Searchings of a Kiwi lass Indiaaahhh again tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-02:/blog/?domain=ladyware 2006-05-02T13:26:49Z ladyware img/travel-blog-feed.png Mamallapuram tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-05-02:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=13&entryid=10588 2006-05-02T13:26:49Z 2006-05-02T13:26:49Z Impressions indeed.... this town on the south east coast of India, a few hours south of Chennai, is a hugely popular tourist destination for Western and Indian tourists alike, though I don't feel to write about this. Instead, here is what has stuck with me. Old, old stone. Centuries old. Reliefs of Shiva, Krishna, Arjuna carved into ancient sandstone. Temples by the sea all washed away except for one, which I visit at dawn in the muggy ... Impressions indeed.... this town on the south east coast of India, a few hours south of Chennai, is a hugely popular tourist destination for Western and Indian tourists alike, though I don't feel to write about this. Instead, here is what has stuck with me.

Old, old stone. Centuries old. Reliefs of Shiva, Krishna, Arjuna carved into ancient sandstone. Temples by the sea all washed away except for one, which I visit at dawn in the muggy breathless heat. Walking beachward with me are a busload of Indian tourists from Andryha Pradesh. Most likely they have never seen the sea before, for they stand ankle deep in it and marvel at its foam circling their bare feet. Some stand with plastic bottles to capture some in rememberance, perhaps to use for future ceremonies - I'm not sure. All I know is that it was beautiful to be there with them, me all hunched up and hugging my knees on the beach as the sun made its way up into the sky, watching them all murmur in wonder and exclaim loudly whenever the water rushed in to touch their chappals (sandals)on the sand behind them. I go on to the temple alone - and an hour later I see them still in worship of this new element.

Two Keralan brothers - cousins actually, and both beautiful. I meet Manoj and Munnar, masseurs and yogi's both whose off season meant for a lot of time to sit and talk with me, and cook me a Keralan specialty on my last day. How was I to know they had had this planned - to purchase jackfruit specially and boil them inside banana laves with sugar and spices for their white sister. Delicious! Of course they made me eat twice as much as they - they even packed me up a little takeaway to eat on my upcoming train to Kolkatta (36 hours or so...). I leave them reluctantly with this hot little parcel clutched in my hands along with a small Ganesha statue and malla from them. Beauties both, indeed...

I meet a crazy man in a Tibetan cafe one night. He has the white stripes of the Shaivite (Shiva devotee) on his forehead although the only things he seems to be worshipping at the moment are alcohol, cigarettes and curse words! He certainly has some right interesting stories to tell about his carving expeditios in Europe (he is Tamil born)- and at first I am drawn in and bewildered by his swear-like-a-trouper shock factor but as soon as he calls me baby I decide I better hightail it. So many people here, using the 'right' spiritual words to try and hook girls. And I don't fall for it anymore. It's a good thing.

The water in this town is so bad I consider bathing in mineral water. Honestly, it smells like grease - or something horrid anyway, and the sea is not much better. The aftereffects of the tsunami are stil in evidence here, and although there were very few casualties (three I think) I do hear stories of water up to people's doorsteps. Terrible... so I bathe little, swim when i can and get bitten by a crab for the first time in my life! I had always had this crazy notion that, being a Cancerian, they would leave me alone forever... But it's a minor incident so all is forgiven.

The lady in the beauty parlour tells me I have too many wrinkles after she pulls her fingers from my nose, succeeding in changing my nosering. I suspect she's trying to sell me her products more than anything; these beauty parlours are the 'in-thing' I suppose but they certainly ain't MY thing... I marvel at her price list, wondering what exactly the 'top to bottom' bridal makeup entails - where does it begin and end?!? She does offer shiatsu which I am tempted by but I feel demeaned enough by having another person prod at my snout so leave with nothing more than a Neem face pack.

Sun, so much sun... for some reason it feels worse here than in other places, for although I go on to higher temperatures it just feels harsher on this coast. Even with my fan on full bore all thru the night I awake often, turning much, and dream strange dreams... after a few days I am tired of this off season tourist town, which although beautiful is starting to get on my nerves a bit what with all the hungry shopkeepers hunting for business. I don't blame them - it must be hard to anticipate four months or so with very few tourists - but I just don't want to shop right now, it's too hot and plus I'm feeling the pull of the north... so its off to Kolkatta I go, the city I first fell in love with two years ago, to revisit some of those first-time-in-India places so special to me...

Mamallapuram remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> House of Om tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-04-30:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=11&entryid=10406 2006-04-30T09:47:55Z 2006-04-30T09:47:55Z 'House of Om, it's late, and yet you got me up writing about this great adventure you took me on, Om Om, you know your physical presences are gone at this point, but the madness lives on... Om Om... From an ashram near Trivandrum, in which we twisted ourselves into crazy positions, the sun was up and the palms were blowing and every day at three o'clock don't you know it? the skies would open... the skies would open and soak us all in the sweet southern rain I'd like to see ... 'House of Om, it's late,
and yet you got me up writing about this great
adventure you took me on,
Om Om, you know your physical presences are gone at this point,
but the madness lives on...

Om Om...

From an ashram near Trivandrum,
in which we twisted ourselves into crazy positions,
the sun was up and the palms were blowing
and every day at three o'clock don't you know it?
the skies would open...
the skies would open
and soak us all in the sweet southern rain
I'd like to see you all back again some day...

How we laughed the hours away...

Well the two weeks passed, we thought we'd better change the scene
so we went to this beach it was like coming into a dream
Var-var-ka-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, uh-huh, uh-huh
You can call me crazy but what times we had,
drinking beer after all of those headstands
thali's with the Shiva Moon crew
and a lot of other good times too

How we sang to the sand
while we played in the sea
and drove like crazy around
cause who need two wheels anyway??

Yeah we knew that it couldn't last forever
so we thought we'd part ways and no longer be together
and you left me a few days longer
while I did beautiful sadhana on the beach...
you took a bus ride and a boat ride
playing those drums by the water side
that Mexican that we all know
he had a clown for a friend and to us what stories he told..
all of them loco, lo-lo-lo-loco

Then there was this blue eyed boy
who decided he'd ride his bike up north
til a wheel fell off on one of them crazy roads
cause it didn't exist anymore

it seemed
it had fallen into the sea
so he thought he could use his feet
but he didn't get far - so on a bus he rode...

And then the girl with the hair so pink
and feet so bare and baked in the heat
well she found her colour in the market place
we waited til it set and then went out to play

Yeah, well that was in a different place after
Var-var-ka-la-la-la-la
it happened that we ran into wach other again
Munnar, you know it wasn't that far
it wasn't that far...

There there were plenty of faery fields
for us to run in and streets that gave us so many good things
fruit salads and songs to sing

You know we rocked you too
small town where the tea leaves grow
and Saturday night you can always find a show
'specially when you got a unicycle...

and a guitar, that's where I come in
and why I'm here, cause after you all just disappeared
and now we're all off having adventures silently
or maybe not as the two of you boys have shown
will I see you again I don't know...

I want to sing to the sand
while you let cows loose on the bad men
I'll meet you here again I know
casue we love this crazy country India...

House of Om, it's late, and yet you got me up writing about
this great adventure youtook me on
Om Om, you know your physical presences are gone at this point
but the madness lives on...'

House of Om remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Munnar tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-04-30:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=10402 2006-04-30T09:33:05Z 2006-04-30T09:33:05Z well here I am AGAIN attempting to get back into the blog swing of things! he he, late as ever! MUNNAR was / is an incredibly beautiful small town in the Keralan hills - the nearest thing the state has to a hill station so it was much cooler than Trivandrum or Varkala- a welcome thing! It was a beautiful journey up those hills and I happened to have a driver who was obviously practising for some kind of competition - ... well here I am AGAIN attempting to get back into the blog swing of things! he he, late as ever!
MUNNAR was / is an incredibly beautiful small town in the Keralan hills - the nearest thing the state has to a hill station so it was much cooler than Trivandrum or Varkala- a welcome thing!
It was a beautiful journey up those hills and I happened to have a driver who was obviously practising for some kind of competition - what should have taken five hours took less than four, and we stopped for about TEN minutes for lunch - the bus was even pulling away as I came back from the banana stand, geezz its funny how one has this idea about India being a laid back place!? Not on this day!!

Anyways, who was there to await me in Munnar but AMBIKA and LEVIK!! Yayyy! What a reunion we had.. After much hugging and jumping about I got my forehead anointed with red paste and my mouth stuffed with cashew sweets, and we heafed it up to the Shubramanya temple... so beautiful. We made it just in time for both Arati (lighting of lamp, such a sacred and special ceremony) and sunset. After this we went to eat thali while Ambika searched the market place for pink Holi powder with which to dye her hair...
Munnar, you know we rocked you... on the days that followed all manner of strange and wonderful things happened whereever we were. It is just so cool hanging out with a mad unicyclist! It basically means there is a show anywhere you go... Levik and I were waiting for a motorbike to arrive one day, and what did he do in the spare minutes of waiting? Pull out a crystal ball of course, and start to do an impromptu show which drew a crowd of about thirty men. So much laughter! So we promised them a show that night, with my guitar and the famous 'one wheel' cycle! It was great! I ripped out a version of 'Rebel Music' with verses tailored for Munnar - 'oh we're drinking tea in the sun' and 'you can put the money.. in my bag!' etc while Levik weaved his magic. Rakshaman!!!

On Ambika/ Levik's last day (and Angel, he was also there - Levik's bro that is) we got an email from SAM and lo and behold, he was somewhere in Munnar! So we searched high and low for him, to no avail although he did manage to find us in the morning half an hour before their bus departed... REUNION CENTRAL!!
What great times we had... biking thru the tea plantations and calling 'I love India!' to all the poor pedestrians we passed... one well-to-do lookin woman also gave us the 'hang loose' sign as we passed them which was so funny we nearly fell off laughing... Sam and I went walking too, one beautiful day up a few good lookin hills and found a life sized crucifix - urgh. Little scary! but it was good.. we searched the town for 'Sharja' a very delicious (non vegan I'm afraid) milkshake, we ate idli and dosa at small dhaba's, we danced with boys at music shops.. and left together on another beautiful bus ride, I towards Pondicherry which I have already written about, and Sam towards Ooti... goodbye my brother! goodbye Om group! what times we had.. have just written a song about it which I will pen down here soon... my next unwritten destination.. Mamallapuram xxoo

Munnar remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Pondicherry tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-04-05:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=8478 2006-04-30T09:08:27Z 2006-04-06T06:44:17Z These entries are totally out of order, but what to do? I am here in Pondi now and it seems fit to write about it although my beautiful Munnar experience is as of yet unwritten. Pondicherry is a right pretty city. Once I escape from the hustle bustle business boutiques and the tooting traffic, there are wide, tree lined streets to explore, where old French buildings sag and sit peacefully in the 1.30 - 3.30 p.m siesta slump... My two ... These entries are totally out of order, but what to do? I am here in Pondi now and it seems fit to write about it although my beautiful Munnar experience is as of yet unwritten.

Pondicherry is a right pretty city. Once I escape from the hustle bustle business boutiques and the tooting traffic, there are wide, tree lined streets to explore, where old French buildings sag and sit peacefully in the 1.30 - 3.30 p.m siesta slump... My two favourite ragamuffin children know me well after only two days - the sister blows me a kiss after I buy them juice and share my water with them (The Indian style of drinking is so practical - the lips never touch the bottle or cup - takes a bit of practise but its worth getting used to).

Yesterday I rode to Auroville on the back of a motorbike and marvelled at the beauty of its red earth, forests-a-plenty and peaced out names for stuff - communities called 'Existence' and 'Bliss', a Spirulina farm called 'Simplicity'... Auroville is a community 16 kms out of Pondicherry which came into existence in 1968 as one of the wishes of 'The Mother' (French disciple that followed Sri Aurobindo and became his successor, they both believed in peaceful ways of raising consciousness and the whole city is influenced by their ways). She envisioned a place where people from all over the world could come and live peacefully together - it sounded, looked and smelt amazing to me when I briefly visited although like most other communities around the world it has its share of politics and problems... I had planned to stay there tonight and maybe for another few days but my plans changed, as they do - and I am here enjoying this beautiful city for another night before heding to Mamallapuram...

Gonna sign off as I am sweating like a sponge in this tiny email cafe... xxoo

Pondicherry remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Ashram-tastic tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-04-05:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=8475 2006-04-30T09:13:55Z 2006-04-06T06:24:08Z March 1st it was and I arrive in the state of Kerala after almost two full days on various trains from Hampi... and it is HOT!! As I wait in the Ko Chin train station for my train to Trivandrum I hope I'll grow accustomed to the mugginess... The train comes and it's a local one.. I crowd into the women's carriage with 200 other hopefuls and manage to somwhow find a seat as well as stow my ... March 1st it was and I arrive in the state of Kerala after almost two full days on various trains from Hampi... and it is HOT!! As I wait in the Ko Chin train station for my train to Trivandrum I hope I'll grow accustomed to the mugginess...
The train comes and it's a local one.. I crowd into the women's carriage with 200 other hopefuls and manage to somwhow find a seat as well as stow my pack on the precarious ledge above. It's four hours of cramped, knee-to-knee travel, although there are beautiful views and a lovely newly wed modern Indian girl, Remya, to talk to. Just before we reach Trivandrum she writes her email in my little travel book, as well as the following words:
'you are a very aprpoachable person I think so... I won't forget your name because I have a friend she is also Sharon. I think we will meet again. I am wishing you all the best for your future. And you will get a nice partner.'
he he he.. this constant romanticism so ingrained in the Indian psyche... at Trivandrum station Remya introduces me to her husband briefly, before I bid them farewell and rickshaw it over to Neyyar Dam, home of the Sivananda ashram.

I arrive to the sounds of 200 or so yellow t-shirted beings chanting outside the ashram entrance - it seems they are on their weekly silent meditative walk, as I have come at 8pm or so. I am fed a delicious wholesome dinner and shown my bed in the dorm so I prepare myself for my ashram routine, which begins at 5.30 the next morning...

SCHEDULE
5.30 Morning bell
(another warning bell will sound at 5.50)
6.00 Meditation / Satsang in the Satsang Hall
7.30 Tea outside under what will be known as the 'tea tree'.
8.00 First asana class
10.00 Brunch
11.00 Lecture
12.30 Karma yoga (selfless service, done for one hour per day)
2.00 Optional asana coaching class
3.30 Second asana class
6.00 Dinner
8.00 Meditation / Satsang
10.30 Lights out!!!

I manage to sleep fitfully on my first night and am up like a trooper the next morning for my first meditation... the hall is beautiful, and five orange clad Swami's sit onstage meditating. The actual meditation is short - maybe twenty minutes - and then Swami Mahadevananda, head of all Sivananda ashrams around the world, leads us in various chants. We begin every day with 'Jaya Ganesha', a chant you (hopefully) grow to love (we sing it twice a day so its better to love it rather than not...), also a chant which I wake up singing inside my head for the next week or so...
Yoga class is peaceful but sweaty, as I'm beginning to realise how it's much more muggier here than in Ko Chin, even next to the beautiful crocodile infested glassy lake that we do our asana's beside.
At ten o'clock we file like dutiful little yogi's into the lunch hall chanting 'Hare Rama, Hare Krishna' which is very beautiful actually - I love it at least... our meals for the next week pretty much consist of various combinations of rice / chapati / papadam / samba (south indian vegetable stew) / dosa (south indian bread) / idli (south indian rice patties)/ korma (veges) / salad / and about a teaspoon of sweet rice dessert... as well as ayurvedic water, which tastes musky and dusky and herbal and health giving.

Over the next week or so I hate to admit it but I find myself falling asleep sitting upright during the 11.00 lectures quite often - it's not that I'm not interested!! But it's just such a good chance to catch up on sleep... such a cool and breezy room and the Swami's peaceful voice sends me drifting...off...

All of the Sivananda ashrams around the world are big on karma yoga... but instead of at 12.30, I do mine from 6.30 - 7.30 at the 'Health Hut' - a canteen where I make fruit salads / juices / toast for those who are missing the fruit or Western food in their diets... I actually love this job and it doesn't feel like karma yoga at all. I quickly become part of the Health Hut crew - there is Balla-ji, a beautiful Keralan man if ever I met one - he kind of runs the show here, has gallons of patience, the best haircut in India ( a stylish bob I've never seen before) and puts up with our plotting to find him a good wife... Ange from Canada and I quickly name ourselves the 'Health Hut Hussies' and plan to co-ordinate our clothes and sing eighties songs while we work... well, the clothes co-ordination never actually happened, but it was fun to think about it anyway... and it's here I meet Levik, my crazy wonderful Mexican brother who also teaches some of the asana classes - the ones that leave us crying with both pain and laughter...

Soon, soon the days in the ashram all blend into a wonderful yogic holiday... lots of good times, Jaya Ganesha'a and bananas...the ashram itself is situated in a stunning area, surrounded by coconut and banana trees, loads of grass and twittering birds, unwelcome mosquito's and beautiful fragrant white blossoms... apparently some guy came face to face with a cobra near the lake side as well, though I was never privy to such a sight. In the few free afternoon hours every day I take my guitar either to the Health Hut, the lake or the communal lawn which results in many a sing-along... Levik and Ambika practise their acrobatics on the purple human rope which is tied to a tall tree while Mahendra and Sam entertain us all with their ways... it's a good life...

When the time comes closer to leave there is talk about our little gang (me, Ange, Levik, Ambika, Sam in particular) meeting in Varkala.. so one afternoon Sam, Levik and I trace a huge OM sign onto a white dhoti and set about making an OM flag with which we can mark our spot on the beach.. it takes about three hours in the Health Hut and is pretty damn magnificent if I do say so myself!

Leaving the ashram is strange... after two weeks of pretty much pure yogic living (no intoxicants, garlic or onions allowed!) it's a bit wierd to be back in the city (Trivandrum) until I catch another crowded as anything train to Varkala.. and I won't deny it, the sight of that beach with all its touristic commodities leaves me like an excited kid... I run into Sam and Angel (Levik's bro) as soon as I arrive and we race into the sea... drink cocktails and eat choco-banana cake... overindulge pretty much, although stil manage to get up for yoga on the beach the next morning.. but I think this story has already been told so I shall move on, move on and try to catch myself up in this travel blog...

Ashram-tastic remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Varkala Magic tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-03-25:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=7898 2006-04-06T06:31:56Z 2006-03-25T14:12:41Z Varkala has a magic.. perhaps it's simply the magic that all beaches have, how powerful the sunset is as it falls over crashing foam and white waves, but I feel a flowing in my being that resonates so much with this sea, sun and sand business. Tonight I made it to the beach for sunset - I am usually doing my yoga asanas at this point, or maybe resting, but after tonight I realise how powerful this time of ... Varkala has a magic.. perhaps it's simply the magic that all beaches have, how powerful the sunset is as it falls over crashing foam and white waves, but I feel a flowing in my being that resonates so much with this sea, sun and sand business. Tonight I made it to the beach for sunset - I am usually doing my yoga asanas at this point, or maybe resting, but after tonight I realise how powerful this time of the day is and vow to myself to WORSHIP it in a sense. Although doing my yoga on the rooftop with Ambika at sunset the other day was pretty powerful as well... so much prana at these times, how powerful it is...

I love this life... as I walked to refill my waterbottle (they have a natural springs which flows down near the sea here, which is totally purified and safe, and saves so many plastic bottles of water) I got almost a mantra ino my head that went 'everything is here... everything is here...'. Lately (the past few months) there's something in me that has almost been searching in a way for something, I don't know what... I think it is just a case of losing my mind, really.. he he, but so true... everything is here, it's just a matter of being open enough to it, of dying to every moment and really feeling ALIVE and fresh at all times...

I'm so inspired by the people that have come into my life recently. For my entire first week at this beach I was spending most of my waking hours with Levik, Ambika and Sam from the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam near Trivandrum. We all arrived here seperately and just had the most amazing times ever... Such beautiful people... Levik of the many dreads, such a bright sprite full of eccentricity and energy, Sam with his openness and wonderful welcoming nature, and amazing playfulness! Ambika with her beauty and grace... so much surfing and frolicking at the beach, extended two hour breakfasts and dinners, music nights at 'Johnny Cool's', this great cafe I play two informal gigs at, and gatherings around the OM flag that we hand sewed before we left the ashram... there aer otehr characters in this play as well... Ange, from the ashram also, who hung out for a few days before heading off with her man Michael, Angel the brother of Levik, Brad from Texas who knew all the words to 'Patience' by Guns n Roses when I played it for him, and the 'Shiva Moon' crew - a two room guesthouse / restaurant where my guitar was always welcome and a liquor fondly known as 'XXX Rum' was often doing the rounds... (not passing by my lips though.. two nights of this at 'Johnny Cool's' was enough alcomohol for me...)

I haven't updated this blog thing for about a month so have yet to write about the whole ashram experience, hopefully I'm gonna get back into the writing swing and it's gonna follow soon... as for now I've just come from the beach with a smooth swing in my gait and words in my head, and there's beautiful music playing in this shanti little email cafe and a papaya, apple, lime, ginger and spirulina smoothie at my lips when I take the time to pause between sentences, so I'm happy to say the very very least.

I have decided that I'm gonna try to make it to Varanasi for the next full moon... this gives me about two weeks to
a) leave Varkala!! ahhh.. not such an easy task!
b)visit Munnar, a beautiful place in the mountanis
c) train it to Tamil Nadu, to Pondicherry and Auroville
d) train up to Kolkatta, possibly breaking the journey in Puri on the way.. perhaps Darjeeling too...

oh well.. so many options... It's gonna take years to enjoy all of India... I love her more with every day. Yesterday in Varkala township there was an elephant festival - like everything in India the elephants were about four hours delayed so I didn't stay for them although did see a great parade with big floats of various scenes from the Ramayana - you had the huge head of a demon, laughing hysterically (don't know how they did it, but it was awesome!) with a tiny Hanuman that they had rigged to fly into the demon's mouth and out of his ear victoriuosly brandishing his trumpet or something... they had Durga equipped with five lions roaring ferociously... Ganeasha with flapping ears and his mouse, and a lion I dont know the name of, ripping out some prince's stomach... not a religion for the weakhearted, is Hinduism...

I will have to tear myself from this computer I think... emails to write, mosquitoes to dodge... I am trying to write more now that I am pretty much alone again (the others all left yesterday morning, the beach ain't quite the same without them but I have also been loving getting into my meditation fully again so all is good...) so I should be back soon.. still have to write down the ashram experience and just generally ramble on descriptively about this country I love so much... Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya
xxxxoooo

Varkala Magic remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Beautiful Hampi tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-25:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=6866 2006-02-25T11:50:50Z 2006-02-25T11:50:50Z Hampi at sundown; a time for frogs to let their cacophonous croaks loose over rice paddies that are greener than green. Everywhere is nature so beautiful here, such blue blue skies, green green fields, golden rocks everywhere in the background and temples in every nook and cranny... Today was unexpected. Waking up with a dodgy stomach (Hampi ain't known for it's culinary hygiene...) I decided to take it easy... but somehow found myself walking the three kilometres to the ... Hampi at sundown; a time for frogs to let their cacophonous croaks loose over rice paddies that are greener than green. Everywhere is nature so beautiful here, such blue blue skies, green green fields, golden rocks everywhere in the background and temples in every nook and cranny...
Today was unexpected. Waking up with a dodgy stomach (Hampi ain't known for it's culinary hygiene...) I decided to take it easy... but somehow found myself walking the three kilometres to the lake in the mid afternoon 30 degree sun... breezes make it not so hot though, the air so clean and fresh and definitely bearable - it disnae burn like the NZ sun anyway, and coming from a Scottish winter I'm not about to complain. Birds and insects are twittering in grasses near my feet and everywhere the gentle wind rustles through the breeze, bringing scents of these grasses nearer to me. As I pass a small stone house, six women are taking a break from a hard days work in the fields. They call me over, all shake my hand, try on my sunglasses and make me take photos of them. I leave with one of their bindi's stickered firmly on my third eye point - these moments, so little and so precious, they make my day...
At the river finally, I take a coracle (a circular cane boat) to the other side after a short rest and conversation with a small boy who after a while, as per usual, asks me the same questions ' eschool pen?' 'one rupee?'.
Hampi is a climbers dream I think, as I clambour over huge boulders not so suited to my plastic flip flops or my inconveniently placed shoulder bag. I meet two Germans, both called Sven, and one of them - the good looking one with no shirt on - pulls me up to their litle perch where they have been sitting Zen like for some time. We walk back together, take a juice in a little river side cafe and then part. Seems this is a day for Germans however as immediately I meet another one! A girl with bright blue eyes and red hair that matches her sun baked face who I meet at the foot of some ruins. We climb together to a temple upon a hill, passing gods and goddesses carved into rocks everywhere. When I realise it's a quarter to six, and the last boat back is supposed to leave in fifteen minutes (not a problem for my German friend as she is staying on this side of the river) I run down a mountain for the first time in my life... scramble pantingly all through the market much to the suprise of at least three locals who all ask 'hey, hey, slow down, what happened?' in that particular way of theirs that can either make me smile inside or just infuriate me. I have no time today to decide how I feel about that however as I am running, running for my boat.. as I make my way down the ghats it seems I needn't have worried though - sometimes I forget that this is India, with time so subjective... because as the sun sets closer to seven these days, the boats are still running. Lucky for me and the dozen or so other travllers who have also forgotten themselves in the drifting day...

So showered and content I write, here in this restaurant overlooking rice paddies that are now darkened to mine eye... There's just the frogs chorusing away, and the occasional firefly, as well as the ever present canopy of stars, so clear to the eye and so inviting to sit beneath and dream the rest of the evening away...

Beautiful Hampi remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Reflections on the street below... tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-13:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=6400 2006-02-14T06:16:08Z 2006-02-14T06:16:08Z So much is happening in the market below. A truck, sent by an old baba said to be over 100 and living in a temple upon a hill outside of Pushkar, drives slowly through the streets offering prasad (blessed food) to passers by. Two young girls in salwar kameez run after the vehicle, grocery bags outstretched, hoping to please their mother with the free carrots and grapes it is offering today. The other day I received an apple from a ... So much is happening in the market below.

A truck, sent by an old baba said to be over 100 and living in a temple upon a hill outside of Pushkar, drives slowly through the streets offering prasad (blessed food) to passers by. Two young girls in salwar kameez run after the vehicle, grocery bags outstretched, hoping to please their mother with the free carrots and grapes it is offering today. The other day I received an apple from a similar truck, its constant delivery making sure no-one in Pushkar goes hungry.
On the lakeside, a Brahmin priest is taking a Pushkar newcomer through the holy ceremony, anointing their forehead with sandalwood paste and rice, garlanding their neck with flowers and offering blessings for their family upon the holy Lotus lake. Perhaps demanding an exhorbitant price for this, perhaps not - not all priests seem to live by the same values it seems. A family of monkeys, 20 strong, sit looking down as I am, from another rooftop. They are munching carrots, acquired no doubt from the Baba Prasad truck. Some of the babies are teaching themselves to swing from powerlines nearby, others merely terrorise innocent passers by for food. The infernal tooting of motorcycle horns echoes up to me as always - seems I cannot escape from this ever present madness. Sometimse I shout back 'shanti!' at them, as if they would listen to me. All the while the sugarcane wallah churns his machine, over and over again - so much manual labour for one glass of sweet health giving juice! The sun is setting on the pigeons on the lake - they congregate in hundreds to eat the remains of a recent puja ceremony - the small white sweets offered as prasad, the flowers, the rice. I look over these Pushkar hills, all green and brown and golden in the setting sun and realise I am still in love with this town. Although I have been here twice before- three times actually - and have this time been feeling almost a little bored with all the same scenarios, the magic of this place still calls to me.

Reflections on the street below... remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Traveller Portraits tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-09:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=6227 2006-02-09T10:23:44Z 2006-02-09T10:23:44Z There is a party in the air tonight. Beside me at the chai stand are seated a group of scruffly travllers. I say seated, but mostly they just can't keep still, although none of them has` fallen off their chairs just yet so I suppose the word is valid. I think that they are Spanish; I'm sure that they are crazy. Three of the boys have matted rasta hair, tied for some reason in bunches at ... There is a party in the air tonight. Beside me at the chai stand are seated a group of scruffly travllers. I say seated, but mostly they just can't keep still, although none of them has` fallen off their chairs just yet so I suppose the word is valid. I think that they are Spanish; I'm sure that they are crazy. Three of the boys have matted rasta hair, tied for some reason in bunches at the tops of their foreheads and at other random angles. They are barefoot in these Indian streets, full of loose long-legged energy and monkey movement and unfortunately for the eye even a little bit of butt-crack, as clothes are obviously just a social necessity for at least one of them. His trousers just hang as they do, and in the few times I've seen these boys I don't think they've changed their clothes once. They make me smile, for their unconventionality is not hurting anyone and is actually quite entertaining to watch! Usually it's enough just to watch the cows eyeing up the vegetable stalls, or each other, or laugh at the local boys on their bikes speeding down the road in such a peaceful place. All the while beautiful Indian / Western music by Prem Joshua is playing, and the market teems with twilight noise.

Traveller Portraits remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Pushkars got me in a fever tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-07:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=6185 2006-02-07T09:05:28Z 2006-02-07T09:05:28Z It's getting harder and harder to tell the travellers from the locals here... more and more prevalent, at certain times of the night or early morning, are those wispy western ghosts who've stretched their love affair with drugs too long... their hair turbanned or a mass of matted locks, I see them occasionally staring from corners, brandishing big sticks reminiscent of Shiva's trident and staring with big hollow eys... All over town a certain graffiti is scrawled in English 'Jews! ... It's getting harder and harder to tell the travellers from the locals here... more and more prevalent, at certain times of the night or early morning, are those wispy western ghosts who've stretched their love affair with drugs too long... their hair turbanned or a mass of matted locks, I see them occasionally staring from corners, brandishing big sticks reminiscent of Shiva's trident and staring with big hollow eys...
All over town a certain graffiti is scrawled in English 'Jews! The comforter has come! AIDS is cured! www. the-comforter.com' I have yet to look this website up, but it seems in Pushkar it is easy to go off the rails a little - for a holy town with an apparent ban of meat, eggs, alcohol and drugs there sure are a lot of junkies... But then again, it is easy to miss this... I only know cause I was told and happened to stumble across a couple of staggering souls last year at 6 a.m when I went for an early breakfast...

Two years ago when I first came I swear this place rang with more innocence.. then again, perhaps it was just me as I'm told this change in tourism has been happening for more than five years now. That what was once a nice shanti town with a few clothing boutiques and jewellery stalls has now exploded into a mass of haggling, colour and sensory overload... so much that I am sure this is why I got sick as soon as I came here this year. I have spent the last two days pretty much in bed with a cough that has hacked at my chest, a cloudy head and no appetite. This has meant very little chance of spending time with Verma-ji, or Chandra (Chanu) and his family and I hope they will understand. After all, I have time to spend, I am easing slowly slowly into this India journey. Venturing out for my first proper, full meal in a few days I have just eaten to the sight of half a dozen Western ragamuffin children skip around in the sand and do yoga - so perhaps there is still innocence here after all...

Pushkars got me in a fever remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Pushkar Perfect? tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-04:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=6068 2006-02-04T13:59:50Z 2006-02-04T13:59:50Z First day in Pushkar after a slightly hellish but amusing night bus journey... sadhu's lighting up chillums in the middle of the bus, in the middle of the night, passengers bringing whisky for the driver among other things and the absolute worst toilet in the world outside in the midnight dhaba (food stall) we stopped at around 1 a.m. Just two bricks to stand on above a dirt floor! Which leads me into a discussion with some other ... First day in Pushkar after a slightly hellish but amusing night bus journey... sadhu's lighting up chillums in the middle of the bus, in the middle of the night, passengers bringing whisky for the driver among other things and the absolute worst toilet in the world outside in the midnight dhaba (food stall) we stopped at around 1 a.m. Just two bricks to stand on above a dirt floor! Which leads me into a discussion with some other people on the bus about our worst toilet experiences, we laugh hysterically cause we'd cry otherwise... This is India. Safe in my little sleeper compartment later on I am awoken by Maya, an Israeli woman, giving an old lady what for as the bent-over being insisted on stroking and prodding Maya's legs before beginning to sing incoherent bhajan's, much to everybody's chagrin. Just to let you know, the whiskey never got consumed as far as I know - Maya saw to that - gotta admire the balls of these Israeli lasses. I would like to think I would be so outspoken if my privacy was being invaded...

So now I am back here again, to my old paradise... I have to say though that I have felt confused and a bit scattered since being here. Perhaps it's the lack of sleep and this cough that has been creeping into ma chest, but I'm seeing the energy here in new ways...

I been seduced by this beauty before. Travellers sitting pretty in all the latest, covered head to toe in trinkets... straggly bohemian Jesus-lookalikes epitomising the image of 'shanti shanti'... bearded bedraggled begging men all grey and rusty and scruffy and expectant, their baksheesh cans ever present by their side... Rajasthani gypsies so mesmerising in all their coloured cloth and jangling bells, their eyes so hawk-like to spot all the new tourist girls in town... One I remember well, Pani (Hindi word for water also) greets me like a long lost friend - I like her a lot actually, she still has a photo of us from two years ago which she carries round in a shoulder bag with all her other faded memories.. she makes me promise not to let any other gypsy woman henna my hands and feet as I am 'hers', but I am happy for this and she looks well actually, with the new baby of a friend all covered in desert dust beside her and grabbing my fingers as I say goodbye...

Maybe we oughta strip all of this colour away eh? That's what I've been feeling, so surrounded by external beauty that it takes me a while to remember to look inside. So many tourist entrepeneurs stake the streets here... Sasson, head of the Chai mafia, see's that no other chai stall can be open past 11 p.m but his... he gives me a smile but I am just no longer the right clientele for him... I don't smoke, tobacco or grass, I don't even drink chai any more! Although perhaps my throat could do with some ginger-lemon lovin'...

Tomorrow, tomorrow, Pushkar, I hope to rediscover your magic. For it is there I know, beneath the veneer of multi coloured cloth, behind the sunglasses of all the holy 'priests' who line the Lotus Lake waiting for business... I know it is here, I've found it before. Tomorrow I visit with Verma-ji, my old yoga / Reiki teacher... I drink much pomegranate juice... I visit with my Indian 'family' and meet North's new baby daughter... Sitting with Chanu (brother of North, both who are good Pushkar friends to me) just now, he tells me his first born son recently died at two and a half months and I ache for him, marvelling at the same time the rugged acceptance of life and death here.

Goodnight, goodnight, holy lotus lake... I am off to find me some good kana (food) and let this tired body sleep...
Namaste

Pushkar Perfect? remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Doin stuff in Delhi tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-02-02:/blog/?domain=ladyware&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=5972 2006-02-02T11:10:31Z 2006-02-02T11:10:31Z So here I AM, setting this blog-thing up to perhaps encourage me to write more, to write, to write, to describe my pictures and give word to my visions. Being here is such a sensory overload, even third time around, that I don't wanna just let it all fade. I wanna aim instead to pen it all, somehow to convey the aroma of incense that seems to have seeped into every crevasse of this country - I sure ... So here I AM, setting this blog-thing up to perhaps encourage me to write more, to write, to write, to describe my pictures and give word to my visions. Being here is such a sensory overload, even third time around, that I don't wanna just let it all fade. I wanna aim instead to pen it all, somehow to convey the aroma of incense that seems to have seeped into every crevasse of this country - I sure as hell haven't burnt any yet but my room smells pretty sweet nonetheless - to try to give life to the myriad of bodies that pass me by every hour. The bored shopkeepers waiting for business, calling calling after me the same old openers 'excuuuuuse me madam' 'hello Germany!' (perhaps it's the blonde hair that mistakes them here) ' nice shawl madame!' 'I see you are smiling today!'

Yes, it is indeed good to be back... I feel so at home, just wish I had more Hindi to bring me that step closer. It's off to the bookshop I feel, to begin my language studies once more. I will look for formal lessons once I am settled in a place for more than a couple of days (Pushkar looks set to be the first of many) but until then perhaps I will chance a bit of learning on my own.

Om Shanti
xxoo

Doin stuff in Delhi remains copyright of the author ladyware, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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