pyaar, mohabbat, ishq... all mean the same thing. love.
i was just thinking about the man of my dreams.. and must comment on expressions of love in india.
in pondicherry, over lunch with three friends, vik, hari and patrick, this topic came up. they were annoyed at the "hassles" that single female travellers (sfts) in india inevitably had to deal with. it wasn't obvious any time i was hanging with my parents or inside hotels or going around with drivers. i've been pretty lucky. but there were moments...
tibetan bowl massage, my lady?
i had asked raja, a lousy squat pondi shopkeeper, about some tibetan bowls i saw in his shop... a trained healer, raja decided to "show and tell" me their powers with an impromptu tibetan vibrating bowl massage in the store. cool. at first. but in minutes, good vibrations turned into a pervy groping session à la pepe le pew. just to be clear: he was groping me, not the other way around.
the risky business of mumbai trains...
rather than a nice, neat "grope and run" on the street, today i was full-up fondled in a man-packed mumbai train. i felt fingers mashing up my left boob, and noticed a dude's left hand, which he had snuck across his chest, peeking from behind his right bicep, rubbing me up. sensing the laser rays from my pupils burning a hole in his knuckle, he quickly removed his hand.
excuse me, i say to the guy standing on my left
silence.
EXCUSE ME - my face right in his. everyone is looking at me. silence.
PLEASE LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU. I SAW YOU TOUCHING ME.
his guilty eyes still avoid me. two other dudes claim his innocence: he can't touch you with that bag in his right hand. they continue campaigning after i explain he's got two haath and one was just on me. some old man is now yelling at the dude. bingo. yes. now i get it. sad. but true: this is what women-only sections are for. swelling with anger at this fact, and this guy's cowardice, i finally boom in his ear:
DON'T. TOUCH. ME. i consider snapping his photo right there but suddenly feel sorry for him. probably never seen a girl like me this close up in his life.
wheel you maarrry me?
in india you will get asked for your hand. that's just how it goes. even lovely old aruna from the school for perfect eyesight had been chatting to me all week, and finally asked me my last day whether i was single, would i marry a man in india, and was i ready to get married... but by far the funniest marriage proposal was on the street yesterday in bandra: "maadaam... yoo soo beoootifool, moowie shtaaar! are yoo maaaried? i will like to maaarry yoo!" he skipped alongside me as i walked, telling me he'd do anything i ask, but didn't leave me alone when i asked him to.
it's a bit of a shame, because i write all of this off, but i can see how an sft - especially western women - would get really mad. it's an adjustment coming from a society where people don't even look at each other walking down the street to a place where everyone and everything is out there, on display, and up for grabs. boobs included.
ranjith, a really decent, stand-up guy in pondi had warned me about mumbai. i remember him shaking his head, and telling me how embarrased he was. that this kind of behaviour from some indian men gives all indian men a bad reputation. sadly, he's right.
but that's india for you. wherever you turn, in a park, train, museum, peeking at you like in a bollywood flick from behind a tree, eyes burning through your salwaar, there it is: love...
Showing posts with label pondicherry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pondicherry. Show all posts
1.12.2007
1.04.2007
01.04 oro in auroville
yesterday i went to auroville, a town which lies 12 km north of pondicherry. ranjith gave me a lift there on the back of his motorcycle. now i want a bike for myself!
back to reality. auroville is a manufactured town, designed in the vision of "the mother". the goal or purpose is to realise human unity in diversity. of the 1,700 people who live in auroville, 1/3 are from india, the rest from all over the world. i had envisioned auroville to be a massive hippie commune, even though its endorsed and backed by UNESCO. my perceptions were bang on.
the layout of the town is a microcosmic representation of a galaxy, the matrimandir - or the soul of the city - at the centre. the path to the matrimandir begins at a humungous banyan tree, which has many pillar-like branches that have grown back down to the ground. the tree will eventually be one solid mass of wood.
emerging from the path of plants from all over the world is a giant amphitheatre, with a cement urn podium containing soil from 124 countries (ah diversity). what looks like a giant golden golf ball, the matrimandir itself, floats up, seemingly held in place by the red stone beneath.
the matrimandir is closed so off for the beach! back on the bike for a trecherous ride. ranjith slowed to a snail's pace to negotiate the bike over and around giant rocks and got caught in mud fields. thoughts of cracking my skull on the rocks or being swallowed up in quicksand floated through my head. but ranjith is an accomplished motorcyclist. we made it to aurobeach totally intact.
here is where i decided to skip my afternoon at the school for perfect eyesight. having raided nehru street in pondi earlier in the day, i came prepared with my boy-shorts and tank. any woman in the ocean will get ogled like crazy. blind bat that i am doesn't really care, but i had been chastized by some rude indian women at the ashram guest house for wearing a knee-length skirt (they talked about me out loud as they stood right next to me, so obviously bending to give my skirted ass some old fashioned cut-eye). now that's what i call shameless!
but i wasn't going to give up the salt water for some old hags. the water was divine. the waves, kind. i stayed until the sun started to come down and hunger set in. i swear my eyesight improved that afternoon in leaps and bounds!
back to reality. auroville is a manufactured town, designed in the vision of "the mother". the goal or purpose is to realise human unity in diversity. of the 1,700 people who live in auroville, 1/3 are from india, the rest from all over the world. i had envisioned auroville to be a massive hippie commune, even though its endorsed and backed by UNESCO. my perceptions were bang on.
the layout of the town is a microcosmic representation of a galaxy, the matrimandir - or the soul of the city - at the centre. the path to the matrimandir begins at a humungous banyan tree, which has many pillar-like branches that have grown back down to the ground. the tree will eventually be one solid mass of wood.
emerging from the path of plants from all over the world is a giant amphitheatre, with a cement urn podium containing soil from 124 countries (ah diversity). what looks like a giant golden golf ball, the matrimandir itself, floats up, seemingly held in place by the red stone beneath.
the matrimandir is closed so off for the beach! back on the bike for a trecherous ride. ranjith slowed to a snail's pace to negotiate the bike over and around giant rocks and got caught in mud fields. thoughts of cracking my skull on the rocks or being swallowed up in quicksand floated through my head. but ranjith is an accomplished motorcyclist. we made it to aurobeach totally intact.
here is where i decided to skip my afternoon at the school for perfect eyesight. having raided nehru street in pondi earlier in the day, i came prepared with my boy-shorts and tank. any woman in the ocean will get ogled like crazy. blind bat that i am doesn't really care, but i had been chastized by some rude indian women at the ashram guest house for wearing a knee-length skirt (they talked about me out loud as they stood right next to me, so obviously bending to give my skirted ass some old fashioned cut-eye). now that's what i call shameless!
but i wasn't going to give up the salt water for some old hags. the water was divine. the waves, kind. i stayed until the sun started to come down and hunger set in. i swear my eyesight improved that afternoon in leaps and bounds!
1.02.2007
01.02 la gastronomie
a few words on food.
i've been in pondicherry a few days now and i am beginning to see an indian-french food connection. allow me to explain.
a typical pondi breakfast is masala dosa and chai.
a dosa is made of rice, but essentially, it's what the french would call a crèpe!
a masala dosa is filled with, well, masala (curried and spiced potatoes), so that's a lunch crèpe, rather than a sweet crèpe.
add a cup of masala chai from the nescafé machine (i want to get one of these machines for home - it makes a sound like an espresso machine and then bam! you've got yourself an espresso-size shot of amazing deeelish spiced chai) - so add a cup of masala chai and you've got crèpes with cafe au lait... or thé au lait to be exact!
just as the french like their pastries, indians like their sweets.
i've encountered in pondicherry on my forages west of the canal, around nehru street and goubert market, dozens of little and big "sweet shops", where i make almost a daily pilgrimmage now. the one on the corner of nehru street and canteen street is my usual spot.
it reminds me of the little pastry shops in europe - people lined up to buy all sorts of fattening foods! i purchase a salty snack mix, sesame balls (kind of like sesame snaps but in ball shape and less sweet), ginger and coconut cookies and two gulabjammus, hot and sweet, which i devour in seconds, before even leaving the premises.
mmm. in the course of the day, especially when you're in the maddening crowd and in the market, this little pit stop hits the spot! vive la gastronimie!!
i've been in pondicherry a few days now and i am beginning to see an indian-french food connection. allow me to explain.
a typical pondi breakfast is masala dosa and chai.
a dosa is made of rice, but essentially, it's what the french would call a crèpe!
a masala dosa is filled with, well, masala (curried and spiced potatoes), so that's a lunch crèpe, rather than a sweet crèpe.
add a cup of masala chai from the nescafé machine (i want to get one of these machines for home - it makes a sound like an espresso machine and then bam! you've got yourself an espresso-size shot of amazing deeelish spiced chai) - so add a cup of masala chai and you've got crèpes with cafe au lait... or thé au lait to be exact!
just as the french like their pastries, indians like their sweets.
i've encountered in pondicherry on my forages west of the canal, around nehru street and goubert market, dozens of little and big "sweet shops", where i make almost a daily pilgrimmage now. the one on the corner of nehru street and canteen street is my usual spot.
it reminds me of the little pastry shops in europe - people lined up to buy all sorts of fattening foods! i purchase a salty snack mix, sesame balls (kind of like sesame snaps but in ball shape and less sweet), ginger and coconut cookies and two gulabjammus, hot and sweet, which i devour in seconds, before even leaving the premises.
mmm. in the course of the day, especially when you're in the maddening crowd and in the market, this little pit stop hits the spot! vive la gastronimie!!
1.01.2007
01.01 meditation with the masses
the first thing i do this year is meditate.
i have been invited to bring in the new year at the global meditation at the ashram - at 6 am. at a regular new years, i'd usually be in bed or just be getting to bed at this time. so i wake up super duper early and walk 15 blocks to the ashram, eager to see what the global meditation will be like.
this is not a strange concept, though, i must explain. i am ismaili. it's ritual to meditate from 4-5am each morning. i have to admit, i haven't been to the mosque in the morning since forever. when i used to go regularly, it was great. when you meditate in the morning you bring in your day with such peace. and your days seem to go by with little conflict and trauma. there is something about meditation that i haven't fully explored yet but i will.
the ashram is full up. tonnes of people cross the street to meditate inside the educational centre. i decide i don't want to remove my shoes so i install myself with the throngs meditating in the street between the two buildings.
quick note: it's quite a strange sight to see for the first time, but indians sit everywhere on the ground. you go to the train station or the airport even and there everyone is, en masse, sitting on the ground having a snack. same thing with the sidewalk. or the street, or just behind a parked truck, exhaust pipes overhead. this is my first time sitting like that. i gotta be honest. it's really a yucky feeling.
then, organ music floods the street from the ashram and i wonder - how can you mediate to this?! for as far back as i can remember, i have somehow associated organ music with horror movies and sinister moods. my attempt at embracing the ashram is not proceeding well!
latecomers are now relegated, due to the increasing lack of space, to the periphery of my visual and hearing boundaries, therefore my consciousness. i close my eyes and attempt to center myself. the organ music continues, and then a lady's voice starts talking. it's the mother! but she's dead! wait - she's talking in french. she's telling me to relax, clear my mind and feel calm. i suddenly wish i was in my bed, but ok.
after 10 minutes, i get over the amplified organ music, the voice, and the dude sitting next to me craning his head to look at me. i begin to feel very calm.
after a half hour the music stops and people start to come back to life. i feel jipped. half an hour!! i have to admit, i did feel good after the meditation. i am used to the full hour at the mosque. half an hour is not bad, but the organ music has to go! as people begin to get up and dust themselves, a feeling of warmth comes over the crowd. its my first smile of the year - all sorts of people are wishing me and each other a happy new year. i walk to the far end of the ville blanche and come back to the guest house via the beach.
it is a magical morning. i spend the first hours of 2007 watching the bright red sun come up over the bay of bengal. there are dozens of people on the beach welcoming the new year with me this way, but i am happy to be alone with my thoughts. as i walk over to park guest house to get a cup of tea and ginger cookies (!), i notice a few old men doing yoga in the park. they smile at me and wish me a happy new year.
today is going to be a beautiful day.
i have been invited to bring in the new year at the global meditation at the ashram - at 6 am. at a regular new years, i'd usually be in bed or just be getting to bed at this time. so i wake up super duper early and walk 15 blocks to the ashram, eager to see what the global meditation will be like.
this is not a strange concept, though, i must explain. i am ismaili. it's ritual to meditate from 4-5am each morning. i have to admit, i haven't been to the mosque in the morning since forever. when i used to go regularly, it was great. when you meditate in the morning you bring in your day with such peace. and your days seem to go by with little conflict and trauma. there is something about meditation that i haven't fully explored yet but i will.
the ashram is full up. tonnes of people cross the street to meditate inside the educational centre. i decide i don't want to remove my shoes so i install myself with the throngs meditating in the street between the two buildings.
quick note: it's quite a strange sight to see for the first time, but indians sit everywhere on the ground. you go to the train station or the airport even and there everyone is, en masse, sitting on the ground having a snack. same thing with the sidewalk. or the street, or just behind a parked truck, exhaust pipes overhead. this is my first time sitting like that. i gotta be honest. it's really a yucky feeling.
then, organ music floods the street from the ashram and i wonder - how can you mediate to this?! for as far back as i can remember, i have somehow associated organ music with horror movies and sinister moods. my attempt at embracing the ashram is not proceeding well!
latecomers are now relegated, due to the increasing lack of space, to the periphery of my visual and hearing boundaries, therefore my consciousness. i close my eyes and attempt to center myself. the organ music continues, and then a lady's voice starts talking. it's the mother! but she's dead! wait - she's talking in french. she's telling me to relax, clear my mind and feel calm. i suddenly wish i was in my bed, but ok.
after 10 minutes, i get over the amplified organ music, the voice, and the dude sitting next to me craning his head to look at me. i begin to feel very calm.
after a half hour the music stops and people start to come back to life. i feel jipped. half an hour!! i have to admit, i did feel good after the meditation. i am used to the full hour at the mosque. half an hour is not bad, but the organ music has to go! as people begin to get up and dust themselves, a feeling of warmth comes over the crowd. its my first smile of the year - all sorts of people are wishing me and each other a happy new year. i walk to the far end of the ville blanche and come back to the guest house via the beach.
it is a magical morning. i spend the first hours of 2007 watching the bright red sun come up over the bay of bengal. there are dozens of people on the beach welcoming the new year with me this way, but i am happy to be alone with my thoughts. as i walk over to park guest house to get a cup of tea and ginger cookies (!), i notice a few old men doing yoga in the park. they smile at me and wish me a happy new year.
today is going to be a beautiful day.
12.31 new years
tamils know how to celebrate! there is a nightly carnival / fair set up near the beach road since christmas, which i'm told and won't close down until january 14th, the day that the tamils celebrate their new year.
for me, new year's is today and my wish is to bring in the new year peacefully. after a scrumptious dinner at the guest house (they make thaali especially for me!), i check out the bands playing along the beach. i cannot understand anything they are doing but it is a pretty funny spectacle: a bunch of guys up on the stage singing in a very animated way to the crowd. i suddenly wish that i could understand what they were saying. after the show, i head to the beach to hang with a bunch of really cool guys from kashmir. the beach is gorgeous and there are so many people out, some hanging with thier families, others causing a drunken ruckus, and others still, chilling and looking out to the sea with friends.
we talk about everything - one of those types of conversations - just loose and go with the flow... at some point i luckily ask them the time. it's 10:20 pm. i'm in a panic - gotta be back at the ashram in 10 minutes!! i "happy new year" the kashmir crew and run down the street (quite a spectacle for the pondi crowd - more on this later). a zippy autorickshaw driver gets me back just as the guard is closing the front gates...
i spend midnight sitting on my candle-lit balcony and taking in the sounds of fireworks, the pondi locals and the waves crashing on the beach. my first "new years midnight" ever that i spend alone... but i accomplish my goal of a peaceful new years. there is something very special about this new years. something calm, unreheased, unhurried and above all, healthy. i feel very blessed to be here, grateful to see what i am seeing and to have all the things i have, that so many people, in their quest for more more more, seem to take for granted. i am happy to have my health, my crazy family (i mean this in the best possible way), my brain and my friends. it's a good feeling to bring in the new year utterly humbled and happy. i like it.
for me, new year's is today and my wish is to bring in the new year peacefully. after a scrumptious dinner at the guest house (they make thaali especially for me!), i check out the bands playing along the beach. i cannot understand anything they are doing but it is a pretty funny spectacle: a bunch of guys up on the stage singing in a very animated way to the crowd. i suddenly wish that i could understand what they were saying. after the show, i head to the beach to hang with a bunch of really cool guys from kashmir. the beach is gorgeous and there are so many people out, some hanging with thier families, others causing a drunken ruckus, and others still, chilling and looking out to the sea with friends.
we talk about everything - one of those types of conversations - just loose and go with the flow... at some point i luckily ask them the time. it's 10:20 pm. i'm in a panic - gotta be back at the ashram in 10 minutes!! i "happy new year" the kashmir crew and run down the street (quite a spectacle for the pondi crowd - more on this later). a zippy autorickshaw driver gets me back just as the guard is closing the front gates...
i spend midnight sitting on my candle-lit balcony and taking in the sounds of fireworks, the pondi locals and the waves crashing on the beach. my first "new years midnight" ever that i spend alone... but i accomplish my goal of a peaceful new years. there is something very special about this new years. something calm, unreheased, unhurried and above all, healthy. i feel very blessed to be here, grateful to see what i am seeing and to have all the things i have, that so many people, in their quest for more more more, seem to take for granted. i am happy to have my health, my crazy family (i mean this in the best possible way), my brain and my friends. it's a good feeling to bring in the new year utterly humbled and happy. i like it.
12.31.2006
12.31 reflexology
so the vision therapy is going well and today after my yoga class, i decided to book myself in for a reflexology treatment at the ayurvedic centre. they have an ear treatment that they will perform after to help me get well and hopefully unplug my poor little ears.
reflexology is the art of using the pressure points on the bottom of your feet to identify parts of the body that are out of balance and need healing. i've surprisingly never had this done before, so i am excited to see what i will find out.
i get interviewed by the doctor and then he and shreeja start the treatment. lying on the table, i am supposed to tell shreeja when i feel any pain as she proceeds to skewer spots along the bottoms of my feet with her fingertips.
i occasionally yelp and each time it's documented in a little notebook. the painful spots are really painful! at the end of the session, i get the results: right foot: top of the head, sinuses, eye, ear, stomach and solar plexus. left foot: top of the head, eyes, ear, stomach. solar plexus?! on google i learn the solar plexus, or 3rd chakra is linked to the abdomen, diaphragm and stomach.
i leave the presribing to the doctor, who brings shreeja and another therapist to work on my ears and throat.
ear procedure...
i am lying back on the table, for another hot oily massage, this time restricted to my face, ears, and throat area. as shreeja works on me, the other therapist is heating something on a fire at the other end of the room. out comes a long wooden tube resembling a wooden flute. my head is turned so that i am looking to the side and one end of the tube goes in my ear, extending straight up to the ceiling. the thing that was being heated is a special oil. a mound of tight cotton is dipped in this oil, and the dipped end is set on fire. the fire goes out, leaving the end smoking.
two drops of heated oil are put into my ear, and then the smoke is then applied or blown into the end of the stick and forced down into my ear. shreeja begins massaging my ear and surrounding area rigourously. more smoke, more massage. the same thing happens on the other side. i wonder if this can possilbly make me deaf. then they lift my head and put a couple of drops of this oil into each nostril, and massage my nose and throat before making me inhale the thick grey smoke curling out of the cotton. i almost choke, it's too much. before i know it, it's all over.
the doctor walks over and asks me how i feel. trying to be polite, i say, i'm okay, but that my throat is burning from the smoke. the three of them smile and shreeja takes me into the ensuite bathroom, hands me a bunch of tissue and tells me to blow my nose and cough up the smoke. i expunge all that i can from all orfices, eyes tearing and throat like sandpaper.
i head back to the guest house and take a nap before dinner and heading to the beach... surprisingly, after just an hour of sleep, my ears feel so much better!
reflexology is the art of using the pressure points on the bottom of your feet to identify parts of the body that are out of balance and need healing. i've surprisingly never had this done before, so i am excited to see what i will find out.
i get interviewed by the doctor and then he and shreeja start the treatment. lying on the table, i am supposed to tell shreeja when i feel any pain as she proceeds to skewer spots along the bottoms of my feet with her fingertips.
i occasionally yelp and each time it's documented in a little notebook. the painful spots are really painful! at the end of the session, i get the results: right foot: top of the head, sinuses, eye, ear, stomach and solar plexus. left foot: top of the head, eyes, ear, stomach. solar plexus?! on google i learn the solar plexus, or 3rd chakra is linked to the abdomen, diaphragm and stomach.
i leave the presribing to the doctor, who brings shreeja and another therapist to work on my ears and throat.
ear procedure...
i am lying back on the table, for another hot oily massage, this time restricted to my face, ears, and throat area. as shreeja works on me, the other therapist is heating something on a fire at the other end of the room. out comes a long wooden tube resembling a wooden flute. my head is turned so that i am looking to the side and one end of the tube goes in my ear, extending straight up to the ceiling. the thing that was being heated is a special oil. a mound of tight cotton is dipped in this oil, and the dipped end is set on fire. the fire goes out, leaving the end smoking.
two drops of heated oil are put into my ear, and then the smoke is then applied or blown into the end of the stick and forced down into my ear. shreeja begins massaging my ear and surrounding area rigourously. more smoke, more massage. the same thing happens on the other side. i wonder if this can possilbly make me deaf. then they lift my head and put a couple of drops of this oil into each nostril, and massage my nose and throat before making me inhale the thick grey smoke curling out of the cotton. i almost choke, it's too much. before i know it, it's all over.
the doctor walks over and asks me how i feel. trying to be polite, i say, i'm okay, but that my throat is burning from the smoke. the three of them smile and shreeja takes me into the ensuite bathroom, hands me a bunch of tissue and tells me to blow my nose and cough up the smoke. i expunge all that i can from all orfices, eyes tearing and throat like sandpaper.
i head back to the guest house and take a nap before dinner and heading to the beach... surprisingly, after just an hour of sleep, my ears feel so much better!
12.30.2006
12.30 oil me up - but hold your fire
still feeling crappy (my ears are blocked since yesterday morning's flight so i worry), i book myself in for yoga and a massage tonight at the ayurvedic centre in the french quarter.
after yoga, i meet a young venezuelan woman who has just gotten a massage - very good, she says, i am in for a treat.
shreeja is my massage therapist, and takes me into the massage room where i am asked to undress. off go the clothes, i go on the table.
shreeja begins by pouring what feels like a barrel of heated oil on me and rubbing me all over. the ayurvedic massage boosts the body's natural healing systems (rather than working the knots out of tired and stressed out muscles). it's all about circulation, working along the body's long meridians and boosting the immune system. let's just say that shreeja is very thorough - i didn't know that certain areas of the body had anything to do with healing! she is under the impression that i am 24 years old - a compliment coming from someone who is presiding over your naked 32 year old ass!
after about an hour i am a hot shining mound of brown clay. i ask shreeja to take a photo of me (fully intending to have her shoot me shoulders up). i am amused. she looks simply horrified! i need the doctor's permission for her to take my picture! i would have done it myself if it was easy enough to do. but feeling the urgent need to de-slick myself, i showered with three rounds of soap (the shampoo never did cut the grease on my head) and called it a night. looking back i could have snapped a shot before showering, but i was afraid of the camera getting yucky or slipping from my hands.
so did it work? well i don't exactly feel better yet. i'm considering coming back tomorrow if the ears don't unplug themselves.
after yoga, i meet a young venezuelan woman who has just gotten a massage - very good, she says, i am in for a treat.
shreeja is my massage therapist, and takes me into the massage room where i am asked to undress. off go the clothes, i go on the table.
shreeja begins by pouring what feels like a barrel of heated oil on me and rubbing me all over. the ayurvedic massage boosts the body's natural healing systems (rather than working the knots out of tired and stressed out muscles). it's all about circulation, working along the body's long meridians and boosting the immune system. let's just say that shreeja is very thorough - i didn't know that certain areas of the body had anything to do with healing! she is under the impression that i am 24 years old - a compliment coming from someone who is presiding over your naked 32 year old ass!
after about an hour i am a hot shining mound of brown clay. i ask shreeja to take a photo of me (fully intending to have her shoot me shoulders up). i am amused. she looks simply horrified! i need the doctor's permission for her to take my picture! i would have done it myself if it was easy enough to do. but feeling the urgent need to de-slick myself, i showered with three rounds of soap (the shampoo never did cut the grease on my head) and called it a night. looking back i could have snapped a shot before showering, but i was afraid of the camera getting yucky or slipping from my hands.
so did it work? well i don't exactly feel better yet. i'm considering coming back tomorrow if the ears don't unplug themselves.
12.30 la vie en pondi
pondicherry is charming.the city has been growing steadily for 10 years. i am staying in the french quarter. this neighbourhood is marked by clean buildings and wide streets, and stretches about 15 blocks north up the coast of pondicherry, bordered by the canal to the west, and the beach to the east. driving in yesterday, i saw puducherry (the indian name reclamation process is well underway!), which i intend to visit soon.
today the vice president of india is paying a visit pondicherry. i take some time after my morning eye session to explore the city, the best way i know how - on foot. i walked for more than 5 hours.
the whitewashed walls of the buildings reflect the colonial french enclave's history; some being restored, with the blaze of bougainvillas climbing over walls. i am reminded of the decadent french quarter in new orleans (all my memories being pre-katrina). known as "ville blanche", the french quarter has many boutiques, french hotels and guest houses and even some french restaurants. much of this part of town is operated by french expats and affiliated with the city's most popular attraction: the sri aurobindo ashram, which i decide to visit today.i may as well have gone to the moon.
after removing my shoes, switching off my cell phone and camouflaging my camera, i enter the main building where throngs of people shuffle in silent mobs toward the samadhi. the samadhi lies in a greenhouse-like courtyard within the ashram walls, the centerpiece of which are the marble tombs of sri aurobindo and his right-hand, french expat mirra alfasa (known to all as "the mother"). a large sign warns visitors: "please refrain from bringing flowers for the samadhi".
the place is full. does jim morrison's tomb at pere lachaise cemetary get this many visitors? i get caught up in the mass that is moving feverishly toward the tombs. radiating in every direction, followers from all corners of the world have scored prized seating on the courtyard floor to meditate facing the tombs. approaching the samadhi, teary-eyed visitors are lowering to their knees, kissing the marbled tops of the tombs, whispering prayers, eager to spend as much time as possible with the departed despots before being urged to move on or are forcibly wrenched free. i feel like an alien, a stranger to the mass outpouring of love and devotion to two mere humans who i know nothing about. my time has come. i walk past the tombs, more interested in people-watching than paying my respects. without muttering even a single anything, and careful not to touch the tombs or trip over barnacles latched on for dear life, i continue past, wondering what else there is to see here.
my answer came quickly: not much. i walk through the congested bookstore, photo shop (where you can buy limitless posed shots of aurobindo and the mother as personal souvenirs), and the preserved living room of the two, before collecting my shoes and emerging into the relative normalcy of the street.
i feel as though i just crashed a funeral. eager to shake off the weird feeling i have, i take in a visit to the pondicherry museum. it contained a mishmash of artifacts from excavations at the nearby ancient indo-roman port village of arikamedu, an extensive collection of french colonial furnishings from the time of general dupleix, and statues of mythic vedic gods and saints from hindu mythology.
in the midday heat, i return to the guest house, shower, change and have lunch. i inquire about organizing a car or rickshaw to show me around the larger city, perhaps go to arikamedu and auroville, the much-famed town built by the mother (this is also where the nice beach is - my real reason for going). apparently it's dangerous for a single female tourist (sft), to trust any old driver to take me outside this part of town. the young man at the ashram says he can arrange something for me but not today.
thankful for sound advice, i spend the afternoon checking out more of the city. i begin to wonder as i encounter several shops, the revenues of which support the ashram. part of the mother's vision as she took over control of the ashram and related departments when aurobindo went into seclusion before his death, was the creation of income-generating departments to support the ashram. but visiting expensive ashram shops like "aurofurn" designer furniture (very sleek and stylish stuff i got to admit!), "auroshoes" (leather shoes), "aurobati" (designer candles and incense), "aurotextiles" (designer clothes, handbags) and so on, i begin to think that the place is making a mockery of sri aurobindo's name... auro-this and auro-that.... would he be turning in his grave? or perhaps not, i wonder? we will never know. several locals tell me about the ashram, how they dislike the french, indulge me in the politics and corruption of the ashram itself, tell me of colony of locals and expats who have surrendered their lives (livelihoods) to live and devote their service to the ashram in the styled village of auroville 12 kms north. i conclude the ashram is a business after all, and has systems that make it function. in any case, i decide not to delve too deep into anything "auro", to maintain my own sensibilities.
tomorrow, however, i am going to auroville to check out the beach!
12.29.2006
12.29 pondi for perfect eyesight
Disclaimer. It's been several years since I've written this post so please refrain from asking me about directions, how to contact them or what your experience will be like. And if you want to know if my vision improved, yes it did. Read below all the answers are there.
I got into pondicherry midday yesterday and was on death's door. with two sleepless nights under my belt and a heavy cold, i flew at dawn, almost bursting my eardrums on the flight. after a 4 hour drive from chennai, with a stop in mahabalipurnam to boot, i finally made it to the sri aurobindo ashram's new guest house in pondi. at check-in i was in a state of hot, sweaty, runny nose, burning eyes, incredible ear pain, deeply blocked ears, headache, and exhaustion. utterly pitiful. i got my keys and then the guy at the check in told me that it was a 3km walk to the bazaar where i could buy a towel (the guest house has none)!
after studying the city map for a half hour and a change of clothes, i took off walking to explore pondi. not only did i find myself at the school for perfect eyesight, i checked in and did my introductory eye exam and first round of exercises. my body was in autopilot...
at the school for perfect eyesight...
located in a very nondescript building, the only way i recognized it was when i looked up to see people on the balconies with their eyes shut swinging from side to side. i checked in and proceeded to get my eyes examined.
the exam was different than the regular eye doc's. i was asked to look at some regular eye charts, then red, green and yellow lights, and backwards numbers in mirrors across the room. the place is totally outfitted for this - they must see hundreds of people each year.
the mind, the body, the heart... and vision
in my state, i knew i would do miserably - and i did. i had to explain how run-down i was feeling. what most people don't realise is that eyesight is a reflection of the entire physical and emotional health. your vision happens mostly in the brain, not the eyes. when the body's run down, eyesight will suffer slightly. when the body is in a good physical state, the mind is clear, and the heart is happy, vision is optimized. in my state, i was doing even worse than my whopping -6.50 and -5.75 prescription would have indicated. i was given a little yellow card indicating all sorts of activities and sent upstairs to begin my exercise regimen.
this may become a long post but as soon as i tell anyone what i'm doing with my eyes i get the inevitable question "what exercises do you do?". if you are one of these lovely people, and have not yet read the book i have told you to read, then continue on. this will de-mystify everything!
sunning (2m): while i usually got saline drops, the first day they started with a drop of honey in each eye. don't try this at home! it hurts like a bastard. then, i proceeded to the balcony, closed my eyes, feet hip-width apart, facing the sun and swung side to side for all below to see. and ridicule! this lasted to the count of 20.
this exercise is a good "yogic" warm up, using the warming and healing properties of the sun.
eye wash (2m): after the sunning, i took a small eye wash cup and wash out each eye. as much as i was looking forward to washing out the honey, my eyes just stung more with the introduction of the water! even with the saline, i never got used to it.
the exercise washes out foreign objects or impurities that may be lodged beneath the eyelids.
palming (10m): this is the most important exercise of all. sitting tall at the huge circular pillow-top table overlooking the sea, i rubbed my palms together to release the magical healing properties locked inside. i crossed one set of fingers in front of the other, and covered my eyes with my palms, elbows resting on the pillows in front of me and feet flat on the floor. i began deep breathing. this i did for 10 minutes.
this exercise relaxes your eye muscles, which are constantly being used and strained.
reading fine print (10m): following this, i went into a dark room where i lit a candle and read "diamond type print", which is
very small. i read with both eyes, covered the right side after i read a third of the way through, and then switched and covered the left side for the last part. the content is always the same: a collection of quotes from sri aurobindo (founder of the ashram) himself. i made myself blink after each 3-5th word.
i emerged from the dark room to read the same fine print, in the same order with both eyes, then left and then right. only this time i read it in daylight.
this exercise keeps eyes in constant motion, improves memory, and encourages blinking
tennis ball (5m): this is a fun exercise where i bounce a tennis ball, making a V shape, from one hand to the other, following the ball with my eyes, and remembering to blink each time i catch the ball. then i had to do the opposite, throwing the ball from one hand to the other, so that it would cross me eye level as it went. i did each of these 40 times.
this exercise keeps the eyes in constant motion, while working on hand-eye coordination
bar swing (2m): i go back outside to the balcony where there are iron bars on one side, fairly close together. with feet shoulder-width apart, i sway from one side to the other, eyes moving across the bars in front of me.
this exercise improves the eye's natural saccatic movements
visualizations (5m): in the palming room, i go back and pick up a card with the OM mantra symbol and trace the lines as if i have a paintbrush on the end of my nose. i do this with my eyes shut, moving my head in the largest motions possible, i visualize the figure in bright red, then bright green, then bright yellow and finally bright blue.
this exercise improves the mind-eye coordination and improves the mind's ability to visualize
eye cooridination (2m): i hold a pen tip up to the end of my nose, and with both eyes on the tip, move the pen in one hand as far as my arm extends up and to the right, i blink and breathe, and slowly move the pen past my nose, switch hands and extend the pen tip as far down on my left side, still blinking breathing and with both eyes on the tip of the pen. i repeat the same in the opposite so that i am making a giant X shape. repeat three times.
this exercise coordinates both eyes - especially when one is stronger or dominates the other
eye chart (10m): i go downstairs and sit in front of an eye chart on the wall. i have a matching eye chart card in my lap. before starting, i close my eyes and think about things that make me happy. this releases anxiety that could arise from seeing eye charts (the feeling of going into an exam). when i start, i look at the largest letter on the card in my lap, blink three times, and find the same letter on the wall chart, blinking three times. this i continue with each letter in diminishing size on the card on my lap.
this exercise improves the eyes seeing power, memory, and recollection
vapour and cold pack (10m):i go back to the main floor, where there is a vaporizer emitting an earthy steam of vaporub and eucalyptus oil. i sit down at the vaporizer, head covered, and breathe deeply for 30 seconds. then go sit in a chair and someone puts wet gauze s over my closed eyelids. i sit, relax and breathe for a while.
this exercise relaxes your eyes after the regimen, much like "savasana" or "corpse pose" in yoga. helps to loosen tension in your eyes and body
so that's it! the entire regimen takes one hour and should be performed twice a day, in the same sequence.
at about 5pm i was done and free to go, my train wreck of a body somehow walked through pondicherry up to the market on nehru street: a hurlyburly pedestrian death-trap. i asked at three places before i found towels for sale. while normally i would be picky about this sort of thing (absorbency, colour, size, etc) i simply purchase a powder blue towel and walk back to the ashram guest house. it was about 7pm now so after a scrumptious dinner, i fetched some hot water in a bucket to shower with and jumped into bed!
on my first night in pondi, i slept like a sunken ship.
after studying the city map for a half hour and a change of clothes, i took off walking to explore pondi. not only did i find myself at the school for perfect eyesight, i checked in and did my introductory eye exam and first round of exercises. my body was in autopilot...
at the school for perfect eyesight...
located in a very nondescript building, the only way i recognized it was when i looked up to see people on the balconies with their eyes shut swinging from side to side. i checked in and proceeded to get my eyes examined.
the exam was different than the regular eye doc's. i was asked to look at some regular eye charts, then red, green and yellow lights, and backwards numbers in mirrors across the room. the place is totally outfitted for this - they must see hundreds of people each year.
the mind, the body, the heart... and vision
in my state, i knew i would do miserably - and i did. i had to explain how run-down i was feeling. what most people don't realise is that eyesight is a reflection of the entire physical and emotional health. your vision happens mostly in the brain, not the eyes. when the body's run down, eyesight will suffer slightly. when the body is in a good physical state, the mind is clear, and the heart is happy, vision is optimized. in my state, i was doing even worse than my whopping -6.50 and -5.75 prescription would have indicated. i was given a little yellow card indicating all sorts of activities and sent upstairs to begin my exercise regimen.
this may become a long post but as soon as i tell anyone what i'm doing with my eyes i get the inevitable question "what exercises do you do?". if you are one of these lovely people, and have not yet read the book i have told you to read, then continue on. this will de-mystify everything!
sunning (2m): while i usually got saline drops, the first day they started with a drop of honey in each eye. don't try this at home! it hurts like a bastard. then, i proceeded to the balcony, closed my eyes, feet hip-width apart, facing the sun and swung side to side for all below to see. and ridicule! this lasted to the count of 20.
this exercise is a good "yogic" warm up, using the warming and healing properties of the sun.
eye wash (2m): after the sunning, i took a small eye wash cup and wash out each eye. as much as i was looking forward to washing out the honey, my eyes just stung more with the introduction of the water! even with the saline, i never got used to it.
the exercise washes out foreign objects or impurities that may be lodged beneath the eyelids.
palming (10m): this is the most important exercise of all. sitting tall at the huge circular pillow-top table overlooking the sea, i rubbed my palms together to release the magical healing properties locked inside. i crossed one set of fingers in front of the other, and covered my eyes with my palms, elbows resting on the pillows in front of me and feet flat on the floor. i began deep breathing. this i did for 10 minutes.
this exercise relaxes your eye muscles, which are constantly being used and strained.
reading fine print (10m): following this, i went into a dark room where i lit a candle and read "diamond type print", which is
very small. i read with both eyes, covered the right side after i read a third of the way through, and then switched and covered the left side for the last part. the content is always the same: a collection of quotes from sri aurobindo (founder of the ashram) himself. i made myself blink after each 3-5th word.i emerged from the dark room to read the same fine print, in the same order with both eyes, then left and then right. only this time i read it in daylight.
this exercise keeps eyes in constant motion, improves memory, and encourages blinking
tennis ball (5m): this is a fun exercise where i bounce a tennis ball, making a V shape, from one hand to the other, following the ball with my eyes, and remembering to blink each time i catch the ball. then i had to do the opposite, throwing the ball from one hand to the other, so that it would cross me eye level as it went. i did each of these 40 times.
this exercise keeps the eyes in constant motion, while working on hand-eye coordination
bar swing (2m): i go back outside to the balcony where there are iron bars on one side, fairly close together. with feet shoulder-width apart, i sway from one side to the other, eyes moving across the bars in front of me.
this exercise improves the eye's natural saccatic movements
visualizations (5m): in the palming room, i go back and pick up a card with the OM mantra symbol and trace the lines as if i have a paintbrush on the end of my nose. i do this with my eyes shut, moving my head in the largest motions possible, i visualize the figure in bright red, then bright green, then bright yellow and finally bright blue.this exercise improves the mind-eye coordination and improves the mind's ability to visualize
eye cooridination (2m): i hold a pen tip up to the end of my nose, and with both eyes on the tip, move the pen in one hand as far as my arm extends up and to the right, i blink and breathe, and slowly move the pen past my nose, switch hands and extend the pen tip as far down on my left side, still blinking breathing and with both eyes on the tip of the pen. i repeat the same in the opposite so that i am making a giant X shape. repeat three times.
this exercise coordinates both eyes - especially when one is stronger or dominates the other
eye chart (10m): i go downstairs and sit in front of an eye chart on the wall. i have a matching eye chart card in my lap. before starting, i close my eyes and think about things that make me happy. this releases anxiety that could arise from seeing eye charts (the feeling of going into an exam). when i start, i look at the largest letter on the card in my lap, blink three times, and find the same letter on the wall chart, blinking three times. this i continue with each letter in diminishing size on the card on my lap.
this exercise improves the eyes seeing power, memory, and recollection
vapour and cold pack (10m):i go back to the main floor, where there is a vaporizer emitting an earthy steam of vaporub and eucalyptus oil. i sit down at the vaporizer, head covered, and breathe deeply for 30 seconds. then go sit in a chair and someone puts wet gauze s over my closed eyelids. i sit, relax and breathe for a while.
this exercise relaxes your eyes after the regimen, much like "savasana" or "corpse pose" in yoga. helps to loosen tension in your eyes and body
so that's it! the entire regimen takes one hour and should be performed twice a day, in the same sequence.
at about 5pm i was done and free to go, my train wreck of a body somehow walked through pondicherry up to the market on nehru street: a hurlyburly pedestrian death-trap. i asked at three places before i found towels for sale. while normally i would be picky about this sort of thing (absorbency, colour, size, etc) i simply purchase a powder blue towel and walk back to the ashram guest house. it was about 7pm now so after a scrumptious dinner, i fetched some hot water in a bucket to shower with and jumped into bed!
on my first night in pondi, i slept like a sunken ship.
12.29 planes trains and automobiles
transportation in india is a bitch. i think it will be an indian who will make teleportation a reality.
so far i have been driven around spoiled silly with a personal driver. i've taken two overnight trains, neither of which even had first class seating. and i've flown indian airlines. with a cold.
the "rail ghadi", (rail car in english), is an adventure. book early. for overnight trips "1A" is your best option. "1" being the class, and "A" being short for A/C. in my case we booked 1A but when the train appeared, there was only 2A. you have to go right up to the cars and look for your name on pieces of paper taped to the train outside! it's the most disorganized system ever! we found our names on the 2A list. 2A has two bunks, one on top of the other, pretty crammed, but i also saw a 3A car. the word sardines comes to mind. 'A' cars are not only air conditioned but safer i've heard than non-A. i found there were bunches of indian business travellers in the A cars, all of them who i spoke to were very cool and were very helpful. they really understand the NRI (non-resident indian), and give you the kind of good advice that only someone who cares about their country's economy will.
the ride is surprisingly smooth, but noisy. there is no closed 'compartment', only curtains separating you from strangers walking by. there are 'western' (seats) and 'indian' (hole in the ground) toilets for each car. one sink, outside the toilets. bring sanitizer! forget fresh air. the rail cars look almost greenish on the insides, and on a couple of occasions i almost pulled aside all the curtains in our car to find the elusive 2am chain smoker.
i went against the rules and between cars, i opened the door so i could catch some railside action. as the sun came up, i saw the most amazing things. train tracks and train stations are almost always in the seediest areas of towns. no exception here. many 'homeless' people make their beds by the tracks, some in tents, some in open air. i even saw a real bed out in the grass under a bypass bridge! like so many other speeding by moments i didnt' have my camera ready to capture it! in the morning, these people are all doing their matinal abolutions (ie blowing their noses without paper, horking and spitting, urinating or taking a dump) in plain view of locomotive passgeners.
the coolest part is that you are never thirsty. there are a multitude of 'chai-boys' pedaling hot tea. they climb on at one stop and walk up and down selling their stuff. and the chai is soooo good. even gets your mind off the stopper-poopers outside for a few minutes...
as for planes, i took a horrific air india flight from cochin to chennai. the flight itself was fine (they still hand out candies before the take off; even BA has stopped doing that!), but after two sleepness nights and a head cold to boot, i underwent the most acute ear pain since i was 12 (that was the last time i flew with a cold). apart from the massive power out at the airport, and heavy security checks (in a curtained room a guard smears the metal detector ALL over you), the trip was fine. i was even distracted from my ear pain by a croissant puppet thanks to my charming travel companion who i met prior to the flight.
i must mention that the east coast road trip from chennai to pondicherry is the most beautiful route i've taken in a long time. during the 3 hours, my driver stopped so i could visit the ruins in mahabalipuram. these are a series of ancient rock carved structures that were built by the pallava dynasty in the 7th century. like the taj mahal and lal q'ilah, the red fort in dehli, there is a stretch of tourist shops lining the entrance to the monuments. i spend 20 minutes visiting the structures, 10 minutes chiling at the beach. by the time we reach pondi, i am so tired and hot that i am nodding off. i wrestle myself awake, taking everything in as we enter the french enclave where i am to spend a week improving my vision... and very glad to not be in transit mode for a full 8 days!
12.08.2006
12.08 prepping for india
for anyone who hasn't heard me raving about my trip, here's some background. i'm a regular canadian girl who always wanted to go to india. in my head i dreamed i'd go to india with my husband, perhaps for a honeymoon, to start married life with a bit of adventure and exploration. reality check! i'm 32, nowhere near married and certainly not waiting for a husband to take me to india!
my first reason for going is more than just for travel. unlike max, the kid in one of my fave books, where the wild things are, i travel towards, not to 'escape from it all'. on this trip, i want to see the places my grandparents lived, and left, to relocate to africa. i was born and raised in toronto and have traveled around north, central and south america, europe and east africa, but never been east of that. i'm also very intrigued about how culture evolves, which has historically been by conquest or through survival instinct. listening to swahili on my first adult trip to east africa in 2004, for example, i was stunned to hear the portuguese influences and equally stunned to hear words my parents use when speaking kachhi or gujarati, languages of their indian anscestors. words like "haya" or "kaabisah". words i never knew they stole from swahili... not to mention the foods! 'vitumbua' is way african!! additionally, i have always wondered about my own family history. in school we were taught about the champlains, the windsors, the washingtons and the kennedys. never the singhs, the patels or the piranis to say the least. and my parents never told us much so... i'm off to see what i can see for myself.
the second reason for going to india is to see, literally. to improve my eyesight naturally. two years ago i gave up the idea of laser eye surgery and decided to naturally improve my vision. i vaguely recalled reading about it in a sociology class during my undergrad (mostly laughing about it with my classmate kiran). i raided the library. Take Off Your Glasses and See by Jacob Liberman was like an arrow to the heart. i started seeing Elizabeth Abraham, a vision educator in Toronto and had remarkable improvement in my vision in only a few weeks of exercising and relaxation with the Bates Method. after a couple of years, though, my improvement has slowed. this is where india came in. at the sri aurobindo ashram in pondicherry there there is a place called the school for perfect eyesight and i'm hoping that spending a week or so there will help me get my vision improvement back on track.
so those are my two big reasons for heading to india. my parents have now decided to come with me, and they are the close-knit types. so the third thing i will be doing is a crash course: learning how to get along with them, 24-7 style.
without valium.
wish me luck...
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my first reason for going is more than just for travel. unlike max, the kid in one of my fave books, where the wild things are, i travel towards, not to 'escape from it all'. on this trip, i want to see the places my grandparents lived, and left, to relocate to africa. i was born and raised in toronto and have traveled around north, central and south america, europe and east africa, but never been east of that. i'm also very intrigued about how culture evolves, which has historically been by conquest or through survival instinct. listening to swahili on my first adult trip to east africa in 2004, for example, i was stunned to hear the portuguese influences and equally stunned to hear words my parents use when speaking kachhi or gujarati, languages of their indian anscestors. words like "haya" or "kaabisah". words i never knew they stole from swahili... not to mention the foods! 'vitumbua' is way african!! additionally, i have always wondered about my own family history. in school we were taught about the champlains, the windsors, the washingtons and the kennedys. never the singhs, the patels or the piranis to say the least. and my parents never told us much so... i'm off to see what i can see for myself.
the second reason for going to india is to see, literally. to improve my eyesight naturally. two years ago i gave up the idea of laser eye surgery and decided to naturally improve my vision. i vaguely recalled reading about it in a sociology class during my undergrad (mostly laughing about it with my classmate kiran). i raided the library. Take Off Your Glasses and See by Jacob Liberman was like an arrow to the heart. i started seeing Elizabeth Abraham, a vision educator in Toronto and had remarkable improvement in my vision in only a few weeks of exercising and relaxation with the Bates Method. after a couple of years, though, my improvement has slowed. this is where india came in. at the sri aurobindo ashram in pondicherry there there is a place called the school for perfect eyesight and i'm hoping that spending a week or so there will help me get my vision improvement back on track.
so those are my two big reasons for heading to india. my parents have now decided to come with me, and they are the close-knit types. so the third thing i will be doing is a crash course: learning how to get along with them, 24-7 style.
without valium.
wish me luck...
Share on Facebook
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