Sai Baba

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It’s raining today, the second day of rain since I’ve been here. Never before have I seen a drop of rain during my visits to Nepal. The thunder was actually very scary, the way it echoed between the concrete buildings. It’s very dreary out, and now to add to my stomach ailment I seem to be developing a cold, so all I want to do is lie in bed and drink tea. Pretty soon I’m going to break out the Cipro and Sudafed. No reason to be tough, I guess. At least I’m getting all of this illness out of the way before my trek!

This morning before breakfast Renuka took me to her neighbor’s house, a little old woman who has a shrine for Sathya Sai Baba, the spiritual leader that many Hindus here seem to follow. He even has his own website: www.saibaba.org with a gift shop and everything. Deepti once called him a “living god,” and Renuka seems to have complete faith in him now. One of the miracles he creates is this ash-like substance called vibuthi. Renuka took me to her neighbor’s shrine to show me the piles of ash on the face of Sai Baba on all of the framed pictures she has of him. Supposedly if you eat the ash, you will be cured of all your ailments.

The whole shrine thing is so foreign to me. I suppose it’s not much different from Christians praying to statues of Jesus and Mary, but for a Jew, making offerings to pictures of gods and little statues is totally foreign.

We knelt in front of the shrine, and her neighbor said something in Nepali I did not understand. They both said a little prayer to Sai Baba, and Renuka gave offerings of apples and flowers. Then her neighbor gave us each tikka from the miraculous ash on our hair lines and handed me a chocolate candy. Maybe Sai Baba will cure me of this traveler’s diarrhea!

Late this morning I went to the U.S. Embassy for a “security briefing.” It took me longer to get into the building than for the briefing, which basically warned us to stay off the buses, be wary of pick pockets and guys on motorbikes snatching your purse, and house robberies. He said someone was robbed recently—the robbers roamed through the house for 45 minutes trying on clothes, opening every drawer and closet. It wasn’t until 25 minutes after they left that the police turned up. Typical in Kathmandu. They also reminded us that the Maoists are considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. {smirk}

The Embassy is this $8 billion building that is probably the most extravagant place in Nepal. It’s built so sturdy that it could probably be hit by a nuclear bomb and still withstand it—it was quite a feat just to pull the heavy doors open. There were sparkling “Western” bathrooms, a nice café area, elevators, wireless internet, sculptures, and a beautiful garden. Very in your face, typical American extravagance. And let’s not forget the photos of the 3 stooges—Bush, Cheney, and Rice. But I did what I was supposed to—got my Embassy badge, my “briefing”, and took off. I actually ran into a friend I had made the last time I was here—a guy named Sudeep who went to school in the U.S. and is back in Nepal working in the fraud department of the Embassy. He was a lot of fun—the one night I went out with him and another friend, they took me to a shady dance club, a drive down Freak Street where all the Nepali transvestites put on a nightly fashion show, and then handed me a bag of weed as a gift when he dropped me off. We exchanged mobile numbers today—he will be good to know when I start interviewing women who work in strip clubs and cabin restaurants (where a woman comes with your meal) as part of my project with Faruq. I have a feeling he’s well versed in that area.

Out into the rain again—have to pay for my plane ticket from Kathmandu to Delhi, en route to Rome next month!

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Comments

[Bethany]

Shrines
Lol, Christians don't pray to statues of Jesus and they don't pray to Mary, at all. Catholics do but I don't know that they pray "to" statues. Just thought I'd clear that up. And I also want to say that as a Fulbright hopeful for 08/09, the reality of your blog is very informative and a part of applying to developing countries that people don't really wrap their heads around until they're actually immersed.

[Femme99]

i didn't mean they pray "to" statues, but the statues are a representation of the god to which they are praying. poor choice of words, i admit. yes, they don't tell you the real sides of living in the developing world at the pre-departure orientation. but despite all of the challenges, it's worth it. good luck!