india journal http://www.aonyx.org/journal/
A Friend in Yamunotri
]]> en-us 2004-03-01T13:22:56-05:00 Happy New Year http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000159.html I seem to be stuck in Varkala. I had only planned to be here for two or three days, and now I've been here five days and don't want to leave. I have also been joined by Helena, a friend... Varkala gardella 2004-01-01T06:40:32-05:00 Amma http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000160.html Mata Amritanandamayi, now called Amma, was born into a poor fishing family in a village in Kerala in 1953. From an early age she showed exceptional empathy for others. She began to comfort those who were suffering by hugging them.... Kerala gardella 2004-01-05T12:36:15-05:00 Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000161.html Just 45 minutes South of Varkala is the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram (or Thrivandrum for short). My friend Helena and I headed there on Wednesday. We arrived around mid-day, found a hotel and set out accross the city. One of... Kerala gardella 2004-01-09T06:25:13-05:00 Fort Cochin http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000162.html On Saturday morning I finally managed to tear myself away from Varkala for good. I headed a few hours north to the city of Cochin. I took a ferry accross the bay to Fort Cochin, which lies at the end... Kerala gardella 2004-01-13T12:07:26-05:00 Happy Pongal http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000163.html Today is the harvest festival of Pongal, which is celebrated here in Tamil Nadu. I am currently in a small town called Mamallapuram, about 45 km south of Madras, which is famous for it's rock carving. There are temples and... Mamallapuram gardella 2004-01-15T11:32:08-05:00 Mamallapuram and Pondicherry http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000164.html In Mamallapuram I made friends with a group of painters from Rajastan. They have a little studio, where they sit on the porch and paint the day away. On my first night in town, we hit it off by speaking... Mamallapuram gardella 2004-01-19T07:16:46-05:00 Auroville http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000165.html Sri Aurobindo and The Mother were spiritual teachers who settled in Pondicherry. Although their philosphy grew out of Hindu scriptues, it trancended any one religion to speak to a universal divinity. Auroville is a large planned community started by The... Pondicherry gardella 2004-01-21T07:33:50-05:00 Pondicherry Snapshot http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000166.html On a side street, next to the District Court, I found a chai and a somosa cart next to each other. I squeezed between them to join others on a bench along the wall. Over my shoulder was a small... Pondicherry gardella 2004-01-24T03:15:13-05:00 Hampi http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000167.html I returned to Chennai before leaving Tamil Nadu. I wanted to see more of the city, since my last visit had been so short. Unfortunately, I had a fever and muscle aches, and spent most of my one full day... Hampi gardella 2004-01-29T04:00:29-05:00 Pune and Ahmadabad http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000168.html Pune is the second largest city in Maharashtra, and provided me with a one night rest on the way North. I visited the Tribal Museum. Yes, there are tribes in India. In many rural areas, there are people with cultures... Ahmedabad gardella 2004-02-03T01:52:24-05:00 Parvez Imam http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000169.html I think I wrote about my first evening in Varkala, when I met a couple people playing guitar and singing songs. One of them was Parvez, a documentary filmmaker from Delhi. When I got back to Delhi this time, I... Delhi gardella 2004-02-07T06:41:07-05:00 A Trip Delayed http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000170.html I am sorry I haven't written in so long. The last two weeks have been a bit crazy. Sarah was scheduled to arrive on February 7th, and we had our plans all set. We were going to go to Pushkar... Delhi gardella 2004-02-17T06:56:40-05:00 Amritsar Again http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000171.html On Monday night Sarah and I packed up our stuff and headed to New Delhi Railway station to catch the "Golden Temple Express" train to Amritsar (scheduled to leave at 7:35). When we arrived, we discovered that it was delayed... Amritsar gardella 2004-02-20T01:58:08-05:00 Happy Losar http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000172.html Losar is the Tibetan New Near. Sarah and I came up to McLeod Ganj to be here for the celebration which started on Saturday. It seemed like a good idea at the time. However, almost all of the town is... McLeod Ganj gardella 2004-02-22T11:05:45-05:00 The End of a Journey http://www.aonyx.org/journal/archives/000173.html Well, it's almost over. I can hardly believe that six months have gone by. In some ways it feels like I just stepped off the plane. At the same time, I have adjusted so much to the life here, that... Delhi gardella 2004-03-01T13:22:56-05:00