The Heat and the Warmth

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Good morning from Varinasi!

Cliffnotes: I am well, I have enjoyed my first 5 days traveling across India, I am also extremely hot between the hours of 11 and 4.


Extended version: Today is my 4th full day in India, and already I've experienced enough sights, sounds, and smells for it to feel like a month.
I have spent time in Delhi (the capital) Agra (home of the Taj Mahal), and now Varanasi (old an holy, where many come to bathe in the beautiful and polluted Ganges River).

India is:

Big.
In number and sheer size. Delhi's population is 13 million, and is roughly 40 miles end to end. After touring for one day, I began my trek across the country by train, notably a 14 hour overnight from from Agra to Varanasi. Today, in 3 hours, I am traveling by train to Siliguri, a city in the east. From there, I will take a car to Gantok where I will spend one month at the Taktse School

Old.
Touring some historical sights, it's captivating just hearing the years and eras that fit in India's history. In Delhi I stood in a temple well over 1000 years old. The Taj Mahal was built before America was America. And Varinasi- Twain once said it is "Older than history, older than life, and older than the both of them put together." On the banks of the Ganges River, a fire has burned for over 3000 years, used to cremate the dead, whose ashes are then spread into the holy river.

Beautiful.
Pictures, I learned, just can't do the Taj Mahal justice. Expecting to me moderately impressed when the iconic symbol of love rounded into view, I was speechless. Something about it, the light, the architecture, the history, more probably a combination of it all, simply unreal. Same goes for the Ganges, and the thousands that descend upon it daily to wash and bathe. This morning I took a boat up and down at sunrise to see a slice of life here.

Hot.
I sweat in the morning, a lot in the afternoon, and into the evening. I look for shade everywhere. I feel like I stepped out of the Ganges with my clothes on. I drink water like a sponge.

But nothing has affected me more than the people. Friendship is given in a way I have not before seen. It's without reservation, it's a complete openness, I am having trouble finding the right words. It has not come often, and as a tourist there is a certain guard that remains up at times, but in my few days here, on the few occasions that I have surrendered to it, I received the warmth and love that tend only to be reserved for family. My days are hot, but it can't compare to that warmth that I've felt.

Onto Siliguri and the state of Sikkim. Hope all is well back home!

Kris

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Comments

[Grandma A.]

Warmth, heat
Hey Kris, Wonderful description! Especially enjoyed your struggle to find words exact enough to capture the interplay between seeing what is there and becoming open to it. Enjoy! Proud of you, pleased for you!!!!! love ya - G'Ma

[Kim]

hey there!
Hey Kris- Hello from warm and sunny (yes, you read that right!!) Ashburnham.... Finally got onto your blog to check up on you, and as usual, you sound great! Albeit warm!!! Hoping the school is going well by you now. Please post again soon so we can share in your travels. Passed all along to the boys and all three say hi. We miss you tons. As do all of your Applewild students btw!!! Big hugs.... Kim

[Ganesh]

hey there!
Best of luck bud! Sounds like you're having a great time. If you venture further south around Chennai or Pune, let me know! My uncle and aunt would definitely love to show you around (and will impose a meal on you in all likelyhood).