It's WARM in India - cold in Columbus Ohio

Hello All,

I'm sorry for the long absence of posting. My time in Mumbai (Bombay) was VERY busy with friends and their families. Mumbai (I stayed in Thane) looks very much the same as last time I was here, but I did notice new buildings and renovations. If you haven't already heard, what makes Mumbai such a crazy place and as noisy as New York City, it's the honking of vehicles - all of them. Except in New York, it's to say "HEY GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU JERK" and in India, it's to say "HEY I'M OVER HERE AND MAYBE I NEED TO PASS, OR JUST PAY ATTENTION, I'M COMING KINDA CLOSE". It's more of a conversation between all concerned parties occupying the same very crowded streets with no discernable road rules. So it's a constant beeping of horns. Actually, all "GOODS CARRIERS" (I love that) have on their bumpers some statement about it being ok to honk your horn at them. Some say "HONK HORN OK PLEASE" or just "HONK HORN OK" in diffently fonts - some were creative English and I meant to write them down, but I didn't have my book. I fantacized (sp?) about taking pictures of all of them for a coffee table book they were so funny. Uh, yeah...sure Carol - whatever.....

I have pictures I haven't yet uploaded (I'll try tomorrow) of an evening filled with shopping for a sari blouse; riding in a huge silver horse drawn carriage around a lake in Thane and an evening boat ride later on the same lake.

I have to tell you, I had forgotten what it was like to cross the street in Mumbai - literally very scary and not to be taken lightly. You must dodge other people, auto rickshaws in all directions (since, remember, there are no real discernable road rules), cars, cows and dogs. We were trying to do this on a holiday night (HOLI) with a four and seven year old and believe me, it's multi-tasking at its best. I have never seen anyone hurt though, it's amazing.

If I understood everything, the religious Holi celebrations took place on the night of the 28th and the tradition of throwing colored powder happened the next day on the first. I have great pictures of that too.

People made rangoli (religious drawings in bright colors on the streets or in front of their buildings or houses) and built fires for doing prayers. As a neighborhood crowd gathered at the end of our block, several people made prayers and offerings for their families, each taking turns. As part of the ceremonies, each family put a whole coconut into the fire to roast, then later we broke it apart to share. This is called prashad or prasad - it has been blessed and it gives you blessings. Everyone was sharing and enjoying meeting with neighbors. A young couple with month old twins offered for me to hold them and we chatted awhile. Then we returned home for dinner.

The 28th of February was also my birthday and we celebrated by having cake (thank you Minal and Vinay - Vijay and Joythi). It was also a special day because Minal's baby was getting her ears pierced! We had a special prayer and the man came to the house to pierce her ears. It went very well and she hardly cried. Needless to say it was a full and exciting day. The next day we had a huge catered birthday party on the roof for Minal's older daughter. Their roofs here are tiled and vey nice - great for sleeping when it's hot, for extra guests, flying kites - we should have them in the US!!

Then it was off for an impromptu visit to a very holy place called Ganapati Phule (this is the god with the head of an elephant) It was a very harrowing 8 hour drive over the hills and down to the sea. I say harrowing because the undiscernable (is that a word?) driving rules were taken to the max passing other trucks, oxen carts, small cars, scooters, etc. on mountain roads at 50 kph. At one point there were four lanes of vehicles passing each other. I thought several times our lives were in jeopardy - and I stopped watching the driver. To his credit, he always (however closely) made the passes with the oncoming traffic (sometimes they had to brake or swerve)and we arrived there and home in one piece.

The temple was very beautiful and it's set on a beach. We made special prayers for the children and families; and I had one said for a friend who has cancer. I, of course, wanted to follow the right procedures and at one point a woman who looked like she had done this before, motioned for me to put my coconut in front of a holy man sitting on a high counter in front of the deity. I did so and he promptly put it back in my basket. I thought he was supposed to keep it, so I stepped away, surveyed the situation and thought that I saw him keeping some others (there were such pressing crowds, again, my trying to keep my wits about me in an unfamiliar setting). I again put the coconut on the counter and he promptly gave it back. He said something to the lady who told me to do it. Not sure what was said, but she motioned for me to go into another place next to this one. Maybe I'm supposed to take my coconut there?

You think I would know not to trust her again, but, what the heck, I went in the other room - things were being collected for a different prayer. Suddenly - someone said "TIME IS UP - CLOSING TIME FOR THESE PRAYERS" that I didn't understand, because TONS of people crowded into this very small room hoping to make it before the deadline. I was pressed into the corner, never able to make it to the counter. Finally, I forced my way out of the door and found my friends.

So, what happened to my coconut? Well, it turns out, that man was giving back the coconut as it is blessed when placed on the counter. We took our coconuts out to a special place where we smashed them open on huge blocks, let the water pour out and ate the blessed coconut for the rest of the afternoon (which in turn is a blessing for us). I wish I could explain everything's symbolism, but there wasn't always time for them. I hope you take my explanations as a humble experience of another's customs.

I have now moved to another friends house in Nashik, Maharashtra where Lord Rama was placed in exile. Nashik (Nasik) is a very holy place, with a very holy place for Lord Shiva and also Sai Baba. I'm going to expect you to look these up, I'm getting tired. I will begin taking pictures again tomorrow and hope to upload Mumbai pictures too. We leave for New Delhi and Agra day after tomorrow. Yum, my friend has made a hot pocket type thing with mutter (peas)!!!!

Too many gifts - no room in the suitcase for clothes

For everyone who knows that I would LOVE to have an excuse to buy clothes while I'm in India, the title comes as no surprise. But, alas, I have no need for more sari or kurta, so I'll just have to make do with what fits into the suitcase.

Ok, so I've decided to BLOG. I hope it won't be too boring for my friends who didn't ask me to blog about my travels, but find themselves reading this. The friends who asked me to blog say that I make them laugh in real life, so that I must be funny as a writer. HAH, we'll see. I apologize to everyone in advance who have aspirations (or some competency) for professional writing - I usually write as I speak and I am NOT great with grammar, sentence structure or themes. I will not attempt plot and probably not re-write and re-write. I overuse the exclamation point (I talk in exclamation points really) and dashes. You have been forwarned.

I hope also to use this blog to communicate to Ms. Bierl's classes who are studying the the five major religions; I will write about my experiences of present day India and where it intersects with the ancient stories of each as I travel. Upon my return, I will visit with them to evaluate how helpful this experiment was and what they learned.

It's my third trip to India, but this time I am stopping through Bordeaux on the way. Yeah, it's out of the way, but I have a friend in Bordeaux and I don't have a friend in Paris where my stop over is. My thinking is this: I hate the 16 hour direct flight from New York to Mumbai. It's grueling being in the same plane for that long and the stop over in Paris is not bad since I can practice my French listening skills (notice I didn't say speaking skills). Well, heck since I'm in France I might as well see some of it! I am excited to see Cassie and her fiance - they're planning a wedding!!

I am very fortunate to be taking this 'adventure' (my grandson Matthew and I are great adventurers he says) and want to share my passion for other cultures with anyone who will listen. Of course my hidden (or not so hidden) agenda is to teach tolerance and acceptance of people different from ourselves by sharing my experiences!

Namaste,

Kavita (Carol)