learn from the little creatures

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i might as well be on another planet. if it weren't for certain reminders, i might be convinced space travel has been involved. but then of course, it has.
i respect india.
there's so much to understand.

after several decided and then abandoned decisions on our next move, we're in rishikesh now. we left manali a week ago. we headed to chandigarh on a sleeper bus. we were on the second floor of the bus, in a bed, lounging, watching the green pass into a black sky with shooting stars. we were so happy on that ride, yak cheese sandwiches, farewell cookies from dylan's.
but we were also sad to go. we almost missed the bus, of course, and on the richshaw ride there we both confessed that we kind of hoped we would.

we made friends and family in manali. and as we walked down the streets with our backpacks, we said goodbye left and right to the people we had come to know. locals and travelers alike. i still miss it.
rajan, the owner of dylan's has become a very good friend of ours. he even had shirts made
for us when we left. so sweet. they read "i was toasted and roasted at dylan's coffee house" and there's a stitched image of bob dylan.

we had a birthday party one month from my birthday because now there were friends, a proper dylan's cookie cake, and music... raj sang a specialized birthday song to me, the best ever and we're still laughing about it. we got a small clip of it on my camera. so small that all my failing battery could catch was raj singing "jeeessicaaaa..."

earlier that day we met four kindly people from france and invited them to the gathering. that evening they showed up with two of their japanese friends. such an energetic ending to the night. the french guys are very lively and kept us smiling. when we told them we were from louisville, they asked if there was a band from there they might know, i said
-my morning jacket- and they cheered and got excited. one was an artist and shared his sketchbook of india with us. and this partly inspired me to get some paints. they're said to be made from flowers and stones.
the two japanese friends were so lovely. they sat there and made me beautiful birthday cards. not knowing a thing about me.
chris another manali friend is from england, left his career, traveling the world. he has a blog on this site too. if you click the icon that says "favorites" on my front page, you'll see his blog as well as my good friend matt's blog.

one day while living in manali we took a day trip to naggar. i'm in love with that day. we spent most of it exploring the once roerich residence now turned gallery. nicholas roerich was an artist, philosopher, writer, explorer, all my favorite things. the amazing part, his family shared this path as a unit. all contributed their bit of brillance.

they started the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute where the first tibetan atlas of herbal medicines was constructed. the family did extensive archeological research, and expeditions where they met and lived with various peoples. in the museum of the institute we got to see materials from these expeditions, the journals that were published, photos, etc.

nicholas roerich is also known for the pax cultura flag. a beauitful symbol. the link below will show you and tell you more about it. as well as the Roerich Pact.
PaxCultura

i also got a book while there called -new era cummunity- which you can take a glimpse at below. friends of mine, you'll enjoy this.
NewEraCommunity

also founders of agni yoga...you can find out more about that at the link above. amazing people. their residence was also an inspiration, being very much a vision of a home i would create. with gardens, colorful plant growth creating a peaceful enclave. pathways twisting down the mountain towards nicholas' samadhi.

on another day we took a long walk from manali to nerhakund (i'm not sure if this is correct) after a couple hours we had to get a ride back to manali, not wanting to arrive in the dark, we were approached by another character whose description is lost in my lack of ability to show it for it's strangeness for it's beauty.
he just kept talking, fast, constant, running through the street, who is he?, is he mad?
trying to help us get back to manali, stopping a car, they wanted to charge us too much, "want a bus, want to walk, oh you want me to stop that big truck?"
and so we climbed into this enormous truck, if i could pay less attention to the man, i would be able to tell you what kind of truck.

we just had to get down the hill, maybe we were a little scared, no handle on the door to get out... but we trusted. he had thorny flowers in his hand wrapped up with some notebook inked paper, he offered the driver a flower and rock as a gift for stopping. i'm laughing because i don't understand what's going on and because i love it.

he never stopped talking once, saying "what do you think of me, i'm an angel, i'm crazy, i'm romantic...?" it was mostly incoherent. "what's your religion, where are you from, the states, i'm going to ireland tomorrow, i'm from the states, george bush, there's a wall between us, just friends, just friends, here, flower"
i expected him to reveal his wings and take off into the valley. maybe these helpers disguise themselves by being so flamboyant that we won't notice their secrets.

we played djembes in manali, i got a beat and then lost it. natalie got the owner of the small music shop to say "i'm no happy" so seriously, so sadly as we left manali. that poor face!

we were pulled into a store by this guy from israel, he undestands the indian people they say, he was charming in some vague way
and he talked about wanting to eat americans, that he went to
wal-mart in america and he saw the lady behind the counter and just wanted to eat her because she was right out of the american movies he had grown up seeing.
it's he and the shop owner,
they say:
"chickens, you just want to eat her up" "america has girls gone wild, they say wooo and lift their shirts" "she's poison" "no you just say that because she's cute" "which one do you prefer?" "want some pizza?" "brooock brock" (<---these are chicken clucks)
we say:
"no... we have somewhere we need to be"

kundalini, a serpant coiled at the base of your spine, awakening and directing this subtle energy upwards.
it's like a radio and electromagnetic waves carrying a signal...
a signal...

shadows, signs, wonders...
the books i've read are leaking into my blogs.
and some dreams are turning blogs into logs and females into males.

i had a cold for a few days, it's hot in rishikesh, and we don't have air, and the electricity always goes off, i woke up looking for my breath, feeling my way towards the bathroom, blowing it all out.
and now i can give you a diagonal movement of the head and tell you
"i'm ok, sure, why not?"
inotherwords
i'm better now. well. prana thriving. kicking. i'm happy to have my health.

let's turn the wheel to chandigar the first city we reached after manali. we decided to divide the trip to rishikesh. and this city is supposed to india's cleanest and greenest, designed by a french architect.
we spent about a day and half there and yet it was completely full.

a man, narinder, whom was written about in the paper there, calling him a "single man tourist industry" approaches travelers and helps them.
hmm...india... can we trust him?
yes, glady. in retrospect we haven't found any clues of deception, he was a light.
found us as we were walking in the bus station.

it was nat and i, with a 19yr old boy from london (will) that got pulled into his web.
he had us take photos with him on our -own cameras- as he offered us various things, a banana, a flower necklace, indian sweets, an indian mirror...he would put on his watch and galsses for the photos.

he has notebooks filled with messages from people, people he has helped, testimonials of sorts.
he had us write an entry.
he told us to think of him as our indian grandfather, taught us hindi and had us speak it to people in order to practice, walked up to strangers and had us interact with them. a group clapped and smiled when natalie managed to tell a girl in hindi that her dress was pretty.

delightful, he left us without expecting anything, saying he's happy to help us, it's his hobby.

walking around with his bag of gifts, getting us into the rock garden for free as, "honorary guests" and saying "i am so happy to see you enjoying yourself" "i am so happy to see you talking in such a way" "i am so happy to see you happy" etc etc etc

he gave me a red indian wedding bangle (bracelet) and natalie a mirror.
are these symbolic, omens?
if they are, what does it mean that i broke my bangle on my wrist and it drew blood?
ha.

stayed in hardiwar for a night before coming to rishikesh.
that night included a peeping tom in the bathroom window of our hotel room. i was taking a shower, i screamed as i saw a hand in the bars of the window, natalie went down to express herself and came back up to be my shower window guard.

rishikesh. the "yoga capital of the world"
i hear bells, i see the ganges. bells to awaken the divine's awareness of your presence, ganges flowing by, indian music as we wake, craving curd as we rise...

by the way
have you read about the devastating floods surrounding us?
please do.
2007SouthAsianFloods

we're faced with so many self, cultural, worldy observations here. talking about all of these on a blog isn't comfortable for me. but just know how abundant your lives are with opportunity and choice.
and how some of that abundance is waste.

not that india doesn't have its environmental issues, no doubt it does, but for one example, because indians don't use toilet paper (using water, instead) we've watched ours pile up.
i'd be inclined to do the same, if the water cleanliness wasn't an issue.

our friend raj that grew up here told us about his story of getting typhoid which lead to even worse health concerns and now it's something he shares especially with gutsy travelers wanting to be like the locals and drink the water.

i love how raj calls small people, and children, little creatures.
we befriended a little creature ravee, he was crying because of a thoughtless man yelling at him. this boy spends his days asking people if he can clean their shoes and he has the biggest heart, he was so wounded by this man's carelessnes. but we turned the tears into a smile. and i'm always thinking about these young boys and how much they serve. many sleeping where they work. boys younger than me cooking my nourishing meal.

and we've spent lots of time talking about growing up in india, noticing the obvious changes that developing creates, talking to a girl our age and seeing how our lives compare. that was such an eye opener, so much more when you're living it, you're part of the picture, and not reading about it in a book.

"observation is a step towards justice" -new era community

i don't know where we're going next. there was a landslide on the pass to the next place we intended to go. i want to keep growing here.
i feel i have a responsibility and an urge to cultivate more mental/spiritual discipline.

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Photos

yak!
on our walk to whatsitsname

naggar
i'm in love with this little piece of land

manali
forest walk for some "shanti shanti"

manali
same venture in the tall trees

my second birthday
mmmmm chocolate chip cookie cake

raj being silly
in dylan's kitchen, raj, chaman,raju

i heart this photo
the middle boy was our server and friend at a frequented eatery

i haven't gone mad
completely. it comes and goes...

tree in naggar
just as we walked out of the roerich residence

there's always
the option of floor sitting

we like to
photograph our food when it looks this good

Comments

[EC]

füd
Is that an Asian pizza-equivalent? It does look scrumptious. Why can't every meal end with chocolate-chip cookie-cake?

[Whit]

Going mad
Jess, in your "going mad" pic, you look like a character from the old children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are"!

[keith]

I cannot post a comment to your travelblog, why matters not...but this is my highly ignorant observation. It seems your whole life has led to your current adventure...and the rest of your life will draw from it abundantly. A reserve of positive energy and experience...wisdom...love. I have such admiration for you. From where I sit it takes courage and passion that I am unacquainted with. Thank you for sharing so much. love keith