Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
3 Lovely Weekends
The past three weekends have been lovely adventures that have furthered my appreciation of India's physical and human beauty.
3 weekends ago,
I travelled 1 1/2 hrs northwest of Rishikesh to the captial of the State, Dehra Dun, to reunite with my 'Indian sister' and friend Sumitra. It was 8 months since I first met her and yet it felt just like yesterday when we embraced in the busy market of Dehra Dun. Instantly, it was as easy to relate and spend time together as I remembered. We shared stories and caught up over masala dosas, sweets and chai. We see the world very similarly and I have a feeling we were once related or most certainly supposed to meet in this lifetime.
I took the opportunity to visit her since she usually lives 6 hours north, which is too tiring a distance to travel when I am this deeply immersed in my practise. I spent the night with her in a peaceful setting outside of the capital. There, her friends were as warm and welcoming as her, calling me thier Canadian daughter and sharing stories about thier children living in Australia. They cooked a scrumptuous lunch and so naturally made me feel at home.
Sumitra told me about all the beautiful karmic work she has done since we last met. She is co-founder of an alternative school in Uttarkashi where I spent time with her last trip. She really is a woman of selfless service. Unmarried, she has humbly dedicated her life to helping those in need. She works from her heart and has completed numerous projects throughout the villages of this mountainous state from helping to create womans co-operatives selling handicrafts to assisting victims of monsoon landslides rebuild thier villages. It's remarkable how she does so much with so little funding. My mind naturally started brainstorming ways to support her. For only $1000/month she can run the school in Uttarkashi educating dozens of children and employing a handful of local staff. A little sure goes a long way here and I would love to help her continue to do the amazing and necessary work she does. She is so grateful for the little, yet sufficient amount, that she has in her modest life and sees a world in need. With skills to share, she gives and serves and teaches me so much by what seems to come so natural to her.
So 2 weekends ago,
I was inclined to take the opporunity to visit her again over my full moon long weekend. We travelled to the nearby hill station town of Mussourie to see the powerful Himilayas.
After meandering for 1 1/2 hrs up a nauseating, treacherous road in a rickety old bus we arrived at 6000 ft. The air was crisp and the landscape completely different. We piled on warm layers and set out to explore the popular Indian honeymoon town. The ridgetop town is full of shops and chai stalls, restaurants and more shops but it was the landscape that I came to see and revel in. The trees were completely different than those along the banks of the Ganga river where I stay in Laxman Jhula. Beautiful, tall evergreens stood towering over us, reminding me of B.C's coastal hemlocks.
The highlight was climbing up to the town lookout called 'Gun Hill' to see the snow covered Himilayas in the distance. Mountains remind me so much of Canada and there is something special about being reminded of home all the way over here.
We stayed up at the viewpoint as the sun set painted the peaks pink and the full moon rose. What a beautiful sight!
We drank warm chai as the temperature dropped and squatted next to a wood fire with the locals, to keep warm. The familiar smell of wood smoke amidst the crisp mountain air also reminded me of home and brought a warm smile to my heart.
We meandered down from the lookout revelling in the stillness of dusk, the power of the full moon rising and the beautiful natural setting and good company. Needless to say we were incredibly happy and feeling grateful for having this experience together. It had been many years since Sumitra visited Mussourie. Being from a mountain village near Shimla, she appreciates the rocky peaks as much as I.
I am not sure when I will see Sumitra again but I trust our paths will cross again offerring us more memorable experiences to share :)
This past weekend,
I travelled with 4 (Icelandic, Spanish, and Swedish) friends from yoga to a nearby waterfall with an unexpected delightful visit to a peaceful hillside village.
We set out early, keen for a break from the hectic traffic and bustling crowds of Laxman Jhula. Travelling 5 kms upstream of the Ganga it didn't take long for our spirits to be renewed as we entered the moist, green, quiet forest. The air felt clean and crisp with a light morning dew on the west facing slope. Soon after starting the climb to the waterfall I stopped and took a deep breath in, washing away the accumulated busy chaos of weeks of town life. Just hearing birds chirping and water flowing was such a refreshing treat.
We hiked up a well marked trail for about 1/2 an hour taking in the green, green forest to arrive at the cool mist of the waterfall. It felt spectacular to simply delight in and connect to nature with no distractions. We each shared stories of beautiful natural areas of our homes and remarked how important it is to have places like this in the world.
No one went for a dip in the water but instead we layered on sweaters and appreciated our surroundings.
Before heading back down we took another trail to what a few passing Indians told us was a small village. We climbed some more to what turned out to be one of the most peaceful places a community could live.
Rising out of the forest we reached the clearing of the village where terraced slopes grew an abundance of local food and cows, goats and horses grazed. We walked with a hesitant slowness at first, not wanting to disturb but soon a warm, smiling older Indian man greeted us. He lead us through his incredible garden of flowering roses, hibiscus, marigolds, and more. He spoke excellent english inviting us to sit under his avocado tree. Within no time his well wrinkled wife started a fire to prepare chai. We instantly felt at home with the kind, warm hospitality of this couple who it turns out have been married for 45 years!
We all sat and remarked how this was the kind of place we would love to spend more time in, where you only hear the call of birds under the warm afternoon sun next to the sweet smell of flowers.
Within another few moments his wife cooked us up a sweet snack of Sooji and coconut and yet another chai for the walk down. He showed us pictures of the handful of other foreigners who visited his place, which interestingly did not take away from the authenticity of our experience. Although others had been there we still felt genuine in our experience. I think in large part this is due to how natural and down to earth Indians can be in their interactions. They were just living thier life, happy to see and welcome visiters. They reminded me of my family in eastern Canada with thier natural hospitality and desire to give to and care for others.
While in some ways we could have spent forever here we began to descend the hillside and make our way back to the more busy life below in Laxman Jhula, taking a piece of this stillness with us. He wished us well, inviting us back next time, and his dear wife (who only spoke Hindi) smiled, squeezed our cheeks and gave us a big hug.
Three wonderful weekends have passed and I am glad to share some of my experiences with you!
WHAT NEXT:
Only 2 weeks left in this lovely northern clime, then I am off to the south to Goa to say Hello to Iain and the coconut trees. I plan to attend a vipassana meditation course at the grand pagoda outside of Mumbai over Christmas and then I am likely off to northern Thailand for the New Year.
But as always, I'll keep you posted!
All the best,
Theresa
3 weekends ago,
I travelled 1 1/2 hrs northwest of Rishikesh to the captial of the State, Dehra Dun, to reunite with my 'Indian sister' and friend Sumitra. It was 8 months since I first met her and yet it felt just like yesterday when we embraced in the busy market of Dehra Dun. Instantly, it was as easy to relate and spend time together as I remembered. We shared stories and caught up over masala dosas, sweets and chai. We see the world very similarly and I have a feeling we were once related or most certainly supposed to meet in this lifetime.
I took the opportunity to visit her since she usually lives 6 hours north, which is too tiring a distance to travel when I am this deeply immersed in my practise. I spent the night with her in a peaceful setting outside of the capital. There, her friends were as warm and welcoming as her, calling me thier Canadian daughter and sharing stories about thier children living in Australia. They cooked a scrumptuous lunch and so naturally made me feel at home.
Sumitra told me about all the beautiful karmic work she has done since we last met. She is co-founder of an alternative school in Uttarkashi where I spent time with her last trip. She really is a woman of selfless service. Unmarried, she has humbly dedicated her life to helping those in need. She works from her heart and has completed numerous projects throughout the villages of this mountainous state from helping to create womans co-operatives selling handicrafts to assisting victims of monsoon landslides rebuild thier villages. It's remarkable how she does so much with so little funding. My mind naturally started brainstorming ways to support her. For only $1000/month she can run the school in Uttarkashi educating dozens of children and employing a handful of local staff. A little sure goes a long way here and I would love to help her continue to do the amazing and necessary work she does. She is so grateful for the little, yet sufficient amount, that she has in her modest life and sees a world in need. With skills to share, she gives and serves and teaches me so much by what seems to come so natural to her.
So 2 weekends ago,
I was inclined to take the opporunity to visit her again over my full moon long weekend. We travelled to the nearby hill station town of Mussourie to see the powerful Himilayas.
After meandering for 1 1/2 hrs up a nauseating, treacherous road in a rickety old bus we arrived at 6000 ft. The air was crisp and the landscape completely different. We piled on warm layers and set out to explore the popular Indian honeymoon town. The ridgetop town is full of shops and chai stalls, restaurants and more shops but it was the landscape that I came to see and revel in. The trees were completely different than those along the banks of the Ganga river where I stay in Laxman Jhula. Beautiful, tall evergreens stood towering over us, reminding me of B.C's coastal hemlocks.
The highlight was climbing up to the town lookout called 'Gun Hill' to see the snow covered Himilayas in the distance. Mountains remind me so much of Canada and there is something special about being reminded of home all the way over here.
We stayed up at the viewpoint as the sun set painted the peaks pink and the full moon rose. What a beautiful sight!
We drank warm chai as the temperature dropped and squatted next to a wood fire with the locals, to keep warm. The familiar smell of wood smoke amidst the crisp mountain air also reminded me of home and brought a warm smile to my heart.
We meandered down from the lookout revelling in the stillness of dusk, the power of the full moon rising and the beautiful natural setting and good company. Needless to say we were incredibly happy and feeling grateful for having this experience together. It had been many years since Sumitra visited Mussourie. Being from a mountain village near Shimla, she appreciates the rocky peaks as much as I.
I am not sure when I will see Sumitra again but I trust our paths will cross again offerring us more memorable experiences to share :)
This past weekend,
I travelled with 4 (Icelandic, Spanish, and Swedish) friends from yoga to a nearby waterfall with an unexpected delightful visit to a peaceful hillside village.
We set out early, keen for a break from the hectic traffic and bustling crowds of Laxman Jhula. Travelling 5 kms upstream of the Ganga it didn't take long for our spirits to be renewed as we entered the moist, green, quiet forest. The air felt clean and crisp with a light morning dew on the west facing slope. Soon after starting the climb to the waterfall I stopped and took a deep breath in, washing away the accumulated busy chaos of weeks of town life. Just hearing birds chirping and water flowing was such a refreshing treat.
We hiked up a well marked trail for about 1/2 an hour taking in the green, green forest to arrive at the cool mist of the waterfall. It felt spectacular to simply delight in and connect to nature with no distractions. We each shared stories of beautiful natural areas of our homes and remarked how important it is to have places like this in the world.
No one went for a dip in the water but instead we layered on sweaters and appreciated our surroundings.
Before heading back down we took another trail to what a few passing Indians told us was a small village. We climbed some more to what turned out to be one of the most peaceful places a community could live.
Rising out of the forest we reached the clearing of the village where terraced slopes grew an abundance of local food and cows, goats and horses grazed. We walked with a hesitant slowness at first, not wanting to disturb but soon a warm, smiling older Indian man greeted us. He lead us through his incredible garden of flowering roses, hibiscus, marigolds, and more. He spoke excellent english inviting us to sit under his avocado tree. Within no time his well wrinkled wife started a fire to prepare chai. We instantly felt at home with the kind, warm hospitality of this couple who it turns out have been married for 45 years!
We all sat and remarked how this was the kind of place we would love to spend more time in, where you only hear the call of birds under the warm afternoon sun next to the sweet smell of flowers.
Within another few moments his wife cooked us up a sweet snack of Sooji and coconut and yet another chai for the walk down. He showed us pictures of the handful of other foreigners who visited his place, which interestingly did not take away from the authenticity of our experience. Although others had been there we still felt genuine in our experience. I think in large part this is due to how natural and down to earth Indians can be in their interactions. They were just living thier life, happy to see and welcome visiters. They reminded me of my family in eastern Canada with thier natural hospitality and desire to give to and care for others.
While in some ways we could have spent forever here we began to descend the hillside and make our way back to the more busy life below in Laxman Jhula, taking a piece of this stillness with us. He wished us well, inviting us back next time, and his dear wife (who only spoke Hindi) smiled, squeezed our cheeks and gave us a big hug.
Three wonderful weekends have passed and I am glad to share some of my experiences with you!
WHAT NEXT:
Only 2 weeks left in this lovely northern clime, then I am off to the south to Goa to say Hello to Iain and the coconut trees. I plan to attend a vipassana meditation course at the grand pagoda outside of Mumbai over Christmas and then I am likely off to northern Thailand for the New Year.
But as always, I'll keep you posted!
All the best,
Theresa
Monday, November 15, 2010
Real and Revealing
One of my favourite Friday afternoon or Saturday rituals here is cleaning my place. It gives me such a sense of satisfaction to put on some music and take my time mopping the floors, scrubbing the bathroom and making things feel clean for at least a brief period of time. Because, the reality is that cleanliness only lasts so long here. I can spend an hour cleaning and then open my windows to smoke from a garbage fire burning next door or a dust storm that quickly covers my marble floors with grit once again. While this teaches me to let go of expectations of the ever changing outcomes and enjoy the process, recently it also symbolized how India reveals all.
Just last week as I was finishing up cleaning my place, the last job was to disinfect the bathroom floor. Bob Marley was playing from my iPod and a warm afternoon breeze was coming in through the windows. I was nearly resting in the satisfaction of cleanliness when the main drain of the shower came loose only to reveal a whole mob of cockroaches. Lovely.
Now, I could have suspected that they live in the drains and while a few tried to get free from the retches of the Indian sewer system it dawned on me how symbolic such an experience was to me.
Most often in our lives we try to cover up the bad or the evil or the grit or the dirt rather than face it, but in fact it is part of our Whole as beings. I spent an hour cleaning the 'surfaces' of my place only to find what I consider quite nasty critters in the drains. And this is precisely what India shows me every day. The endless garbage and filth and sewage and cow shit and grime is constantly present here. Perhaps we (Westerners) never get used to the overload on our senses but I think it is healthy to face it and realize it is part of the whole picture .
How many of us have been to our local dump? We neatly place our rubbish on the curb where it is conveniently collected weekly, but do we know where it goes? Are we in touch with our whole system in its entirety and how we are a part of it?
While I was quick to put the bathroom drain back on and leave the cockroaches in the pipes, I feel less and less appalled when I see all the garbage and filth in India. Honestly, it feels more real here in a sense because it's not hiding much!
Just last week as I was finishing up cleaning my place, the last job was to disinfect the bathroom floor. Bob Marley was playing from my iPod and a warm afternoon breeze was coming in through the windows. I was nearly resting in the satisfaction of cleanliness when the main drain of the shower came loose only to reveal a whole mob of cockroaches. Lovely.
Now, I could have suspected that they live in the drains and while a few tried to get free from the retches of the Indian sewer system it dawned on me how symbolic such an experience was to me.
Most often in our lives we try to cover up the bad or the evil or the grit or the dirt rather than face it, but in fact it is part of our Whole as beings. I spent an hour cleaning the 'surfaces' of my place only to find what I consider quite nasty critters in the drains. And this is precisely what India shows me every day. The endless garbage and filth and sewage and cow shit and grime is constantly present here. Perhaps we (Westerners) never get used to the overload on our senses but I think it is healthy to face it and realize it is part of the whole picture .
How many of us have been to our local dump? We neatly place our rubbish on the curb where it is conveniently collected weekly, but do we know where it goes? Are we in touch with our whole system in its entirety and how we are a part of it?
While I was quick to put the bathroom drain back on and leave the cockroaches in the pipes, I feel less and less appalled when I see all the garbage and filth in India. Honestly, it feels more real here in a sense because it's not hiding much!
Spending the weekend with my Indian Sister reuniting. Here she is picking fresh, ripe Guava!
Spending the weekend with my Indian Sister reuniting. Here she is picking fresh, ripe Guava!
Originally uploaded by Theresa Gulliver's Travels
Happy Diwali
Well, the great Festival of Lights - Diwali - has come and gone and although I have experienced it I still don't know if I get the full extent of all it entails. From my perspective it looked like Christmas with lights strewn Everywhere (many of which are still up). It sounded like New Years or Canada Day with firecrackers and fireworks filling the sky with vibrancy and explosions for days! The best part was to feel the sense of holiday with shops closed and local people everywhere wishing those they greet a "Happy Diwali." Moods were upbeat and bouyant giving a true feeling of a joyous holiday.
One night I came home and the owners of my place (who live on the main floor) had lit a small oil candle outside my door. I realized after reading about the festival that these are lit everywhere, including on the Ganga river, to guide Lord Rama home from exile.
Many Indians gave their houses a (fast) coat of fresh paint and bought new houseware items leading up to the festival.
My friend Shelagh, from Whitehorse, sent me a note about Diwali that was forwarded to her and I would like to share it here to give a better sense of the background of the holiday.
Diwali - perhaps the most important festival in Hinduism. It is the harvest festival, the Indian equivalent of Thanksgiving, and so the goddess Maha Lakshmi, supreme symbol of all abundance, wealth and beauty, is worshipped.
Diwali also celebrates Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and after having defeated the demon Ravana who had abducted his wife, Sita. Ram embodies the dharma; Sita is the spirit of the earth; Ravana symbolizes the ego and its ignorance. That we must return the spirit of the earth to the heart of dharma is without question.
All across India, the setting off of fireworks and the lighting of oil lamps in the house welcomes the return of Rama. The light on the hearth is synonymous of the welcoming dharma into our hearts and the triumph of light over darkness in our lives and in the world.
So there you have it - a glimpse of Diwali.
I hope each of you are finding the light within and letting it fill you with joy!
~t
One night I came home and the owners of my place (who live on the main floor) had lit a small oil candle outside my door. I realized after reading about the festival that these are lit everywhere, including on the Ganga river, to guide Lord Rama home from exile.
Many Indians gave their houses a (fast) coat of fresh paint and bought new houseware items leading up to the festival.
My friend Shelagh, from Whitehorse, sent me a note about Diwali that was forwarded to her and I would like to share it here to give a better sense of the background of the holiday.
Diwali - perhaps the most important festival in Hinduism. It is the harvest festival, the Indian equivalent of Thanksgiving, and so the goddess Maha Lakshmi, supreme symbol of all abundance, wealth and beauty, is worshipped.
Diwali also celebrates Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and after having defeated the demon Ravana who had abducted his wife, Sita. Ram embodies the dharma; Sita is the spirit of the earth; Ravana symbolizes the ego and its ignorance. That we must return the spirit of the earth to the heart of dharma is without question.
All across India, the setting off of fireworks and the lighting of oil lamps in the house welcomes the return of Rama. The light on the hearth is synonymous of the welcoming dharma into our hearts and the triumph of light over darkness in our lives and in the world.
So there you have it - a glimpse of Diwali.
I hope each of you are finding the light within and letting it fill you with joy!
~t
Friday, November 5, 2010
Theresa with Suman and Durga
Theresa with Suman and Durga
Originally uploaded by Theresa Gulliver's Travels
I am volunteering at an orphanage in the afternoons,
which I intend to write more about soon!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The delicate balance between give and take
I just took a fabulous Indian cooking class lead by a pleasant Indian man and his family. Not only did I quadruple the number of Indian recipes I can make, but I also delighted in the delicate dance of give and take.
I am realizing my favourite moments here are those spent connecting with local people. Genuine moments of connection are rare because the reality is that I am a tourist here and am most often treated like one. The times I most commonly spend interacting with locals are in cafes, internet places or shops where money is always exchanged. I feel to most locals I am viewed as a walking sum of rupees because I am 32 travelling on my own here, which to most of them costs more than they make in many, many years. So, I understand why thier first image of me is one of money. Indian and foreign tourist come and go from here constantly, the latter seeking an 'authentic' Indian experience of some kind.
But what is that exactly?
Perhaps it's self defined.
To me, lately it's connecting human to human with local people. It's having a conversation with the Tibetan woman selling jewelery who has lived here most of her life. It's sharing my cinnamon roll with an interested 2 year old Indian boy who only speaks Hindi. And it's also spending 2 hours cooking, learning and interacting with Sonud and his family.
We made kitchery, channa masala, aloo parantha and kheer - a perfectly complete and delicious meal! The tomatoes and ginger were already chopped and the kheer milk boiling when I arrived at thier home next to a stream flowing into the Ganga.
'Tea? You like Chai?' I am asked shortly after sitting next to the stove. I hesitate to answer only because I have not yet had a single cup after almost 1 month of being here. The primary reason for this is because I have not wanted to add to the overflow of mucous in my system from this cold that is finally disipating. I say 'yes' simply because I absolutly love the act of sharing tea here. I think it symbolizes everything I love about this place....a time to stop, sit, share and take in the world that is whizzing by. This seems like the perfect time to engage in my favourite daily Indian ritual. So, another pot of milk goes on the stove to boil with a sprinkling of black tea and a handful of sugar.
As we sip chai I continue to watch and take notes and interact with Sonud and his daughters who are helping. My favourite is making aloo parantha - mashed potatoes with fresh cilantro stuffed into chipatis. Yum! Finally I understand how the potatoe goodness gets in between the flat chipati.
And more importantly, I converse with Sonud and his 2 daughters, the eldest of which is 22 with 2 sons that are running around the room as we cook. He tells me he's been cooking for 40 years, since he was a young boy and he now has heart troubles and is visibly missing 2 fingers, both of which make physical labour difficult. We talk about yoga and Indian culture and he inquires about Canada and why I'm not married (the most common Indian question I am asked). He is so proud of his culture. I tell him how much I love Indian food and he confirms how healthy it is and shares the ayurvedic properties of the food we are making. His oldest grandson turns 4 in a few days and he invites me to come and celebrate with them and of course to eat more Indian food. He then shows me around his humble home where I can hardly believe there is space for 8 people to live. Glimpsing his reality along with his kindnes makes me wonder - how can I, who has so much, not want to help?
After the scrumptious meal is complete I am able to feast on the product of our labours and enjoy the flavours. As I do so Sonud plays with his youngest grandson who is 10 months old and laughs in his grandpas arms. We make more food than I would eat in a week and I know the family will eat the rest after I leave, despite me paying extra for all the ingredients.
There once was a time when this would have bothered me and I am happy to say I have reached a point where I no longer feel the need to argue or barter as much over a few extra rupees. In part this is due to feeling people are not trying nearly as hard to rip me off as they do in Goa and secondly, I am realizing how far an extra dollar or two goes here and how much it is often valued in thier lives.
Have you taken a moment today to realize how much we have to be grateful for in our North American lives?
It's Amazing!
I am happy to learn from Sonud and pay for a meal for his kind family and realize he is just trying to make a living in order to survive.
Sure, it feels at most times that everyone here wants something us, again seeing tourists primarily as money spenders, but aren't most things we do sourced by some level of personal gain? Is there ever true selflessness or is it simply an ideal we are to keep in mind and aim for? Even when we are doing a supposed 'act of kindness' for another, isn't the inner glimmer of personal satisfaction the seed of motivation?
I exhanged money for Sonud's cooking class but in the end I am gifted with so much more than new recipes - a priceless interaction and experience that I am truly grateful for!
I am realizing my favourite moments here are those spent connecting with local people. Genuine moments of connection are rare because the reality is that I am a tourist here and am most often treated like one. The times I most commonly spend interacting with locals are in cafes, internet places or shops where money is always exchanged. I feel to most locals I am viewed as a walking sum of rupees because I am 32 travelling on my own here, which to most of them costs more than they make in many, many years. So, I understand why thier first image of me is one of money. Indian and foreign tourist come and go from here constantly, the latter seeking an 'authentic' Indian experience of some kind.
But what is that exactly?
Perhaps it's self defined.
To me, lately it's connecting human to human with local people. It's having a conversation with the Tibetan woman selling jewelery who has lived here most of her life. It's sharing my cinnamon roll with an interested 2 year old Indian boy who only speaks Hindi. And it's also spending 2 hours cooking, learning and interacting with Sonud and his family.
We made kitchery, channa masala, aloo parantha and kheer - a perfectly complete and delicious meal! The tomatoes and ginger were already chopped and the kheer milk boiling when I arrived at thier home next to a stream flowing into the Ganga.
'Tea? You like Chai?' I am asked shortly after sitting next to the stove. I hesitate to answer only because I have not yet had a single cup after almost 1 month of being here. The primary reason for this is because I have not wanted to add to the overflow of mucous in my system from this cold that is finally disipating. I say 'yes' simply because I absolutly love the act of sharing tea here. I think it symbolizes everything I love about this place....a time to stop, sit, share and take in the world that is whizzing by. This seems like the perfect time to engage in my favourite daily Indian ritual. So, another pot of milk goes on the stove to boil with a sprinkling of black tea and a handful of sugar.
As we sip chai I continue to watch and take notes and interact with Sonud and his daughters who are helping. My favourite is making aloo parantha - mashed potatoes with fresh cilantro stuffed into chipatis. Yum! Finally I understand how the potatoe goodness gets in between the flat chipati.
And more importantly, I converse with Sonud and his 2 daughters, the eldest of which is 22 with 2 sons that are running around the room as we cook. He tells me he's been cooking for 40 years, since he was a young boy and he now has heart troubles and is visibly missing 2 fingers, both of which make physical labour difficult. We talk about yoga and Indian culture and he inquires about Canada and why I'm not married (the most common Indian question I am asked). He is so proud of his culture. I tell him how much I love Indian food and he confirms how healthy it is and shares the ayurvedic properties of the food we are making. His oldest grandson turns 4 in a few days and he invites me to come and celebrate with them and of course to eat more Indian food. He then shows me around his humble home where I can hardly believe there is space for 8 people to live. Glimpsing his reality along with his kindnes makes me wonder - how can I, who has so much, not want to help?
After the scrumptious meal is complete I am able to feast on the product of our labours and enjoy the flavours. As I do so Sonud plays with his youngest grandson who is 10 months old and laughs in his grandpas arms. We make more food than I would eat in a week and I know the family will eat the rest after I leave, despite me paying extra for all the ingredients.
There once was a time when this would have bothered me and I am happy to say I have reached a point where I no longer feel the need to argue or barter as much over a few extra rupees. In part this is due to feeling people are not trying nearly as hard to rip me off as they do in Goa and secondly, I am realizing how far an extra dollar or two goes here and how much it is often valued in thier lives.
Have you taken a moment today to realize how much we have to be grateful for in our North American lives?
It's Amazing!
I am happy to learn from Sonud and pay for a meal for his kind family and realize he is just trying to make a living in order to survive.
Sure, it feels at most times that everyone here wants something us, again seeing tourists primarily as money spenders, but aren't most things we do sourced by some level of personal gain? Is there ever true selflessness or is it simply an ideal we are to keep in mind and aim for? Even when we are doing a supposed 'act of kindness' for another, isn't the inner glimmer of personal satisfaction the seed of motivation?
I exhanged money for Sonud's cooking class but in the end I am gifted with so much more than new recipes - a priceless interaction and experience that I am truly grateful for!
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