Wow, this place is phenomenal.
Kutchi people are just incredible.
So giving and so warm.
Last night I ended up in village 2 hours from my hotel at 6pm. The sun was about to set and I would be driving alone on a moped through the desert. NOt ideal.
This was all discovered while sitting in the home Sufiya, a Mutwa woman, drinking chai. Her brother (english name is Aladdin) came in and learned of the predicament and started offering options...i was most welcome to stay there of course, or he would ride with me and come back that same night in his brothers car.
I opted for option 2 and we off into the desert. Me driving, Aladdin on the back.
As darkness fell, the wind started and a good ol desert sand storm whipped sand into our faces. Fat rain sporadically splatted down..at which point Aladdin stopped predicting what turns in the road would holdfor wind and weather because this was too unusual. Rain doesn't start until June here.
Needless to say I was sure glad not to be alone.
It was safe enough. Though there was lightening in the far distance, Aladdin was singing Kutchi folk songs into the night, so it eased all worries and made for a mystical, memorable night!
The wedding was also memorable. I was taken under the care of several rabari women for the whole night. WHOLE NIGHT> the wedding didn't start until about 11pm, then continued for many hours into the night. I was taken to a bed at one point...and gratefully took the chance to sleep a few hours.
I learned chapati rolling and had hindi/gujarati/kutchi lessons from a young girl who would tell me the name of my simply drawn picture..tree, flower, foot, house etc.
in the morning i was woken up by Vanka Rabari, the man that invited me, so I could watch the goodbye. After a night of ceremony in the woman's village, it was time for everyone she grew up with to say goodbye before she was taken with the men to her new husband's village where she will start a new life in his mother's home.
seems difficult to me.
and apparently for her too as the goodbye consisted of women singing constantly, I think verbal support for the bride who was hidden under a thiick black shawl the entire night, and the bride wailing in sadness as one by one her village said goodbye. Many women were crying also.
Not the 'happiest night of on'es life' like we hope for at home eh?
The correction I wanted to make from my last entry is about the rabari being nomadic. SOme are, but they are to the east of here...noted by men wearing all white, white turbans too , and women wearing all balck. Thesee rabari are settled in villages. The men wear white clothes but dark turbans (red for weddings). The women have elaborate embroidered tops and more colorful shawls over their black embroidered skirts.
Many memoreis from amazing Kutch. I must come back some day. But for now, onwards to Varanasi!
Avjo,
Lauren
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
There are No Doors in India
What an open, generous country this is. I realized the other day that there really are no doors in india. all the shops are open to the street closign only at night when a garage door comes down to lock them. If there is a door it's usually propped open (unless they have AC). Many guest houses have doors (of course) but often the windows don't have glass so it's all fresh air, or I sleep with the door open because it's just too hot.
so it feels like there are no doors.
no barriers.
everywhere and everyone open and welcoming.
Now i'm in bhuj, Gujarat, where this generosity has been multplied 3fold. I'm meeting the most hospitable people in all of india i'm sure. the owner of the hotel/restaurant i'm in (annapurna) named Vinod, is overwhelmingly giving. the first day i ate there i asked him some questions about travelling into the desert and meeting some villages etc. he gave me so much info and offered to lend me his moped within 5 minutes of talking. then he gave me a ride to his home where his family gave me tea and biscuits, lent me the moped so i could take myself to the police and get a village permit, came back an he took out the car and took me and his family to a neighbouring village where they sell handicrafts and embroidery. it's livelihood around here and quite a few fair trade projects exist...you MUST get in touch with these groups. the embroidery is exquisite and High Quality.
so that's the hospitality of Vinod. everyone at his hotel has been taking such good care of me, like family. amazing. today he lent me his moped again for the day saying i'm like family, like his child!
last night we were talking about shops and costs etc. and he mentioned how 1000Rs is alot for him (about 30 dollars), i said yes for me too while travelling. i have a tight budget!
immediately he said, if you have money troubles please tell me, i can lend you money and you send it to me from canada whenever you can. no problem.
wow my heart swelled with appreciation for this man.
Vinod starts working in his restaurant at 7-9am and stays until closing at 11pm with one rest in teh day sometime when he goes to eat his wife's cooking and visit a bit.
i said, you must be tired Vinod! you work so hard! to which he replied quite seriously, it is hard work here because times are tough. my daughter requires medication every day costing 3000Rs per month., his wife had thyroid trouble. After the earthquake of 2001 (that flattened many villages around Bhuj and caused immense destruction in the city as well, killing upwards of 25 000 in all of Kutch area), they lost so much and had been recovering , as have many others, since then.
so he tells me this, how 1000rs is alot, how he must spend 3000 every month to keep his disabled daughter functioning, and then offers o lend me money while giving me a moped for the entirety of my stay.
this is generosity like none other i've experienced. such a kind man.
today i will be attending a rabari wedding. rabari are nomadic people that move with their herds of goat and sheep through the Great Rann desert/ salt flats. some have settled into villages now, but it's quite an honor to go to this wedding because where they happen depends on where the peopl are. and often weddings for many happen all one day, the birthday of Lord Krishna. It's becasue of Vinod taking me to that handicraft village that this invitation happened. So my thanks again to him.
EVeryone is helpful, everyone offers their mobile number in case i need some help ever. Many will leave what their doing and walk me to the place i'm asking directions for...no fear of strangers, no barriers, no doors.
This is truly a special place!
so it feels like there are no doors.
no barriers.
everywhere and everyone open and welcoming.
Now i'm in bhuj, Gujarat, where this generosity has been multplied 3fold. I'm meeting the most hospitable people in all of india i'm sure. the owner of the hotel/restaurant i'm in (annapurna) named Vinod, is overwhelmingly giving. the first day i ate there i asked him some questions about travelling into the desert and meeting some villages etc. he gave me so much info and offered to lend me his moped within 5 minutes of talking. then he gave me a ride to his home where his family gave me tea and biscuits, lent me the moped so i could take myself to the police and get a village permit, came back an he took out the car and took me and his family to a neighbouring village where they sell handicrafts and embroidery. it's livelihood around here and quite a few fair trade projects exist...you MUST get in touch with these groups. the embroidery is exquisite and High Quality.
so that's the hospitality of Vinod. everyone at his hotel has been taking such good care of me, like family. amazing. today he lent me his moped again for the day saying i'm like family, like his child!
last night we were talking about shops and costs etc. and he mentioned how 1000Rs is alot for him (about 30 dollars), i said yes for me too while travelling. i have a tight budget!
immediately he said, if you have money troubles please tell me, i can lend you money and you send it to me from canada whenever you can. no problem.
wow my heart swelled with appreciation for this man.
Vinod starts working in his restaurant at 7-9am and stays until closing at 11pm with one rest in teh day sometime when he goes to eat his wife's cooking and visit a bit.
i said, you must be tired Vinod! you work so hard! to which he replied quite seriously, it is hard work here because times are tough. my daughter requires medication every day costing 3000Rs per month., his wife had thyroid trouble. After the earthquake of 2001 (that flattened many villages around Bhuj and caused immense destruction in the city as well, killing upwards of 25 000 in all of Kutch area), they lost so much and had been recovering , as have many others, since then.
so he tells me this, how 1000rs is alot, how he must spend 3000 every month to keep his disabled daughter functioning, and then offers o lend me money while giving me a moped for the entirety of my stay.
this is generosity like none other i've experienced. such a kind man.
today i will be attending a rabari wedding. rabari are nomadic people that move with their herds of goat and sheep through the Great Rann desert/ salt flats. some have settled into villages now, but it's quite an honor to go to this wedding because where they happen depends on where the peopl are. and often weddings for many happen all one day, the birthday of Lord Krishna. It's becasue of Vinod taking me to that handicraft village that this invitation happened. So my thanks again to him.
EVeryone is helpful, everyone offers their mobile number in case i need some help ever. Many will leave what their doing and walk me to the place i'm asking directions for...no fear of strangers, no barriers, no doors.
This is truly a special place!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Get in the River!
I’m in and out of the flow you know.
When I’m in the flow, guided by the river, supported by the water, swimming with the fishies that nibble the dead skin off my toes...everything works so beautifully I can't even understand it.
When I get impatient and fight the way things are moving, the frustration escalates, nothing works, I wait forever for nothing to happen, I feel alone and annoyed.
So get back in the river!
That’s what I keep telling myself.
The other day I was walking through the streets of Bangalore singing to myself. I was singing part of a chant that Fede the Argentinean from Sadhana taught me. When he sings it, eyes closed, beautiful voice, by the 4 and final line a peaceful contented smile comes over his face before he swings back to the beginning of the song.
Now I feel that contentment when I sing it...because it's beautiful and because it has so many memories attached…people who sing it, places we sang it….
So I was singing to myself and feeling utter peace and happiness. Singing keeps an incredible lightness in each step. Feels like a ball of positive light around me.
‘Madam, what do you want?’
‘I want to be happy! Mai kush hu!’
‘Oh wonderful madam! Hindi speaking!’
‘no no, tota tota!’
Such a pleasing interaction. SO uplifting. Break through the selling relationship. Their faces both went SO Bright! Eyes came alive... bursting out of the mundane.
Everyday this must happen. All The Time!
Don’t answer with the expected.
Don’t ask the expected. Cut to the core.
What else is there? What else is important?
Perhaps I will go home and meet friends again for the first time. What do you dream about? What do you long for? What makes you happy?
How awesome to ask, What makes you happy friend? And Really want to know the answer!
I think without realizing it I’ve been finding myself every day on this trip. On a search for truth and happiness…I’m finding it.
Always learning. Always teaching. All of us.
Everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher. Every ‘social position’. Every age. Every religion. Every person.
And that feels incredibly satisfying to breathe every day.
After the singing walk I sat in the train station with Assaf bubbling about the experience. Listening to his walk and his thoughts (we had separated for an hour or so). Learning and teaching.
I got up to go to the train and a woman radiantly called me over by the name Ranjeeta. It took me a few minutes of broken English/Hindi to understand that she was giving me an India name, beaming smiles the whole time. Ranjeeta means smiling face, she said. Or open flower.
Wow. What a treasure moment.
What I put out into the world I get back. Actions are asking the universe for reaction and answers. Exude positive light and I too will be bathed in it.
I still find frustrations and extreme challenges of patience. But it’s all part of the experience. And so far, there has always been someone special to whisk me out of the heavy mood, back to the newly appreciated light mood!
Get in the river. It’s such a great way to live!
Open
Trusting
Ready to find a lesson in every teacher around you
And confident, trusting that you are a teacher too.
So much love
Lauren
When I’m in the flow, guided by the river, supported by the water, swimming with the fishies that nibble the dead skin off my toes...everything works so beautifully I can't even understand it.
When I get impatient and fight the way things are moving, the frustration escalates, nothing works, I wait forever for nothing to happen, I feel alone and annoyed.
So get back in the river!
That’s what I keep telling myself.
The other day I was walking through the streets of Bangalore singing to myself. I was singing part of a chant that Fede the Argentinean from Sadhana taught me. When he sings it, eyes closed, beautiful voice, by the 4 and final line a peaceful contented smile comes over his face before he swings back to the beginning of the song.
Now I feel that contentment when I sing it...because it's beautiful and because it has so many memories attached…people who sing it, places we sang it….
So I was singing to myself and feeling utter peace and happiness. Singing keeps an incredible lightness in each step. Feels like a ball of positive light around me.
‘Madam, what do you want?’
‘I want to be happy! Mai kush hu!’
‘Oh wonderful madam! Hindi speaking!’
‘no no, tota tota!’
Such a pleasing interaction. SO uplifting. Break through the selling relationship. Their faces both went SO Bright! Eyes came alive... bursting out of the mundane.
Everyday this must happen. All The Time!
Don’t answer with the expected.
Don’t ask the expected. Cut to the core.
What else is there? What else is important?
Perhaps I will go home and meet friends again for the first time. What do you dream about? What do you long for? What makes you happy?
How awesome to ask, What makes you happy friend? And Really want to know the answer!
I think without realizing it I’ve been finding myself every day on this trip. On a search for truth and happiness…I’m finding it.
Always learning. Always teaching. All of us.
Everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher. Every ‘social position’. Every age. Every religion. Every person.
And that feels incredibly satisfying to breathe every day.
After the singing walk I sat in the train station with Assaf bubbling about the experience. Listening to his walk and his thoughts (we had separated for an hour or so). Learning and teaching.
I got up to go to the train and a woman radiantly called me over by the name Ranjeeta. It took me a few minutes of broken English/Hindi to understand that she was giving me an India name, beaming smiles the whole time. Ranjeeta means smiling face, she said. Or open flower.
Wow. What a treasure moment.
What I put out into the world I get back. Actions are asking the universe for reaction and answers. Exude positive light and I too will be bathed in it.
I still find frustrations and extreme challenges of patience. But it’s all part of the experience. And so far, there has always been someone special to whisk me out of the heavy mood, back to the newly appreciated light mood!
Get in the river. It’s such a great way to live!
Open
Trusting
Ready to find a lesson in every teacher around you
And confident, trusting that you are a teacher too.
So much love
Lauren
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