Yes we have no bananas

India is kind of like a bad boyfriend, it keeps the yearning, but plays with the emotions and its a bit of a disappointment though there can be a bit of exciting drama now and then. But every once in a while, it really is amazing and I guess I keep hanging in for those moments. I don't mean to sound cynical or bitter (moi?), but sometimes you gotta wonder...what's it all about? Why do I keep coming back. Last time I SWORE I never ever would return. Never say never.

Maybe the big lesson is that there is no big lesson or it doesn't matter where you are to get 'the big lesson'. Or there's a lesson everyday and you can be anywhere and if you listen you'll get it. And if you don't listen, eventually it will hit you over the head. You may go all the way to India to get hit over the head, and then it will be so distorted and you'll be so sick of being asked where you are from 5 times a day, being sick, and just looking for the next lime soda, that you'll blame it on the place.

Or not.

An older British woman said to me that she found it 'so refreshing to realize that we really aren't in control' and that was one of the reasons she liked to come here. Why do you go to difficult places? Or would you never do that? Yeah, I'm asking... Or do you forget that is was difficult and remember the good parts and then want to go back and have more? I think that is where I fall prey. Maybe being an optimist in memory recall doesn't serve me very well anymore?

Now arrived back in Delhi for the last 3 days, one of which is Holi which is where it is good luck to douse each other with color. I will get the story and report back the why and what for...I have been warned to stay indoors, it can get intense. (surprise). So I really have 2 days where I can 'do something'.  I had 7 hours in the Bangalore airport as a layover between flights. Another day 'lost' instead of out 'doing something'. It seems like I am being asked to slow down and just 'take rest' as they say here. It ended up being ok, not just something to endure. I met up with another traveler who had been there since 5am waiting for his 2 o'clock flight to Goa. We had more in common and knew some of the same people, to the point of 2 or 3 degrees of separation. I find that happens a lot here. He is an ashtangi (person who practices the type of yoga I do) and we did a lot of yoga gossip  (it is the missing 9th 'limb' of yogic philosophy), talking about Mysore, Patthabi Jois, Sharat, etc. The usual suspects and topics people who do this kind of stuff talk about. Anyway, it was good.

It's nice to be back here in the north. The roar of the traffic in Delhi was kind of fun. Lots of construction creating bottlenecks and being at an absolute standstill...enter vendors stage left. You can sit in traffic and have a snack, peanuts crackers, even flowers while U wait. Fellini Indian style. You have to add horns honking and exhaust fumes, but it is kind of a party atmosphere. Really.... Is it one of those 'moments'? No, cause it's always a moment about something, anything, anyway, all the time. The moment(s) of not being able to sleep because it's too hot. Hating the lack of personal space in what you think of as a 'line', or thought was a line. Looking out the window and seeing a giant truck coming right at you. Or the taste of one of those small delicate little bananas.....now that's a moment too.

Cochin-the trading of rice & beans

92 in the shade

This is a lime soda. It is about 1-2 oz of lime juice with club soda. You can get it sweet or salty, I prefer it plain, straight up, stirred with the straw they usually give you. It's very thirst quenching. The cost is between 30-40 Rs (75-90 cents). I probably spend $4-5 a day on these things. At least I do here in the south. Now in the very south, this so-called winter weather is brutal. Maybe if I was a Bikram yoga practitioner.....I think it's effecting my stomach too. Well, what doesn't effect my stomach?

The spice trade all use to be right here, but since it went online now many of the storage and trade shops/warehouses are Kashmiri 'handicraft' shops. The prices are quite steep. I went into one and bought some things. I liked the stuff and they were about 10% less than the shop I went into yesterday. The chic chi-er ones have a cafe attached (where I had this lime soda), and they have the wares artfully hung about, etc. I'm sure I paid too much. What else is new? I am a walking ATM and I am here to be ripped off. That is the way of the western tourist, or so it seems. Bitter? Maybe...nah...., it really is the way it is in these tourist towns. It's part of accepting India (or just getting real, accepting is up to the individual). They won't even bargain here, they give you a discount if you get a few things, but they decide how much. Different than what I've experienced. Anyway, I just got a few giftees and the young lady was nice, helpful, never leaving me alone for a second (unless to check on a price with her boss). Very different from the west. It's the same kind of horn blowing philosophy; of blowing the horn to 'talk' to the other vehicles, to make them aware of your presence. So there's constant honking when there's anything on the road. The goats are quieter.

Anyway, I'm over it, ready to go north. I will report with photos about the trade business here. There are rice and pulses still going on, it looks like a very traditional, perhaps antiquated, kind of charming way to do business. It seems the rest have been replaced by the Kashmiri Indian Handicrafts stores. Oh well, I enjoyed the lime soda and the view. Photos following.

Chinese fishing nets in Cochin?

What are these guys doing? They are raising the Chinese fishing net. It is a counter- balanced system that works with guys pulling the net out of the water and the balance of large stones (you can kind of see those, center top part of photo) working to drop the net into the water. It's a cool thing to watch. 

Cochin has had everybody here, it's a melting pot of cultures, Portugese, British, Spanish, all searching for spices to trade. There are also chuches, mosques and the oldest synagogue in India (how many are there anyway?). It's an interesting place: historic, scenic, charming. It's funny to be in a place in India that smells of fish. Compared to the usual scent of cow dung, exhaust fumes and burning garbage. There is the infrequent smell of jasmine, normally found in a garland hanging over a deity or in a girls hair. The other scents are more 'atmospheric'. There aren't a lot of cows wandering around either, here it's goats. There are a lot of little goats tagging behind mom, it's very cute. 

Meanwhile, I rented a bicycle and aside from getting lost and getting my bare arms nicely done to lobster red (it is seafood oriented at least), it's fun tooling around. The traffic is manageable, until I got lost and then it got a bit scary, trucks and large 4 wheel drives, versus the small Tata cars and endless rickshaws. Anyway, it's hot as hell, 90 degrees and humid as anything, it's kind of a melting pot in a bodily sense, as well as social and historical one.

 

More Glorious Ganeshas & A Nandi Bull

Ganeshas Galore & Me

Savanabelgola-Jain Temple

This temple is 650 feet up and worth every step. Luckily the cool misty morning made the climb easier. Not to mention the socks which were an inspired purchase for 20Rs (40 cents). One is only allowed to enter the temple without shoes, socks are ok (thank goodness). The view at the top of the 18 meter 10th century sculpture of the naked man, Gomateshvara is stunning. The proportion is a bit distorted, but the beauty and serenity shines. This is considered the largest free standing sculpture in India (no small thing). There were also beautiful carvings on the way up (two thirds up that is), plus the view of the surrounding landscape took the breath I had left away. (photos to follow) The socks definitely helped keep the focus on the views versus the walk.

A day in the country-on the road to the temples

A day in the country

We left early in the morning, skies still misty and overcast. On the way to see temples...how did that happen. These temples are nearby Mysore (relatively, about and hour and a half), and they are jewels of the Hoysala era (1006-1346 AD). The intracacy of the carving and the shape of the temples are remarkable as they are beautiful. I had been to Somnathpur on the last visit and it has inspired me to this day. Going to see two temples that led up to that one was a not to be missed excursion.

Traveling through pretty countryside, rice patties, oxen with carts, small roads with beautiful trees all wrapped in a cool mist was delightful and another universe compared to my last temple expedition. I will post some photos of the way there and then some of the temples. It really isn't the temples, it's the sculpture in them that is the draw for me. I was in Ganesh (sculpture) heaven!

But let me post some photos of the nature and land, the other side of the temple culture which in Indian sensibility is all part of the unity of one! Duality is considered an illusion, the differences are not real, it's all the same. That would mean that Madurai, my sickness, the lovely countryside and beautiful carving are all the same. Well I guess in my experience they are all within the trip I've taken. But I give preference to the comfortable versus the 'un-' (damn right). That is my lack of enlightenment for not suspending judgement. Well, I do not claim to have any kind of 'enlightenment status' on my scorecard, so, yes I prefer one to the other. Perhaps time and distance....the memory of it will blend it all together as a clear thought without emotion or judgement. Or maybe it will just receed into a forgotten memory. (even on the internet). Ok, I'm off the soapbox, I'll just post some pictures and let them do the talking.

Madurai Temple Pix 2

These are all from the temple, along with the last post, except for the chai walla who was across the street. I think I prefer the chai ritual to the oil lamp rituals. Well, at least I have a better understanding of chai than Hinduism. My western roots do proceed me.

Madurai in hindsight: Temple photos

Some zoo pix

tiger from very far away, not chipmunk in lower left

big African tusker, love those ears!

they may be strange looking, but what a great coat!

I would have taken more photos, but it would have been through
a lot of wire mesh and it just didn't read well in the picture.

It's all happening at the zoo

I do believe it, I do believe it's true....
(sorry for the lapse into Simon & Garfunkel)

Anyway, it is a nice zoo, the one here in Mysore. The animals seem fairly content. The big cats seem to be the least so, they pace in their cages or sleep. Those big cats are quite beautiful, the white tiger with the deep blue eyes is a real stunner. All of them have been 'adopted' by individuals, including BKS Iyengar or companies like Infosysis, even a few youngsters have 'adopted' some of them. They have signs on their cages telling us so. There are also signs that non of the animals have been captured from the wild unless sick or young and motherless. Another words, these animals would be dead if they weren't here. The orangutang seems bored, but philosophical. The birds are beautiful and seem to have a good social network going.

I was pleasantly surprised at seeing all the creatures here. I've seen a lot of them in film and TV, but to see them close up, I do admit to being a bit 'star struck'. The birds were much more engaging to me, so much more vital and strong and colorful than seeing them on a flat screen. I loved the flamingos soft pink feathers, standing on one deep salmon colored webbed foot, head tucked into his wings sound asleep. The tigers were massive, but leaner and softer (from being in captivity? or just seeing them closer?) The markings are remarkable. The giraffes were HUGE! And kind of strange looking. Those nobby things on their heads and the long neck and short body, kind of weird, and very massive. The young leopard allowed his zoo keeper to scratch him behind the ears.

It was a lovely way to spend a very hot day. This zoo does not seem to be about gawking at animals in cages, though that is one thing one does, it seems more involved with the wildlife. There were hand painted signs with hand made illustrations of the animals describing where there habitats were, their size, gestation period, life span, what they normally eat and what they are fed at the zoo. I appreciated the info and the effort. I am not much of a zoo attendee, assuming they are cruel, inhumane places, but it didn't seem that way here. Afterwards I felt a bit closer to the animals, after getting a bit closer to them. It was a pleasant, benign excursion, finished off with a coconut water and gungee (the white meat inside) for a little electrolyte and hydration.

How do you like India?

When asked this question my response was, 'Depends on the day.' A good day in India is difficult, a bad one, extremely difficult to soul crushing. Being in India one tries to be philosophical and see how one is being 'tested'. It seems I had a three day 'bad day' bender in Madurai. It started with the overnight train ride. In the past I've enjoyed the lull of the train, looking out the window till dark, reading, knitting. All this was going to plan, until I started getting sick (diarrhea) in the middle of the night. It was messy, tedious and dreadful. Then I got to Madurai which was about the same. Why is it that the most holiest of cities are also the dirtiest? Varanase/Benares is also filthy, but it has the Ganges, the ghats can be quite magical. That's not how Meenakshi temple was to me. It was interesting, there were moments. Maybe because I was sick. Or I was sick and it was loud and the city was dirty. The temple was kind of dirty. Or I didn't understand what all the ritual was about. It was really hot. Maybe I'm not as interested as I thought I would be in 'temple life'.

I ended up spending most of the time in the hotel room, which had a window facing an air shaft, but AC, a flat screen TV with remote,  and a surprisingly comfortable bed. I sat inside watching movies after going to the temple in the morning. On the way back from the morning temple visit, which you must enter barefoot. I would go to the recommended veg place to get something to eat then go back to the hotel room, scrub my feet, watch movies, knit, doze, while the food moved through me and out in a gurglie sick kind of way. Not a great way to spend a 'holiday'.

Meenakshi temple is dedicated to Shiva's partner/consort of the same name. It is considered a 'woman's temple' and pilgrammages are made to enhance female fertility. It is said there are a thousand pillars and I can tell you there are at least half as many vendors selling Hindu memorabilia, prasad (offerings), flower garlands and kid's toys (fertility?). There were a fair amount of kids there, I guess proof of answered  prayers to Meenakshi? The kids seemed to treat it as a Disneyland of sorts. There is even an elephant there, a very cute elephant, that blesses the person who gives him rupees with a tap on the head with his trunk. Blessings can be bought it seems, even from elephants.

I was very busy at the temple too, busy feeling sorry for myself. I hit the wall of India and I wanted to be gone. I didn't care for the town, it seemed more dirty and functional than anything else. And the calm roof top restaurant at the nearby hotel at dusk didn't cure me either. Leaving cured me. Of course the Mr. Magoo of a driver I had to take me to the airport hit someone (brushed really) and the guy came after the driver half a block later. Lots of yelling and pounding on the hood ensued. Perfect way to end the trip. I am beginning to feel there is some karmic debt I need to pay here, mostly via my intestines.

Otherwise the return to Mysore was fairly uneventful. Waiting for the driver 45 minutes at the Bangalore airport, a flat tire 45 minutes outside of Mysore. It was his second flat of the trip, he told me. "Very unlucky trip", he said. How true, how true... Maybe this is 'special Shiva test for white lady'?

It was very good to drive through the Green Hotel's gates...whew! What a relief to be treated well, friendly chats with the staff and my few friends staying here. *sigh* Immodium made me more optimistic and ready yet again to do battle with the many armed god of India.