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Published: December 31st 2005
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special Punjabi lunch
Here is Valia, left, and Kailash, about to eat our delicious vegetarian lunch, featuring a wonderful dish made of curried mustard greens. Today I am getting ready to go on my second road trip, this time to the south. I am leaving tomorrow morning (Sat. morning) by air to Kerala, one of the southern most states and possibly the most tropical, from what I've heard. I can't wait as I feel more drawn to Kerala than any other place in India; and the single place I want to visit most in India is the very tip of the sub-continent, Kanyakumari, which is actually in Tamil Nadu, but very close to Kerala. This is where three oceans meet, and the place where Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were scattered. It is my plan to go there on new year's day and pray and meditate.
I love Delhi, and am feeling very at home here, but I am tired of the chill in the houses and the chilly nights. I can't wait for the 30 C. weather of Kerala!
I have been feeling a lot better, and going out a lot for the past few days. I visited my friend Kailash, the psychology professor and Gestalt therapist, at his house yesterday. His wife Mohini made a very special Punjabi lunch for me and another friend
spot the parrot
Can you see the parrot, at the bottom of the left tree top. from Canada, Valia (who originally hails from Delhi and is a very old friend of Kailash's. They have known each other since school days, and I met Valia with Kailash in Tornto in June, so it was like a reunion.).
The other night, Ajay and I went to a club/restaurant called Olive that is very near Qutb Minar. It is a very elegant place, though we found it too noisy. One of those places people get dressed up to go to and then sit and talk at each other at the top of their lungs. We have those places in Toronto too. But this place could not be found in Toronto. It is partly indoors and partly outdoors, with big trees growing in the courtyard and bonfires burning in big metal wok-like bowls. Very spectacular. Toronto's by-laws wuldn't allow about 85-95% of the things that go on in Delhi!
There are so many things here that I want to eventually get pictures of. The sari-clad women who sit side-saddle on the back of motorbikes. The tiny children who perform at stoplights for money. The enormous loads on the backs of bicycles. Snake charmers. A flower-draped body being carried
Electric Crematorium
I took this pic from the taxi as we passed. I saw a procession towards here the other day, a group carrying a draped body on a kind of stretcher. by mourners walking to the crematorium. The lights of Connaught Place and Janpath market at night during this holiday season. Barbers who set up shop against a wall, by the side of the road. I love this city. It is so full of life.
My friend Tamara sent me an email today about how India seems to give each person who comes here the experience they need. I love that observation and I think it's true. She remarked that India seems to be "generous" in this way. So the "real India" is the India that each person who comes here experiences. My "real India" will not be someone else's "real India." (This is a very Gestalt comment, actually!)
I also agree that India is generous. It's riches and treasures are easily found, out in plain view. Someone here asked me recently what I like best about India and I didn't have to hesitate for a second to answer. "The people," I said. I love the Indian people. They are so warm, helpful and hospitable. It is ironically a very humanistic culture -- given the level of poverty and the number atrocities, disasters, etc. that occur here. (The big
soaring eagles ...
... above the terrace ... news yesterday was an attack at a scientific conference in Banglalroe that left one professor dead.)
I had an interesting conversation with my doctor the other day, who said that Indians, compared to North Americans, are much more corrupt and liable to steal or lie. I said maybe the difference was due to the difference in propsperity. Maybe many Indians undertake this behaviour out of necessity, as about 80% of the population (at least) lives well below the poverty line, and they are constantly in keen competition for a dearth of resources. Perhaps prosperity and abundance allow for the luxury of integrity. This idea makes corruption and greed so much more detestable in the west, methinks ....
On a more prosaic note ... the excitement at home today was the discovery of a mouse behind the couch. This mouse was at least five inches in length, not including the tale, prompting a (nother) "mouse or rat?" debate. Apparently in India they don't differentiate. And I can see why, if this is the size of mice! Anyway, Ajay, I and two of the servants chased it out of the house onto the terrace and shut the door behind it.
mousecapades
Here are the servants, trying to get the mouse (rat?) out from behind the freezer. Perhaps an eagle will get it. Large eagles fly directly over the terrace twice a day, on their way out to hunt and home again. It's amazing to see an eagle only 30 feet away, but I haven't been able to get a picture yet. Today we also spotted a beautiful green parrot in the tree top beside the terrace, so it's wild kingdom around here today.
My next entry will no doubt be from the sunny south, and it may be after the turn of the new year. I will be celebrating new year at the Shinshiva Auyrvedic Resort near Kovalam, Kerala (it's run by Dr. Franklin). Apparently I have a sea view room, which Kailash says could be in a cottage. So, have a happy and safe new year -- and a healthy one, if that is your wish.
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Happy New Year Lemon!
Hey, sorry I missed your call the other day. We have had four people her for the last little while. Your blog is excellent, and you are really getting to be quite the photographer - great picture of eagles. I hope you had a great new year and you were not sad or lonely. It doesn't sound like you can be either of those things in India. I miss you!