[February 2007] First Week in India!

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 to catch 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!

Yesterday morning we hired a car and driver and headed off to Vridivan and Mathura, the birthplace and childhood playground of Krishna. Day after day we see that all of India is very poverty stricken, polluted and corrupt. Our driver was shaken down 2 or 3 times for “toll entrance” to various parts of the 2 cities we went to. For the 3rd day in a row the sun is not shining. When we arise the city, which ever city we happen to be in, is covered with a haze-like fog , of what I believe is car exhaust. We arrive in Vridivan, and are handed off to a fast talking “guide” who did not speak much english, and that we did not request. Our driver said he would show us 5 temples. After a 1 minute visit to 1 temple, he led us through back alleys and began to tell us a well rehearsed tale of 2000 widows, 1000 cows and 3000 sahdus who were fed by this charity. He opened the door to a building and we peeked inside a few women (not 2000), and were then led to a sort of temple. Once inside, he handed us off to another holy type man who spoke much better english. He ran us throught the widows/cows/sadhus story again and again and asked for a donation of 1150 rupees ($25). We are paying only $12 for the car and driver all day. We made a small donation and were pressured even more. We just got up and walked out. Our “guide” led us back to the car and suggested a tip for himself. We would normally give 10-20 rupees, but gave 50 to get him off our back. He scoffed at us and yelled at our driver. We left as a small crowd of very poor people gathered around the car, begging. This entire episode took onl;y about 10 minutes.

Once in the car we told the driver “no good” and that we had reseached the places we wanted to visit and let’s get going. We went to Gita Mandir, a temple with the entire Bhagawad Gita carved into a tall pillar of red standstone. Laurie was approached by a 14 year old girl who wanted to converse, not beg. It was a great exchange. I hope Laurie will write and email update about this. It’s an amazing story if she’ll share it.

Next we went to the ISHKON templeand ashram  where things were in full swing. This is the main Hare Krishna ashram in the world.  There was chanting and tons of visitors. After checking out the temple we were eager to find the cafe, where we had read about the great food. Well, it was one of the best meals so far. With a full belly we continued on and arrived at Krishna’s birthplace, an immense and heavily armed-guarded complex. I stood in line for about 10-15 minutes then the guads pulled me out and led me to the front of the line along with foriegner from Italy. Laurie had been waiting inside as there were hardly any women in the womens line. It was nice inside, no hassle. We visited around for while and decided to leave. As we left the complex I stopped and talked to a few young Indians, using my basic Hindi terms. Once outside I began talking with one of the gurads for just a moment when we were approached by a young (20’s) man who struck up a conversation with us. We were also surrounded by a few more armed guards. The young man asked a few questions then opened his jacket to reveal he was with the armed guard service (police). I’m thinking to myself oh no. But then again I haven’t done anything wrong. But, we are in a foreign country. I was extremely nervous, but only for a few seconds. The young man continued the conversation in very good english and wanted to know about the quality of our visit, and how pleased he was to have us and was everything OK. I felt very relieved and we talked for a while as he continued to impress both us and his armed contingent with his english. 

We stopped at a few more places and headed back to Agra to prepare for our overnight train trip to Allahabad. More on that next time. peace.