Here are a couple more pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Chappel showdown in Guntakal!
I've been experiencing extremely slow computers here in south India so I haven't had a chance to update my blog.In the meantime I have posted a poem that I really like and I hope you will enjoy as well.
It's amazing how many times I have found myself lost and have ended up right where I want to be.I spent a week in Hampi,well five days which was brilliant.My rule for traveling is if I come across more than ten pairs of those ugly garden shoes in a day,well...it's time to catch a train.I know it's sounding like I have a vendetta against the ugly garden shoes,it is true,I hate them!Lonely planet should put out a book just for those foreigners that wear ugly garden shoes,and take pictures of beggars and half dead dogs.You know,for those evenings when your sitting around the fire,with nothing better to do than to share your India experience with your friends and loved ones.
Guntakal isn't on the foreigners circus,I arrived here at 12:43 in the afternoon, free of ugly garden shoes,crazy monkeys,symphonic frogs and wild dogs.A lie,there will always be wild dogs,where ever you go in India.I set out on foot to see what Guntakal was all about.After about a half block I noticed I was being followed,actually chased,by a half dozen boys all holding a pen and a piece of paper.They wanted my autograph,it sounds absurd,but this is India and like it or not your part of the never ending circus.There is a beautiful brotherhood among Indian men and boys.A closeness that North Americans don't have,I often see Indian men holding hands with there arms draped over one another.That being said,India men can fly off the handle in a heartbeat.As I was sitting on a bench,rummaging through my man purse desperately looking for a pen.I heard what sounded like the beginnings of a heated argument.Pretty common here in India,so I decided to investigate.Two men dressed in suit and tie,both wearing chappels,hands flailing,were yelling at one another.After some preliminary shouting which led to a shove,which led to angry Indian man number one slapping angry Indian man number two.The chappels came off,well actually only one came off.AIMNO removed his left chappel and started whacking AIMNT,this went on for about a half dozen whacks on both sides.Maybe you really needed to be there,but I found this quite entertaining.Leaving the train station I went looking for a post office,
I had a couple of post-cards that needed mailing to the west coast of Canada.I walk into the post-office and there are three men sitting around drinking tea.They offer me some tea which I happily accept.So I'm at the post-office for the next two hours sitting around drinking tea and chatting with these men. While in Guntakal I went to see a Bollywood movie,there were no sub-titles and I couldn't understand a word,but you don't really need to.The plot very seldom changes,there is always the hero,who saves the girl from either being raped or beaten,than about three quarters in there will be a song and dance number,usually set someplace that makes no sense whatsoever.For example if the movie has been shot in the desert,the song and dance number will take place in the streets of Paris.In India there is a genre called Tandori Westerns,funny!
It's amazing how many times I have found myself lost and have ended up right where I want to be.I spent a week in Hampi,well five days which was brilliant.My rule for traveling is if I come across more than ten pairs of those ugly garden shoes in a day,well...it's time to catch a train.I know it's sounding like I have a vendetta against the ugly garden shoes,it is true,I hate them!Lonely planet should put out a book just for those foreigners that wear ugly garden shoes,and take pictures of beggars and half dead dogs.You know,for those evenings when your sitting around the fire,with nothing better to do than to share your India experience with your friends and loved ones.
Guntakal isn't on the foreigners circus,I arrived here at 12:43 in the afternoon, free of ugly garden shoes,crazy monkeys,symphonic frogs and wild dogs.A lie,there will always be wild dogs,where ever you go in India.I set out on foot to see what Guntakal was all about.After about a half block I noticed I was being followed,actually chased,by a half dozen boys all holding a pen and a piece of paper.They wanted my autograph,it sounds absurd,but this is India and like it or not your part of the never ending circus.There is a beautiful brotherhood among Indian men and boys.A closeness that North Americans don't have,I often see Indian men holding hands with there arms draped over one another.That being said,India men can fly off the handle in a heartbeat.As I was sitting on a bench,rummaging through my man purse desperately looking for a pen.I heard what sounded like the beginnings of a heated argument.Pretty common here in India,so I decided to investigate.Two men dressed in suit and tie,both wearing chappels,hands flailing,were yelling at one another.After some preliminary shouting which led to a shove,which led to angry Indian man number one slapping angry Indian man number two.The chappels came off,well actually only one came off.AIMNO removed his left chappel and started whacking AIMNT,this went on for about a half dozen whacks on both sides.Maybe you really needed to be there,but I found this quite entertaining.Leaving the train station I went looking for a post office,
I had a couple of post-cards that needed mailing to the west coast of Canada.I walk into the post-office and there are three men sitting around drinking tea.They offer me some tea which I happily accept.So I'm at the post-office for the next two hours sitting around drinking tea and chatting with these men. While in Guntakal I went to see a Bollywood movie,there were no sub-titles and I couldn't understand a word,but you don't really need to.The plot very seldom changes,there is always the hero,who saves the girl from either being raped or beaten,than about three quarters in there will be a song and dance number,usually set someplace that makes no sense whatsoever.For example if the movie has been shot in the desert,the song and dance number will take place in the streets of Paris.In India there is a genre called Tandori Westerns,funny!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
"Tonight I Can Write"By Pablo Neruda
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, "The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance."
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.
What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.
The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.
I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.
Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Hampi:Temple of the Monkeys!
Hampi was super relaxing.After three days of constant travel I really needed a few days just to relax,and it was on my short list of places to visit in India.Situated on a river,surrounded by dreamy boulders perched elegantly in fields upon fields of rice paddies.
There is a temple near by called the Hanumen temple,also known as the Monkey temple.I made the mistake of hiking up the steep hill with ten banana's in hand.In retrospect what the hell was I thinking?The monkeys were waiting for me,hiding in the trees,behind the rocks and up around the bend.Sending whistling messages to each other,secret monkey code that I couldn't decipher.They knew the bananas were coming,they were all set to take action.First there were two,what could two possibly do?Right!Than there were four,than six and more coming.Jumping from the tree,just missing me and the bananas,I leap out of the way.Before I could stick the bananas in my bag I was surrounded.The monkeys wanted my bananas and would stop at nothing to get them.I did try to fight them off with a sandal,but it was of no use,they laughed and took my bananas anyway.It was very sad and a bit humiliating. Sitting in the trees eating my bananas tossing the peels my way.
The next day I would get my revenge on the redassed monkeys.Arriving at the temple by mid-afternoon,I buy another ten bananas.This time concealing them in my bag,double bagging so that the monkeys wouldn't pick up the scent of there favorite food.At the top of the hill there is the temple,as well as numerous rock bridges meant for exploring the boulder strewn landscape.The monkeys don't venture across these bridges unless they have reason to.I found a nice spot to watch the sun setting,which gave me three hours to play with the monkeys.It took less than five minutes for those bratty redassed monkeys to catch sight of me and my bananas to start making tracks my way.I spent the afternoon eating bananas and watching the monkeys cross the bridge and retreat over and over again.
Hampi was also the cheapest place I had stayed,renting a bamboo hut for fifty rupees a night.Sleeping peacefully under a star filled sky,a million symphonic frogs breaking the sound of silence in the distance,waking up to a rigmarole of roosters,wild dogs and music.Even a gang of goonda monkeys couldn't ruin the tranquility called Hampi.
There is a temple near by called the Hanumen temple,also known as the Monkey temple.I made the mistake of hiking up the steep hill with ten banana's in hand.In retrospect what the hell was I thinking?The monkeys were waiting for me,hiding in the trees,behind the rocks and up around the bend.Sending whistling messages to each other,secret monkey code that I couldn't decipher.They knew the bananas were coming,they were all set to take action.First there were two,what could two possibly do?Right!Than there were four,than six and more coming.Jumping from the tree,just missing me and the bananas,I leap out of the way.Before I could stick the bananas in my bag I was surrounded.The monkeys wanted my bananas and would stop at nothing to get them.I did try to fight them off with a sandal,but it was of no use,they laughed and took my bananas anyway.It was very sad and a bit humiliating. Sitting in the trees eating my bananas tossing the peels my way.
The next day I would get my revenge on the redassed monkeys.Arriving at the temple by mid-afternoon,I buy another ten bananas.This time concealing them in my bag,double bagging so that the monkeys wouldn't pick up the scent of there favorite food.At the top of the hill there is the temple,as well as numerous rock bridges meant for exploring the boulder strewn landscape.The monkeys don't venture across these bridges unless they have reason to.I found a nice spot to watch the sun setting,which gave me three hours to play with the monkeys.It took less than five minutes for those bratty redassed monkeys to catch sight of me and my bananas to start making tracks my way.I spent the afternoon eating bananas and watching the monkeys cross the bridge and retreat over and over again.
Hampi was also the cheapest place I had stayed,renting a bamboo hut for fifty rupees a night.Sleeping peacefully under a star filled sky,a million symphonic frogs breaking the sound of silence in the distance,waking up to a rigmarole of roosters,wild dogs and music.Even a gang of goonda monkeys couldn't ruin the tranquility called Hampi.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Auroville:Vision or Cult?
Auroville,a dreamers dream,a visionaries vision,or a cultists cult?I'm still 12 kms from Auroville being bicycle rickshawed to the Ashram I will be staying at in Pondicherry.My rickshaw driver gauranteed me that he knew where it was.To get me in his rickshaw he said it would only cost me three rupees.I think he was drunk,at least he smelled like cheap Indian rum. Pondicherry is a well thought out city,that's what the signs say,yes there were signs all over town that read "Pondicherry is a well thought out city"I left Kodaikanal very early in the morning,had to change buses three times,so I was very tired by the time I arrived in Pondicherry.To tired to argue with my rickshaw driver,so I decided to go along for the adventure.He had to ask directions at least a half dozen times,pulled a U-turn right in the middle of MG road...you don't pull a u-turn in a "well thought out city" in India.We came within a pinch of getting run over by a big orange bus that had the letters J-E-S-U-S splashed across it in pink neon lettering.I screamed "ha,see that?,we almost got nailed to the cement by Jesus,brilliant!"By the time we arrived at the ashram,I was no longer tired,only curious at how much this early morning adventure was going to cost.He wanted 100 rupees,"what happened to our three rupee arrangement?"Almost getting run over by Jesus had given me the strength to hold my ground against the hustler posing as a rickshaw driver.So I offer him the change I have in my pocket,which came to a total of eleven rupees.He freaks out and pushes me...no guff!Readers I kid you not,the hustler pushes me right in front of an ashram,a spiritual house!This is not a "what would Larry do" situation,so I push past him and head to my room.He yells something at me in a strange yet beautiful language.
It's irresistibly cheap to rent a bicycle in Pondicherry,twenty rupees for the day, which comes to about fifty cents.So I pick up my Hercules old school cruiser and hit the road.My fifty cent rental had a warped front wheel and a bum pedal,I found this out after I was well on my way out of town.Threading my way through the chaotic mid-day traffic,passing a rigmarole of tea stalls,waving children,wild dogs,auto-rickshaws,juice stalls,soup stalls,cool drink points, Internet points,and all points in between.
There are approximately 1800 permanent residents living in Auroville.To live in Auroville one must meet a certain criteria or at least cultivate a higher consciousness.
In the Mother’s words, Auroville was to be “a universal township where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities.” According to the Mother, “the purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.”
1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.
· Inspirational leader: The guiding force behind the conceptualization and actualization of Auroville was Mirra Alfassa (1878-1973), commonly known as the Mother. She was born in Paris and after a childhood filled with several inner experiences and visions she travelled to Pondicherry in 1914 to meet Sri Aurobindo. After the First World War, she settled in Pondicherry alongside Sri Aurobindo, who recognized her as the embodiment of the ‘Supreme Mother’. She was instrumental in marshalling the group of Sri Aurobindo’s followers and setting up both the Aurobindo ashram and Auroville. This parallels the model in most attempts at communist countries – a great motivator and doer implementing the ideas of a great thinker.
It may be noted that the purpose of Auroville is to enable the attainment of the ‘Divine Consciousness’. This attainment is supposed to be facilitated by living in a community with the characteristics described above.
I wish I could have spent more than one day in Auroville,I got the feeling that there were quite a few highly intelligent and skilled people living here.Even though the land was purchased at the end of the 60's,they only really started to build on and cultivate it 15 years ago. So is Auroville the city of the future?Only time will tell,people keep on coming and Auroville is growing,slowly,but it's still growing.
There is so much emphasis put on the poverty and the poor people of India by the west,that we fail to notice how well Indian people live together.There is a billion people here,and they know how to work together and to solve problems together.Not only that,they also know how to find joy in the simple things that life has to offer.
Pondicherry at one time was a French colony,there is still quite a bit of the flavour left over from when it was occupied by France,such as architecture,food and the police wear cute red hats.I wanted to have a glass of red wine and I made it a mission to find a restaurant that has a croque madam on there menu.The wine was ok and the croque madam was second best to Anna's at Bonjour Brioche in Toronto.
For all those interested in learning more about Auroville here is there website www.auroville.org
It's irresistibly cheap to rent a bicycle in Pondicherry,twenty rupees for the day, which comes to about fifty cents.So I pick up my Hercules old school cruiser and hit the road.My fifty cent rental had a warped front wheel and a bum pedal,I found this out after I was well on my way out of town.Threading my way through the chaotic mid-day traffic,passing a rigmarole of tea stalls,waving children,wild dogs,auto-rickshaws,juice stalls,soup stalls,cool drink points, Internet points,and all points in between.
There are approximately 1800 permanent residents living in Auroville.To live in Auroville one must meet a certain criteria or at least cultivate a higher consciousness.
In the Mother’s words, Auroville was to be “a universal township where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities.” According to the Mother, “the purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.”
1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.
· Inspirational leader: The guiding force behind the conceptualization and actualization of Auroville was Mirra Alfassa (1878-1973), commonly known as the Mother. She was born in Paris and after a childhood filled with several inner experiences and visions she travelled to Pondicherry in 1914 to meet Sri Aurobindo. After the First World War, she settled in Pondicherry alongside Sri Aurobindo, who recognized her as the embodiment of the ‘Supreme Mother’. She was instrumental in marshalling the group of Sri Aurobindo’s followers and setting up both the Aurobindo ashram and Auroville. This parallels the model in most attempts at communist countries – a great motivator and doer implementing the ideas of a great thinker.
It may be noted that the purpose of Auroville is to enable the attainment of the ‘Divine Consciousness’. This attainment is supposed to be facilitated by living in a community with the characteristics described above.
I wish I could have spent more than one day in Auroville,I got the feeling that there were quite a few highly intelligent and skilled people living here.Even though the land was purchased at the end of the 60's,they only really started to build on and cultivate it 15 years ago. So is Auroville the city of the future?Only time will tell,people keep on coming and Auroville is growing,slowly,but it's still growing.
There is so much emphasis put on the poverty and the poor people of India by the west,that we fail to notice how well Indian people live together.There is a billion people here,and they know how to work together and to solve problems together.Not only that,they also know how to find joy in the simple things that life has to offer.
Pondicherry at one time was a French colony,there is still quite a bit of the flavour left over from when it was occupied by France,such as architecture,food and the police wear cute red hats.I wanted to have a glass of red wine and I made it a mission to find a restaurant that has a croque madam on there menu.The wine was ok and the croque madam was second best to Anna's at Bonjour Brioche in Toronto.
For all those interested in learning more about Auroville here is there website www.auroville.org
I added some photo's,the first one is of two bratty monkey's sharing a banana that they stole from me,the second photo is a beautiful layout of an assortment of colourful beads,and the third is a picture of my croque madam for those that said I better get used to rice and lentils for the next four months and the last is a dog,an Aurovillian dog,a healthy dog.Auroville has a dog adoption program, which sounds pretty normal to some,though unheard of in India.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Amma The Hugging Saint
India isn't the easiest place in the world to travel.Language barriers,remembering not to drink the water and keeping a sense of humour are all important things to keep in mind while travelling in this country.I believe Kanyakumari was my last stop.From here I headed up to Manurai to see my friend Teresa before I started my slow journey Northward.Well Teresa wasn't on the mountain meditating as I had thought,she got sick.A viral infection,another hazard to traveling in India.After spending a couple of days in Madurai and having the pleasure of witnessing the healing powers of Amma "The Hugging Saint" I unfortunately didn't get a hug,call it stage fright.It was very intense,thousands of people lining up to receive a hug.All the westerners were wearing pristine white knee length shirts and white pants.They knew all the words to all of Amma's songs and the synchronised dance moves.I tried to play along but still felt like a fraud,so I hung around till it came to my turn to get up on stage to receive a hug,than I disappeared through a maze of pristine white garments,chanting and smoke.Call it magic,poof and I was gone!Luckily the fence wasn't to high and the cow was friendly.
The following morning I awoke wondering if Amma was still giving hugs.She has been known to hug all night long.
The following morning I awoke wondering if Amma was still giving hugs.She has been known to hug all night long.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
TIRUVALLUVAR
These are some pictures of Tiruvalluvar,the great Tamil Poet.The statue stands 133 feet,is made of 7000 tonnes of stone and 5000 sculptors were commissioned to build it.These photo's were taken at 6:23 in the AM,sunrise!Thirukkural,one of the greatest ethical works in the Tamil language was written by him.It consists of 133 chapters hence the height of the statue.The first part deals with (virtue),the moral value of life,the second discusses (wealth),socio economic values of life,and the third (love),depicts the psychological values of life.
Here are some famous couplets from "Thirukkural"
Learn-read,listen,do and know
So that we are cleansed of our defilement's-of desire,anger,fear,ego (assumed identities) in short any habit of mind imprisons us in the cause-effect loop.
Those which are 'knowable' or worthy of knowing,understood as anything that throws light on truth,thereby clearing all delusions.
Knowledge (knowing) must reflect in words and deeds mere erudition is not learning.Knowing must result in a transformation of self.
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