Wednesday, March 2

Wednesday, March 2

Today we travel to Trivandrum to await the arrival of the third member of the First Class tour, Jen. Our plan was to take a rickshaw to the railway station and catch a 1030 train to Trivandrum. At the station the previous day we were told there was construction going on and to catch the 1030 train or wait until 1500 but not to come in between. At checkout we met Babu who had an air conditioned cab waiting outside the gate of the hotel. We negotiated 100 rupees which is about double what a richshaw would charge but I agreed to spring for the cab ride to the railway station. Once inside the cab, Babu said he would give us a ride to our hotel in Trivandrum, an hours ride, for 1000 rupees (about $20). I said let's go. Heather was happy with the turn of events. Something told me to avoid the railway station and a door to door cab ride just felt like the right call.

Once in Trivandrum we checked out a couple of hotels for the 3AC tour (refers to train sleeping with three tiers of bunks with A/C), ate lunch, and waited for Heather's friend Rajesh to arrive sometine after 4pm. They a met at the ashram we're going to in a couple of days. Rajesh is a local tour guide so Heather is using his expertise to finalize the details of both upcoming trips. The day was pretty un-eventful until we left the hotel in Rajesh's car.

Today is Shivaratri day which is the huge Hindu day of celebration. It is said that Shiva ingested a poison, but did not swallow it, that would have destroyed the world. This is why Shiva is blue. Rajesh first took us to a small Hindu temple where he explained beautifully the basic premises of the Hindu religion. As non-Hindu's we could only walk around the perimeter of the temple but were able to peer inside where we could see Hindu's praying and chanting and two musicians playing a drum and what sounded like a trumpet.

From here he took us to an ashram that is run by Swami Tattwa. The Swami runs a small ashram for fourteen young boys. Dressed in an orange, he greeted us at top of the steps of his ashram. He's 44 years old with a full black beard, shortly cropped salt and pepper hair, a beautiful smile and an infectious laugh. We talked briefly about yoga, philosophy, and meditation on the porch at a small desk which might have been his office. We were joined by his German born wife who invited us to join the Swami, staff, and the boys for dinner. From the porch we entered a room which was lined on two sides by long tables and bench seating where the boys studied. To the right was an large alter which was decorated ornately with candles, pictures of Holy men, and draped with orange chrysanthemums. We turned to the left and entered the kitchen area. The Swami sat looking at the boys and staff with Heather and I to his left. We sat on the concrete floor on small thin straw mats. In front of our mat was rectangular metal dish divided in several small sections and one large area. We were served by two of the boys. The Swami was served first, then Heather and I, then the rest. The rice was placed in the large section and three other types of cooked vegetables were placed in separate sections at the top of the dish. Finally a soup was added to the rice. Basically, you mixed it all together and did your best to eat it all with your right hand. Heather showed me a technique of using your thumb to shovel what food you were able to pick up with your fingers into your mouth. I really have no idea what I ate except for the rice. Dessert was a small portion of what tasted like a sweet rice pudding. Everything was delicious. Once dinner was finished you went outside where you washed your dish with the soapy fibers of a coconut husk. Once rinsed and dried you put it back on drying racks in the kitchen. All the plates were numbered so you put them back in their proper slot. Mine was number 50 which is the year I was born. Auspicious. We returned to the porch and chatted briefly before we left. As I was leaving I told him that I wasn't sure how to say goodbye to a Swami. He said he as just a man and added he considered himself, "A Holy Hobo." With that I shook his hand and said goodnight. It was around 8:30 pm.

Next we headed to a very large Hindu temple to witness and be part of the celebration of Shivaratri. There was a long queue to enter the temple but we just followed Rajesh and eased our way to the front of the line and into the temple, after removing our shoes of course. There were no pictures allowed and I can hardly begin to describe what I saw except to say that it looked like a sea of humanity was circling the temple. And it would go on all night. Most of the men were dressed in long pants and a collared shirt but some wore a long white cotton material wrapped around and tied at the waist which extended to the floor and naked from the waist up. Almost all women wore a beautiful sari. We circled the temple three times. On the second loop a man next to me told me to chant as I walked, "Om Shree Om Namah Shivaya, Om Nomo Om Namah Shivaya," which I did. I was given a piece of paper which I'm to write 108 times, Om Namah Shivayah go to the temple is to recieve energy from it. Heather and I certainly felt and received great energy from this night at the temple. We left, retrieved our shoes and made our way back to the hotel.

What started out as a rather uneventful day, could well be one of the best days of the trip, so far.