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Published: December 10th 2004
hello all 😊 well i have left mcleod ganj and made my way to kurukshetra- where my yoga friend ajay lives with his family. i bade a fond farwell to mcleod ganj on monday evening and embarked on what could be considered the worst bus ride i have ever been on 😞 okay maybe that is a little extreme. it was VERY bumpy, dusty and dirty. and the seats were so cramped that my legs were falling asleep. the overhead bins did not close properly so the doors were banging and luggage kept falling out. this bus would not have been allowed to operate in the u.s. but i am india- so the laws are different here. haha. anyhow- the bus was going to delhi and i was getting off 2 1/2 hours earlier in kurukshetra. i was told i would arrive around 4:30/5am. well the bus driver was driving like a bat out of hell and i arrived in kurukshetra at 3:30am! luckily it was a busy road and these nice indians who were running a food stand got me a chair and gave me some peanuts as i waited for ajay to pick me up. i had his cell number so i called him and told him i was early. what an experience.
so my first few days in kurukshetra have been not the greatest because i have been kind of sick. not sick bacteria sick- but constipated really bad and feeling lethargic. i could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong- but then it dawned on me that the antibiotics i took for my giardia killed all the bacteria- good and bad- in my stomach and that my digestive system was stopped up as a result. in america they tell you to take tons of lactobascillus along with antibiotics to replenish the flora in your stomach. no one told me that here and i kind of forgot about it. now i know and i got some super potent lactobascillus and i am getting better. thank god! and now i am getting to finally experience this historical town.
kurukshetra is an interesting place. it’s like delhi but smaller, not as crowded and not as dirty. ajay said I am most likely the only foreigner in all of kurukshetra! it’s funny- when I dress in my American clothes (jeans, t-shirt) everyone can tell i am a foreigner. but when i wear a salwar (punjabi outfit of a long dresslike top and pants underneath) everyone says i look indian! several people have commented after meeting me that if i did not speak to betray my heritage they would think i am from india! but is is funny to see that when they realize i am not from india i get all this attention- like i am on display. it's a very strange feeling sometimes.
ajay is teaching me much about the indian culture and ways of life here. it is very interesting and i am very glad i am able to experience life here with an indian family versus just visiting india as a tourist. i am learning about day to day things like how they bathe, prepare food, etc... as well as how they dress. we went to visit ajay's brother who is an ayurvedic doctor and nearby was his sister in law's dress shop where i ordered 4 salwar outfits to be made for me. they are made up of a long tunic like dress and a pair of pants. they are quite nice 😊 next week we are going to an indian wedding- which should be a wonderful experience! and after that we will visit the village that ajay grew up in- and he told me i will be the first foreigner to ever have visited it. i am definitely going to be a fish out of water there. it is going to be very different for me!
ajay is also teaching me about ayurveda and the ways of living here that at times are very different from america. i love learning about it all- and it is interesting to see that already based on my reading i know much of what he is telling me. some of what he tells me i agree with and some i do not. but the whole point of this trip was to learn about the things i think would be beneficial to take home with me- and to leave the rest of what isn't right for me in india 😊 but it is funny to see that my studying has already taught me a lot on my own. which reminds me of one of my favorite astrologers- michael lutin's forecast for pisces that said i don't have to run away to india to find the things in myself- but i probably will anyhow. haha. touche!
one of the things i know i won't take with me is ajay's devout belief in hinduism. as many of you know- i think the religions of the world are all about the same god and that god just had to reach different people in different ways due to cultural differences, languages, climates, etc... the essence of mysticsm is just that. but ajay is a devout hindu. which is wonderful and totally fine- but i did not come to india to become a hindu. i came to india to see the commonalities in the religions so that maybe one day they can be shown to the world and we can all see how we worship the same god and that there is no need to fight over who's religion is the true, right one.
the things i do not like about india are beginning to hit me 😞 as devout and ritualistic they are about cleaning the body, eating, etc... they are not good about public cleanliness. they just toss garbage on the ground everywhere! i cannot count how many times i have had garbage and i ask a shopkeeper or restaurant owner for a garbage and they tell me to just toss it outside 😞 ajay's family has a dustbin that they accumulate garbage in but then they just toss it over the side of their building in an empty lot below. i asked what happens to the garbage after that and he said nothing! how horrifying 😞 no wonder there are so many parasites and diseases here. ajay said once he wanted to clean the park nearby but he could not get any support so he gave up. it seems here that they think one person cannot make a difference so they give up. how sad. ajay said each neighborhood has a goverment official that is given servants to do public work- like cleaning- but that typically the official uses the servants for personal reasons- and nothing gets cleaned around the neighborhood! i asked why someone does not report him-- and ajay said that perhaps the official in his neighborhood has 4 servants he uses personally- and that the official above him has 7 and the one above him has 10. he says there is no use in saying anything.
i also am sad to see the animals and how they are treated 😞 the cows just roam around eating trash. there is one cow in the back lot of ajay's house that was caught by a neighbor and he feeds it and her recently born calf and takes her milk. ajay said this life for the cow is preferrable to roaming the streets and eating garbage. but the cow is tied up to a 10 foot chain! it's living space is a circle with a circumference of perhaps the size of a small kitchen in america. what a sad life for the cow 😞 and ajay's family has a doberman pincher that is tied up most of the time or he is let on the deck upstairs untied. but the dog is not a playful family dog really. and the dog is very agressive- probably because of how he is kept. i told ajay i wanted to pet him and he was shocked! i did pet him and all he could do was try to bite my hand as though playing- because it is the only way he knows how to play. the dog has no tenderness.
what else do i not like? well i love the food- that is the food that i can eat. i don't eat dairy or heavy fried things- and that covers about half the indian food here. but the stuff i can eat i LOVE. but ajay's family likes to cook heavy and i think they want to fatten me up. i don't like that at all 😞 at first i felt bad about saying anything but i finally did say what i eat and what i don't so that i don't have to feel sick while i am here 😞
the other day i got really overwhelmed by all the new things that were being introduced to me by being in kurukshetra and living with an indian family. one thing that really bothered me was the whole bathroom thing about not using toilet paper. ajay said i am going to be a real indian and not use toilet paper. i tried it for 3 days and got so disgusted that i said i could not do it. so we got me some toilet paper. he says that is a purity thing and that it is seen as more pure to use water to fully clean yourself after you go to the bathroom. then you wash your hands thouroughly 3 times with soap. but i said in america that is not seen as pure because you are putting feces and urine directly on your hands- which has pores that will soak it up. that and you are sitting there squatting and now you have to pull up your pants with your dirty hands before you can go to the sink to wash them. i am sorry but i will never be able to get used to that- or see that as cleaner than what we do in the u.s.
so anyhow- after all these new things hit me as well as the health things that were plaguing me- i got really upset and i started crying because i missed home. this was either yesterday or the day before. i cannot remember. anyhow- i feel better now- but at that moment i was seriously thinking about how i wanted to leave india and go home 😞 i got over that eventually- but things were really getting to me. i realize this is all part of my experience in india. there are lessons i came here to learn- and not all of them are going to be 'oh the food is great' or experiencing a fabulous indian wedding. some of them are going to be things i don't like that help me to remind me to be grateful.
that is the biggest lesson i think i have learned thus far in india. i am constantly in a state of gratitude. for being alive, for the family i was blessed with, for the friends i have, for my health, for my expeience in life thus far, for being able to be here in india. it's kind of overwhelming at times how grateful and thankful i feel. but at the same time it is very peaceful 😊
well i think this is a long enough blog. it may be a week or perhaps two before i can write again. the connection is VERY slow here and it drives me up the wall. my peacefulness goes out the window in the computer lab. haha.
anyhow- until then...
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anonymous
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Random thoughts on your blog.
Hi, I came across your blog on a slow day in office and occasionally revisit it for updates on your trip. I throughly enjoy your writing style and identify with the thoughts you try to convey. I am an Indian who is on work in America for six months ... work that involves a lot of travel and interaction with people. I face similar situations where involving different ways of doing things. (I'm tempted to start a blog of my own, but am afraid I can't bring out my thoughts as well!) Having stayed here for 3 months I can predict which things in India are going to amaze/bother you next, simply because I now know the differences in culture. Though I still am trying to understand completely the forces that drive you from a cushy life in America to the dirt, dust and diarrhoea of India. Is it the media images of spritualism and mysticysm of an ancient culture? or is it the sheer boredom of american life? or is it just to have something to talk about in the next dinner party? I often feel India to the west is like a mirror - when you're there it reflects back whatever image you have painted of it in your mind. I have come across two very different varieties of people in america and very few in between the two extremes. One is the variety who has no knowledge of the world outside of the borders of his small town and thinks perhaps Tibet is some crunchy snack being handed out by the guy sporting the "Free Tibet" sticker. The second variety is this aware person who reads, is intelligent, and is open to other cultures and influences.... the kind of person you seem to be. I wish there were more of the second type; they're infinitely more fun! - Rachit