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.