Hi folks, Well, it's another day in paradise. We have packed our suitcases this morning so that we could travel lightly on our 3 day excursion from Delhi. We have been on the road for an hour and just left Delhi to enter a different state and Delhi's sister city of Guragoan. Driving in India is the craziest place I've ever seen – yes, crazier than Quebec, El Salvador, Italy, etc. combined … A case in point:
As we are approaching the border crossing to the state of Guragoan, there are about 25 or more entry lanes (like how all those lanes at the Peace Bridge coalesce at the US border.) It is just chaos being filtered into streams when all of a sudden we see a car driving towards us with headlights flashing. This a freeway with one lone car going the wrong direction?!?!?!? We foreigners in the car are freaking out and everyone else in the road, including our driver, just calmly gets out of the way like nothing unusual has happened.
According to our driver that is exactly the case. "In India, in a full democracy, people may do as they wish and freely express themselves," he humorously tells us, "and anything can happen." Then to make things more interesting, rather than collect taxes at the 24 or more gates mentioned above, commercial vehicles must pull over onto the margin of the freeway, get out of their vehicle without being picked off by the oncoming traffic, crawl over the concrete barricade separating the opposing traffic (except for the one we met in our lane!!!),walk across all the lanes of oncoming traffic without benefit of any pedestrian corridor crossing light, only to get to the little tarried building on the wrong side of the freeway. It was quite the advance - cross one lane, stop, wave at that particular lane there, wait, wait for a gap and saunter across it. All being repeated for each lane and again on the return trip. Incredibly, our driver smiles serenely at us as he climbs in the driver's seat to continue on our sojourn. What kind of Zen he possesses - we all need to get some of that! ... Incredible ...
It took us close to 6 hours to travel 200 kilometres to the city of Shapura. The landscape has changed from the congestion and business of Delhi to an arid desert. Winding through this town, which looks ancient, we pass crumbling archways and bricked forts until we arrive at the top of a meandering road … final stop for the day is a beautiful palace called Shapura Haveli. This is our pit stop for the night. (Yes, we are hard up but it will be an adjustment when we stay with our host families so we do not feel too bad.)
Once settled in we were led into a courtyard and there awaited 2 camels, camel drivers and then, of course, giggling children. Our camel ride was to begin and end with a sunset meet and greet at a local village.
As the camels sauntered down the rocky road our only thoughts were that they did not decide to run or spit and that we would not fall off in front of the locals. Much to our chagrin, as went out the palace archways and made our way through the crumbling walls down the alleyway, we were astounded to see the locals out grinning and waving. For the next 20 minutes all we heard was, "helloooo, how are youuuuu!”
We asked our guide, “Did you pay them to be here?” Our next thought was, we are the town entertainment. Four white women, looking like Japanese tourists with their cameras flashing, grinning like fools, trying to keep balance on these sauntering, sashaying beasts - and we thought belly dancing made us jiggle.
Peals and squeals of laughter were coming from children as they raced to greet us. From the top of roofs, to doorways, to the streets we were greeted and made welcome. People old and young came out, stopped what they were doing to wave and greet us. It was incredibly heartwarming. Here in India, people greet us with “Namaste” which in Hindi means hello and goodbye. Hands are put into a prayer position, accompanied by a gentle bow. Between Namasting from our camel and waving, we felt like royalty.
Outside the town we encountered a few wild antelopes. They are quite tall, taller than cows and have large horns. They can become quite aggressive but we felt pretty powerful sitting up in our camels and the antelopes had no interest in us.
We were greeted at the village by a grandfather and his gaggle of grandchildren. This village is quite prosperous as the homes are made of concrete and large. 4 and 5 generations of families live together in one house. Siblings and their families will live together. This village also has electricity, filtered water. The kids appear very healthy with smiling eyes and bright smiles.
We gracefully got off the camels, which again is not an easy feat, to learn a bit about village life. We were treated to chia Marsala tea. The leaves are boiled with water and milk, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and sugar are added, and boiled and you are left with a spicy, rich tea.
The families we encountered were extremely hospitable to us. We would have felt quite comfortable spending the night. We went back to our humble abode as it was quite dark by now. Under the cover of darkness we made our way back up the winding roads and just like clockwork, the children and adults appeared. Night life brings a certain energy as shop keepers throw open their doors, wares are displayed and people mingle. It is a time to socialize, eat and of course, Namaste the visitors.
This is the first night where we could clearly see the moon and stars. As we set up our mats to start our yoga on the marble floor on the roof of the palace, we could only gaze about with wonder. Soft music and voices could be heard and warm breezes caressed our faces as we looked up at the stars. Fireworks could be seen in the distance celebrating the marriage of a newly married couple as it the season of the weddings .
We had a 5 course meal awaiting us after our yoga. They had set up an elaborate table under the stars with the ever present attendant.
We ended our day feeling full with gratitude for our families and friends who have supported this trip. It is hard to describe what a wonderful day we have had. Laying under the stars on our mats we realize how close the human race is connected. Language, economics and religion can become barriers to getting to know one another. They can also be presents to be opened and shared. As we share our stories with our Hindu hosts about our lives, they in turn share their stories about their religion, family and hopes for the future. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or atheists - spirituality is present regardless of belief or non-belief and spirit is a very palpable presence here in India.
Tomorrow after noon we leave for Jaipur to another palace. We fully expect to meet the Maharaja there - after all, we are queens. Till then, Namaste!