Day 50 (26 July): Yogis and Pilgrims
I took a flight this morning to Dhera Dun (which is about 280 km NE of Dehli at the foothills of the Himalayas) and where my friend (and roomate in DC), Umung's mother lives. She met me at the airport where stepping off the plane it was instantly obvious that the place would be much more relaxing than elsewhere in India and the weather much nicer although still humid.
We drove from the airport to Rishikesh which is a nearby town full of Yogis, Gurus, and Ashrams (halls where they preach). In fact the Beatles spent time here in 1968 with a famous Guru and it since beame a part of the 'hippie trail' through India. We also crossed the Lakshmanjulah there which is a 'swinging bridge' over the Ganges which begins its decent into the plains here. Given the serene nature of the mountains in the area it is obvious why the place originally became a 'mecca' of sorts for people starting up new religions or new twists on old ones since the air of the place is very spiritual given the mountain and river setting. Unfortuately, the spot was very crowed due to tourist (like myself and her) being ther but more so because of a particular type of Hindu pilgrim who take over the town during the Monsoon every year. These pilgrims who wear orange will walk from wherever they are from (perhaps over 1000 km away to the mouth of the Ganges) where they are supposed to fill two bottles with water that they are not allowed to put down for the whole trek back home. Also in the place we saw a number of monkeys swinging around in the forests and running across the roads in addition to some wild boars.
Returning to Dhera Dun we had dinner at the hotel Umung's mother checked me into since she couldn't host me at her house due to some recent renovations. We also had dinner in their excellent restaurant.
Observations:
1) Rickshaws continue to be a constant negotiation. This morning I had to convince the driver to actually take me directly to the aiport instead of stopping for what he said would only be 20 minutes to get some gas.
2) Butter Chicken also know as Chicken Tikka Masala. This was originally served as a dish of leftovers but has become a favorite among men in India and also very popular at Inidan restaurants in the US. Apparently the original recipie required scraps of tandoori chicken and the leftover 'gravies' from other curries and they were simply all scrapped into one pot and eaten that way.
2) Eating with your hands. Umung's mother convinced me it was OK and how food is meant to be eaten. (Arnab's parents didn't try to do so really, but asked me if it was OK if they did.) The problem I see with it is that with Indian food, curries, breads, and rices your hands get quite messy doing so. Umung's mother made a good point though, so I'd do it with the chicken at least, but not the mutton (which is usually lamb in US Indian restaurants.) That point was that if you look at a chicken it is not meant to be eaten with a fork and a knife because you cannot possibly get all of the meat off that way. With mutton she ackownledge that maybe that wasn't the case. Another arguement she made was that you get a lot more out of your food by being able to feel it as well as eating it. This was also part of a conversation about how when you get older you need to unlearn some things that you have learned to enjoy life.
3) Borders in Northern Indian have not been historically very well defined, but people have somehow up until recently managed to get along well and respect each other's laws.
4) Pilgrims can have fun even if it cost a lot. Apparently the average cost of the pilgrimage to the mouth of the Ganges is very costly given most people's low incomes, but they do it anyway. Many of them for part of the trip would ride around, pileing 20 in a rickshaw or on 30 on a truck to which they'd attach big speakers and dance to the music at time hanging on only with one arm and no feet on their vehicles while they wound around treacherous mountain roads.
5) We came across a temple today that had 1800 rooms, each with different idol in it. Umung's mother couldn't understand why someone would do that and thought it was a huge waste, especially since everywhere in India has become so over crowed since her youth. I understand why you'd want the serenity of being up in the hills, but I wonder if this crowded temple with 1800 rooms (each with an orange garage door) was just a reflection of modern times? Maybe people want religion to feel comfortable and mirror their lives so they crowd it all into one tiny space which is like how they live?
6) I seem to continue to avoid bad events on this trip. Apparently, about 10 days since I was there, Mumbai is having the worst floods in its history as they received over 3 feet of monsoon rains in one day, predicted to shut down the city for several days. Also over 300 people are suspected dead in the city as a result.
We drove from the airport to Rishikesh which is a nearby town full of Yogis, Gurus, and Ashrams (halls where they preach). In fact the Beatles spent time here in 1968 with a famous Guru and it since beame a part of the 'hippie trail' through India. We also crossed the Lakshmanjulah there which is a 'swinging bridge' over the Ganges which begins its decent into the plains here. Given the serene nature of the mountains in the area it is obvious why the place originally became a 'mecca' of sorts for people starting up new religions or new twists on old ones since the air of the place is very spiritual given the mountain and river setting. Unfortuately, the spot was very crowed due to tourist (like myself and her) being ther but more so because of a particular type of Hindu pilgrim who take over the town during the Monsoon every year. These pilgrims who wear orange will walk from wherever they are from (perhaps over 1000 km away to the mouth of the Ganges) where they are supposed to fill two bottles with water that they are not allowed to put down for the whole trek back home. Also in the place we saw a number of monkeys swinging around in the forests and running across the roads in addition to some wild boars.
Returning to Dhera Dun we had dinner at the hotel Umung's mother checked me into since she couldn't host me at her house due to some recent renovations. We also had dinner in their excellent restaurant.
Observations:
1) Rickshaws continue to be a constant negotiation. This morning I had to convince the driver to actually take me directly to the aiport instead of stopping for what he said would only be 20 minutes to get some gas.
2) Butter Chicken also know as Chicken Tikka Masala. This was originally served as a dish of leftovers but has become a favorite among men in India and also very popular at Inidan restaurants in the US. Apparently the original recipie required scraps of tandoori chicken and the leftover 'gravies' from other curries and they were simply all scrapped into one pot and eaten that way.
2) Eating with your hands. Umung's mother convinced me it was OK and how food is meant to be eaten. (Arnab's parents didn't try to do so really, but asked me if it was OK if they did.) The problem I see with it is that with Indian food, curries, breads, and rices your hands get quite messy doing so. Umung's mother made a good point though, so I'd do it with the chicken at least, but not the mutton (which is usually lamb in US Indian restaurants.) That point was that if you look at a chicken it is not meant to be eaten with a fork and a knife because you cannot possibly get all of the meat off that way. With mutton she ackownledge that maybe that wasn't the case. Another arguement she made was that you get a lot more out of your food by being able to feel it as well as eating it. This was also part of a conversation about how when you get older you need to unlearn some things that you have learned to enjoy life.
3) Borders in Northern Indian have not been historically very well defined, but people have somehow up until recently managed to get along well and respect each other's laws.
4) Pilgrims can have fun even if it cost a lot. Apparently the average cost of the pilgrimage to the mouth of the Ganges is very costly given most people's low incomes, but they do it anyway. Many of them for part of the trip would ride around, pileing 20 in a rickshaw or on 30 on a truck to which they'd attach big speakers and dance to the music at time hanging on only with one arm and no feet on their vehicles while they wound around treacherous mountain roads.
5) We came across a temple today that had 1800 rooms, each with different idol in it. Umung's mother couldn't understand why someone would do that and thought it was a huge waste, especially since everywhere in India has become so over crowed since her youth. I understand why you'd want the serenity of being up in the hills, but I wonder if this crowded temple with 1800 rooms (each with an orange garage door) was just a reflection of modern times? Maybe people want religion to feel comfortable and mirror their lives so they crowd it all into one tiny space which is like how they live?
6) I seem to continue to avoid bad events on this trip. Apparently, about 10 days since I was there, Mumbai is having the worst floods in its history as they received over 3 feet of monsoon rains in one day, predicted to shut down the city for several days. Also over 300 people are suspected dead in the city as a result.
posted by Traveling Brian at 6:46 AM
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