Pushkar

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It's been a long time since we gave news of what we're up to, its so easy to drift into Indian time, no time, days just slip by even though we do so much. We're in Pushkar in Rajasthan which a state in the north east of India near the Pakistan border. After a long night's train ride from Old Delhi, and a 4 hour delay waiting for the train on the platform, we're now in a very beautiful town built around the sacred lake of Brahma, one of the trinity of gods at the helm of Hinduism. The other two gods, Shiva and Vishnu, have thousands of temples dedicated to them all over the country but Brahma has only one here in Pushkar, thus its spiritual importance. Its a pilgrimage place of high importance, we see them bathing in the lake doing their Pujas and rituals, even the ashes of Gandhi were thrown into the lake as have been many other 'great souls'. Apparantly this act relieves the soul of future reincarnations, leading it to Nirvana and freedom.

Its lovely and warm during the day, but at night the temperature falls dramatically and it gets really cold, this is the desert climate evn though the Thar desert is the most fertile in the world, a bit of irrigation and it grows hence the fields of the famous rose of Pushkar that surround the town.

The first couple of days we spent in rooms right on the ghats( the steps that lead down into the lake) in amongst the pilgrims and temples, but we were woken every morning at 4am as they blasted out their Bhajans and chants, bells ringing and general noise. Now we've got 2 great rooms on the other side of the lake in Radhika Palace which is quiet and has gardens wher we can play cricket and football and lounge around doing homework and stuff like that. The days unfold, we walk the ghats taking in the colours of the pilgrims, the saris of the women and the loud turbans of the men, or we walk in the fields or up the hills to the perched temples. The foods good, the boys eat like ogres, and they've even started doing Nagara drum lessons with Narenda, a very nice teacher of the Rajasthani drums. Alls good, heres some more impressions from the boys......

Sadhu: In Old Delhi Station we waited ages for the train to come, which dad says happens often even though they don't have strikes and things like that. Shabti and i amused ourselves by peeshooting the huge rats that scuttle about the platforms. The train eventually arrived at 2 in the morning and we took our sleeper berth and slept well till early arrival at Ajmer. We took an ambassador taxi to pushkar, an old type of car, to an evn older pretty town around a sacred lake. We did a Puja to Brahma and offered him flowers and they put orange powder on our foreheads. We saw big black faced monkeys for the first time and they made signs to us of welcome as we entered the town, every is nice here all the people say hello and smile. There are loads of shops full of colour and clothes, i'm going to buy a maharadja baggy trousers, cool. We eat often in the rooftop restaurants but because titi is so chilly we now often eat in Om Shiva buffet which is good and cheap and not so spicy. Dad's a bit sick with a cold, but getting better now. I'm also eating up lots of books, you can exchange old books for new ones in the bazaar, now i'm reading one about a girl who dances for Shiva and has maguic powers, its really good. I saw my first cobras with the snake charmers, they played their music and the snake danced up out of his basket, itwas really impressive!!! There are lots of animals here, monkeys, cows and big bulls in the street, turtles and funky long prehistoric fish in the lake, peacocks and bats, kingfishers, sick looking dogs, goats, so many. I love it here, we've made many good friends and have great fun.

Shanti: I loved shooting the rats, even if all the rubbish stank around the station.We played cards and then the train arrived. In Pushkar there are lots of animals and lots of colours. I built a big sandcastle in the sand in the garden of the guesthouse. I play drums with 2 sticks and 2 big round drums. We watch sunset on the ghats, its big and red. its cold at night but now i'm in a t-shirt so it ok. I love the spicy Indian food, its so good!! The indians love watching me draw, they're so curious. They also all say Namaste, hello, and are very nice. We're all very well. I love it here.

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Comments

[vanessa beucher]

hi!!!
salut les amis!!! bon je suis contente de voir que tout va pour le mieux...c'est le 1er message que j'envoie mais ça ne veut pas dire que je ne vais pas sur votre blog, j'y fais un petit tour de temps en temps...bon très intéressants les commentaires historiques & les impressions des boys...Zia as tu commencé à faire des photos? bon voilà, de mon côté, tudo bom mais ce sera peut être dans un petit mail...gros bisous à tous les 4!!! Van