sewer lines

Greetings Earthlings: Just finished a six day course on the first two levels of the Reiki Healing Technique, it took seven days 'cause we are on India time. The teaching took place during my "free time", so I haven't done much exploring or blogging about exploring this past week. But all is over now, the jury is still deliberating the validity of Reiki. So far I would say it gives one more energy and a general feeling of happiness.......................

The first photo above is of sewer replacement here in the hood.............::::::: When I was working at my mom's duplex this summer, the street in front of the complex was having the sewer replaced. I watched the action with interest because earlier this year when Chacha and I were in China they were replacing the sewer along the street in front of our hostel. Now here in India just down from the Ashram, guess what, sewer replacement..... Nothing could better represent the three culture's approach to this basic state of communal living. Back in the U.S. it was all machines, large back-hoes dug the trench placing the soil in even larger trucks. The sewer line was installed with a tractor wench and the dirt filled in and tamped with a small steamroller then sealed each night with asphalt so as to not disrupt traffic. During the day there were two flagmen, one posted at each end of the dig. They used walkie-talkies to hold traffic for a safe passage through the one lane. It was all very orderly, relatively clean and employed about 20 men. In China the machinery was ancient, the compressor that was used to power the jack-hammers was rolled in on a cart made from posts and bicycle tires. The trenched soil was heaped next to the trench in an already narrow ally/street. When vehicles came through it was a war of the horns, eventually someone would yield and traffic would "flow". At the end of each day the open trench would be covered with a large piece of metal until the job was finished then brick was used as the final layer. The job employed about 40 men. In both China and India brick or stone is used over and over to cover the sewer lines. Now here in India the opportunity to observe presents itself. There are no machines, the trenches are dug by hand, with pick and shovel. The shovels are shaped like a hoe, with the head coming off the handle at an angle. When the trench gets real deep and to narrow to throw the soil out, it is scrapped with bare hands onto the shovel head, then another man pulls the shovel out of the trench using a rope tied to the handle and throws it on the street. Most of the men are barefoot and wear no helmets (both china and u.s. use hard-hats). The there is no closing at the end of the day. All the pipe, that must weigh at least500 pounds each, is laid by hand, using ropes and pry-bars. The job employed about 15 men..............That's it, the tale of three sewers. There is no judgement here, only an observation as to the relative differences as to wealth. Would the Indians use back-hoes if they had them? I';m not sure, the caste system and the emphasis on living a village life still dominate..................I can see that I'm having trouble getting the photo that I want to download I only get one more try so I hope we get it............................As to the other photos, the two, sorry, of the police station sign says it all. At some time I may post about the overall feeling I have about the culture here, especially concerning crime and violence. I'm still reading a lot and getting absorbed into the hamlet.........Ahhhhhh, there it is, at the top.............................. HARI OM

Answers

Hello All-----\/\/\/\/\/\/------My friend and consummate educator Gordon poses some questions in the comments section of this blog. I thought others may be interested in those things also. Gordon asks about music: There is not a lot of live music except for the drumming that accompanies the chanting and singing at the temples. There was some horn accompaniment at a wedding the other day but it wasn't earth shattering. The most impressive music thus far was just outside my favorite western restaurant, it was a real snake charmer. He played the flute and charmed the Cobra so that it "stood up" and peered from the basket the snake hissed and whipped it's tongue. The snake was cool, very primal, but the music coming from the mans flute was mesmerizing, piercing and other worldly..................There is a lot of Indian New Age Music played from the music stalls and tourist shops around town, it is kind of like being in the parking lot of a Grateful Dead concert that has been going on for 100 years.

The questions of birds was posed: There are many birds and they do seem less skittish than at home, you can get within 10 feet of the local crows no problem. I'm at the edge of the mountain jungle so there are many varieties of birds, my favorite is a medium size bird that lives and feeds near the river where I sit, it is all black with a belly and tail feathers that are Magenta with a hint of orange, on the crown of it's head is a pure white stripe..........

Gordon asks about the danger from Monkeys: I have two monkey stories; When I first arrived at the ashram and began to eat in my room I would have peanut shells and banana peels left over, as there is not garbage can(anywhere), I wrapped my scraps and thought I would take them to the road and give them to the cows. I stepped from my room door holding a plastic bag of scraps, I walked about 10 feet when a large brown monkey drops from the trees and has me in his sights. The difference between monkeys and say dogs is that the monkey uses eye sight not smell to search for food, and they have great eyesight. Also they are smart, this monkey knew that I had to use the stairway to exit so that is where he sat and waited. As I approached he flashed his very large teeth.........I quickly threw the bag his way and continued on my way. The second monkey story is at my favorite Indian restaurant,; the restaurant is located on a hillside overlooking the main street, there is a patio outside with one table, big enough for about six people. Sitting at the table were two women from Denmark, they look to be in their early sixties, short cropped grey hair, very sturdy intent in their discussions. I took a window seat that overlooked the patio and was feasting on the best aloo dun when from the roof WHAMM!! a 30 pound brown monkey land in the middle of the woman's table, they both scream, stand and jump back. The monkey begins to forage when one of the women smacks it an the rump and it flees without her sandwich. We all had a good laugh at that one.The grey monkeys as seen above are not so aggressive. Plus they look cooler.

Favorite foods thus far : Vegetable cheese curry::::Penne with tomato sauce with green olive and mushroom:::Palak paneer and brown rice:::: In all the food is great, it is against the local law for anyone to serve meat, fish or eggs in Rishikesh.

Meditation:::::::::::::Well it is good. I am taking a Reike class, I am taking Reike I and II, from a monk at the ashram, in order to relax we start each session with a Yoga Nadir, very deep, WOW.

It's late I must go back.

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukkah

Later we will go upstream

cal

The first week

Ths is the Siva image..............

This image is located in a courtyard just outside the ashram where I am staying. It is a statue of Vishnu and Lakshmi........................So today is the end of my first week in my self-directed retreat. The room where I am staying is large enough to do all the things needed to complete my daily routine. The routine begins at 4:30 am when the monks begin to chant and sing, now this may sound romantic but the hall that the singing emanates from is made of marble and the main singer is amplified through a very poor speaker, think loud and tinny. This goes on for an hour then I meditate for an hour, after that I rest, and then it's snack time, fruit and nuts. After snack it is time to bathe, there is no running hot water so I have to heat about 2 gallons of water in a bucket with a thing called a heating-rod. You know that life is a bit boring when bathing with 2 gallons of warm water is the highlight of the day..............After bath it's about 45 minutes of Yoga, yes Yoga, I got a book that has simple asanas with breathing techniques. (at some point I may blog about the whole Yoga atmosphere here in Rishikesh). After Yoga another hour of meditation then rest. Around 10:00 am I do laundry and house cleaning, then it's off to get something to eat...........There are several restaurants that I like, I usually eat one meal Indian food the other continental. Then I walk and find a place next to the river to read. More walking, then back to the room where I meditate for another hour. Then I do Tai Chi and leave the room again to shop or walk and get my evening meal. Around 7:oo pm I'm back in the room and read until 8:30 or so then sleep till 4:30............................That's it, I'm not sure if I'm doing myself any good but I feel relaxed and when I close my eyes to meditate there is more space and less clutter........... That's about it for now. Next post will be a walk upstream where the real action is..........NAMASTE

The above image is of Siva the destroyer, much revered in India. Because the Hindu believes that death is just a shedding of this incarnation and one will now move on to a new life they heap much praise on Siva....................Each evening at the base of this statue they hold a ceremony and people light candles and put them in little boats with flowers and float them down the Ganges.

This is outside the main temple and is a statue of Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield. The story is from a century or two before Buddha's time or about 2700 years ago. Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver. Of the the three main gods there is Brahma the creator, Vishnu and Siva the Destroyer.

Above is atop a temple that is next to the river. I'm pretty sure that they are of Ganesh and Vishnu. Vishnu has all the cool incarnations Krishna, Buddha and Rama among others that we don't hear much about in the west.....................

A down stream walk

I'm not sure how many images I can put in a single post but if there is one above the paragraph it is of the Ram Jhula foot bridge.........................On my first day here is was hanging out on the east side of the river just trying to orient myself and move slowly. Standing next to the road a man approaches me, he is holding a what looks like a 6 inch medieval Q-tip, he has a metal box strapped to his chest with the words 'EAR CLEANING' painted across the front. He has several cotton balls stuffed between his ear and head like a napkin holder. He speaks forcefully in Hindi and wants to clean my ears, after looking in my ear he becomes even more animated, but I thank him and decline, five times before he leaves...............

Above is the wall of suburbia. This area of my small hamlet (not Rishikesh but Ram Jhula) is where most of the better off working families live. One of the first things you notice is that the children are in school most of the day. They all wear uniforms and can be heard singing and reciting from early in the morning until after sunset. When they meet you on the street they usually ask from what country you come from. When I say America they are pleased but when I say California they really get excited. Of the men that I have talked to (you never talk to a woman), and mention California they smile and beam, Arnold! Arnold!

Above is an ashram that is for Indians only I assume, as there are no westerners to be found near here. I'm trying to steep myself in Indian culture, I'm reading the epic period classics the Ramayana and Mahabarata both written 2500 years ago and read as if Shakespeare had written a novel. There is always an element of cultural propriety in the stories. They mostly deal with truth, morality, relations and merit. As an example in the Ramayana the dying king's charioteer is arguing with a wise priest and says "clever speakers feign piety to deceive". The Priest answers "Cleaver profiteers also feign foreign wars to deceive the simple, and not all liars are priests".................I guess things don't change much through the centuries...............I'm also reading the Neru book of India as well as the complete Hindu mythology, so I can keep all the gods and goddess straight. They numbers in the dozens and many have multiple incarnations!!!!

The above image is of a path that I take if I want to avoid the beggars. It is quiet up here and a nice place to walk during the rush of the day.............

This is on the path from the river to my room via the upper road. Yes those are wild parrots eating some berries....................

My new home

This is my new home for the next few weeks. It is an ashram that houses about 40-50 monks but also is home to a hospital and a school for poor children. 3$ a night to stay. They serve 2 meals a day, it is very plain fair and so far the only people lined up for the entrees are Sadhus . The grounds are large and there are trails that lead up to the forest. This is only my first day here as I have been holed up in my upscale hotel for the past few days with the worst case of Delhi-Belly. Up to this point the food in India has been great, the flavors are rich and well balanced. They use a lot of butter but who doesn't like potatoes, curry and butter................ I decided to try a small place on the way back from my afternoon walk, the food was delicious but the results were fatal. New rule, only eat at places that have doors at the entrance, no flaps!............................ Well this is what I came for, to stay in an ashram in India and meditate. The Yoga classes here at my ashram are done for the year but there are plenty of places to go just for an hour in the morning or evening.

This is where the foot bridge ends on my side of the river. There are two blind beggars here every day. The monkeys are always not far from the action. I allot myself 100 rupees a day for beggars usually 5 or 10rs each. The level of poverty in India is immense, it is so pervading that you get used to it. The range of really poor and poor is not much. An example: I bought a new book at the book store, 'the discovery of India' by Nehru (the George Washington of India), it is a big book some 600 pages. It cost 240 rupees, a little more than 4$. When I showed the book to the hotel manager he took it from me and held it in his trembling hands saying that he had never in his life been able to hold this book, he was genuinely moved just to be holding a 4$ book. This man is not an untouchable he is the manager of a mid-range hotel.

The image below is where I come and sit for a couple of hours each afternoon. It is at the end of the village road and usually it is only me and the Sadhus that live in the small caves dug into the hillside. I like it here because it is quiet except for the rush of the Ganges and there are no flies. The cows can't make it over the rocks so there is no cow shit. No shit no flies.
On my way back, a holy cow ordering chai.

NAMASTE

the terrible traveler

I have to be careful about projecting. My last post titled flight thru purgatory led to an actual experience in hell...... Four days in Delhi was as bad as it can be............ The hotel was nice but located in the seedy part of the city. That may sound harsh but considering that most Americans would consider ALL of Delhi seedy says much........ First is the noise, my room faced the street, so from 5 am to 2am the sounds of horns and motor-bikes rage on. I had to stuff my ears with tissues just to sleep........... The short version of a long story is that the first day I decided to go to an ATM to get some cash. I was given directions from the hotel staff on how to get there but the machine would not accept my card. Returning to the hotel a very nice man with a red-dot painted over his third-eye asked if I needed help (how could anyone with a red-dot be anything but honest?). But he had a partner, the one that owned the Tuk-Tuk (motorized rickshaw) that we took to an ATM that worked. Flush with cash off we went to the Travel Agent for a map of Delhi. Big mistake. I escaped with all my money but barley....... The hotel personnel suggested I get more sleep before tackling Delhi, which I did, sleeping almost 20 hours. On the second day I decided to go to the ATM again. This time another very nice man offered to help but being rested and experienced I brushed him off and made my way to a real bank (one that would qualify as a real bank in 19th century America). A man followed me all the way to the bank when I went inside (past the old guard holding a double-barreled shot gun) he asked what I was doing there, I said I was having trouble with my card and wanted to talk to the teller. He said this was an Indian bank and I should go to the international bank, which I had read about. He put me in a Tuk-Tuk and directed the driver where to take me. We crossed the city and dropped me at another travel agent. There I was held and interrogated about my travel intentions in India I told them I just wanted to get some cash, finally they took me to the ATM but was then strongly advised to make a donation to the poor children of Delhi. 1000 rs and pushed out the door. O.K. twenty bucks but at least I have some cash. When we return to the Tuk-Tuk, sitting in the driver's seat is the same man from the day before, shit, how did he get here. "You owe me money, I waited all day for your return, you owe me money". Another 1000 rs and we finally get to leave, back at the hotel the Tuk-tuk driver shows me a picture of his infant son and so I give him 1000 rs...................... The third day I rented a car and driver to take me to Kerkustra, the center of the universe in Hindu legend and also the place that Krishna delivered the advice to Arjuna about how to deal with the dilemma of fighting friends and family who have stayed from the path of righteousness, know as the Bagavad Gita. It was a great day. The museum, while hokey was informative (i'm looking for a book about all the Hindu God's incarnations). Then off to the giant ghat on the Ganges where, at the Temple, was a wedding being held for about 40 very poor couples. All the pageantry, the colors, the food, magical. At some time I may make a separate post about the Sadhus, holy men of India. The afternoon was spent walking, shopping and eating........................ Yesterday I rented another car for a ride to Rishikesh. It is recommended that foreigners stay away from the Delhi train station. Just as well because the ride from Delhi was so full of the real India that would be missed if on a train. The trip included stops in a small village that specializes in yogurt, a visit to a group of men that make sugar, using the same techniques as their ancestors 2000 years ago, I bought some sugar right from the vat, still warm and yellow, the driver says that if I eat a little of the fresh sugar a day I won't get T.B............ I got to see my first in-the -wild monkey. The driver dropped me on the west bank of the Ganges (pronounced gone-ghah). My hotel is on the other side of the river and there are no cars or trucks allowed on that side, there are motorcycles but as far as I can tell there are more cows on the cobble streets than motorbikes. I decided to take the ferry across the river. I don't really have a great attachment to this culture but floating across the Ganges under a partly cloudy sky and surrounded by the foot hills of the Himalayas brought tears...........................This is out the window of my home for the next 4 days.........................................Namaste

A flight thru pergatory

I'm safe and well in Delhi. I use purgatory as the trip was neither hellish or earthly. It did include fog delay in San Francisco, a run through the Dallas airport, flight canceled due to security breach in the aft cargo belly, snow in Chicago, crying/coughing infant in the row behind, de-ice the wings, thirty-five hours without sleep before we take off for the fourteen hour flight, I have a headache and no aspirin, no hotel pick-up at Delhi........................I am here. More to come when I get better Internet.

namaste

Thank-you for showing an interest in someone elses life. This is a way for me to stay in touch with family and friends while I poke around India for several weeks. I'm not sure how much I will be able or willing to post here but at least I'll let you know when I arrive at a destination. The photos below are from my mom's duplex where I have been for the past two months working on this suburban project................................I leave for Delhi on Wed. morning, so I'll get back to you as soon as I can...............................................................................Namaste

See, the photos load in reverse order, what started as a history of what I have been doing for the past two months is reversed...... This is only a test.

This is a test......Can I compose and include photos? In what order do they appear? Will you, dear reader be able to access this blog?