People we meet...

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Sometimes I am meant to be at the right place at exactly the right time. Which is hard to understand when I am sick, which I have been for the last 48 hours. Not terribly sick...and by no means debilitatingly sick..but just sick enough that I have not felt like my surprisingly cheerful self, and did not quickly recover after 2 hours of sleep from a 16 hour bus ride.

Which means that by the time I got to Udaipur after the ride, I was spent. After convincing myself that I could not spend the entire day in bed, I headed out the door to the City Palace, and eandered semi-aimlessly trying to be interested in the rich history of this beautiful place. But in fat, found it hard to muster much more than a general vague glance over the horizon of the view from the Palace. At which point, frusterated with myself, I gave in...and went back to my hotel to sleep off the next 5 hours.

I give this rather bland overview of my day...because I was actually meant to be sick...or rather to have nothing left to do except for sit on the rooftop of my hotel, nursing a bottle of water, and watching the sun set. Which is spectacular. As a glimpse, picture a lake, whose ripples give off a glistening effect like tiny diamonds that glimmer when a hand moves in slight motion. Sitting atop the water, a white palace, brilliant with its own magnificence, casts shadows upon the water as the sun begins to set. Watching the sun descend behind the mountains, a slow glow of pink, then slight purple turns into grey as the airs thins and cools. At this same time, the waiter tells me that I am mising a dance performance below...and I quickly move to watch two women, complete in India regalia, turning and shimming to a drum beat in a courtyard three buildings over.

This evening was capped by chatting for a couple of hours with a family (father and son combo with son's girlfriend) who are traveling through India and Africa for two months. I was transfixed by our conversation, which spanned the son's interest in getting more Americans to take time off after high school to travel...to architecture to our common state (Colorado).

After going to bed reading a chapter of Shantaram about the proverbial head nod which dominates the communication structure of India, I awoke at 6 to glance out my window and notice the sunrise. Quick not to miss another opportunity at good light, I hurried out to the roof where I was then joined by another American (and even another former Coloradoan) who was a professional photographer documenting India for his next book. We were joking that we were in the most romantic place we had ever been-alone...and he remarked that it was so romantic that he was falling in love with himself. I was amused.

As the dawn hours turned later, my friends from the previous evening joined us on the roof...and I was struck by the immediate sense of belonging that had occured in such a quick period of time. And I suppose this might be one of the greatest things about traveling alone. The willingness to create a new sense of oneself and one's experience that is not fixed in the past, nor in the future...but entirely in the present.

And as I head on, this is one of the things that I hope I continue to take with me.

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Comments

[Ralphy]

Get Well Soon
Hello Marni, Get well soon ! I await to hear about your coming to Mumbai ! Chag Sameyah! Best Wishes, Ralphy and family

[Morey]

A Synchronous Good Time
Isn't it incredible how like minds, like souls and if we're lucky kindrid spirits just show up in the same tiny place on earth at the same time in all existence to share a brief, memorable moment in a beautiful setting above a diamond laced lake and a wonderful, sharing connection of folks enjoying life to the max? Isaac, Rach and I enjoyed our time together too Marni, and I think it only took two tries to find someone we all knew personally. I'll bet and I hope we meet again. You are a delight. Cheers!