today. Mother India was not kind to Heather today. Upon arrival at the airport Heather's reservation made and paid for with Yatra was not in Kingfisher Airlines system. A call to Yatra Customer Support with all reservation and booking info was ignored and they said they couldn't help her. She had to buy another ticket. At the security checkpoint she had to unpack the entire contents of her backpack, twice I think she said. At one point the female security guard asked Heather, "and what are these madam?" To which Heather answered "underware." Once through security we boarded the plane for an uneventful two hour flight to Kochi.

Our visit here is to check out hotels for when the "real" cultural immersion starts for the rest of the group. We arrived at our home stay to find out that the two rooms with air conditioning was actually one room with air conditioning, only the air conditioner was missing from the room. A couple calls later ended us up in Hotel Delight which had two rooms with functioning air conditioning. You definately need an air conditioner here. At 10pm it's 80 degrees with 80% humidity.

We had a quick bite for lunch which was very good in spite of the live rat's tail that could be seen twitching between two boards near the ceiling.

The architecture here is distinctively European and the Christian influence everywhere. The Santa Cruz Bascilia practically next to our hotel. The streets are lined with homes and shops which is unlike any part of India I've seen to date. There's lush green vegetation everywhere and many of the trees are ancient and have grown to tremendous size. Of course with all the lush green vegetation comes mosquitos. I've seen a few in my room which I've quickly sent to mosquito heaven but so far no bites. I've been taking my malaria medication since I've been here.

I did take my first ride on a local bus this afternoon. Heather was needing to buy a phone charger so we stopped and asked where we might find one and the lady said we could find it but it was a long walk and that we should take the bus. Well the bus had just pulled into the bus stop so in a second we were on the bus heading for her phone charger. It was a bone jarring ride. The bus stopped at a Catholic girls school and a number of them boarded sporting their school uniforms all with their hair parted down the middle and blue bows on either side of the part keeping their hair in place. Maybe twenty minutes down the road we were told this was our stop so off we went in search of her phone charger which was found at the second shop. We went into a nearby shop looking for ayurvedic mosquito repellent for Heather but she ended up buying a collection of green bracelets and a few packs of bindi's. Not sure I spelled bindi correctly but they are small ornamental jewelry that you can stick between your eyebrows or more correctly where your third eye is located. I bought some too, but not for me.

Wednesday February 23

Wednesday Feb 23

This morning started off with Heather dropping her ipod into the toilet at the hotel. Being the veteran India traveller that she is, she immediately plunged her left hand into the toilet and retreived the ipod. Amazingly it still worked. We're staying at the Marriott Courtyard near the airport so the toilets here are well maintained and very clean.

We left the hotel and headed to central Mumbai to check out a few hotels when we return to here the first of April. The three wheeled rickshaws are only allowed to go as far as Bandra, so we were dropped off on the side of the road and caught an awaiting cab which dropped us off at the Regal Cinema. The trip was about an hour of traffic jams, blowing horns, fascinating, beautiful and not so beautiful roadside scenery. We visited four prospective hotels and decided to head for the train station before the afternoon rush hour. Heather bought us second class tickets but as we walked to get on the train we were directed to proceed forward to the first class section. I'll assume we didn't look like we belonged in second class. We ended up in last of the first class sections so we could see the first of the second class sections. The second class packed but we had room to move. Heather later said she was glad to be in the first class as she would have certainly been groped in second class.

We walked from the train station to the the hotel and again enjoyed the roadside sights and sounds. We had to cross one very large intersection and upon arriving the other side Heather said it was a bit like playing frogger to get from one side to the other.

Safely back at the Marriott for the evening which feels like we're not in India anymore. We're OK with that.

Tuesday Feb 22

Tueday Feb 22

No such luck on the empty seats as the plane from Heathrow to Mumbai was packed. But Jet India provided a brand new Boeing 777 with comfortable seats, delicious food, and great service. It was an enjoyable 9 hour flight (kinda).

Anyway, we're here in Mumbai a bit jet lagged but not too hacked out. We're gonna hang at the hotel today and rest up for tomorrow.

Monday Feb 21

Monday Feb 21

Heather and I are sitting at a Starbucks in Heathrow enjoying Uncle Eddie's vegan cookies and acai berries dipped in dark chocolate. So far so good. Our Virgin Atlantic flight from LAX was pretty empty so we were able to snag the last empty row of four seats and we traded off "sleeping" in shifts. We both feel pretty good considering. While it was my turn to lay down I thought how long duration flights are like childbirth, while you're there you swear you'll never do this again but once it's over you forget the pain and discomfort. True I've never gone through childbirth but I did experience holding my kid's mothers hand during labor and that was painful enough.

Heather left her journal of all of our planned activities in SD so she's planning our retreat on the fly. She says that's how it should be and that Mother India is already orchestrating.

There is no free wifi spots in this terminal at Heathrow but there are four different paid internet connects within fifty feet of each other so I'll send this once I get to Mumbai.

Our flight to Mumbai leaves at 9pm and we land tomorrow at 1130. Hope we snag another row of empty seats.

A Proper Adventure

Greetings Folks!

We landed safely in Mumbai a couple of days ago after a 1.5-day trip East which landed Mike and me in Mumbai, the most heavily-populated city in the most heavily-populated country in the world. You can well imagine that there are people e v e r y w h e r e !

Day 1 was a settling day. Day 2, yesterday, was a sussing day where I just hoofed around downtown looking for a hotel to stay in when the 3AC Crew returns to Mumbai in about a month. Today was a more "Proper Adventure" in that we took our time having breakfast and getting ready in the morning and left the hotel with just a slight game plan.

On the train ride south, I let Mike in on the fact that I had not done any research on the bazaars that we were visiting today, their exact locations or names, but wanted to see how the day unfolded. Highlights included purchasing neon orange Hanuman Monkey God dashboard ornaments, and then wandering into "that building over there", which turned out to be a vegetarian's dream: a slaughterhouse for chicken and a place where they dry fish out! Mmmmm, mmmm, mm! Did I mention it was complete with rats scampering about on the ground? We actually were only in there for about 10 minutes, and the people were very friendly.

Across the street were treasures of lamps, antique door handles and pencil boxes, karma sutra decks of cards, your various Hindu schwag, your random goat, motor pieces, restored furniture...a general hodge podge of Indian antiques. It was like walking into a thrift shop from the 50's = F U N !

Off to get some good sleep tonight as tomorrow we're off to my second-homeland of Kerala. I simply cannot wait!

Lots of love, warmth (the humid variety), and love from Mumbai!

h