So long

My time here in India is steadily drawing to a close and this will probably be my last post. I have a few days left working at Maitri and then I hit the road. Not the road home yet. No. There is still far to much to do and see here. In a few days I board a train bond for Haridwar in Northwestern India. I am going to the elephant reserve, the yoga capital of the universe, and the mountains. After that I am off to Nepal with some friends. It will be a few weeks before I board a plane for the States. I would like to be able to summarize my experience here into a few bullet points about what I have learned. But that would be like trying to summarize India itself in a few sentences, and that is impossible. Its roots are too deep, diverse, and intertwining. I am a little aprehensive about returing to the States; where we have so much. If we determine the validity of a reality by how many people are experiencing said reality and would agree that it is how the life is, then the reality experienced by those living in India is much more real than the one I have grown up in. One sixth, probably more, of the world population lives in India. Reality as experienced by Indians is proportionally much more real than my American life. If we ride this trian of logic to its conclusion then spending your days in the fields under the hot sun is much more real than working at a desk in an office. Cooking your meals over smouldering patties of cow dung that you have pressed yourself is much more real than sitting in a nice resturant and being waited upon. Squating and releaving yourself in a field, behind a building, or on the sidewalk is much more real than indoor plumbing. Poverty, disease, abuse, and neglect are much more real than abundance, health, care, and nurturing. Not that everyone suffers in India. A great many are healthy and happy regardless of their economic status. But it makes you think for sure. Perhaps I, we, should be more grateful for what we have. Or perhaps we do not need all that we have. Or maybe what we have is not what we really need. There is a lot of goodness in the world. Here in India you will find kindness and hospitality from the poorest of places. However, there is still a lot of room in the world for more kindness and brotherly/sisterly love. There is great need for it.

My gratitude and thanks to all the Winnie Ma'am, General Sir, Sonal Ma'am, the Maitri staff, and all the people of India. This has been incredible.

The Pink City

I have thought long and hard but I still cannot seem to find words that adequately describe the surreal charm of the city of Jaipur. It is a bustling city that sprawls as far as the eye can see. Located deep in Raghastan where it is much drier and desert like. It is an ancient, yet modern city. Case in point, across from my hotel there was a walled enclosure that looked several hundred years old. The walls were high enough that I could not see what was beyond them, even from my hotel's restaurant rooftop. However, poking above the crumbling walls was a satellite dish. Whatever, or whoever, is on the other side of those ancient fortifications has satellite cable. Go figure eh.

Jaipur has a tradition of painting its buildings pink. Though most of these have sun bleached to a fine tangerine orange. The entire walled off section that comprises the old city is this color and is full of all the shops you could imagine. I had my first real experience shopping in India in the bazaar lined avenues of the old city in Jaipur. The shop keeper will take you in the back of his shop and sit you in the most comfortable spot. He will insist that you take some chai (tea) and then proceed to try his absolute hardest to get you to buy something. They are pretty good to. I walked away with a few trinkets that will go to friends and family. Bartering is not my strong suit but I think I did alright.

One of the best things about Jaipur is the hills. Delhi, and just about everything for hundreds of kilometers around it, is absolutely flat. Honestly it drives me insane some days. I need some texture to my landscape. Jaipur is ringed by hills filled with the most amazing temples, hill forts, and lonely shacks occupied by Hindu holy men. I spent an afternoon wandering the cobblestone paths in these hills listening to the songs and prayers of the holy men as they were broadcast over loudspeakers. Eventually I found myself passing through the temple of the sun god and on my way to the other side of the hills to Galta. Galta is a temple complex devoted to Hanuman, the monkey god. It is inhabited by hundreds, maybe thousands, of monkeys. At first I was a little uneasy. Monkeys have big teeth. When I turned corners in the temples monkeys ran every which way. Eventually I got used to them and walked about freely. Except up one path. There was a large, and very aggressive monkey there attacking all the others. I thought it best to give him some distance. I am sorry there are no pictures of the temple of monkeys, but you need permission to take photos and the monkeys tend to attack cameras. You can see the temple off in the distance in the canyon the path leads to.

Across town and in the northern hills is the Amber Fort. It is a short bus ride there. By the way I love the local buses. It is so much more fun to be among the people than to be on a tourist bus being guided everywhere. Anyways. The valley the fort is in is ringed with defensive walls, which of course I climbed. Come on. It is a several hundred year old defensive wall on a high hill top. It has to be climbed. I hung out with the young India boys up there for a bit and then headed back down. The fort itself I did not see much of. I walked up the stone path to it with all the other pilgrims, past the snake charmers and trinket sellers, to the gates. But since it was a festival that day I decided not to wait in line for hours to get in and decided I had seen enough.

Another important thing to mention is the elephants. There are so many elephants up at Amber fort. Elephant rides are offered up to the fort, but I opted not to ride one out of concern for their treatment. Elephants should be free I think. Though sadly there remains little habitat for them to be free in. Of course I guess I am a hypocrite. Should not all domestic animals be free? Anyways, elephants are amazing creatures that need protection/some space where they can be left alone and thrive. I walked among and alongside them in absolute awe, but with some sadness. I hope they are being treated well.

A quick train ride later and I was back in Delhi. There is nothing like seeing the Indian country side at sunset as you hang out of a train. The safety standards are a little different here and it seems to be alright to stand at the door and watch the world fly by.