August 23rd, 2007 – INDIA at last …
I will pass on futilities and details why and how Ladakh “was not exactly my cup of tea”… and why the planned trekking needed to be aborted ! Needless to say though that the visit of Buddhist monasteries on top of isolated hills or hidden in lost and (seldom) green valleys was highly interesting. We visited four of them and were lucky enough to experience something special in each one of them: tea sharing with the monks, the initiation of a very young child whose mother had a dream that he is a reincarnation of Buddha (the child will be “tested” in the weeks to come in order to see if his mother’s dream proved to be right..), chanting and praying of monks in a small dark corner of a monastery with not one single tourist around, etc... “Some” stunning landscapes, bathing in the chilly Indus river, participating in local customs and celebrations, getting lost in the middle of huge fields during a hike and ending up picking apricots in huge fruit tree orchards, getting a glimpse of the Dalai Lama who flung through the streets of Leh with his escort have been exciting sights and experiences regardless….
INDIA … Where to begin! This country and the impressions one gathers already in the first 48 hours are so “out of this world” and out of proportions that it is hard to describe the indescribable … I will start as follows: forget about anything you’ve ever heard, read or seen on TV about this huge and vast country of past 1 billion inhabitants. It makes no sense at all to prepare in any way for traveling in this country (except for the well organized traveler who will somewhat want to organize and plan the sights not to miss), as any standards, values, preconceptions one brings along as a Westerner will be shattered become quickly obsolete. One good thing to remember however is that if nothing is constant is this country of extremes… one thing definitely always will and you can count on it anytime: Murphy’s law !! It is ever present on a daily basis: “anything that can go wrong… will”.
A few street scenes:
a baby hardly held, on the lap of his mother who rides sideways on a motorcycle in her sari, squeezed between her husband and another human (all without a helmet of course), in the middle of an insane and rush-hour traffic in New Delhi.
Another child lying on a sidewalk, half a meter away from cars zooming by on a large avenue, his mother cutting grass about 10 meters further away. To me it almost looks like “I hope someone has pity of my child … take him away pleaaaase, care for him, so that I have one mouth less to feed tonight”… cruel world !
Cows lying on the side of big boulevards (not on the sidewalks) and traffic nearly crushing them.
Dogs lying around and looking for “food” on huge piles of garbage on the roadside. Cows chewing on plastic bags (although plastic is supposedly prohibited in this “preventive” country).
Overcrowded autorickshaws risking at any moment to get rid of their load, especially in one of zillions of round-abouts in Delhi often nearly crashing with mad drivers of bigger vehicles and mostly. Surprisingly not much drama to report and hardly ever any incidents to be seen, thanks probably to Shiva, Ganesh, Khali, Krishna and the whole gang !!
But …. WHO AM I TO COMPLAIN anyways, as I once more benefit of a safe haven and little paradise away from the inferno… Thanks to a lovely lady from the Swiss Embassy in Delhi (her boss was my boss ten years ago in Paris…. small world !!!) and her wonderful apartment with its soothing marble floors, a more than decent mattress, lovely furnished rooms and the unforgettable Indian employee who brings in daily sunshine with her smiles and giggles (another “safe” way for Indians to express themselves, as their English is far from understandable most of the time, except for the “upper class” … let’s say…. “upper cast” ).
The heat and humidity of Delhi are legendary and for someone like me with vein problems and allergic to heat waves of any sort, I can’t but agree, on a first degree interpretation, to Maggie Thatcher’s anthem: “if you can’t stand the heat… get out of (hell’s) kitchen !! Yes, most definitely I will get out of here very fast. Mahatma Gandhi’s museum and the quarter of old Delhi will have to wait. Maybe I will come back in October…
On a very positive note… I very much enjoyed the Taj Mahal on the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence Day, August 15th, mostly visited by Indians that day, all dressed in their beautiful and colorful saris and uniforms. The Red Fort was well worth seeing as well.
I am about to begin my “yoga journey”, as I am heading North tomorrow, to the city of Rishikesh, another holy city on the river Ganges in the state of Uttaranchal on the foothills of the Himalaya. There are loads of ashrams and yoga classes to be attended. For those who were wondering… I finally registered for the 1 month course at Sivananda in Kerala in November!
Hope this finds you all “alive and kicking” (as the saying goes) and I send you all my warmest (!!) thoughts from “down under” … India !
Love
Denise
I will pass on futilities and details why and how Ladakh “was not exactly my cup of tea”… and why the planned trekking needed to be aborted ! Needless to say though that the visit of Buddhist monasteries on top of isolated hills or hidden in lost and (seldom) green valleys was highly interesting. We visited four of them and were lucky enough to experience something special in each one of them: tea sharing with the monks, the initiation of a very young child whose mother had a dream that he is a reincarnation of Buddha (the child will be “tested” in the weeks to come in order to see if his mother’s dream proved to be right..), chanting and praying of monks in a small dark corner of a monastery with not one single tourist around, etc... “Some” stunning landscapes, bathing in the chilly Indus river, participating in local customs and celebrations, getting lost in the middle of huge fields during a hike and ending up picking apricots in huge fruit tree orchards, getting a glimpse of the Dalai Lama who flung through the streets of Leh with his escort have been exciting sights and experiences regardless….
INDIA … Where to begin! This country and the impressions one gathers already in the first 48 hours are so “out of this world” and out of proportions that it is hard to describe the indescribable … I will start as follows: forget about anything you’ve ever heard, read or seen on TV about this huge and vast country of past 1 billion inhabitants. It makes no sense at all to prepare in any way for traveling in this country (except for the well organized traveler who will somewhat want to organize and plan the sights not to miss), as any standards, values, preconceptions one brings along as a Westerner will be shattered become quickly obsolete. One good thing to remember however is that if nothing is constant is this country of extremes… one thing definitely always will and you can count on it anytime: Murphy’s law !! It is ever present on a daily basis: “anything that can go wrong… will”.
A few street scenes:
a baby hardly held, on the lap of his mother who rides sideways on a motorcycle in her sari, squeezed between her husband and another human (all without a helmet of course), in the middle of an insane and rush-hour traffic in New Delhi.
Another child lying on a sidewalk, half a meter away from cars zooming by on a large avenue, his mother cutting grass about 10 meters further away. To me it almost looks like “I hope someone has pity of my child … take him away pleaaaase, care for him, so that I have one mouth less to feed tonight”… cruel world !
Cows lying on the side of big boulevards (not on the sidewalks) and traffic nearly crushing them.
Dogs lying around and looking for “food” on huge piles of garbage on the roadside. Cows chewing on plastic bags (although plastic is supposedly prohibited in this “preventive” country).
Overcrowded autorickshaws risking at any moment to get rid of their load, especially in one of zillions of round-abouts in Delhi often nearly crashing with mad drivers of bigger vehicles and mostly. Surprisingly not much drama to report and hardly ever any incidents to be seen, thanks probably to Shiva, Ganesh, Khali, Krishna and the whole gang !!
But …. WHO AM I TO COMPLAIN anyways, as I once more benefit of a safe haven and little paradise away from the inferno… Thanks to a lovely lady from the Swiss Embassy in Delhi (her boss was my boss ten years ago in Paris…. small world !!!) and her wonderful apartment with its soothing marble floors, a more than decent mattress, lovely furnished rooms and the unforgettable Indian employee who brings in daily sunshine with her smiles and giggles (another “safe” way for Indians to express themselves, as their English is far from understandable most of the time, except for the “upper class” … let’s say…. “upper cast” ).
The heat and humidity of Delhi are legendary and for someone like me with vein problems and allergic to heat waves of any sort, I can’t but agree, on a first degree interpretation, to Maggie Thatcher’s anthem: “if you can’t stand the heat… get out of (hell’s) kitchen !! Yes, most definitely I will get out of here very fast. Mahatma Gandhi’s museum and the quarter of old Delhi will have to wait. Maybe I will come back in October…
On a very positive note… I very much enjoyed the Taj Mahal on the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence Day, August 15th, mostly visited by Indians that day, all dressed in their beautiful and colorful saris and uniforms. The Red Fort was well worth seeing as well.
I am about to begin my “yoga journey”, as I am heading North tomorrow, to the city of Rishikesh, another holy city on the river Ganges in the state of Uttaranchal on the foothills of the Himalaya. There are loads of ashrams and yoga classes to be attended. For those who were wondering… I finally registered for the 1 month course at Sivananda in Kerala in November!
Hope this finds you all “alive and kicking” (as the saying goes) and I send you all my warmest (!!) thoughts from “down under” … India !
Love
Denise
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