I slept for almost 14 hours last night, woke up in my Tibetan guesthouse, had a yummy breakfast including a banana pancake and that ever-so-reassuring taste of Nescafe. Nescafe makes me think of the developing world.
Today I hired a car for the day for about $12 - a major splurge. I didn't know how else I was going to get oriented. I went to the Ghandi museum - highlights included some good quotes and photos, his walking stick and some rather gory blood stained robes that he was wearing on the day he was assasinated. There were a bunch of schoolchildren funneling through. I really want to go to Rajghat which is where he was cremated.
After that, a jump back to the Moghul dynasties (India experts be warned - I am a fumbling amateur at Indian history and religion though I am absorbing fast). I saw Humayun's tomb, a tomb with large formal gardens surrounding it that supposedly inspired the future builders of the Taj Mahal. I liked the gardens alot. My colleagues will be happy to know I am observing Indian landscaping practices closely. No air blowers here - just long brooms made from natural fibers to sweep up those leaves. And I got some great pollarding shots. A tree made into a shrub in one clean cut. I am hoping I can attach a photo I took today of this beautiful tomb. If not here, it'll have to go on the blog (more about that later). The best I can make out at this point is a crazy succession of muslim leaders with differing viewpoints on morality, religion, etc. fought it out for many many years from about 12-13th century until about the 18th-19th century. Some of them
from Afghanistan, some of them from the East (one supposedly descended from Genghis Khan himself!). They built a series of famous structures, one of the later ones being the Taj Mahal. I also saw Isa Khan's tomb. An earlier structure in the same line of structures.
Finally, I went to the Indian national museum. This is alot to absorb so I may not write about it for now. Beautiful textiles (including a current exhibit on peichwara - clothe hangings with inlaid threads of gold and silver) from a certain sect of Hinduism (more on that later), small Indian paintings, and sculpture, a rather entertaining armor and weapons section. I met a guy from New York there - of course we have friends in common. He is in town for a film about homosexuality and Islam that he was producer of. It was showing tonight as part of a human rights film festival. I wanted to go but it was on the other side of town and I am still too intimidated and overwhelmed to make a nighttime venture. So...
My guest house is nice. It's in a Tibetan settlement just north of the old city. When the Chinese invaded Tibet India was a major location for Tibetans seeking asylum. They settled them in little communities all over the place. They apparently have no citizenship rights and it can be tough to make a living. My little place is like a warren. There is a big road right next to it but you would never now once you venture back into the narrow streets where people are selling Tibetan crafts and Textiles, music, you name it. Anything Tibetan. And monks galore. I've had some nice chats with a woman here who retired about 20 years ago and began working at the Tibetan monastery in Bloomington, IN (my ancestral state). She travels here yearly on monastery business. I liked what she said about HH's teachings (HH is His Holiness the Dalai Lama) - that he wants the monks not to be good, but to be happy, and in that quest for happiness they find goodness. I
also had a nice chat with a woman from Seattle who writes travel books for women "Wanderlust and Lipstick" was her first title. We may try and to go Agra together on Monday to check out the Taj Mahal. It was fun but intimidating asking her about the writer's life.
So tomorrow into Old Delhi. More traffic, cool bazaars, and another major Moghul building - this one called the Red Fort. Also maybe Rajghat Ghandi's cremation place. It is reassuring, but also somewhat sad, to him so revered even in age of extreme religious violence between Hindus and Muslims. That is so NOT what he was teaching. I also like that he gets nicknames - "Bapu" and "Ghandijee" being my favorites.
More later.
Love,
John
PS try this link - it's kind of an experiment but it might be easier with the pictures... I have a feeling I'm gonna get a bunch of bouncebacks with this email...
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