Pictures from the Party

Party pictures and a short video here.

It was an ecstatic party last night. People, who hadn't had a bite to eat all day were singing, chanting, dancing and jumping from 7pm to midnight. They told us themselves that fasting makes the experience much more intensive to the point of hallucinating. For me it sounds a bit ironic that people who are absolutely against all kinds of drugs, get their endorphin rush and hallucinations just another way. It was pretty "culty" last night, believe me. Check out the pictures and the video to get into the feeling.

Today's free for us volunteers. I've got a slightly upset stomach again. No idea what the exact cause is, but seeing the mice running next to our drinking water and kitchen door yesterday, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm using the day off for resting and healing myself.

Merry Krishmas! Or Something Like That

Today's the birthday of Krishna. It's something comparable to Christmas, what I've heard. People celebrate it by fasting until midnight and then having a big feast. There's supposed to be dancing and music all over today and tomorrow.

Luckily the volunteers were allowed to have breakfast and lunch at least. I'm hoping there's a little something at eight tonight as well. I'm still going to prepare myself with some snacks from the corner shop just in case.

We cleaned the temple for the evening's festivities just a while ago. It was very much needed. We saw some mice running next to the kitchen door and some other examples of missing hygiene. I'm fully aware that this place is probably cleaner than the average Indian house, but I now have a clear idea where my stomach problems originated.

Two Impressive Visits

Today was probably the most eventful day of my trip so far. In the morning we visited Sandipani Muni school, which was built and is financed by Food for Life Vrindavan, a NGO that gets most of its money from donations from western countries. I have to say I was very impressed. The school was very new, clean and most importantly, free for all the students. Everything is paid for by the organization, including books, lunch, uniforms and school trips. They select the poorest of the poor, meaning that they have got a long waiting list and there would be much more demand than what they can offer. They have got about 400 students at the moment, but the school is getting bigger year by year. They teach the grades 1 to 12 and in addition they have a crucial day care service for younger siblings of the students. Otherwise the older sister (or maybe even brother) would have to stay home and take care of her little brother or sister. I'm pretty sure I am going to sponsor one child when I get back home. I was very impressed. 

The second highlight today was a tourist trip to Agra, to Taj Mahal. Me and my roommate got some company two days ago, when two new volunteers arrived. They told me yesterday that they were going to see Taj Mahal the next day. I directly asked if they'd mind taking me along. They had nothing against it. I was happy, because I was already getting a bit worried about getting there at all.

There's no question whatsoever! The Taj definitely deserves is place among the seven wonders. 20 000 people were working on it for 22 years. The amazing detail of the carvings and the marble wall decorations are simply amazing. Still the thing that made the biggest impression on me, was the perfect symmetry of the complex. Everything is built so exactly that it borders perfection. I'll try to upload some pictures later.

Yamuna and Palm Reading

Today was even hotter than yesterday. The day went by very slowly, but much happened. I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo and the book filled most of my day.  

At five in the afternoon it was time for the Sunday sightseeing tour again. This time we didn't go to see a temple. We walked to the river Yamuna and took part in a puja, an offer ceremony for the river. I'm afraid I didn't understand the deeper meaning very well, but surprise surprise, Krishna has something to do with it. When he was a child, he used to swim in the river and the ceremony is a way of remembering that. I'm guessing a little here, to be honest. Well, whatever it was, it definitely was very beautiful. The setting Sun on the background, flowers and petals flying in the air and floating in the river, incense and of course music. Altogether, it left an impression on me and for the first time I really saw the colorful India I had heard so much about back home.

There was just one thing that took some magic away. The river Yamuna itself. If you take a look at the sunset pictures in my Dropbox folder and zoom in, you will directly see what I mean. The amount of trash swimming in the river is appalling. What made me feel even worse, was that a lot of children were swimming in the Delhi sewage water what Yamuna practically is. Some religious monks also drank a sip of the water. I told you about the river earlier, so I'm not going to repeat the sad story now.

The second experience came as a total surprise. After I had gotten back from the river, my roommate introduced me to an Indian man, who read my roomie's palm last week. He had told me about it a couple of times and he was quite excited about some things the Indian man had told him. I didn't believe any of it, but I'm much less sceptical now. Some of the things the man said about my character and about the way my life has so far been, were spot on. Of course he also said things that absolutely didn't fit, but I can only think of three things where he clearly missed, when there were at least five or six things that fitted more or less perfectly. I'm not going into details.

There were two things besides the accuracy that gave the man credibility. First of all, he told me that he doesn't take any money for reading people's palms and he even added that all the readers who do it for the money don't know anything. Second, the guy has a double Master's degree in English and geology. He's a teacher (yeah, I know that doesn't give him much credibility ;-) ), but the point is, he seemed in many ways legit. He learned and still learns the palm reading from his master, who has known him since he was a small boy, but has only taught him his secrets the past nine years.

It took about 15 minutes and during that time he not only looked at my hands, but my face and eyes as well. I'm pretty sure that knowing many people well, reflecting on different personal characteristics and having extremely good social skills will do most of the trick. I have no idea, but as you can see, the guy did make me think at least.

Scorchio

It's hot! I couldn't sleep much last night, even with the fan blowing with full strength. According to Foreca weather service, the "feels like" temperature at the moment is 44 degrees Celsius. The actual temperature is 35, but it sure feels much worse than that. Unfortunately the weather seems to be staying this way at least until Tuesday.

Luckily today's the free day. Working would be not much fun. But there's really nothing much to do that's fun when it's this hot. The moment you leave the fan, you're covered in sweat. I'm not going further than the internet cafe today.

I did something quite interesting this morning already. I went to see a king, or actually the former king of Munger (a region in Bihar). He renounced his title and became a guru. Now he's got his own temple and ashram here in Vrindavan. He was asked questions and he answered. I must say that the only thing I can remember is that one should try concentrate more in the spiritual life and growth. With that the material things in one's life losen their grip and the soul can better guide the body, senses and the mind for doing good.

I haven't told you much about the religion here. The reason is very simple. I have been trying to understand it. Hinduism in general is something I never was very well acquainted with in the first place... Well, the Vrinda-Kunja ashram belongs to the Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which is one branch of Vaishnavism, which again is one big branch of Hinduism. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (more commonly known as Hare Krishnas), belong to the same Gaudiya Vaishnavism as the ashram I'm staying in. But the people here don't consider themselves Hare Krishnas. So, it's complicated, as you can see. They believe that chanting the God's name purifies and brings closer to the Supreme being. If you want to know more, please check the Wikipedia link above.

That's all for today.

Further Planning

Yesterday I received an answer from my next volunteering spot. I asked if it was possible to come a bit earlier than planned. I had originally said I would be arriving on the fourth of September, but I decided to leave Vrindavan a bit earlier. I found a good train connection on September first and second (night train) and I booked it. I first then asked the farm if it's ok, because I had the feeling they wouldn't mind. And they didn't. 

I already planned a bit further as well. There's a straight once-a-week train connection from very close to the farm to the closest station next to the orchard I'm going to volunteer in after the farm. I booked myself a trip on the September 24th. This means I've got about three weeks for Uttarakhand (state), from which I've promised to stay at least two at the farm. If I like it very much, I may stay longer, if two weeks are enough, I can try to find other things to do or at least other places to stay.

I also contacted another volunteering opportunity for mid October on. It's all the way down south in Kerala. I'll tell you more about it later if I get a positive response.

I'm sorry to say that I cancelled the volunteering in an orphanage in Patna. I decided that it's something I probably couldn't handle well. Vrindavan is a city with relatively high literacy rate and even here I feel overwhelmed and a bit frustrated when I see the poverty and all the suffering faces. Patna is the capital of one of the poorest states of India (Bihar) and working in an orphanage means I would have to face even much more suffering there. Another reason I said no, is that it's a rather big city and as I've already told you, I'm not interested in getting to know any more big cities in India than I absolutely have to. I feel bad saying no, but it's just too much. I would never have thought myself saying that before I got here...

The Process of Getting an Indian SIM-card

Last week I decided, I want to get an Indian mobile number. On Wednesday I went to ask in a shop with operator logos outside. The shop owner told me, I have to have a passport picture and a copy of my passport and visa. The next day I started looking for a shop where I can get passport photos taken and after an hour of asking and searching I managed to find it. It was unbelievably cheap to get 10 pictures taken and printed out. I only paid 50 rupees (about 0,60€). 

With the newly printed photos and a copy of my passport and visa, I went to the same shop again and told them I was now ready. But, things weren't quite that easy after all... I still needed proof of my address in India.

Well the next day, Friday, I asked from the office here in the ashram if it was possible to get a form stating that I live here. That was much easier than I thought and I could go back to the shop same day. When I got there and presented all the needed documents, everything seemed to be going well at first. They gave me a list of numbers I could choose from and they even gave me my SIM-card.

Just when I was leaving the shop, the shop owner asked if I had an Indian number. I said no, but I am getting one now, right? Apparently the operator needs an Indian number to call and let you know that your SIM-card has been registered. I showed the document stating that I now live in Vrinda Kunja ashram and pointed at their number. That wasn't enough, they needed a name to go with that number.

So, I walked back to the ashram, found out the complete name of the office boss and walked back to the shop. That seemed to be enough. They told me that it might take a couple of workdays before the office gets a call. I'm still waiting patiently, but if there's no call tomorrow, I'm going to walk to the shop again and start asking questions (that most likely will not be understood).

I'll keep you updated.

Rain 'n Shit

Yesterday we got an offer we could only decline. We were getting ready to oil the fence further, but one of the devotees told us that the small dirt mountains outside need to be reinforced. We were happy in the beginning, because oiling isn't all that much fun. When we saw that it wasn't just dirt we were supposed to use, but a mixture of dirt and cow shit collected from the streets, we kindly refused. Two Indian women, who live here, had already made the first batch ready and we were supposed to take over. We were offered oiling the fence as another option and suddenly it sounded like a very fun thing to do.
 
On a distantly related matter, (shit, ya know) my stomach is a bit upset since last night. I don't know the cause, but I'll try and eat a bit less today and tomorrow. It's probably just something I had that's telling my digestive system to get used to it.

It just rained very heavily. The whole yard is covered in water and the gutters are flooding in the streets. It was the kind of rain I was expecting to see more of here during the monsoon. 

One Week Down

I've been here for one week today. Time to sum up a little:
1. I'm enjoying the yoga very much.
2. The work here is not always very meaningful, but it keeps you busy.
3. The food has not much to do with Indian food. Yesterday we had mashed potatoes. It's very basic and it definitely needs some spice, if you ask me.
4. I definitely need to find an English bookshop. Almost done with my second book already, (Crime and Punishment).
5. Still not planning to convert
6. It's been much harder to adapt to India than I would have thought. I'm not giving up yet.

And some news:

Yesterday I went to a holy forest here in Vrindavan. When Krishna lived his boyhood in this area, it was just a big forest. This holy forest is the exact place where Krishna played and danced with his gopis (girlfriends). And he even now does! The forest area is always closed for the night and nobody is allowed to stay inside the walls. Krishna comes and dances with his gopis every night. If someone would accidentally happen to see him, this someone would go mad or at least lose his eyesight. Apparently even the monkeys come out at night. Whether you choose to believe this, is up to you. I'm not buying it, sorry about that Krishna.

Yesterday we helped in the kitchen and even though it was very hot, I enjoyed it much more than the other jobs I've done here so far. We also got a new work plan for this week. It seems like it's going to be the same as last week. Until Wednesday we stay here in our ashram and help out the way we can (there are still some fences not oiled). Thursday and Friday we will work in the garden. Saturday is free and on Sunday morning we will clean the river banks of Yamuna (if the flood comes down by then) and help in the kitchen.

Motorcycles

Everyone knows rickshaws and motor rickshaws but I never thought there would be as many motorcycles in India. Some of them look really expensive and new. It would seem strange to me to own something like that and the same time not having many much more basic things. It seems to me, it's a kind of status symbol like big cars are in Europe. Where did I get this idea from? Well here's a list of brand names I've seen so far:
Hero Honda
Splendor (pro)
Glamour
Freedom
Passion
In addition to that, the motorcycles are individualized with signs looking like licence plates. Their texts strengthen the impression of "heroes on two wheels".

A Day Off Work

Saturday is the free day of the week. Except for a very straining yoga session in the morning. After yoga and breakfast I headed out to explore the city. I read about two recommended restaurants close to the ISKCON temple. I started walking around 9.30 and it was still nice and "cool". It took me an hour to get to the temple, because the streets were full of pilgrims. Also, the city is much bigger than I had thought. I didn't go into the temple, but it's the only temple I've seen here so far with English signs and I even saw some Caucasian looking people around it. There's supposed to be a western guest house and a restaurant somewhere on the temple premises. Didn't go to look for it though. I was actually looking for another restaurant, but I didn't write the name of it downbefore leaving, so I didn't really know what I was looking for. On the way to the temple I saw some nice (means safe) looking restaurants though.

I started heading back and decided not to look at the map until I'd gotten lost. I needed to to be back by 12, so I still had plenty of time. I walked past some dozen other temples and then I came to the river Yamuna. It looked more like a lake that's flowing fast. Make it a big dirty flowing lake.

It is the largest tributary of the Ganges river and it's waters make 40% of the total water of the Ganges. But, only three percent of it's water gets to Delhi, the rest is used for agricultural, domestic and industrial needs in the states north of Delhi. But here in Vrindavan, less than two hundred kilometers south of Delhi the river flows again. How is that possible? You guessed it! It's mostly raw and partially treated sewage water from Delhi and other cities. Even swimming in it is dangerous and over 50 million people rely on it for their daily needs. I found a pamphlet telling this sad story. I took pictures of it for you to read and I'll try to upload them to my photos as soon as possible. There are some good looking proposals to change things on the brochure, but I don't know if anything's been done so far.

My walk ended at 12 o'clock and I was pretty exhausted. The sun shined all the way back and I felt it pretty heavily on me. After lunch I fell asleep for two hours.

My roommate and I went out for dinner in the evening and we actually just arrived. We decided it was time for a culinary adventure. I took him to the area where I saw the restaurants earlier. It was an adventure, but the culinary side was nothing that special. I presume that we visited the Indian version McDonald's. It was tasty, but it had a cheap feel to it. A lot of plastic for just one dinner. The adventure was walking back through the bazaars and narrow streets in the darkening evening through masses of people, motorbikes, rickshaws, cars and cows. I took a short video of the hassle and I'll try to get it uploaded at some point.

Now I'm heading to bed. Had a full day even without working.

There's Nothing as Important as Gardening and Gardening Isn't Important

Work

The title is an old Chinese proverb that came to mind today while weeding and raking in a garden close to our ashram. That's what we've been doing yesterday and today. It's not so much fun, but I'm trying to think of the old Karate Kid movie: "Wax on, wax off". Maybe in the end it has some meaning.

Monkeys

A little update on the monkeys. I've had absolutely no problems with them so farbut my roommate has. He left his mobile phone on a stone while we were oiling the fence a few days back. A monkey came and took it, climbed a tree and started to chew on it. There was nothing we could do to save it. Not even a ringing of the phone bothered it. Lesson number one: keep everything in your hand or in your pocket when outside the cage.

Apparently the monkeys are only a nuisance here in Vrindavan. The same monkeys give no trouble outside this city. There's a story of young Krishna teaching the monkeys to steal things. The area where this town is built used to be a big forest where Krishna played as a child. Wikitravel says that the teaching has happened later. Apparently there have been people teaching the monkeys to take people's glasses and then bring them to their teacher, who then "kindly" returns the glasses against a payment. I haven't seen anything that would suggest this really to happen. At least it no longer seems to happen since the monkeys try to eat the stolen objects rather than give them to someone.

Weather

There has been a lot less rain than I anticipated. Just two longer rain periods in the four days and some small showers. This little rain is often enough to cause a power outage. I'm a bit worried what will happen if it rains more. Luckily the fan and one light in our room seem to be connected to some sort of reserve power source. The temperatures have been around 30 degrees Celsius during the day, but the humidity is the killer. The first two days the thermometer went up to 34 degrees and even with the fan on, sleeping was not easy. The forecast promises cloudy days an some rain. Like it a lot.

Food

The food has been excellent the last couple of days, or maybe I've just gotten used to it. The first two days I wasn't that happy about it, but now it's been excellent. Today we had pasta with a really good sauce. I'm hoping there's still some of that left for dinner.

Don't Let It Bother You

"Just like the seasons come and go, good and bad things come and go as well. We should not let them make us anxious."

That's something our yoga teacher taught us today (or something like that). She read it from Bhagavadgita. It kind of makes sense. I know it's not a new idea, but this morning it made me realize something that's been bugging me since I got here. This is all pure speculation, but here's my theory.

India is getting richer, but if you look at the cities, it really doesn't show. Is it because people are thinking, "don't let it bug you"? I believe the biggest force behind invention and change is the feeling of something bothering you. If you're not bothered about the waste and the smell, you don't need it to go away. I know this is probably a bit far fetched, but it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

Delhi Experience

I need to tell you a few more things I saw in Delhi on Monday. I think I was simply too shocked to put it into words earlier.

It's the capital of India and about 17 million people live there. I went through the city on my way from the airport to the train station. We were on a crowded road (with people and cows) with two or three floor buildings on both sides when my driver told me we were in the downtown area. It looked like no other city, but to speak of capital I've ever seen. I wasn't able to do good observations because I only had one thing in my mind: escape. It was such an overwhelming feeling, I don't think I've ever felt something so strongly in my life.

I know I probably won't be able to avoid bigger cities for the rest of the time I'm here, but I'm going to try anyway.

Vrindavan is just as smelly and dirty as Delhi was, but there's a whole lot other feel to it. It can get chaotic every now and then in the city, but it's still manageable in comparison and there's no one trying to rip you off behind every corner. I've only twice been in the center market area of the town, but both times I haven't felt anything comparable to Delhi.
I guess the absence of tourists makes the difference. They mean easy money to the locals. I'm hoping to find more places like this during my travels. I'm pretty sure the next two planned stays will be rural enough.

So that's it for today. Almost time for dinner and after that I won't stay up for long. Yoga at six in the morning again...

First Yoga Lesson

I just had my first yoga lesson here in the ashram. The teacher is called Sarasvati and like many others here in the Vrinda Kunja, she also comes from the south America, more precisely Colombia. There are eco-yoga villages that operate under the same guru in many south American countries.

I found the lesson very relaxing, even though the mosquitos bothered a little. From the 90 minutes we did asanas for about 45 minutes. The rest was listening to Sarasvati explaining the deeper thought behind yoga. I must say, I'm not very open to all the things she told us about. I'm happy with my life as it is and I'm not thinking of turning into a Hindu. I'm enjoying yoga for my own purposes, not as a way to find the "Unity".

There's no denying that there is a feeling of being converted here. But I think I'm much better able to repel a religion than my mosquito repellant is able to repel mosquitos. So nothing to worry people! I'm not going to return singing Hare Krishna.

Some Pictures

More in my Dropbox folder (link on the right).

Second Day - Time to Work

The night went quite well. I was really tired not having slept much the night before. It was very hot if course, but with the fan in the ceiling it was bearable.

Breakfast

The first thing in the morning was to find a spoon. The office could luckily help me with that. It was nice having a spoon for breakfast, especially since it's just a sort of muesli with a sort of whitish liquid. It tasted ok and is going to keep the hunger away until lunch for sure.

Work
I just oiled a fence for over two hours. It was nothing difficult, but the heat takes it toll. There's going to be another work session in the afternoon. We'll probably continue with what we started this morning. There's not much else to say about it really. Big brush, oil, fence. I'll try to remember to take a picture later.

WiFi
There's still no internet connection here in the Ashram. I asked about it in the office and I just got a simple "sometimes it works, sometimes not" answer. The internet cafe in the town is ok for blogging, but I need to find a way to upload my pictures as well.

First Day Is Over

I tried to get some sleep in the late afternoon, but it didn't happen. I went for a walk instead and took a couple of photos. I can't post them at the moment, because I have no wireless access to my mobile, but I'll let you know when they are online. The stereotype about cows walking all over has been proven to fit Vrindavan at least. It's unfortunately also true that the streets are literally covered with shit and trash. But more about that another time perhaps...

Monkeys
The town and our ashram is full of monkeys. They look really nice, but they aren't. Two people got bitten and attacked in our ashram only. Luckily the living quarters, the temple and office are behind a wire netting and doors you always need to close. Especially the little ones look very cute though.

Dinner
One last thing before I go to bed. I had dinner about 40 minutes ago and that was an experience. We always eat in the temple on the floor. Food is served from big buckets and eaten out of tin plates. I tried to find a spoon yesterday, but the office was already closed. I managed just fine with my fingers, but eating a stew of potatoes and vegetables with just fingers is not that easy. A good thing there was some thin wheat breads served with the meal. It wasn't the tastiest Indian cuisine I've had, but it will keep the hunger away for sure.

That"s it! I've survived my first day in India.

First Day Impressions

I've heard people talking about getting a cultural slap on the face. Now I've experienced it first hand. Nothing could have prepared me for that.

Airport and Delhi

Delhi airport was very uncomplicated actually. All the formalities were over very quickly and before I noticed I had gotten a ride to the train station in a taxi... I have absolutely no idea how much more I paid than I should have, but it was all ok from my point of view.

The train station is where my problems started. My train was cancelled because of heavy rain up north and all the other trains were completely booked. I went to a tourism office and they offered me a taxi instead. The price was of course something else than the train, but I accepted the offer anyway.

Home in Vrindavan - Vrinda Kunja Ashram

I arrived in Vrindavan about an hour ago and then searched for my first home away from home for almost an hour. The taxi driver left me out "close " to the place. It's clear to me now that he had no idea. I asked directions five times and took two rickshaws before I finally got there.

Now I'm sitting in my bed and getting to know this place. There are some other volunteers here as well. I got briefly introduced to some of them, but I have yet to meet my roommate.

I'm going to have a shower next. Walking with my 17 kilo backpack in +32 degrees makes you sweat.

I was too stunned with everything to take many pictures. I also didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of people. I already was looked upon strangely. (And I also was a little afraid to take my camera out of my pocket at some times. I'll try to post some photos still so remember to check them out behind the link on the right.

And So It Starts

Saying Goodbyes
I'm sitting in a train, going to the airport.  I'm happy I'm going. This last week was full of goodbyes and to tell you the truth, I'm not a big fan of them. The last and hardest one was just 20 minutes ago. It was all much harder than I expected.

Vrindavan
Very early tomorrow morning I'm going to land in New Delhi. Then I've got six hours to get from the airport to the train station where my train to Mathura leaves.

My first station on my trip is going to be Vrindavan, a small temple city little over two hours south of Delhi. I need to take a motor-riksa from the Mathura train station. I'm going have opportunities to tell you more about  the town later, because I'm staying there for little over three weeks.