New York

Lotus In The Mud

Jan. 23, 2013-Always More

Just when you thought you'd heard the last from me.

We napped for a couple of hours then walked across the street from our motel in Jamaica, Queen's to Kennedy's Deli. Crossing the thoroughfare was a piece of cake compared to the dodge 'em cars we'd been playing. I knew the deli wouldn't be Jewish style but it did have excellent pastrami & chicken soup. What I didn't count on was that the cute young man who owned the place spoke Arabic. He greeted customers in English or Arabic & knew them all. He was very engaging & I hope he makes a go of it.

It reminded me of something else I learned in India. For those of you who have read The Life of Pi or who've seen the movie, a major component of the philosophy of Pi is that he embraces everyone's religion. In India I found that to be more truth than fiction.  With so many religions, sects, cults, languages, cultures, & ethnicities they seem to throw up their hands & say "live and let live." They co-exist day to day in peace & in VERY close proximity with each other. What we were told & read in the papers was that people want to get along. It's politicians who cause the problems.

As an aside, the man sitting next to me on the plane was coming to the U.S. to work in North Carolina for a year. He'd never been here & had to report to an office in NYC before going to work. I told him that New York City was a small city of only eight million. He smiled knowingly at such an intimate "town." He was from Delhi. It's more populated than Mumbai's twenty million. 

Our plan had been to go to Manhattan this afternoon & evening but it's way too cold

(11 F) so we're hunkered down watching American TV.  We watched Obama's inaugural address on line & will turn in early. We'll be home tomorrow afternoon.

I hope I was able to share with you India’s diversity & illustrate how its people are living examples of being the “lotus in the mud.”

Toby

Bye Bye Mumbai

Taj Palace Hotel & Gateway to India

 Monkey Theif

Elephanta Caves

Dabba Walla

Jan. 22, 2013-Island Shrine

Our day started with a short walk to the Gateway of India, an arch across the street from our hotel. We got a lesson from Tomji on avoiding hawkers & beggars. The Hindi word "jo" supposedly means "go" but they're persistent. He explained how beggars rent babies to make themselves look more pathetic. He related a story about a working couple who hired a nanny & wondered why their new baby was so lethargic at the end of the day. The mother came home early one afternoon & the baby was gone. It seems that the nanny was drugging the baby & renting it out to beggars. The Indian Mafia lives.

After ogling the landmark Gateway we boarded a ferry at the end of the jetty. Well, we boarded two boats before we got to ours. We leapt from one lurching boat to the next until we got to the third one, ours. Someone asked where the life jackets were. Tomji looked confused & thought there were none.

We were heading for Elephanta Island, an hour away. The boat ride was a good chance to kick back & enjoy the sea breeze. There wasn't much to see since the smog was thick enough to obscure what we were assured was a magnificent view of downtown. It was eerie floating through a blanket of haze going who knew where.

Elephanta Island was so named in the early 1600's  by the Portuguese when they found the island & the elephant statue guarding the temple. They stole the elephant, shipped it to Portugal & either misplaced it or someone stole it from them.

The island is inhabited by about 8,000 people who work in the tourist trade there. We were warned about another hazard, monkeys. They're very aggressive & we were told not to buy sweet drinks like Coke or they'd snatch it from our hands. They're not interested in water. Vendors have trained some of the stray dogs to try to keep the monkeys at bay. It didn't seem to work too well as we watched a dog watch a monkey burrow into a burlap sack of corn.

We boarded a toy train to travel the peninsula to the caves. It was kind of a kick riding the red & yellow rickety open air train pretending we were kids at an amusement park. And this did turn out to be amusing. We had to climb one hundred twenty steps to the entrance of the caves past a gauntlet of vendors. Tomji suggested we shop on the way down. it was good advice because the stalls were all burning incense & it was all I could do not to choke on the smell.

Spelunking

The caves are really temples hollowed out of the black, blue, & yellow basalt first by Buddhists around 3 BCE & then imitated by Hindus from 2AD-1100. The cave we saw took about two centuries to finish. Time has taken its toll & the predominant color is black. Muslims arrived in the 4th-6th centuries & began defacing the statues & frescoes in the caves. The  Portuguese continued the destruction using the images for target practice. It was amazing there was anything left to this World Heritage site. The carvings were massive & the requisite linga was there in all its glory since this was Shiva's temple. I didn't know the name of the platform the linga sat on before, but it's a yoni. That's the depiction of the female sex organ. The linga never goes anywhere without its yoni.

So if the ceilings of a cave are to be painted how do you get enough light in? Glad you asked. Torches leave soot. What to do? The solution was so clever. They flooded the cave floor, painted the ceiling white, & used the outside light reflecting on the water & white ceiling so they could decorate said ceiling. Unfortunately, nothing is left of those decorations so maybe that's another tall tale.

Tomji was a good story teller & filled us in on the depictions of the carvings. The stories are gory & violent with strong moral messages aplenty. He discussed the problem the older Hindu religion had with the upstart Buddhists. Buddhism was stealing the show so Hinduism added Buddha as the ninth of ten incarnations of Shiva in addition to Krishna, et. al. Ah, but what was the tenth? That is to be revealed. They are still waiting for his coming. Sound familiar?

Seats were limited on the boat ride back. I ended up sitting next to a couple from Boston who were in India for the third time. Someone else in our group was next to a Unitarian minister from Tampa. After we debarked, she introduced the minister to David. They chatted a bit & she asked David if he'd come to her church to speak. I hope he told her he'd only come in the winter.

We boarded our bus from Zubin's Royal Fleet (a reminder of Zubin Mehta's heritage) & went in search of dabba wallas. No, they're not the laundry guys. These wallas deliver lunches per my email yesterday. It was all started by the British around 1890 because they didn't like the spices in Indian cooking. When they took their lunch break there was nothing they wanted to eat. We were late getting there but we did see a walla on a bike laden with many & various colors & styles of lunch boxes. Quite the balancing act. Daily, 2,000 meals are transported by 5,000 workers. I know the math doesn't work but what happens is that boxes are sorted by one group, delivered by another, & cleaned by yet more.

Our Exodus

Our hotel rooms were ours until 4:30pm when we left for the airport. We showered & changed into our "up north" clothes. & finished packing. We were told it was a two hour trip in rush hour. They weren't wrong. I fell asleep a half hour into it & woke a half hour later to find us still in downtown Mumbai. When we were finally in sight of the airport on the far side from the terminal I joked it would take us a half hour to get there. I wasn't wrong.

Air India is living up to its reputation as the crown of incompetence. Check in was complicated by our flight being cancelled & our transference to an earlier flight. We were to fly from Mumbai to Delhi, stay on the same plane & fly to JFK. Due to the cancellation of the original flight we had to change planes in Delhi & go through security again. Our tickets were fine but for a still unknown reason the others in our group weren't in the computer or the computer terminal wouldn't work or their names were spelled wrong or some other excuse. We went through immigration & security without them since instead of having two hours until our flight boarded we only had half an hour. I do love that they have a separate immigration line for senior citizens, handicapped, & families with children.

We all did make the flight & sat on the plane for one and a half hours waiting for passengers coming from another flight. It was sweltering. Call buttons went crazy until some flight attendant thought to pass out water. At one point the entire plane went dark. I guess Indian blackouts extend to planes as well. Since this airline was taken over by the government no incentives are paid so no one cares. One of our group flew from JFK to India with a non-functioning seatbelt. They paid no attention when he pointed it out. True to form we had an overflowing bathroom & stopped sink by the end of the trip. Replenishing toilet paper was an issue, but we still had the roll we copped from a hotel early in our trip & kept in our backpack. And that brings me to the Indian handshake. David came out of the toilet of the plane doing it. There were no towels to dry your hands as there are rarely any in Indian toilets. Some provide liquid soap & all have sinks, but few have thought to provide hand towels. Thus people wave their hands about to dry them.

We were a flying day care center. I know there were more than a dozen kids under five on the flight. It was rare that one wasn't crying and I don't mean whimpering. They screamed as if they were being murdered. It wasn't a matter of air pressure on their tender ears since it happened during the fourteen hours we were at cruising altitude as well as during take-off and landing. And somehow the flight crew didn't think it hazardous when they had an impromptu soccer game in the aisle. We took our Ambien & got to sleep for about four hours, then one hour, then two more all interrupted by crying or food service. For some reason they felt compelled to feed us a snack, breakfast, then lunch.  But I felt sorriest for the parents who had to deal with their kids.

Just as we cleared Greenland we hit some turbulence which added to our inability to sleep. One desperate passenger heard us discussing the Ambien & asked to borrow one. We complied although we shouldn't have given a prescription drug out. Hope he's not a narc.

Speaking of the benefactor of our drugs. He was one among many Sikhs. He was a real character and from the moment we boarded he was intent on re-arranging the seating so all the children were in the other compartment & he had at least one vacant seat next to him. He failed, thus the request for Ambien.

Our flight contained representatives from all major and some minor religions in the world. There were the Sikhs, Hindus, a Buddhist monk in saffron robes, Muslims, Christians, & four Jews we know about.

The  day started with our 7AM wake up call & wound down when we got to JFK about thirty-six hours later. We landed in New York at 7:45AM & it was10AM when we got through immigration & customs lines to the hotel. How out of it were we? We went to the cafe for coffee. David went to get a napkin & came back with an empty plate instead.

Why Oh Why?

Although it may not seem as I write in a state of exhaustion, I meant it when I said before that this is one of the best trips we've taken. So, you may ask, why do we do this to ourselves? We asked that question frequently as we prepared for the trip & during our weeks away. The answer lies somewhere in the realm of wanting controlled adventure (hunting for tigers), learning of what we didn't realize we didn't know (how silk moths mate), meeting interesting people (Charles & fellow travelers), being surprised ( by an elephant strolling towards us in a village), being challenged ( remembering not to rinse the toothbrush under the tap), trying new things

(riding standing up in the back of an open pick-up truck), surviving (diarrhea, constipation, bronchitis, aggressive massages), realization (medical care in India is really good), & pushing ourselves beyond what we thought we could do ((climbing a mountain before breakfast to find that tiger). We're not quite home yet.

 And I do it to entertain you. Without you who read these emails, I wouldn't have such a record of our trips, trials, & tribulations. It's all better in hindsight & without the glitches & unexpected adventures there would be no story to tell. Thank you all once again for joining me on this journey.

Toby

Mumbai-2

Victoria Station

Senior Garden

57-Story Vacant Home

Dhobi Ghat School Boys

Jan. 21, 2013-Innovation

We re-read my old email from when we were here in 2002. It's interesting in that there were no cows then either & it was cleaner than the rest of India. I ended saying India is difficult & fascinating. I thought we may have to come back. And here we are.

I took another look & whiff of the lobby of our hotel. The waterfall flows over stone tiles, not marble, the women are amazing in their luxurious saris & jewels, & the place is so redolent with the cloying smell of lilies & scented candles I can taste it.

The luxury permeates to table service even in the coffee shop. As before it's the only restaurant where our attire is acceptable but the service is still impeccable. When I got up from the table to go to the buffet, I put my napkin on the table. When I returned the waiter had folded it & draped it over the arm of my chair. Pretty fancy for breakfast.

Our guide today is Tomji. He's from a Mongolian family who came here 800 years ago. He has a degree in economics & political science & is an non-observant Hindu. I asked him if there was really Mongolian Bar-b-que in Mongolia.  He laughed when I described what we have in the U.S. He said the Mongols were too busy to stop for a bar-b-que when they were riding their horses. They put raw meat on the horse's back in lieu of a saddle. As they rode, the friction of their bottoms & the horses back tenderized the meat. They reached under their tush, grab a chunk of meat on the fly, & chowed down. Now that's fast food.

 We have a nice bus which always takes the edge off. We did a brief driving tour of the city as we headed for Marine Drive, also called the Queen's necklace. We stopped at the Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill & found out why they're called hanging. There used to be a lake in that location, but it was close to the Parsi Tower of Silence. Parsi's were originally Persian. They immigrated to India starting in 1668  to escape invading Muslims. When the British took over & realized they were a wealthy community they invited them to settle in Mumbai. They practice the  Zoroastrian religion & don't bury their dead. The bodies were left in the Tower where vultures eat the flesh & the bones are disposed of in a pit. There were three problems. Vultures dropped decaying flesh in the lake where it caused the water to be polluted; the bones washed into the water also causing a problem; & the vultures died out from eating the bodies of modern Parsis who'd taken medication poisonous to the birds. Nowadays they use solar panels to mummify the bodies which are then put into a charcoal pit & covered with lime. Because the bodies are filtered through charcoal on their way through the pit it doesn't harm the water.

Back to the garden. The British suspended the garden over the lake so vultures couldn't drop anything into it thus creating an underground reservoir. And so the hanging part. Parsis are dying out because they forbid intermarriage & conversion. Genetic problems are becoming an issue. Adjacent to the Hanging Gardens is one of several  for use only by senior citizens. The Grandparent's Garden is where they have Laughing Clubs. Signs are clearly posted with hours for seniors only.

Checkered Past

We stopped for photos outside Victoria Terminal now called the Chhatrapati Shiva Terminal. In 1853 the first railroad tracks were laid in Mumbai. The terminal was named after Queen Victoria on her Golden Jubilee. It's an elaborate palatial building in the Victorian Gothic style with Islamic influences. It's an outstanding edifice reminiscent of fairy tale castles but not the only stand-out in Mumbai. Miami & Mumbai are similar in that they both have a large number of Art Deco buildings. Several of the old movie theaters are in deco style. In 1896 the Lumiere brothers shot the first Bollywood movie here. Technically Bollywood movies are only made in Mumbai although the Indian movie industry is huge. In Delhi it's called Dollywood & in Kerala it's Kollywood.

Four years ago when terrorists invaded from  Pakistan they floated across the Arabian Sea, landed in a slum where poor fishermen live & went to Victoria Station. They shot several people there, crossed the pedestrian bridge to the hospital & moved on to hotels & the Chabad Jewish Center killing as they went. Our hotel was involved in that tragedy. It was built by the Tata family, now one of the richest in the world, in reaction to Indians being barred from admittance to British hotels. The family donates 60% of their earnings to charity. In contrast, the family who built the fifty-seven story unused residence own Reliance Industries & aren't generous at all.

On our previous visit to Mumbai we'd seen the museum of the house where Gandhi stayed when he was in town. But now in addition to photos of when M.L. King visited, they had notes from  Pres. Obama & Michelle to show us. They had two days notice for Obama's visit so only had time to paint the facade but did inspect & batten down the sewer hatches. They also removed the breadfruit from overhanging trees lest they fall & injure him.  As when we were here before, I noticed that Ben Kingsley was a dead ringer for Gandhi. Hollywood got it right.

Tomji wanted to take us to a food market but we rebelled. Enough was enough. He asked if we wanted to go on a slum walk & we jumped at the chance. Of the twenty million people in Mumbai  eight million live in slums. We saw that at the dhobi ghat where the workers live in deplorable conditions. The facility is a laundry on the river where one man can wash 400 pieces of clothing in a fourteen hour day. Today the children are going to school & don't want to do laundry anymore but the demand is greater. They've resorted to using machines.

My day was a short one. I wasn't feeling energetic. Only three of our group wanted to walk through the fishing village slum but we begged off to rest.

Tomorrow we'll tour the city some more & get a chance to see a business unique to Mumbai. It's their version of meals on wheels. Lunch pails are distributed to homes of workers who want lunch delivery. The lunch is prepared by someone in the household, it's picked up & taken to a central distribution center. Each lunch box is coded kind of like FedEx. It's re-directed to someone who will then deliver it to the person who ordered it. The empty container is picked up in an hour, taken to the central point where it's cleaned & readied for the next day.

I'm not looking forward to the long flight tomorrow. It starts at 9:30pm. It's over fifteen hours going home. Tomji thinks Air India is so bad because it's a government owned airline & people only do the minimum. Maybe at least the toilets will work this time.

I don't know if I'll get an email out tomorrow since we're touring before we fly out. If not then, this is good-bye.

Toby

Mumbai

Sleeping Cows

Carousing Russians

Poverty

Riches

Jan. 20, 2013- Saturday Night Out

While waiting in the open air lobby to go to dinner we were startled by a large furry creature with a long tail running as if for its life across the floor. It was followed by the sounds  of a dog barking. The people at the desk assured me it was a large cat. I was sure it wasn't. Cats don't have long snouts. Sahid told us it was a mongoose. That's a first. They're very common here & useful in eating snakes of which there are plenty. 

We went to dinner last night with the couple from New Jersey. We walked to the beach fending off vendors, traipsed across scuzzy sand, & ate at a seafood restaurant that had been recommended. During dinner Sahid appeared with his lovely wife. He knew our plans & wanted to let us know the timing of tomorrow's departure. Very accommodating.

On our walk back to the hotel, just a Saturday night stroll, we stumbled upon a herd of cattle sleeping in the road. There must have been a dozen of them dozing in the midst of the hubbub. Further on we noticed that the bi-lingual signage was in Cyrillic & Sanskrit lettering.  Bar after bar was overflowing with Russians just as Sahid said. They were happy to let us take their pictures or too drunk to notice.

City Trek

This morning we went on an extra excursion during which we explored another St. Xavier's Church (1516) where we hovered outside the doors during the English Mass. They run three services in different languages. The interior looked a lot like others we've seen with gilt altar, etc.We were far above the city as we kept climbing past decrepit World Heritage houses with moss encrusted walls. I thought the black on walls here was mold but Sahid said it's moss that turns black in the sun but green in the rainy season. I imagine it looks a bit like ivy when it's green. Up again we went to where the rich folks live. Their houses were mostly painted which, unlike whitewash, inhibits the growth of moss. As we snaked our way down into the poorest sections we saw a Hindu shrine in front of a house, but learned about another of their customs that was similar to a Jewish one. Hindus kiss their fingers then touch the shrine. Kind of like a mezuzah.

We were led to a shopping street where some did buy last minute gifts then to another market. I'd had it with markets & can't wait to go to a store in Akron & complain it's too cold. One man in our group tried to take a picture of a vendor & she almost threw an apple at him. What a difference. I was beyond wilting in the heat & the distances between each place was great. But it was I who, when Sahid asked if we could do a long walk earlier this morning said," No problem. This group climbed hills to find tigers & elephants." Well, shut my mouth.

Finally, we were taken to the airport. David took one look & knew it would be nothing like the smooth, organized experience with Charles. First of all, the security (armed & threatening) had increased since we arrived in Goa. We don't know what's going on but it probably has to do with Pakistan. Sahid had to get our itinerary one couple at a time then run outside to give it to us. He wasn't allowed to come into the airport at all but by now we knew what we're doing. The crush of people was very un-Charles-like. There was no one to grease the way. David had to pay off the man at the check-in counter who made it clear he wanted money even though our luggage wasn't heavy. After all, we wanted to see the bags again. We got to the gate & found a sign in a seating area that was a sight for our sore eyes, "Reserved for Senior Citizens & Physically Handicapped." That''s us.

Expectations

Our forty--five minute Air India flight exceeded our expectations since we don't think much of the airline after our flight from JFK. Mumbai also exceeded our expectations. We were last here in April, 2002 on our way back from Australia. The city is cleaner than I remembered & the number of modern skyscrapers has, pardon the pun, skyrocketed. One fifty-seven story building is the private residence of the richest family in India. No one lives there because the Hindu priest told them it wasn't auspicious. During the day there are 600 people working 24/7 keeping up the place. Mumbai now has traffic lights that seem to be heeded, but controlling twenty million people is almost impossible. That's the entire population of Australia in one city. We didn't see one cow on the way to our first hotel.

Yes, you read it correctly. Jijo, our twenty-three year old escort told us he's lived here all his life. We were met in an even smaller van than the first one in Goa & the rebellion began. We were assured our guide tomorrow would have a more suitable vehicle.  Jijo confirmed our reservation at the Taj President & we set off. He was supposed to take us through town as part of our orientation but we wanted the shortest route to the hotel. There's a brand new bridge since we were here & it cut forty minutes off our trip. What a dream.

The security at hotels here is extreme after the attack on hotels & the Jewish Center several years ago. The grounds are gated & cars aren't admitted until trunks & hoods are opened & a mirror scans the undercarriage. Guests walk through a metal detector & all handbags & luggage go through X-ray. We settled into the lobby to wait for our keys when a sad looking manager approached. He profusely apologized for our inconvenience but the people in what were to be our rooms were too ill to leave. We were being upgraded to the Taj Mahal (Palace), a 5-star hotel by the Gateway to India. That's exactly where we stayed in 2002 & it's exactly one of the hotels that was attacked.

Back into the loathsome van we went. Our new digs weren't far & security was as tight. I didn't remember a thing about the lobby but the new one is lovely with a wall-sized waterfall cascading over marble. Our room must not have been damaged in the attack since it doesn't look refurbished. Our view isn't of the Arabian Sea but of the city which will be pretty at night. It's better than the daytime view which is obscured by thick smog.

Our shrunken group had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant featuring a thali meal. We had it once before. I call it a meal in the round. We were given a round metal platter with a series of small empty metal cups. Soon enough servers came around filling the cups. There were a few unusual treats we'd never had before although I thought some of them were tricks. The deep fried pakoras were delicious until the heat hit me. They gave us a choice of two drinks. One was supposed to be buttermilk & the other cardamon water. When I saw the faces of those who'd tasted them I passed. The desserts were an overly sweet rice pudding & fried dough & honey concoction. David loved the meal. Most didn't.

Tomorrow we'll have a half day city tour before being turned loose on our own.

Toby

Goa-2

Watch Your Step

Oyster Shell Window

Priest's House-1780

Jan. 19, 2013-Goan Along

Not only is our old van gone but we have a small bus that's high enough to see the sights & has enough leg room for me to type. Sahid came through.

On our way to our first stop he took the time to inform us about Goan customs. For example, you can recognize a Hindu married lady a few ways. She'll wear a black & gold beaded necklace and/or have a red dot on her forehead & red spot at the hairline. It shows that her husband is alive. If a widow has no children chances are slim she'll re-marry. She's considered "used". But if she's rich it's ok to marry her. Materialism strikes again. If the wife dies the man has to wait a year to re-marry. If he doesn't find anyone in a year he has to wait three more years.

Cows are sacred to Hindus because of the 36 million gods many lived in the cow's stomach. Secondly, every part of a cow is utilized. And third, when a mother bears a child & has no milk the cow's milk saves the baby. Wandering cows belong to people. At sunset they go home. But bulls & buffalo are stupid. They're untied in the morning & either the owner will go with them or he'll send a cow wearing a bell along. The cow knows when to return & the bulls follow the sound.

And this is for our granddaughter Alex who doesn't like bridges. As we were going over a bridge Sahid told us about when it collapsed right before it was dedicated whereupon the president who was supposed to do the honors died of a heart attack. Sahid then assured us there were no traffic lights in Goa. They rely on traffic police who direct with hand signals. It's an honest approach & I noticed less horn blowing here.

There's illegal bull vs bull fighting here like cock fights but it's not a fight to the death. It's just for gambling.  Police know about it but arrive after it's over. The fights are held in a different place each time.

Sahid is very opinionated & particularly dislikes Russian tourists. He claims they start drinking in the morning, are drunk all day, don't respect Indians, & are bad tippers. Russian tourism increased after India & Russia signed a pact. He also said that Russians dress immodestly  & were the impetus for signs keeping non-Hindus out of temples. He won't take tips from them because the amount is insulting & he gets paid a day wage from the company. He also encourages them to go on elephant rides since he gets a 50% kickback. He's a go-getter & also sells insurance. He calls it as he sees it. Don't feel sorry for him. His father is a very successful real estate investor & his wife has two post grad degrees in computer science.

Portuguese Influence

Before the 12th century, Goa was entirely Hindu. In the 13th century a Moslem prince came here for business & conquered the region. Moslems were too strict & the people didn't like them.  In 1475 a Goan went to Cochin & invited the Portuguese to come & make him the ruler. It took a couple of attacks but in 1510 it worked. The Portuguese decided to stay & build a fort. 

After a long drive to South Goa we passed colorful Portuguese style houses with rooms to rent for tourists. We walked on the beach which was surprisingly acceptably clean. No need to watch our step to avoid human excrement. Ever-present cows kept us company so I guess cow poop was a potential hazard. Most of the swimmers were foreigners since 60% of Goans don't know how to swim including Sahid. We were directed to the "facilities" in a ramshackle hotel. The steps leading to the lobby were almost un-navigable. They'd have been condemned & torn down in the U.S. We had to grip the hand rail going down & couldn't avoid touching the mystery crud on it. As we safely arrived at the bottom we Purelled.

We  have now seen old farm implements in every country we've toured . There's such a similarity from place to place I can't tell one locale from the other. The ones we saw today were housed in a two year old museum built by a man who collects 17th century antiques. I was thrilled to know they used "bulla" carts way back then.

Portuguese, unlike Goans,  built their houses at least a meter above ground. What didn't Goans get about monsoons, rivers, & flooding?  The 450 year old house we saw at our next stop had the requisite oyster shell window panes. They were not only decorative but also let in light & air. A member of the family who stills owns it was our tour guide. It's now occupied by the 9th generation of that family. The furnishings are original with scads of Chinese artifacts. Furniture & silver were manufactured & carved locally. Chandeliers were from Belgium or Venice. Rooms were built to catch any breeze with open walls & lots of windows. One mosaic floor led to another in what must have been an idyllic life. Ah, but there was always a threat & behind the shutters at each window was a slot where a gun could be inserted in case of attack. The one enemy they couldn't defend against was the government. In 1962, a year after the  Portuguese left, the government instituted land reform & all the acreage the family held was confiscated. Left with only the house & becoming poor overnight, they had to open it to tourism. They also make the banquet hall available as a catering facility for five-star hotels.

Lunch was at a restored home built by a priest in 1780. Our hosts & the people who restored the house, Ruben & his wife, live there with their children. She's the much over qualified cook holding two graduate degrees in microbiology. The house was charming & modest in scale & decor. Ruben traveled to Portugal & researched the period & archives for records of the original house & gardens & has tried to be true even to the room colors. Originally there was only river access but silt has collected over the years. There are no ceilings in the wide hallways with a 3-6 ft. gap to the tile roof for air circulation. We walked through their living quarters & the TV & Leggos contrasted with the colonial decor. Fado music played to set the atmosphere as it would have been when the priest lived there. The singer moaned her heartbreak as we were introduced to food he would have eaten & a purple drink made of the kumkum fruit & sparkling water.

As we walked to the bus we passed a church where a wedding was about to take place. The couple, attendants, & some guests were waiting to go in & didn't object to our picture taking. Although the wedding was described by an attendee as Portuguese Catholic style, female guests were mostly in glittering saris. We were actually invited into the church but only stayed a few minutes. It looked like it was going to be a long Mass. We walked toward our bus & I heard a bellowing noise. Two cows (one might have been a bull) were deadheading across our path in a mighty hurry.

We were delayed getting back to the hotel. There was a traffic jam on a two lane road. No problem. It was instantly turned into a five laner.

Sahid is of the opinion that OAT has the Goa itinerary all wrong. He thinks we should be staying on the South end of Goa where the sights are since OAT travelers aren't interested in the honky tonk & discos at this end. He also thinks our tour today shouldn't be optional but included as part of the trip extension. There's nothing else to do here.

We're trying to organize a trip to Banjim, the city, on the way to the airport tomorrow and have to pay extra for the time we use the bus. We don't have to be at the airport until 1:30pm & it's silly to sit around the hotel. Mumbai here we come.

Toby

Goa

Portuguese Flavor

Jan. 18, 2013-Out of the Frying Pan

If you're ever in Bangalore DO NOT stay at the Park Hotel. We had quite the time of it last night. When we came back after dinner we heard loud disco music coming from the pool area two floors down right below us. We showered, got ready for bed & called Wendy & Daniel using the Skype phone-to-phone feature. It was a marvelous connection. At around 10:00pm I called the desk to ask when the music would end & was told 12:30am. I told them we would not be able to sleep with all that noise. The woman said she'd check with her manager & call back. She didn't call so I called the desk again. The same woman said she'd check while I held & after some back & forth she said the music would end at 11:30pm. I told her that wouldn't work & she said she would seek another solution & call back. I began to pack. It was my intention to appear at the desk with luggage & ask for another room. I called the desk again before trekking downstairs & was told they would move us. At least they were on the same wavelength. They were sending someone up to help with the bags. Ten minutes later he hadn't arrived. I was on my way to the elevator to get the key myself & move our own bags when I met him in the hall. We were moved up a floor to a room on the opposite side of the building. It was 10:45pm. Sleep was slow coming & the minor traffic noises were actually comforting. Just in case, I used my ear plugs & managed to sleep.

Local sign humor: Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects

Into the Fire

We flew to Goa with the halt & the lame of our group. Five have colds/bronchitis, one has Delhi Belly, & one back is iffy.  Oh, & one of our number came out as gay. We miss Charles' mothering & attention to detail. Our guide here, Sahid, is getting the brunt of our exhaustion. He even had a hard time identifying us at the airport. He knew we numbered seven but only counted six. Then Nam piped up saying he was part of the group & kidded that the guide was probably looking for another white guy.

The approach to Goa was pretty from the air until we flew over tin shacks & trash. The area is hilly & beach rimmed. Goa, the smallest state in India,  means "land of cows" in their language which of course isn't spoken anywhere else in India. The Portuguese ran the place from 1510-1961 & their mark is clearly visible in the pastel & white buildings & churches. It's also evident in the faces of the people. When they settled here the Portuguese encouraged their soldiers to marry Goan women.

Sahid's family is from Pakistan & immigrated here when Pakistan was still part of India. Sixty per cent of Goans are Hindu & he's part of the 3% Muslim minority. He promised that the call to prayer at 5 AM would be short & that all parties & discos close at 11pm by law. But that's not our problem. The van is. it's a fifteen seater with hardly any leg room. Even the shorter people have to sit sideways. I don't have enough room to get the IPad on my lap & write. Peace loving David rebelled at the thought of having to use that van all day  tomorrow when we go on the optional tour. When the guide said we'd see a 250 year old house if we went on the trip tomorrow David told him we have older houses in Akron. The one good thing about the van is the A/C works. Sahid promised a larger van tomorrow. There's no more legroom between the seats but there are six single seats so we can stretch into the aisle. One person will have a double seat to himself.

Sahid kept talking about all the churches we'd be seeing. I told him this is probably the first group he's led that has no Christians in it. We just found out that Dan & Judy are

not a part of any religious group. When Henry asked if there were any synagogues here Sahid didn't know what that was. When it was explained, he told us there were no Jew churches in Goa.

We visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus first.  Bom means "good" in Portuguese. A World Heritage Site, built in 1605 by Jesuits on the site of a mosque built on the site of a Hindu Temple. In fact the two churches we saw & Old Goa are World Heritage sites.  At Bom Jesus there were interned relics of St. Francis Xavier. As I understand it, parts of one arm have gone international & rest in China, Rome, & other lucky locales. Believe it or not, the Basilica has resorted to the ultimate organ fundraiser. Xavier's organs have been auctioned off to raise money for the facility. There was a plaque honoring a former archbishop that made me ask myself, "Who did he have to offend to be appointed archbishop of Goa?"

The building is pleasant inside & the gold plated altar is lovely, but as we went from painting to relic to chapel to chapel to chapel, I realized that when there is little to show, you show it in detail.

Across the street from the Basilica is the Cathedral, the largest in South Asia. Since the Inquisition began & ended in Portugal, it came to Goa. Moslems were persecuted & there's a whipping post that people try to forget about. It's been turned into a water feature now. Once again we scrutinized the details of the church. We were standing in front of the portrait of a saint when Sahid asked if we knew who he was. I saw he was holding a key so said it was Peter. I was right. I remarked that it wasn't a bad guess for a little Jewish girl. It went right over Sahid's head.

I have to say one thing for Sahid. He's a one man trash patrol. He picked up litter as we walked the grounds of the churches & was careful to put it in trash receptacles. Good for him. Goa is notably cleaner than where we've been. Maybe the message is getting through here.

We did a drive through of Old Goa & figured out we couldn't see most of the buildings because the van is lower than a bus. When we stopped for pictures, Sahid didn't ask if we wanted to get out to take them & we were so tired we didn't care. Only the near side of the van could get a shot so we passed our cameras over to them.

Our hotel is charming & in the newer part of North Goa called Banjim City.  It became the capital when Old Goa was consumed by Plague & almost abandoned. It's a fifteen minute walk to the beach & in the center of a bustling district of shops & stands. We'll be able to use the word that Sahid taught us "makanaka." It means "I'm not interested." If you say it with wide bulging eyes they take you more seriously. There's a huge Russian tourism business here (60%) which Sahid attributed to cheap booze (lots of bars) & beaches, but Dan figured it was the casino & money laundering they were into.

We had a buffet dinner at the hotel & David was pleased to learn that Goan cuisine is even spicier than the rest of India. Fish curry & rice is a staple & the use of spicy Portuguese peri peri chili common.

All in the group have been to Northern India & while waiting around the airport today we talked about our experience so far. We agreed that the sights of the South aren't as spectacular as the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, or Jaipur in the North but that this was one of the best trips we've taken. And to the person we said it was Charles who made the difference with his unique side trips. He really found experiences off the beaten track & brought his country alive.

Tomorrow we'll probably stumble onto a larger van & be scrunched into Indian sized seats again. We're a compliant group. After all, who would miss seeing old farm machinery & a 400 year old house? That house gets older each time Sahid talks about it.

Toby

Mysore to Bangalore

Cocoon Market

Go Figure

Jan. 17, 2013- Winding Down

The banquet last night was poolside at our hotel. We were still full from lunch but managed to at least taste all the offerings. Once on the bus today Charles gave us a blow by blow re-cap of the trip including highlights of who participated in side trips & individual incidents being sure to mention each by name. He spoke from notes but it was an amazing recall of the trip. He spoke of how moving it was to participate in Shabbat with us & privately told David he changed his life & will always be remembered. I'm a bit sad that we'll be leaving the group today.

Goa goers were dropped off at the hotel in Bangalore along with our luggage. The rest joined us for lunch then re-boarded the bus for the airport. Charles returned to Chennai & will start a new tour with a French group of forty in three days. Yes, he speaks French too.

We liked Charles so much that we asked him if he did private tours of the South. He said he did & could also set up a small tour in the North. He knows his schedule with OAT three months ahead of time for those who want to travel with OAT & be sure to get him.  We have his contact information if you are interested. We'd recommend seeing the North first, though.

There has been a nasty incident in Pakistan by Al Qaida influenced soldiers. Two Indian soldiers were shot & their bodies were returned to their families without their heads. The Indian government has canceled visas for senior citizens coming to India to visit family. Pakistan wanted a third party negotiation which India refused. Hopefully it won't shatter the peace agreement.

We did a drive through of the three square mile Fort Srirangantha, built in 1762 & the site of a series of freedom fights & last stand of the only sultan (Tipfu) who opposed the British.  General Cornwallis was in the dog house at home after losing the American Revolutionary War. He was told his only path to redemption was to settle the score in India. Sultan Topfu gave him a run for his money winning three battles. During the fourth the sultan sent for help to the French. His letter was intercepted & help never came. In addition traitors within opened the water gate to the fort thus admitting the enemy & creating a success for Cornwallis. If Nixon had been a more astute student of history he might have avoided his own debacle & downfall.

Not to miss an experience we stopped at a sugar cane factory. Avoiding cow patties we tiptoed through piles of drying cane husks in preparation for their use as fuel. The cane is cultivated & processed by migrant workers from the North. The cane juice is squeezed then boiled for three hours. The syrup is mixed with calcium (to strengthen teeth & counteract the downside of eating sugar?) then poured into buckets to set. Some of us tasted the finished product & David made the same puckered face of distaste he did when he tasted grappa. This sugar is used in coffee, tea & in candy making a cheaper substitute for white sugar.

Our pit stop was a vast improvement over the one going the other way. Charles really did take us to the KFC but recommended the place next door. Cafe Coffee Day was as American as it can get here. The Muzak was  playing "Call Me Maybe", there was no Sanskrit to be found anywhere, toilets were Western, clean & HAD TOILET PAPER on rolls, there were air hand driers in the bathroom, most of the tabletops had been wiped, & the coffee was superb. But KFC called. We always like to at least look at local menus of American chains & this one delivered. They had curry crisp chicken. mango poppers, & a poster promising: drip, kiss, lick, munch, drool, slurp. Unfortunately, my expectations of Kama Sutra-esque maneuvers were disappointed when I realized they were promoting slushies.

When our heads said, "Been there done that," we were once again proved wrong. The stop at the cocoon market was unlike anything we'd ever seen in the processing of silk. It's regulated  by the government & sold by weight at today's price of $60/kilo. Unhatched cocoons are brought to the market & must be sold before hatching or else the value of the silk diminishes greatly. The fuzzy cocoons are the size of small bird eggs & vary in color from pale greenish-yellow to pure white. The white ones are the most valued & are top grade Chinese hybrids. Yellow-green cocoons are Indian & less

 pure. I picked one up & could feel the larva rattling around inside kind of like the old Mexican jumping beans. When people buy cocoons they dip them in hot water to kill the larvae & unroll the silk thread. Some then resell it as-is or remove the sticky gum & dye the silk. David once again was delayed getting through the crowd by two men who insisted he take their photo. I emerged with a slim thread of silk clinging to the back of my shirt. Better than bird shit.

I asked about seeing a call center in Bangalore but Charles said they're two hours out of town. I thought it would be fun answering the phone & saying, "Hi, my name’s Toby & I'm in Bangalore. What’s yer problem?"

David figured out the real purpose of driver's assistants other than helping tourists on & off the bus. Even public transportation has them. They're spotters for the blind side of the bus. Traffic is so congested & spacing so close the driver needs help judging the far side of the vehicle. He also noticed an instance of a time warp better than my IPad versus bull cart transport. It was a bull cart driver talking on his cell phone.

Gearing Up

Our hotel in Bangalore is supposed to be a 5-star but falls short by about two stars. It's not bad, just aged. The prices in the wet bar are high with $6 for a 750 ml. bottle of Pellegrino.

Across from our hotel is a major shopping mall with recognizable stores. The top floor was the next best thing to a Whole Foods complete with a separate store within a store for non-vegetarian items, eg. meat & fish. We did a fast walk-thru then went in search of what we thought Charles said was the city center. We asked along the way but no one seemed to know what we were talking about. We varied asking for "city center" with "downtown," but no luck. A half hour later we came upon the Central Mall. That must have been what he meant. We ultimately came to an even larger modern mall, did a walk-about, & headed back. The traffic & condition of the sidewalks were too threatening to attempt a return trip in the dark. We had to cross the street twice & even with crosswalks & traffic signals it was a game of chicken. You see, continuous turn lanes for cars don't give way for pedestrians. By the time we got back to the hotel we were coughing from the pollution.

We took our lives into our hands & went to dinner across the street at the mall with Henry & Celeste. We'd found what turned out to be an excellent Korean restaurant. We had bi bim bop & bulgogi, a welcome change from Indian food.

I haven't mentioned the heat in the last few days because the weather here is milder. That changes in Goa & Mumbai. Back to the 80's then home to the 30's.

And then there were seven in our group leaving for Goa tomorrow:Dan & Judy from Wisconsin, Nam, the waiter from NYC, & Henry & Celeste from New Jersey. We'll meet our new "keeper" there.

Toby

Mysore-2

Party Animal

Somanathpur Temple

Palatial Lunch Stop

Mysore Market

Jan. 16, 2013-Techno Chic

We have a new bus & driver. Charles rocks! Unfortunately this driver doesn't have fast enough reflexes. We passed a black & white cow painted for the festival (Pongal) only they used turmeric powder to make the white part yellow. It was striking but we didn't pull over fast enough & Elsie wandered away. But luck was with us. There was no shortage of painted cows & soon we came upon a party colored one with the addition of red horns.

The area we drove through is highly agricultural growing rice, corn, & millet. Millet is laid on the roadway after harvest so vehicles can run over it. That separates the grain from the chaff so it's more easily collected & saves on buying a thresher. And here I am on the bus using my IPad making notes about famers who are working their fields the same as their families have for generations.

Mysore is named after a demon king. We were on our way to the archeological dig when we came upon yet another pilgrimage. Thought that was over, but here they never lack for a reason to put on a show. Charles found out that these people were clever & deliberately went late to avoid the crowds. One man was carrying a two year old boy who was naked from the waist down. He held him up to the bus for me to take his picture then held him closer so the boy could see it.

A down side of everyone waving at us happened when we'd gotten off the bus to take pictures of a river & boys floating by in caraculs. A tuk-tuk was passing & the passenger waved at David. His hand hit David's glasses & knocked him down. The glasses cut his face a bit so he'll be sporting a black eye. The cut is minor & David is ok. Quite the excitement. At first Charles thought it was a deliberate act of violence & was shocked. After we explained what happened he turned into his mothering mode & got us  water & ice. Purell followed. I think the major loss was David's handkerchief.

Comparative Religion

Buddhism originated in India but there are hardly any Buddhists left. It started as a rebellion against Hinduism's caste system which it blamed on materialism. It embarrassed the Brahmins & they wanted to destroy the Buddha. Of the two sects of Buddhism one saw Buddha as a god while the other saw him as a man. In order to stop the conversion of Hindus to Buddhism some Hindus adopted Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu.

Jainism was founded around the same time. Jain means conquerer; victory over materialism. It's similar to Buddhism but absolutely non-violent. they are pure vegetarians and don't eat anything grown underground, like potatoes, to prevent accidentally killing insects in digging them up.  One sect wears white, the others are naked,  beg for food, eat only one meal a day, & never sit to eat  Only 2% of the population in India is Jain & most are from Rajistan. Ironically, they're a very rich community consisting mostly of business people. Charles said they won't kill an insect but are money lenders & suck the blood from the poor. They don't worship a god but respect the guru.

Farsis came to India from Iran in the 11th century after being persecuted by Moslems. Most are in Mumbai. They're very wealthy & own Tata, the largest auto company in India. Dead bodies are offered to the birds in a tower of silence in Mumbai then are bones collected & dissolved in chemicals.

X-Rated Moths

The worst road of the trip  bounced us along our way to a silk moth reproduction center. Fascinating. Something we've never seen before. Male & female moths were being mixed together on trays where they immediately "hooked up." They were allowed to "make whoopee" for four hours before being separated. The males were put in a freezer which David referred to as the ultimate cold shower. The females laid 300 eggs after 48 hours while males rest for a day before being re-enlisted . Males mate three times before  they die. Females die after laying the eggs. Because this factory is for reproduction & selling eggs the larvae are allowed to hatch themselves from the cocoon thus destroying the silk & relegating it to a second grade product.

Across the street from the moth factory was a secular school. The children were lined up in the yard reciting national prayers in Hindi & singing the national anthem. My thought was that in the U.S. parents would object to them not wearing sun screen or hats.

Of Temples & Kings

Our destination was reached. The Somanathpur Temple dates from the 13th century. It's dedicated to Vishnu & is an example of Hoysala architecture rare in this region. Moguls came in the 14th century & destroyed  most of the temples. This one was saved for its beauty & uniqueness. To assure it wouldn't be used for worship they broke all the noses on each of the thousands of images decorating interior & exterior walls & all ceilings. The temple took fifty-eight years to build & is carved  from soapstone. That stone is easier to carve than granite then hardens when exposed to the air. The intricacy of the carvings & the details depicted as the structure rises into three conical towers  covering three interior shrines gives the overall impression that it's made of wet sand dripped from a hand. The sandcastle effect is born out even on closer inspection. Aside from the usual animals, flowers, & humans Charles was sure to point out three scenes from the Kama Sutra. Very educational. There's a human intimacy of scale to the structure. Amazing what you can accomplish with the help of slaves.

To give us a taste of luxury, lunch was at the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel built in 1932 in the Indo-Islamic style. It is now run by the government & bureau of tourism. We were shown to the $1000 suite. It was classic  aged opulence but poorly maintained. The grounds could be stunning, but again there's the neglect. And for your money you get bottled water in your room because the water is unclean to drink. We ate in a two story, blue, white, & gold painted ballroom surrounded by arched balconies. The food was the best we've had varying from paneer in spinach sauce, to persimmon seeds in a lentil salad, to eggplant in a ginger, coconut, yogurt sauce. Wonderful as it was, we're beginning to develop a yen for pizza.

As we walked to the bus a magician began to perform. He sat cross-legged on the ground beaming his toothless smile & pointing out that at age sixty-two he didn't have a gray hair in his head. His tricks weren't any we hadn't seen before but his patter was adorable. In an Anglo/Indian patois he explained how he'd been on the Discovery Channel, BBC, & had met Steven Seagal.

Our bus climbed the steep road of Chamundi Hill a spot overlooking Mysore where we were treated to a postcard perfect photo op. The official "aerial viewing spot" wasn't good enough for our over-achieving guide. No, we had to go to the summit. White domed palaces & hotels dotted the valley in the center of which was a small lake & racetrack. There was haze just on the horizon & the distance allowed us to imagine what the place would look like without, you got it, trash. Another stop brought us to the Nanthi sculpture of a massive black bull, the vehicle of Shiva, where we were approached by the ever more aggressive salespeople. 

It was a long day & not over yet. We made our way to the palace where we'd seen the sound & light show last night. The crush of sightseers was phenomenal. We tried to stay together as a group but another mass of humanity tried to cut us off going through the gate. I got between them & us holding my arms out wide. Being tall & long limbed I managed to stave off the crush until we all passed through. As I turned to look over my shoulder I noticed that the man who I thought was their group leader had an automatic rifle. Oops! Not a tour guide but palace guard. I'm not shot or in jail so I consider myself fortunate. As if to prove that theory, as we waited to check our cameras, a bird pooped on my shirt. Lucky for me George isn't squeamish. He mopped me off & we Purelled.

The main palace building is divided into a residential & ceremonial sections with the royal family still living there. It was built around 1932 in the Indo-Islamic-European style. Gifts from around the world went into its construction. There was English steel in the chandeliers decked out in Murano glass. French sculpture mixed with panoramic paintings by local artists depicting palace festivals. Marble from Italy & rosewood doors, trim, & carvings were side by side with inlaid semi-precious garlands of flowers ala the Taj Mahal. While not as luxurious as some European castles, it was a good representation of the luxury in  which the royal family lived.

David needed an ATM so instead of going back to the hotel we walked through another market with Charles & four others. Charles knew of an ATM nearby but it not only didn't work. It was dismantled. We returned to the hotel while Charles & David were dropped off in search of a functional cash dispenser. They took a tuk tuk back & we're not only solvent again but Charles will get his tip tomorrow.

           

Our final banquet is tonight. It's hard to believe we'll be saying good-bye to those folks tomorrow. We will all transfer via this bus to Bangalore where they get on a plane & we spend the night in preparation for our extension to Goa.

Toby