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‹ Previous (07/10/2008) MONTH Next (2008-12-06)› ‹ Previous (2009-08-13 - Tibet) COUNTRY Next (2009-09-03 - India)› Nepal Kathmandu (see on map) 12/11/2008:
The day after saying goodbye to Jay Ram, we were early in the morning to the India embassy to renew the entry visa. But we did not arrive early enough, for already there were tens of foreigners expecting to be attended at one window, where they kept calling according to the number of arrival. The system, despite being automated, was a little chaotic and too slow, and only after four hours we could deliver the forms. A similar process we suffered after three days, when after another day of waiting, in the evening we could collect our passports with a new visa for India valid six months with double entry. The day after our first visit to the Indian embassy, we continued with our working plans and did our first visit to a car workshop in Nepal to make repairman’s to the car. First we fixed the new tablets of brakes that still screeched from India and welded a small peace. The day after we made a new box for the carboys of butane, much more reinforced than the original one and raised from the ground (on numerous occasions we had scraped the roads of Africa). The following two days we gave ourselves a little rest to visit the interesting valley of Kathmandu and yesterday Monday, we went to another workshop that some travellers recommended us. There we fixed a peace that danced and that made noise since Iran, today we have reinforced the bumper of the back the car that in India had been dismounted when crashing slightly with a motorcycle, and tomorrow we will fix the stair of the autocaravan and we will make it shorter, so that it does not touch the ground. And all these five working days for only 70€, a whole bargain considering that finally we will have an autocaravan capable of confronting any path. In any case, i would never go to test it again through the roads of Africa, although, who knows which roads await us in the future in India, southeast Asia, or America? For sure that better than Africa, however, who knows? Anyway, much more prepared for the bad roads were some Germans that were travelling with an autocaravan made on top of a lorry of the Danish army. We find them camping in a quite centric wasteland of Kathmandu, together with a Swiss-German couple that travelled with an old Mercedes van. It was nice to meet them and camp in the same space the following days while we explained our experiences and philosophies of journey. The Swiss-German couple travelled with a child of 5 years and did very few kilometres per month and relaxed long periods of time in specific places, planning to return to Germany in about two years and settle so that the son could study. However, the German couple with the lorry drove faster than we (and using up the double of fuel for 100 kilometres) having the plan of returning to Germany in less than one year to continue carrying out other journeys of a duration inferior to one year. In any case, none of the two foreign couples seemed so interest as us - or I - to know new places, monuments, cultures and people. So, between the departures and arrivals to the workshop and to the Indian embassy, I left Alexandra exhausted with a programme of visits to different places of interest close to Kathmandu, mainly Buddhist and hinduist temples, the two dominant religions in Nepal. Remembering that Jay Ram had told us that the Buddhism is practiced mostly in the mountains of Nepal, considering that the Hinduism was a religion imported from India. Anyway, the reality is that, although Buddha was born in the current Nepal in the year 550BC, the Buddhism was not extended in Nepal, just 300 years after, thanks to the Buddhist indian emperor Ashoka, different rebirths of both religions being produced later. among the visits that we carried out was the impressive Buddhist stupas of Swayambhunath and of Bodhnath, which represent the Buddhist philosophy, with a level squared on a white dome, that contains painting to the four winds the two eyes of budha and the number 1 written in Nepalese as third eye, symbolising the unit of all the lives. We also visited a couple of hinduist temples, entering first the temple of Budhanikantha where in the morning there were long queues to adore and to make offerings to an enormous statue of vishnu settling in the middle of a pond. A couple of days ago we also visited the temple of Pashupatinath, the most important hinduist temple of Nepal, that raises next to the sacred river of Bagmati, where they burned different pyres. We had occasion to witness next to other pyres in an almost complete way consumed, a man dressed in white that piled different trunks up forming a rectangular structure almost of one meter of height. Later, different people arrived loaded with the body of a dead old woman, wrapped in yellow fabric, to which they uncovered the face once put on the structure of trunks. Immediately after, two of her children, a man and a woman, gave different turns to the pyre crying, screaming of pain and almost fainting; while they did different offerings helped by other people. Next, they covered the body of the dead with straw to conceal the morbidness of the meat being consumed and the son instigated the pyre below. Afterwards the family was withdrawn, and Alexandra washed her tears away. However, I stayed with a feeling of fragility in the face of life, observing how the flames fastened the wood and as afterwards people raised and people creaked with force when being fed by the grease of the body that started to be consumed. I could not feel the smell of burned meat, but Alexandra considered it unbearable and when we met again, we had to leave for she was getting dizzy. Nicer than the visit to the temple of Pashupatinath, was our stay in the village of Bhaktapur, which preserves a certain medieval air, for the cars have the circulation forbidden; and the village of Nagarkot, from where an impressive sight of the mountains of the Himalaya was enjoyed, including the mythical Everest, which in theory could be observed as a point in the horizon. Finally, our stay in Kathmandu was complete with the meeting of a hinduist Nepalese, friend of a friend of Manu Kant from Chandigarh, called CM Yogi. CM Yogi invited me one night to the school that he had created and in which he tried to transmit a message of non violence and a spiritual base among the children. Answering to my questions, CM Yogi explained me that in Nepal the Hinduism and the Buddhism, which were very mixed traditionally, are practiced although recently they have started to be separated due to the Dalai Lama that has taken the voice of the Buddhist community. Anyway, even nowadays, many festivals, temples, prayers, ceremonies... they are shared at the same time by hinduists and Buddhist. In any case, it was noticed that CM Yogi had a clear preference for the Hinduism, stating that, unlike all the other religions that had been created in a moment of the history, the hinduists think that their religion had appeared in the same moment of the creation. In any case, CM Yogi ended up commenting that to grow spiritually religion is not needed and that one has to come alone to the light. For example, the school, the institute and the university, are necessary institutions to acquire knowledge, although afterwards one has to abandon them to apply the educational background. Equally it has to happen with the religions, if one is not released of these, one will be a religious person without spirituality or understanding. So, to obtain the lighting, one has to be released from all the physical, emotional and intellectual links. Afterwards CM Yogi told me that the Christianity is easy to be explained, only because there is a God and a book; however, in the Hinduism there are many Gods, different books, different types of temples... Anyway, preserving a parallelism with the monotheistic religions, all the Hindu Gods do not stop being the demonstration of only one God, in the same way that a person has different names according to the context where he is (family, work, friends, religion...). So, the believers should not tie themselves to the names: God, Allah or Vishnu... In fact, one should not be tied to nothing and no one. But I asked: "If we have to release ourselves of all our ties, why we should not detach from the same concept of God". First he did not understand me, but, he told me little afterwards that one should also detach from God, without stopping loving him infinitely. --- In Kathmandu I took the pulse in to the world with CM Yogi, who gave an opinion that the main problem of the world was the lack of education (at formal level) and of conscience (at informal level), both problems create problems and conflicts, even if the lack of conscience thinks them at a more global level. Spiritual philosophy should be shown at a formal level, detached from the religions, a proposal that he is trying to develop with his organisation, acting at local level. The main problem in Nepal is the war of the Maoists rebels, who at present govern without having given up the weapons. CM Yogi is happy because he works in a project for the poor communities. The happiness depends on the mind, the pleasure depends on the heart. The happiness can be reached materially, but the pleasure only with conscience. wach video 1 wach video 2 India Bodhgaya (see on map) 14/11/2008: After a morning spent in the wirkshop of Kathmandu shortening the stairs of the car (the work lasted more than i expected), we got out of the city with the intention of getting as close to the border as possible, for the visa expired the same day. In any case, even if we had wanted, it would have been impossible to cross the border that same night, because little after going out of Kathmandu we stopped in front of a motorcycle and motorcyclist that had suffered an accident, falling due to the detachment of some rocks (or like this I believed it). In fact I did not manage to see the motorcyclist, because the crowd of people exiting the buses and the houses around were brought together around him. Without possibility to be able to help him, with desires of probably sharing the show, I started to take the rocks that had fallen on the asphalt. But surprisingly, two boys who seemed indignant with my work approached: - Why are you doing this? Do you not see that there has been an accident? - They asked me with elementary English. - Late or early the cars will have to pass, no? - and I kept throwing rocks out of the road. My answer did not convince them at all, because after a minute they returned more aggressive requiring me to stop. And I, annoyed with their incomprehensible attitude - according to my culture - I took a couple of stones that had taken out of the road and I threw them again on the asphalt, locking myself in the car. Although few minutes other youngsters finished putting the rest of stones off the road,but the situation did not stop being very strange. The Nepalese are very impatient driving, creating numerous jams when wanting to occupy every open space of the road, even if it is in the contrary lane; but here, all the world appeared calm and neither the buses nor lorries pressed to pass. We,finding ourselves almost in front of everyone, could have passed among the crowd, on the side of the fallen motorcycle and of the injured, but i did not want to endanger the crystals of the autocaravan in the face of the aggressive attitude that some of them had shown me some moments ago. We expect some lorry to take the initiative, but instead of that, two lorries went in the road so that they stopped the motorcycles from passing. In this case, the Nepalese culture was well different to the European, where if there is an accident the cars continue circulating for the side of the corpse or wounded, even if to pass they have to touch the legs. In any case, after an hour of waiting the police arrived, but the situation did not improve; nor after one another hour, when the ambulance arrived and took the wounded. i did not understand anything, and after another hour I went out to ask among the people. A little Nepalese Muslim who talked little English told me: - There has been an accident. - Yes, but the motorcyclist is in hospital, no? why are we still retained? The man seemed a little disoriented with my question, but finally, looking for the adequate English words he answered to me. - For somebody has hit the motorcyclist. Now, the police are waiting that the motorcyclist recovers conscience in the hospital so that it can identify the guilty car. - However, what will happen if the victim does not wake up till morning it. - We will have to sleep here, in the buses or in the road. - And if he does not wake up even after two days? The man seemed amused by my occurrence and raised the shoulders as a sign of ignorance. So, after contrasting the previous information with another Nepalese, I returned to the car where Alexandra was becoming excited every passing moments and we waited for another hour, and another, and another. A total of five hours. Suddenly, while i was eating up a dish of noodles that i had cooked few minutes ago. All the people ran did the buses and lorries and the long parade of vehicles started; in our case, without knowing whether the victim had recovered the conscience or not. We slept in a gas station and when it lightened the day we followed the road towards the border, arriving mid-morning. We completed the forms of exit and little before stamping the passports, the officer realised that we had the visa expired for a day. With a low-pitched pitch he commented that we had a problem, and that he could only solve it if we helped him economically. Of little counted that we explained the history of the accident, although when letting some minutes pass I understood that they did not ask us for a great bribery. Finally I asked Alexandra to go to look for three sunglasses that we still had from the journey to Africa and they appeared very happy with the gift. To the same moment that they were trying on one of the glasses, entered Uwe and Dani, the Germans that we had met in Kathmandú and who travelled with the lorry. together we have just done the Nepalese formalities of exit and we entered India,stoping us in front of the Indian customs, where they dealt us with a great hospitality, buying drinks and giving us with fruits, as they explained us afterwards, only about 7 or 8 foreign cars cross that border each month. In the customs there was a very nice man who explained us that he practiced yoga to remain in form intellectually and physically. In fact - he commented us - due to the increasing stress in India, many people in the urban areas are rediscovering the profit of the yoga, which purifies the soul and the body through exercises of gymnastics, respiration, concentration and meditation. When going out of the border, we started to circulate through a terrible road (the worst of India) up to a gas station, where also the German couple stopped. There we relaxed with a good dinner (they provided sangria) and explained the last experiences of Nepal. When describing them the history of the accident of the motorcyclist, they told us that the occasional patience of the Nepalese in the road is due to the ten years of armed conflict of the country, which provoked massive general strikes that they blocked roads for days, or even weeks. In fact, they coincided with a demonstration in a Nepalese road. They could pass being foreign, but other buses that had tried were parked next to the road with the broken crystals. 16/11/2008:
After another day and a half circulating through the terrible roads of the north of India, yesterday at noon we reach Bodhgaya, the place where the prince Siddhartha was sat to meditate until obtained the lighting at 35 years of age, Buddha (the one that is awake) being called from then. From this point, Buddha initiated a long journey through the north of India showing its new philosophy of life, converting in a new religion that extended through all the Asian east. One may not miss then, that Bodhgaya is the main place of Buddhist peregrination of the world. In the middle of the century 3BC, the emperor Ashoka visited Bodhgaya and founded the temple Mahadodhi at the foot of the tree where about 250 years Buddha had obtained the lighting before. Later, the daughter of the emperor Ashoka, took three branches of the tree of the lighting (or tree Bodhi) and planted them in Sri Lanka, growing three trees of which, centuries later, another cutting was obtained to plant it in Bodhagaya, once the original tree Bodhi died. At present, Bodhgaya seems an interesting fairground Buddhists, with modern temples of different styles that understand the main Buddhist countries: Thailàndia, India, Bhutan, Japan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Taiwan, China, Tibet... On the other hand, in the place where the emperor Ashoka founded the temple Mahadodhi another temple modern and without charisma about which pilgrims of multiple Asian countries stroll rises up at present. In any case, it does not stop being a captivating experience, to observe under the tree of Bodhi and to his around tens of completely abstracted people and meditating in silence, as if the ADN of the bodhi tree had magical estates and facilitated the lighting (or at least the meditation). At the same time, it also surprised me to observe so much superstition among the pilgrims, who prayed and kissed the enclosure that surrounded the tree of bodhi - in spite of the Buddhist teachings -, they lay down in the face of the images of Buddha, and they ran to hunt any leaf that fell off the tree of bodhi. While we rested to the shadow of the tree of Bodhi observing the pilgrims and its prayers and meditations, Alexandra commented me mocking that it was not obtaining the lighting and as did not pay it too much attention, afterwards asked me about the Buddhism, for it had been one of the religions that more me had influenced young. I answered it that the Buddhism thinks that the ligature and desires for a person generate suffering (mainly when these are not satisfied), so, one of the main goals of the Buddhism is to release himself from any desire and intellectual or emotional ligature, approaching like this to the lighting. To obtain it one has to take the path of the means, moving away of the ends and of the dogmatic beliefs; maintaining an ethically correct behaviour; and meditating, with the aim of turning the thoughts of the mind off and being completely conscious (mindfullness). And what is the lighting? - It asked again me the Alexandra -, and I did not know it to answer in the precise moment, but later I thought that probably the lighting has been mythified too much and that the lighting does not stop being a natural state to which the people access when they manage to live without desires nor ligature and with full conscience (mindfullness), a state that does not give access to supernatural powers nor to absolute truths (except the truth of everything being relative). Kolkata (see on map) 22/11/2008:
After about 8 hours of conduction from Bodhgaya, we stopped in a gasstation and started to sleep well early with the intention of following the journey after four in the morning. And although not ignoring the alarm clock was difficult, the prize for the madrugadores was double, for as we waited ourselves we could circulate the hundred of kilometres that missed us up to Kolkata without traffic and to enter six in the morning with the deserted streets in the city; but besides, we could park in a calm and centric street, which a couple of hours later was crowded of cars that also wanted to park there. Having rested a little more on the bed of the selfcaravan, about ten in the morning we go out to do the formalities to which we had come to Kolkata: Trying to recover the data of my broken portable computer (mainly the journal written to India from the entry up to Gwalior) and to inform us about the licences to cross the Indian state of Manipur (in permanent conflict) and like this to be able to enter in Myanmar (Burma). And although we had to wait for each other four days, in the end, an efficient company has today delivered three DVDs to me with the lost information and an administrative agency informed us about the requirements the day before yesterday to visit Manipur, basically to be married or four people to be a group of minimum. So, were in excess us a couple of days to visit Calcutta (Calcutta named during the colonisation Englishwoman), a city without too much touristic interest in comparison to other cities visited in India, although quite modern and well care taken of it. Surprisingly, Kolkata is not the stereotyped city which we expected to see, were not as decadent as in the old chronicles, and in general they had quite a lot the ground floors, occupied for shops and restaurants, fixed; and neither the poverty that the mother Catholic Teresa de Calcuta fought is excessively present, then it seems that the Marxist policies of West Bengala have favoured the rural life forehead the urban one, avoiding the big hordes of refugees that in last famines addressed the city. In any case, Kolkata showed us three typical images that we had not observed in the other Indian cities that we had visited. The first image (repeated twice) was an old fire engine that it tried to be made the way among the chaotic traffic of Kalkota to touch of bell; later, some friends done in Kolkata explained us, that the fire engines have bell instead of siren so that the drivers can differentiate them of the cars of police or ambulance (I do not know if to give them more or less preference). The second image, present in multiple streets of Kolkata, were the restaurants that were gotten on in the pavements, protected under a plastic and offering great diversity of menus to the passers-by that normally made the food standing. Finally, our attention was fixed inevitably in the numerous rickshaws, that instead of being dragged to engine or bicycle, are dragged by the brute force of the carriers, which take a small bell to the hand to warn about its crossing]>. In Kolkata there are the last riskshaws porteados for men, and although the government wants them to do to disappear these show a big endurance, since a family depends on the work of each of them, having at the same time the friendliness of much of the population. Besides, according to our friends of Kolkata, even the governor of West Bengala uses the rickshaws when the streets are flooded during the monsoons and the rest of the traffic is aturado. Having been mentioned without honour, I will finish writing the story of Kolkata highlighting the great hospitality received by Rudredab and its woman, which let us park in its roomy garden and us invited to a delicious dinner. Rundredab is lawyer, and its woman collaborates in an ONG that helps to women affected by the violence, but now was of decrease because two months ago it had had two twin children. During the dinner they talked to us on the cultural Kolkata that has seen numerous artists to grow, thinkers and writers, as the poet Rabindranth Tagore. We also talk - apart from rickshaws and fire engines - on the weddings, explaining to us that they had gotten married for love (without being a fixed marriage) and according to the Hindu ritual, in which the best date and hour of the wedding according to astrological affinities are chosen. Finally, today in the morning we have said goodbye commenting that very possibly we will see again ourselves before visiting the Asian southeast, and we have started to make south address road. ---- Taking advantage of Rudredab appearing open to be interviewed, I took the pulse to the world with it (although the interview was recorded badly). Rudredab opined that the main problems in the world are referred to the environment; the occidental countries should do more to eliminate the pollution and already that comparatively India has little pollution for cápita. In any case, all the countries will have to do sacrifices and to increase the production cost not to contaminate. Although it not does too much at personal level, all the world can collaborate to reduce the pollution. The main problem in India is the lack of education and the corruption, that it is found to all reports (for example, you have to pay a tip so that the workers of the electrical company accept the monthly fee you and do not cut you afterwards the light). The problem would be solved if nobody agreed to paying corruption, apart from raising the salaries in the public sector. At personal level Rudredab is happy, nor so alone knows as it can be happier. The secret of the happiness is to be happy with what you have. Puducherry (see on map) 29/11/2008:
We have been driving for eight days about 2200 km through the east coast, in order to arrive in the south of India, where we will celebrate the anniversary of Alexandra here about four days and where we will find with David, Maria and the fathers of these some days later. If the memory does not fail me, this stage the covered longest distance will have been in less time of all the journey; and naturally, there are different factors that can justify it. On a part, have circulating through one of the best roads of India, little gone for lorries and of two lanes all the while, except for some hundred of kilometres in the state of Orissa, where the road was to means to build since some years ago, as if the money to keep building the road had evaporated, probably because of the corruption. It has also contributed to this marathon of kilometres, the fact of in the east coast of India there not being too many monuments to visit (in comparison in the North, West and south of India), perhaps because the kingdoms that governed the coast of the Sea of Flare were less powerful; or because the low plains of the east had less quarries from where to extract rocks and of where to build monuments that held the crossing of the time; or because many of the temples that in spite of everything ascended, were destroyed by the exerted Muslims who in the sixteenth century arrived to the east coast, little before its decay. In any case, it would be unimaginable that in 2000 kilometres there was not any point of interest to visit, and in fact there are some, although we only visit three, all of them in the state of Orissa. First we visit Kornak, some calm people where the impressive temple of the sun is, built in the 13th century for a king of Orissa, probably to celebrate a military victory on the Muslims. After visiting the temple, we direct did eventually beach that is extended in front of Kornak, and where for the first time from Turkey we could observe the captivating immensity of the blue sea again. Naturally I could not resist of making a bath, but I went out from minuscule granites of sand which the desires of trying it at the moment again were passed me so breaded. The day after Kornak we visit Puri, at few kilometres of Kornak, but with a completely different atmosphere, then Puri is one of the most important centres of Hindu pilgrimage of India, being the temple of Jagannath Mandir the main attraction, that has the closed entry to the not hinduistas ones. In any case, it was worthwhile to walk through the wide avenue full of small trades that during the hinduistas celebrations they must be of pilgrims to burst. On the other hand, Puri was one of the points of India where I felt more intimidated by the hinduista religion. It had the sensation that the pilgrims or people of the people were directed to me with aggressiveness and intolerance for not being hinduista, as if they were declaring for me that our place was not there. So, having interpreted this message which receiving seemed to me, we go next towards the city of Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa. Anyway, despite being the capital (or maybe because of that), I only got lost an afternoon through the south of the city, where there are spread different hinduistas temples built during the 9 and 10 centuries. Among these pretty temples, I had the occasion of attending different hinduistas ceremonies, that later, during the journey they made me think quite a lot. While we passed statues (of about 10 meters of high one) of the Dios Hanuman, or monkey]> God of long one on different great occasions, I convinced me that the Hinduism is one of the most superstitious religions of the world. On occasions also we passed with big posters along the road announcing Gurus, as the one who announces a business, with Hindu sentences that I interpret as: 'he believes in me, it pays and you will have the paradise'. In fact, the majority of temples in India are deprived and are financed with the particular donations, in some cases compiling millions of rupiahs, when it thinks that a temple helps comply with your desires. But one of the aspects that more surprises me, apart from observing a thousand and one ways different to adore the hinduistas Gods, is the ceremonies in which a guru makes repeat different mantras to a person, while it blesses it and it makes him throw himself flowers, foods and water above forms drawn in the ground, or on flames or figures of gods. To good insurance that with these hypnotic ceremonies, the faithful one finishes the guru thinking any positive message that says it, finishing the session with a completely reinforced personality and capable of confronting any challenge that the life stations it, even if it is to cure an illness. In fact, I am convinced that the hinduistas ones are so superstitious and they have so much faith with its religion that some of the illnesses that have can get to cure, in the same way that the innocuous tablets can cure if they have associated a placebo effect, and in the same way that any other technique based on the faith of the results of the technique: homeopathy, acupuncture... (with pardon for expressing this opinion that is so personal). Anyway, I did not pass myself all the journey meditating, we were also quite a lot of while conversing and the rest of time enjoying the landscape, in general infinite plains of green colour, cultivated in small lots, and separated by ranks of palm trees or other tropical trees. Also, we kept observing as as we advanced towards the south, the sky kept being blurred, even that two days before arriving to the destination it started to pour with rain. It felt that it was rained, in fact did some months that had not seen the rain and the selfcaravan needed a good wash, but on the other hand, it worried us that we had not chosen a bad place to celebrate the anniversary of Alexandra, for we were arriving in the south of the coast of the Sea of Flare without the season of the monsoons in this region having finished. Besides, that it little afterwards of his starting to pour with rain, we enter of full in a deep puddle of water and when going out discovered horrified that the horn of the car had been wetted and it was not familiar. It was impossible to drive without horn, the instrument is more important to drive the Indian, for example, as could we tell the lorries of our arriving and their stopping driving in zig-zag through the middle of the road? o that did they not change lane unexpectedly? Really it was suicidal to drive without horn, so, taking advantage of his already darkening, we park in a gasstation to be able to continue the day after with the dried horn. The following day and today we have kept advancing towards the south under the rain, observing many flooded areas and quite a lot of people for the sides of the road looking at the waters accumulated since bridges or positions high of the road. In fact, seeing so many impressed people impressed more than simply observing the brown waters, because we did not know whether the areas flooded before were part of a gap or river. In fact, we could only value the excepcionalidad of the situation when we had clear references of what was abnormal, as the flooded streets, the homes with the incoming water for the door, or the motorway covered of water (always the contrary lanes). 05/12/2008:
When we have reached Puducherry (the city was called Pondicherry one year earlier) the rains had been finished, but everywhere signals of the storm were observed with flooded streets and quite a lot of trees and fallen branches. In fact, we were very fortunate that from our arrival the rain only came a few times, afterwards leaving a splendid sun that dried all the streets and our humid autocaravan. So, we have been able to enjoy six days of rest, one of the main desires for Alexandra for her anniversary, that frequently complained about not taking holidays in our journey. Even though, as incredible as it might seem, the Romans had visited Puducherry about 2500 years ago, the main influence of the city is French, country that dominated four enclaves in India from the ends of the 12th century up to 1956, when it yielded the territories to India, 8 years later of its independence. Although the city is at present occupied by Indians, the atmosphere in the French part is calm and relaxed, with streets flanked by trees, pretty mansions of French style and a popular avenue separating the city from the sea, that continuously cracks against an artificial cliff of rocks. The city has churches and a cathedral as different attractions, but what caught the attention of us more was a temple dedicated to Ganesh, out of which there was an elephant that we visited almost every day. The elephant, called Lakshmi (deity of the prosperity), was a female of about 18 years (a baby even, commented the keeper) that gave blessings to all the ones that delivered a coin or a bank note. At first it was difficult to approach to the big animal and to leave to fall a coin in one of the two orifices of the trompet, in whose end she was holding put the other coins until the keeper claimed them. Later, however, we take sufficient confidence to leave that the animal passed the trompet over our head (as a sign of blessing) or to approach us more and to caress the forehead of soft skin and thorny hairs. Very near to Puducherry, there is another attraction, the town of Auroville, which we did not visit because the day that we had the intention I came down ill. In spite of everything, we had previously visited one of the projects and could make an idea about the philosophy of the people and the community. Auroville is a foundation of the government of India, that it has bought lands so that people arriving from all the world can develop positive projects for the humanity. Although the project intended to be for 50.000 individuals, the current population is of about 1500 adults and about 500 children, originating from 44 different nationalities, although the great majority (40%) are of Indian origin. We specifically visited Abraham and Yorit (original from Israel), which five years ago initiated the project of Sadhana forest, with the philosophy of generating an environmental impact, planting trees and contributing towards decreasing the CO2 of the atmosphere. Helping them develop the project, they always had working among them from 10 to 80 volunteers that came from all the world with the intention of remaining a minimum of two weeks, enjoying free accommodation in exchange working (4 hours a day for 5 days per week), and paying some 2€/day for the cost of the food. In the same way, many other similar projects are being developed in Auroville, and many other could develop if there were more people in the world ready to give up the system to help the humanity (Auroville would provide lands and a minimum economic aid to develop initiatives). Anyway, according to my individual vision, even if the Aurovill people think to have given up the system, the community does not stop being another subsystem with some rules that also have to be accepted and that can also be unfair through some sectors of the mini-society (for example, the alcohol and the drugs are prohibited). In spite of everything, I think that the subsystem Auroville is better socially in ecological terms and probably (they aspire towards a society less competitive and without fear), although, I also think that if the subsystem were converted in system (for example a whole country dominated), it would end up having the same problems (or more) as any other existing system (For example, a country that wanted to expel all the drinkers of alcohol should confront great internal and external conflicts). So, according to my opinion, it is very positive that they exist many of these projects or mini-subsystems, that, on the other hand, will be still tied up with the global system through internet, books and minimum technology. Although, according to its status, Auroville is a project that wants to create harmony among humanity independent of religion, Auroville was founded by "the mother", a pupil Frenchwoman and collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, both philosophers or hinduist gurus who through the yoga worked a spiritual evolution of the humanity to join it to the divine one. Like this explained us an old woman that we met casually, which worked as professor of languages (she was speaking Spanish very well) for the Ashram of "the mother" and of Sri Aurobindo. Although the philosophy of the Ashram was too much esoteric for me (and of course for Alexandra also) and too much centred in the adoration of the deceased guru, Lata was a good guide to visit some places of the Ashram, where "the mother" and Sri Aurobindo, in the middle of luxurious gifts of ivory and three surprising heads of tiger had lived together. Equally, Lata also facilitated us the entry in the dining rooms of the Ashram, which served very tasty and very economic food to hundreds of people, some of which original from other countries. Finally, i only have to explain that the day before yesterday (on 3 of December) we celebrated the anniversary of Alexandra dining in a good restaurant, eating fish after such a long time. Anyway, despite being the most expensive food paid in the last months, yesterday I was a whole day in bed with diarrhoea and a terrible headache (probably by the dehydration) and today, also although I was not so bad as to prevent our road towards Bangalore. During the dinner of the anniversary, as one year ago in Etiopia, the subject of getting married came out again. Maybe the subject came out because we had put on the ring of gold that we had given as a present, but that we had taken off as we separated in Pakistan; although the real reason of the conversation of marriage did not stop being practical. There are still lacking some months, but our journey to America every time is nearer, in the same way that our obligatory separation comes close if Alexandra does not obtain a visa to enter the United States (the Romanians have it more complicated). The only way of avoiding it would be a wedding between us, that I do not see in a complete way bad. Already does about two years and a half that we are together and, although we still have some disagreements, do not seem that these are an impediment to follow our communal life as until now. Besides, the last weeks i have been refreshing some aspects of the Buddhist philosophy and there are some changes that I want to apply to my communal life with Alexandra. I think that at present I have managed to come off the material possessions quite a lot and this is the reason for which it was not a great emotional setback to have the portable computer broken and its data in a temporary way; in the same way that every time it annoys me less that the Indians touch the car, they try to open or even they take off the adhesives. So, it seems that I am learning to forgive some attitudes of the Indians towards us, although until now I had not been capable of forgiving certain attitudes of Alexandra towards me. For example, normally I return more than unbearable when Alexandra is unbearable, or I turn hyper-hysterical when Alexandra catches an attack of hysteria. The behaviour should changing, I know it, but like this as I have already changed other aspects of me, I think that I can also change that, and to be able to be more understanding with the emotional up and downs of Alexandra in order to improve more ours communal life. And if really I can do these changes, why is should not think again about marrying? In fact, we only need to go to an India institution and to have two witnesses for person, perhaps we will ask David, Maria and their parents to be our witnesses* * some days later Alexandra looked for more details to marry in India and results that is not at all easy. So, we will have to leave it for when we return to Europe and meanwhile to study the procedure to carry out her visa for the United States. ‹ Previous (07/10/2008) MONTH Next (2008-12-06)› ‹ Previous (2009-08-13 - Tibet) COUNTRY Next (2009-09-03 - India)› |
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