Blogs from Gujarat, India, Asia - page 23

I had The wonderful fortune to be invited to yet another family celebration in performing the second ritual of Aaryas of the 16 rituals in all. This took place in a small town, however, still busy and bussling with people going about their daily lives. The town of Dhansura came alive with an influx of population of the Kutch-Kadava Patel Caste to perform the second ritual of the Blessing of the Feotus. We were bestowed by the presence and pravashan (similar to a lecture or sermon) by Swamiji of the Vanprastha Aashram - Gujurat. Although I did not understand Gujurati, I was able to experience the essense of the ritual and be in the moment. Havan was performed as it was in the ritual of the wedding ceremony previously attended in Baroda City. The women dressed ... read more

Yesterday was a very different New Years for me. As we travelled along the Indian road via Rajkot to Gir Forest to see Asiatic Lions I was overcome with illness, like I have not experienced before while traveling here in India. I have struggled at the most to digest all the cooked food and have become at times lethargic and heavy. All the travel books speak of racing to the loo being explosive at both ends, well my struggles have been just trying stay regular as my daily diet in Australia is of raw foods. But yesterday, my body was truly not my own. Every bump in the road aggravated me. I was not able to hold a conversation with anyone and just felt like retreating to another world. When we stopped along the road for ... read more

Today I passed through the Topic of Cancer and saw endless Castor Oil crops..a totally noxious weed in Australia. What an experience to drive over the Kutch Desert toward Little Rann Sanctuary. This place is famous for its birds in the middle of the desert and many migratory birds flock here including Flamingo. But I did not see any of those this time. This place is an amount of water that is left from the monsoon rains that does not evaporate in the middle of the desert. Truly an oasis. Camels, buffalo, herdsman and their goats and sheep come here to drink. The desert was once a big inland river and in 1879 an earthquake diverted the river into Pakistan, hense now a desert. I visited Hodka Village, a kind of eco tourism venture. Local tribes ... read more

AHMEDABAD Sulla strada per il mare ci troviamo ad arrivare la mattina presto, insonnoliti e morti de freddo dopo la nottata su un osceno sleeping bus, alla capitale dello stato del Gujarat, Ahmedabad. Dopo essere stati rintontiti ulterioriomente dalla frotta di guidatori di rickshaw che ci proponevano 1.347 destinazioni diverse, urlando e spingendo, decidiamo di prendere un ulteriore sleeping bus notturno. Lasciamo quindi i nostri bagagli presso l'ufficietto dell'agenzia e l'intera giornata risulta quindi totalmente disponibile davanti ai nostri occhi (ancora relativamente socchiusi). Non abbiamo dubbi!!! Il tempo di una veloce colazione (con lettura di giornale fresco di stampa) e via verso la nostra destinazione: il Gandhi Ashram! E' proprio qui ad Ahmedabad che Gandhi stabili' il suo "quartier generale" per circa venti anni (prima di spostarsi a... read more

Xmas was a bit of a non event for us. No meat, no beer but all the curry that a man needs. We did a spot of shopping on our only day off, but apart from that was a pretty quiet day. The week following the conference was great. We could sleep in late, then arrive at school by 9, do a couple of lesson observations, feedback to the teachers about things that they could do better. We were expecting to have more time in the classroom with the children but unfortunately this didn't really occur. We took a couple more insets with various departments of the Raisan School and they were so pleased for us to be there, and welcomed anything that we suggested. As the school is still being built, there are over 500 ... read more