here i am at last… it felt so good to walk in my door this morning after 24+ hours of travel! it’s amazing how quickly the trip begins to recede into the dreamlike distance, but further reflections to come… and pictures!
in the bangalore airport… with a little time to kill before the flight. there’s free internet here! and it’s a gorgeous, new airport. i got hit up for an $8 airport improvement tax on the way inside… it’s supposed to be only for domestic flights, but since i’m connecting in delhi i had to pay it. i found myself unreasonably irritated, but then remembered the condition of the delhi airport terminal where i arrived and thought it’s probably a good idea to contribute to a little airport improvement.
i haven’t written much about the poverty here. there are probably a few different reasons – mainly that it’s not the only thing i’m seeing, and there is simply so much more to india than poverty. since that’s a side that everyone knows, i think it’s important to show some the country’s other facets.
as someone who’s here primarily as a tourist this time, i’ve spent a lot of time in contact with the formal tourism industry, which is happily making money by providing services for me and people like me. many of the places i’ve stayed have had impeccable service – with very professional employees ready to assist me and smooth my way. then there’s the more informal tourism industry – the autorickshaw drivers who see me as currency to exchange for commissions or gas vouchers from merchants at whose doors they drop me, the troops of young boys hawking wooden flutes, strings of coral beads, or plastic toys. and let’s not forget would-be guides, attendants of sandal-keeping stands outside temples & monuments, and even random passersby. half of the time when people want to help you, it’s because they are amazing and generous human beings; the other half of the time they are just getting ready to squeeze some money out of you. it doesn’t matter whether you ask for or agree to the ’services’ provided.
but then there are also all those people who aren’t offering any services and just want money… at temples, on the street. it’s not so different from home – there, i can understand the elaborate stories, whereas here, everything’s conveyed in just a few words – “hungry,” “one rupee,” “please madam.”
i usually just shake my head and say no… people respond differently – some smile at me, as if it’s a game. others redouble their efforts at looking hungry and pathetic. still others glare, openly angry and hostile.
i’m used to saying no – the metropolitan life has given me plenty of experience with that, and the begging at home is plenty aggressive. but the poverty here is on a whole other level – and those begging often have deformities that make them unavoidably pathetic. a few times i’ve handed people a few rupees (do i only imagine that they look disappointed, as if they know the foreigner could give them more?), despite the fact that i’ve been advised by friends in other poor countries that those soliciting money on the street are often not those in the greatest need, and that the best way to give is to a reputable local organization. the temple that had the most and most aggressive beggars also had a lunchtime feeding program. i made a contribution, but the people holding out their hands to me and demanding money didn’t know that. and knowing that making a contribution may be better in the bigger scheme of things doesn’t change the experience of looking at another person who is obviously in need, knowing that i could help but refusing to help.
this is me, at my ability to create problems for myself.
did anyone know that at the atm, if you don’t take your cash, the machine sucks it back in???
i don’t know if they’re all like that, but the one i used yesterday was. i don’t know what was taking me so long- but i grabbed the receipt first and was thinking, i don’t know why i take these, i never need them – when the machine swallowed my cash!!!!! i made another withdrawal right away to see if it was there, but no luck. so… sandwiched between temple visits today i’m trying to figure out how to get my money back!!! of course yesterday was a holiday, plus there wasn’t even a branch of that bank in that town, just the atm.
and yes, it’s a good thing i have the receipt.
i’ve got a few hours to kill in kodaikanal, so thought i’d put up another post. it’s a hill station in tamil nadu that was set up by american missionaries. it’s a pretty chilled out place (literally and figuratively!) the temperature is much cooler here – could feel it drop on the bus ride up the mountain! – and there’s a more relaxed feel to it. there’s an international high school, which gives the place a student-ey vibe, with lots of fun and cheap haunts for food and drink. it’s also a very well-touristed spot for indian and foreign tourists – even now, in the low-season, it’s swarming with people and was kind of tough to get a room on the weekend, so i can only imagine what it’s like in the summer!
have spent plenty of time the past couple of days exploring the town and enjoying the views. the town center is perched on a mountain overlooking an enormous valley that stretches out to more mountains, with houses and settlements scattered here and there. there are (amazingly) no autorickshaws here, but loads of taxi drivers lined up waiting to offer rides. i’ve been able to walk everywhere, so haven’t need to avail myself of their services.
it’s been a restful stop, and i’ve had to do much less fending off unwanted offers of help, guide services, and transport to craft shops, etc. (where the driver rakes in a nice commission). of course people here, as everywhere, run the gamut from kind to cruel, and i’ve definitely met the extremes of people willing to go out of their way to help a traveller as well as those equally willing to rip off the foreigner. it’s not really the money i’ve lost that is bothersome – for instance – at a pay toilet in cochin i was charged 5 rupees one day and 2 the next…. the difference of 6 cents or so was totally negligible to me – i mean, would i even stop on the street at home to pick up a nickel and a penny lying there? – and on some level, it’s absurd to even complain that someone took advantage of me – but there’s a little sting in finding out i was duped. even if it’s 50 rupees (~$1.25) vs 100.. whats a dollar twenty-five? a good reminder, i suppose, that it’s a lot of money to someone, even if it’s not to me.
metropolitan life has taught me to focus on what i’m doing and on some level, to block out part of the activity happening around me. i think it’s a means of conserving energy and attention – taking in everything would be utterly exhausting. in some ways, it’s served me well, in terms of allowing me to get around in the overstimulation that IS india… but on the other hand, i feel like i’ve been insulating myself a little. it’s hard to take in some of the glimpses of poverty, or seeing people with disabilities and deformities on the streets, just begging… i think the situation would be different if i were staying in a place for a longer period of time, or had a purpose of work or study that would allow more real engagement & understanding… who knows, though – maybe later?
i think i have to officially relinquish my budget backpacker badge. this trip has taught me nothing if not that i need to go a couple steps up from “basic” accommodations. lucky me, i have enough money that i don’t have to stay in $5/night places… and $30 doesn’t seem like too much to pay for clean sheets & a soft mattress anymore. ironically enough, though, the absolute worst hotel so far has cost me the most!! i will say that the backpack is still a pretty useful piece of luggage, though.
thanks to having stayed in the second-worst hotel of the trip last night, i’ve spent half the day looking for a new one. i managed to assuage my irritation by reminding myself that i was doing the same thing i’d have been doing otherwise (exploring the town) only without certain constraints. in the course of my explorations, i also had an excellent breakfast — poori, sambhar, pongal, and a couple of milk coffees! at home i always have my coffee with half and half and skip the sugar – it just doesn’t interest me. but… when i’m travelling i’m much more inclined to the sweet. not sure why, but it’s been the case ever since the peace corps days.
i don’t think i mentioned my brief stop in madurai – a tamil city famous for an enormous temple to the goddess meenakshi, a manifestation of the goddess durga and shiva’s spouse. when i came into town the first night, there was a bit red neon sign at the edge of town proclaiming “TEMPLE CITY.” it instantly made me think of vegas…. weirdly. sin city and temple city.
another sad-but-true moment – the entire outside of the temple was covered (and almost completely obscured) by scaffolding. i could catch little glimpses of the intricate, colorful carvings… on one tower alone there were over 1000 statues that i couldn’t see!! but there was plenty of other stuff to see. inside was a huge complex, with multiple temples to multiple deities (including a sizeable one devoted to shiva), with little shrines scattered all throughout. i went in early, around 7:30, with people who seemed to be early local worshippers who were intently and busily going in and out, offering flowers or coconuts, lighting small oil lamps, circumnavigating small shrines, bowing in bigger ones. as the hours passed, more and more people swarmed through the complex – tourist groups from europe, pilgrim groups from other parts of india. the temple was built in the 1500’s, and its carvings and paintings –and the sheer size of the temple — were truly awe-inspiring, reflecting an extremely sophisticated and complex culture. surprisingly, i was approached by very few people offering services or soliciting my business, so got to enjoy a morning of observation and reflection, mostly on my own. i did meet a couple of teenagers (predictably, because they wanted to take a picture with me) who were really lovely. they were travelling from lucknow (in uttar pradesh, in the north of india) with a tour/pilgrimage group and had also just come from kanyakumari.
i’ll make just one more stop before i’m back to bangalore to prepare to leave – if all goes as planned – tiruchirappalli (trichy). also in tamil nadu, it is known for three famous temples.
travelling has been good… though i’ve kept a pretty quick pace. the idea of getting to stay in one place for more than 3 nights is sounding appealing, i have to admit. it’s been amazing, though, a time of encountering so many people and experiences and taking in so many impressions –all of which i’m sure i’ll be chewing on for a long time to come. this kind of travel has a way of stripping life down to its essentials – where to sleep, what to eat, where to put the bag and sit on the bus/train, how to get from a to b – which is simultaneously exhausting and refreshing.
so now, off for a bit of a wander and shopping – thank goodness for the backpack, which also serves the function of limiting the size and number of purchases i can fit in!!
kanyakumari’s claim to fame is that it lies at the meeting of three seas – the indian ocean (to the south) the bay of bengal (east) and arabian sea (west). it’s known as a very holy site for hindus and has a temple to an incarnation of the goddess parvati who is said to have singlehandedly defeated demons and freed mankind (incidentally, the local catholic church is dedicated to “our lady of ransom”). there were indeed pilgrims everywhere. busloads of them! from all over india. in chatting with some local acquaintances, i learned that tourism and fishing are the main industries. hotels run the gamut from moldering (my first night’s accommodation) to sparkling and new (my second night’s stay), but a lot of people seem to sort of camp out in their trucks or buses or other vehicles – or at the train station.
the wind was furious and the sun was blazing hot – there’s no proper beach — the seas just crash in on the rocks — so the ritual bathing that the hindu pilgrims come to do can get tricky, depending where they go in!
now at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of landscape and climate – a tamil hill station called kodaikanal. just arrived this evening, so had a quick stroll around town and now a quick internet stop (am getting kicked out in a minute). it’s a quaint yet cosmopolitan little place. but chilly!! i had to pull out my layers and had to get a scarf!
will try to post again soon….
Now the time is really starting to fly by… halfway done with the trip already? Is it possible?
I’m in cochin, my longest stop so far at 3 nights. It’s really a different world from the other places I’ve stayed – clearly a tourist destination – everyone from backpackers to the geriatric crowd, from Europeans to Indians from other parts of the country. There’s plenty to do here and I’ve met a wide variety of interesting characters – a backpacking fellow from Toronto who’s on his way to Goa, an Irishwoman who talked my ear off about the emergency dental surgery she had done here – I doubt that she breathed during the entire 15 minutes we spent together – a local artist who has painted nothing but elephants for the past two years (following the several years he spent living near a temple to Krishnu that keeps a number – 60 or 70 – of elephants inside, and a talented young tabla player who performs classical Indian music at a local arts center.
I haven’t said much, if anything, about the food yet. I’m still getting the lay of the land in terms of what is available and good – my vocabulary of Indian dishes is limited to the typical stuff you’d find on a US-Indian menu. Today I had one of my most memorable meals here so far – it was a green pea-and-cashew curry, on the sweeter side, seasoned with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, and chili pepper. It has actually inspired me to try to replicate it when I get home – and as I have cooked so little during this metropolitan era, that is really saying something! I’ve started to see beef on the menu now that I’m in Kerala (probably in inverse proportion to the number of cows I see wandering freely on the streets).
Speaking of which – the cows are a sort of unexplored mystery to me as of yet. They seem to wander (or more often, lie around) anywhere they like. Some of them look relatively well-kept, but a lot of them are really bony, mangy, or home to clouds of flies. At the Chamundi temple in Mysore, I saw what looked like some cow-houses (open stalls) and outside the cows were being washed. But most of the time they are just munching on garbage (or worse, plastic bags) on the side of the road. Something for a future conversation.
I’ve seen classical Indian hour-long concerts the past two nights – definitely a highlight. My rudimentary knowledge of music is just enough to tell me this is a whole different animal from what I learned as a kid. Last night was tabla & degga drums with sitar, and tonight flute (one performer played 3 different flutes), plus tabla/degga and ganjira. I am fascinated by the raga as a form – it was so interesting – as I was talking to the artists afterwards, trying to get a sense of its structure (there are different types, moods, scales), the flute player offered the following 3 insights: 1) it is a cosmic analogy 2) it’s not the form that matters but the feeling and 3) the perfect musician is also a perfect yogi. He and the tabla player both said that they practice some yoga as a complement to their music.
Will close now, as the internet place is shutting down in a few minutes. I’ll be here tonight and tomorrow night, and then off to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu – the far southern tip of the country (and the continent!!!)
as a sidenote… everyone here is really excited about obama. countless people (probably as many as have taken pictures with me), after asking me where i come from, just respond with “obama,” sometimes elaborating with “he’s my hero” or something similar. last year in honduras most folks were chilly about bush, and living abroad during the monika lewinsky scandal was a huge pain (some poles demanded that i personally explain or account for the situation), so it’s nice to hear positive feedback on the state of american political leadership for once. an italian man at my hotel last night expressed happiness about obama’s election too, though he also had kind words for mccain. i’m struck anew at how american politics really does affect the entire world’s population.
about obama, i remain hopeful – as, apparently, does india.
my stay in sultanbatheri has turned out to be an interesting ecological and cultural interlude. spent yesterday out and about in the environs of wayand wildlife sanctuary. took an early-morning jeep tour into the park (no walking 
) where we spotted squirrels, monkeys, bison, and deer. it was a beautiful, untouched place, and when we stopped the jeep and got out, perfectly serene. the driver pointed out various trees – teak, rosewood, sandalwood, eucalyptus on our way there, but when i asked him what kind of trees grew in the park, he just shrugged and said “wild trees.” we saw tiger prints all over the road, but no big animals made an appearance, except for three elephants who are being trained for elephant safaris (i couldn’t exactly discern what this would entail). the driver, however, was insistent that we see wild elephants. at the end of the tour, when we arrived at the park exit, he said he wanted to drive some way down the road because there were elephants. so all along the way, for about 10 km, he kept stopping trucks and cars coming from the opposite direction, asking if there were elephants. according to the drivers, there were – so we kept going. and sure enough, right along the road, we found a small herd – we saw about 4 but there must have been more. they were chowing down on leaves and grass and didn’t seem to mind the traffic just several feet away. the driver said, “he’s very angry” several times… he didn’t look angry to me, but i took his word for it, and didn’t realize until lunchtime that he was saying “hungry.” i’m really grateful to be able to use english here, but it doesn’t always help!
a visit to the edakkal caves to see petroglyphs from thousands of years BC also involved a rather strenuous climb to what the guide pointed out should more rightly be called a “neolithic rock shelter.” an enormous boulder was lodged overhead between two huge slabs of stone leaning toward each other, forming a cave whose walls were covered with carving. most of the designs were geometric with straight lines, and included a mother and child, a couple dancing, and a woman pushing a cart (this last simultaneously from a front and overhead persepctive). there was also writing in tamil, sanskrit, and “buddhist language,” whatever that may be. after, i went on up the mountain and found a quiet overlook a bit off the beaten path which was swarming with tourists (all local) and school groups. next, the meenmutty waterfalls – another strenuous climb along a dusty and at times near-vertical trail. it was completely worth the visit to the bottom of the cool, misty falls.
this morning i checked out the ayurvedic services at the hotel – a massage and something called shirodhara, during which warm oil is poured on the forehead. i was pleased with it, but the experience was a little different from your typical massage back home. in a lot of ways it felt more like a medical procedure than a spa treatment, which is in keeping with the fact that ayurveda is a medical system with its own methods of physical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment (involving massage and herbal preparations both applied to the body and ingested). the woman that did the treatment also works at an ayurvedic hospital. i am pretty curious about what that is like… maybe an opportunity to seek out another time.
but there are plenty of western medical hospitals as well. in fact, at a travel agency where i went to book a train ticket this morning, one of the agents was telling me that his wife is a nurse a the (western) hospital here. they are trying to emigrate to the states. he said she’ll actually be able to get RN licensure here in india before she leaves, and has already passed an exam of english (sounds like a british equivalent of the TOEFL). in the course of booking the ticket i had to give my age, which led to an earnest conversation in which the agent admonished me that i was “too late” to get married. he made me promise that i would try my “level best” and send him an email when i get married. he must have been all of 23 years old so it was quite hilarious that he was so stern about it. but i think he is really happy with his wife (of 6 months) which makes him quite an avid proponent of the institution.
tonight calicut for a taste of the north keralan coast and tomorrow on to cochin.
the first time it happened, i thought it was a weird anomaly. a couple approached me in the botanical garden in bangalore, saying “one photo?” first i thought they wanted me to take a picture for them, then thought they wanted me to take a picture of them, and finally realized that they wanted to have their friend take a picture of them with me. i agreed, mainly out of shock i think!
but… i’m coming to expect it. on a visit to a temple in mysore yesterday i stopped at a bull (nandi) statue two thirds of the way up. i didn’t want to make it an offering (of wreaths of marigolds, which most people were doing) but i did want a picture, so i stood well back, trying to get an unobtrusive shot. then i sat down on a bench to watch the hubbub all around. before i knew it, a couple of guys had sidled up to me while their friend snapped a shot. then all of a sudden there was a couple on the other side, with the wife next to me, her husband encouraging her to put her arm around my shoulder, and an assortment of other men and boys crowded behind. i tried to make a speedy but gracious exit, only to be waylaid by about ten men who lined up on either side of me like bridesmaids while their friend got the shot. another 300 steps up to the top and two boys about 13 or 14 approached me again. by this time i was feeling a little camera shy, so said no. a few minutes later they were back, with a man who introduced himself as their teacher and proceeded to wheedle me to let them get their picture taken with me. “it’s for a school trip,” he said. i gave in, but got them to take a picture with my camera too, and got some good info on the temple. it’s built to chamunda devi, a goddess who fought with (and defeated) the demon maheshasur. i’m not sure why though. my list of things to research is constantly growing!
mysore turned out to be an excellent and interesting stop. it’s a former seat of royalty and a center for incense and silk, with a huge old palace and a bustling market. the temple is outside the city on a huge hill. pilgrims are supposed to walk up to the top, which is the way i went. there was a couple starting up just ahead of me, marking every single step with colored powder – visible prayers. but judging from the general emptiness on the stairway and the huge crowds at the top, most visitors use alternate forms of transport.
i passed a pleasant couple of days there and tonight am in sultanbatheri, just over the border into kerala. made a visit to the jain temple here, which (according to a very lovely and accommodating caretaker) is used about once yearly for jain rites, while day to day worship of the 450 jain families in this district happens in a handful of modern temples. i also learned that back in the 1700’s (don’t quote me as i am notoriously bad with facts) the mysore-based sultan stored his weapons in the temple. it’s built with 2 layers of stone so it keeps a more moderate temperature inside all year. and that’s how the town got its name “sultan battery” which seems to have shifted only slightly to assume its current form. although it’s hard for me to say – there aren’t as many signs in english here so i am experiencing increasing levels of illiteracy.
tomorrow, a trip to the wayanad sanctuary where i will hopefully see Animals. alas the lonely planet may have led me a bit astray – it says that it’s possible to do walking tours in the park, but according to my hotel owners, this isn’t the case. at any rate, i’ll find out tomorrow.
