i’ve been out travelling again, sue me. :)
having refreshed my travel weary mind with loads of great sleep on my super awesome bed – i am bright eyed and bushy-tailed ready to tell the tales of my exciting travels in the motherland. india never fails to bring me to new experiences and this time – was no different! from the moment i landed, to the very last glimpses of mumbai through the itty-bitty windows of the airplane, i found myself gawping in amazement – at everything! this whole trip was as if i’d been in india for the first time.
i kid you not dear friends. i felt like a japanese tourist floating through the streets of mumbai with my camera glued to one hand and the other nervously clutching my hand-bag (a nasty side-effect from an unfortunate encounter with a wanna-be pick-pocketer). i gawp wide-eyed at the vegetable seller and the mounds of ruby red tomatoes piled up in front of him, at the spice-walla with heaps and heaps of red hot chillies forming explosive mountains in neat rows ahead of me, at the bangle vendor squatting on the floor selling colourful glass bangles bound together with string in flower-like patterns, at the chai-walla who serves me chai in a rather questionable looking glass (but i just close my eyes and sniff-up the aromatic beauty of the chai). yoh, the list goes on.
my reasons for going – twofold. the first being darshan’s wedding (darshan and i did a house-to-house student exchange with rotary in 2003) and the second, ayurvedic panchakarma treatment at a centre in lonvala. both were valuable and insightful experiences. darshan’s wedding was a window into another world for me. it was anthropology ‘in action’ – happening live. of all the wedding events and ‘happeningings’ my favourite was the baraat (the bridegroom’s procession to the wedding-hall). i danced like a wild-thing and pummeled all my excitement and happiness in that one hour through dance and laughter.
lonavala was a different kind of outlet (oh the pun, the pun!) basically, panchakarma treatment is cleansing the body of accumulated toxins through 5 different methods. although not all methods are employed simultaneously. sometimes, not even all 5 methods are used – which in my case was… thank god! (for more info go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakarma) so basically, there’s loads of purging, loads and loads and loads of purging – physically and mentally. however, i think the most valuable for me was the mental purging. in all fairness, there’s loads of gunk still flapping around, but my approach to the mental gunk has changed… drastically! i feel more mental equilibrium and balanced in my problem-solving approaches. lonavala has taught me that as much of a hero i think i am, there ain’t no way i’m climbing everest in one gainormous leap – it’s all baby steps honey. i feel refreshed, revitalized, recharged – ready and steady to face the year.
i’m reading eat pray love at the moment and feeling like i’m reading my biography. there is so much about the way gilbert feels and writes that echos me to me. what a joy! :) there’s so much comfort to be found in knowing that i’m not the only crack-pot floating the universe in search of meaningful experiences. however, i have to admit it’s not all roses and periwinkles. i do find the book rather self-indulgent and i’m really not sure if it’s going to go on my ‘re-read’ list. there are moments i’m inclined to abandon the book halfway, but in anticipation of the bali-kand (kand meaning chapter in sanskrit) of the book, i hang in there… waiting to love ;)
with all my warmest, heartfelt best wishes for 2011 i bid you adieu till next time…
