[Feb 2007] Calm in the Midst of Chaos

Wow, it’s hard to believe this is only our 4th day in India. You cannot believe the scene in Delhi. Mostly a mix of very loud traffic horns and the constant yelling of the persistent touts (con men) all day long, with a break from about 1-4 AM. The poverty here is also unimagineable unless you have been to this part of the world. We are mostly calm in the center of all this chaos, in part 

I beleve because of our yoga practice. Each day we awake earlier and earlier. Today at about 230-3 AM. The last couple about 330-4 AM. We do our Yoga and then head out into this seemingly unreal world. Right now we are outside the Taj Mahal and it is foggy, so the Taj was not a good view today. The city is Agra, more polluted but less noisy than Delhi. FYI- people use the streets to go to the bathroom, anyplace anytime. Yesterday, we boarded a train at 6 AM from Delhi to Agra. The ride was wonderful as we were served tea and breakfast and more tea and then juice.  All in about 2 hours time and for about $5 US.  Also yesterday we visited Fatehpur Sikri, one of the most anticipated places for me to see. We hired a driver for 4 hours for $12 US.  Upon our arrival we were inundated with touts like we haven’t experienced. Hard to imagine compared to the relentlessness of those in Delhi and Agra train station. Fatehpur Sikri is a huge, red sandstone city-palace ruins. Once inside and finally broken down until we hired a “guide”, we were followed by a small group of kids selling postacards who must have asked us 100 times to buy them. The ruins were beautiful but the short time we were there was totally draining. Across the courtyard was the palace masjid (mosque) where the touts were 10 times worse. We ended up worn out riding back to Agra and getting some good video footage of the trip back of local villages. We ate ($2 US) at our hotel ($10 US per night) and then took a nap at about 4 PM. When we woke up around 8 PM we decided to go to bed. 

To sum it up the last 3 days have been full of a constant background noise of cars, trucks, buses, auto rickshaws, all with their horns blowing, all of the time. Add to that the un-ending voices of the touts trying to get you to take a ride, buy something you do not want or need and the air a sweet smell of fire burning, urine, incense, food, and EXHAUST. 

Laurie is busy working on an email for everyone right now, maybe with a description of our visit to the Lakshmi Narayana temple in Delhi. Namaskar!

Our final day in the Agra area. Yesterday we saw the Taj Mahal in very foggy conditions. Today we hired a car to travel to Mathura and Vrindivan for the day. This is a holy area for Hindus where the legends of Krishna’s birthplace and childhood took place. Vridivan is also a place where many (9000+) widows are residing (rent the movie WATER). We hope eo ctch the widows doing Bhajan (Kirtan without the dancing). Tonight we travel by train to our next stop Allahabad, at the junction of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers. This is also a very holy place for Hindus. The Kumba Mela just took place last couple of weeks, where many Hindus gather to get together with their gurus and camp out for a month.

Namaste  (we were told today that this means “I respect you” and that the 
hand gesture with palms together at the heart loosly defines as, “I have no 
weapons”)   

We realized after the last email that we should back up and let people know 
we are traveling in India and Nepal for 4 weeks.  (My coworkers have heard 
this many times!) We left Manch airport (Sat Feb 3) and arrived Sun night. 
We flew into Delhi and spent a couple days there and then took a train to 
Agra, where are are now.  We went to Fatehpur Sikri, Mathura, and Vrindavan 
from here.  We have only been in India 5 days and it feels like much more – 
not in a bad way but because of all that we have taken in.  It was too much 
to even try to process at first, but I am better able to journal and talk 
about it now.

We’ve seen lots of very poor people who seem very happy.  Lots of smiles 
everwhere.  We’ve had some great conversations with people on the streets 
about Indian culture, politics, and religion.  When talking about all the 
different religions and living in harmony (around here they mostly do but 
not up north near the border!), one man told us that they “live and lets 
others live”.  He was also telling us they can’t have laws or rules about 
driving because they could not be enforced but some how it works for them.  
We’ve only seen one dog get killed but no other accidents yet and the roads 
are crazy!  His words of wisdom about being in the streets were that when 
traveling they just “go and lets others go”.

Being here forces you to be present in the moment.  The yoga has helped – 
especially for David (for those of you who know the “old Dave”).  I am also 
aware that as soon as I think oh that smells bad then I think oh that smells 
good, as soon as I feel frustrated then I am laughing and as soon as I feel 
one thing I am instantly brought to another place.  It is all present just 
as it is at home but I guess just more intense and it happens quicker.  We 
have been exhausted at the end of the day.  I think Amanda and Andy told us, 
you love it and hate it at the same time.  It’s alot of work to be here and 
then it’s so easy.

We have been getting up early 4 or 5 each morning to do our yoga practice 
before sunrise (mostly because we can’t sleep anymore since we go to bed so 
early.)  That feels great to live without the clock and follow what our 
bodies are telling us – when to get up, when to eat, ect.  At times I forget 
what day it is and we rarely know what time it is – it doesn’t matter 
(unless we need to get the train!).

We havent met any other Americans yet.  We have seen lots of tourists and 
foreigners, but no one from America yet – well, except from the plane ride 
from the states.  In the Delhi airport we actually met someone from 
Sanborton.  There’s a group of people from all over that came to study with 
the guru connected with Sant Bani.  We have been welcomed everywhere we go 
and get stared at often.  People, especially kids, like to touch us.  David 
gets lots of comments about his beard from Indian men.  He was told he looks 
like Osho and called maharaj and holy man – very funny!  Someone told us 
they feel lucky when they see an American.  We are the lucky ones!   We are 
also reminded that almost everyone in the world speaks more then one 
language and most Americans speak only one!   The few words we know in Hindi 
go a long way though!

We are including some pictues – street shots in Delhi and Agra and the Taj 
Mahal in the fog.  We also uploaded some to David’s blog that you can check 
out from his yoga website http://www.sharingyoga.com  and click on the travelblog.

shanti,
Laurie & David