A Sacred Journey

On the evening of Sept 14 we arrived in Mandawa, a small town 6 hours west of Delhi. In reality it was about 300km but with India traffic and crazy driving and bad roads, it takes alot longer. As a rule of thumb, it takes twice as long to get anywhere in India than canada. The next morning, we met Ajer (names are as they sound), a 10-year-old boy who had succesfully learnt german, italian, french and spanish only by interactions with foreigners. His english he learnt at school and his Hindi was perfect. He became our guide (in both english and french with me) and showed us around havelis (decorated painted houses of the rich 250 years ago) and loved showing us the kama sutra paintings all over, always followed by a chuckle. He talked of Krishna, the love God with 6000 wives, saying he is "very lucky man, very busy man". We met many people from the small village (50 000 is considered small) and Ajer's aunt Shantos dressed me up in Saris, painted my nails and decked me out in henna, it was beautiful. The hospitality is beyond anything I had experienced. Everyone offered tea (which we graciously accepted) and wanted to converse even through we had an apparent language barrier. I learnt Danevag for thank you and Kamara nam Dominique. There were many more, but Hindi is difficult to remember. Most are already impressed when we greet them with Namaste.
Oh so many memories and we have only begun, if I were to return to Canada tomorrow, I would feel my journey has been full of joy, learning and understanding. There was a wise man who spoke of God's medicine, the only way to deliver yourself from the inevitable suffering. There were the children, who, having Fridays off of school, loved our visit. We gave them toys and took many photos. We spent most the day with them, it proved to be the greatest day yet. They liked dancing and even the women laughed when Logan danced. Probably thinking "look at white boy dance!!". A young girl, Chopra, maybe 14 or so approached me and asked "is he friend?" and I said no, he's my husband (as we are posing as married to avoid problems) and she proceded to giggled uncontrollably for minutes, blushing and all. Ajer always reminded me, "he good husband, you make good choice" and referred to Logan only as "young man". Although when Logan stepped near the deep well to take a photo Ajer comforted him, "Be careful, you die I take wife".
Oh the women here are gorgeous. They wear saris of rich and brilliant colors just to do laundry and cook. I feel underdressed around them. In Delhi, Kumar took us to a bazaar where I tried on several beautiful saris and dresses only to realize that they were about 5000Rs each, about CAD$125. They pressured me hard into buying a few...giving me a "good deal" of 9000Rs for a green and gold sari and a green dress. I said could not, it was too expensive. They asked how much I would pay, I said max 4000Rs jst to show them I wasn't interested. At first they seemed offended because it is true that alot of work goes into making and sewing fabrics. But then, a few minutes later, the manager comes out and tells me I can take them for 4000Rs. Shit! Now I have to buy them...no, I didn't want to. So I ran out. No joke. Lesson learnt: avoid fancy bazaars with air conditioning.
Scam 3: Averted
So anyway, we found some wonderful handicrafts in Ajer's dad's home and bought a few things...I think we're going to UPS a shipment of stuff home in the next few weeks, if we can figure out how.
At the days end, I showed Ajer and Kumar pictures of my family (thanks mom!) and gave Ajer 100Rs. for his excellent guiding skills. More good food on the the rooftop terrace (this seems to be common) at hotel Shavaswati and them Logan and I went to the highest terrace and spied on people with Logan's new crazy zoom lens. The stars are glorious out here. We did some laundry in the bucket provided for bathing and went to bed, we had to leave at 7am this morning for Bikaner, a larger town further West, towards Pakistan.
Health update: Still feeling good, great in fact. More energy than I've ever known. I got a few mosquito bites (no idea when) so I've doubled my anti-malarial homeopathics for good measure. Logan and I have noticed that after eating we are a tad bit nauseous for about 10 minutes but then it goes away. I think this is a result of both mild jet lag and possibly having to wait hungry for like, an hour, for your food to be freshly cooked. And it's soooo good, ahem.
We've decided to keep drinking bottled water for awhile, Kumar says Rajasthani water is really bad, worse than Delhi, he doesn't even drink it!
Good ol' Kumar (he's got the Gandhi look going on), always reminding me when to tip and what's a good deal and what's not. Plus, he's an excellent driver when you consider how crazy India driving is, it's like a constant game of chicken.
Wow, it's so hot in here...it's strange being to hot and sweaty all the time...but, good news mom, my face is looking clearer!!
So we'll try to get some pics on, I don't really know how...maybe next post.
Hey, by the way, all you people reading my blog, I'd really like responses, it's nice to make a connection when we're so far away in such a different place.

Until next time,
Namaste

Posted by Dominique on 16 September 2006 at 4:17:00 AM | Permalink