Thursday, June 1, 2000

Jamie wrote:
> why you zoomed north

The Ganga Ghats (steps down to the holy Ganges River). Many Indian tourists come to bathe, washing away sins in the murky water.

Yes, primarily the heat...the parts of the middle I was interested in were mostly desert and heavily touristed areas, so I thought I'd save them for August/September when it might be cooler, or if anybody happens to want to come visit that would be a better time to visit the traditional sights.

Also, I'm more interested at the moment in exploring some of the places in the north...right now I'm in Rishikesh, the "Yoga Capital of the World," which is full of sadhus (renunciates who have little more than their orange robes and a water bowl). Many Shiva devotees have dreadlocks, and they always invite me to smoke charas with them. Sometimes I wish I liked smoking pot, I'd make a lot more friends. Sadhus are a strange lot...it's hard to make out who's an aspiring renunciate and who's a glorified beggar. In general I apply my new beggar rules to them, perhaps giving them a "Hari om" or "Om Namah Shivaya". Many of them smoke charas, which can perhaps be passed off as a spiritual activity, but a lot are seen smoking cigarettes, which is contrary to yoga's precepts that you should take care of your body and renounce worldly pleasures. Also, strictly speaking I think they're supposed to accept food that is offered to them, not beg for money. But regardless of spiritual sincerity, it's clearly a subculture unto its own.

Unfortunately the city of Rishikesh is pretty much like any other Indian city, heavily polluted, noisy, smelly, crowded. But there are some ashrams set in the foothills of the Himalayas, which are beautiful. I happened upon one yesterday that I'm considering staying at. Or, they're considering taking me...I'm not sure which. I have an appointment to talk to them again this afternoon. It's a "retreat" with "guidance" rather than a regular schedule of classes. Not sure whether I'm ready for that, but maybe I'll give it a try.

Shivalingam - a shrine to Shiva's phallus, which sits in a symbol of the yoni, the female sex organ. Swami in a cave.

> And what else do you do

Random stuff, depends where I am. Yesterday in my search for pleasant ashrams, I accidentally wandered up to a village and met a young man on vacation from university who gave me a tour of the village, a temple high in the hills, and a cave where the resident swami used to meditate.

The other day while I was in Dehra Dun I visited a Shivalinga temple set in a cave, and was invited by a swami there for tea. It was a really hot day, so he and his buddies took me to a cave where they go to cool off. Natural air conditioning, they said.

Indian tourist kids in Rishikesh; me in a dhoti, a loose cotton cloth -- they let men wear skirts there! More kids, I'm practicing writing devanagari, like the script on the wall behind me.

Last night I had an appointment to meet a bunch of kids at one of the Ganga ghats (I took my first bath in the Ganges the other day). I entertained them by trying to write their names in Hindi.

This morning I chatted with an Australian girl during breakfast, about Yoga and stuff. I'm continually surprised at how few tourists I've met...often when I pass them on the street they look more hot and miserable than I feel, and don't even make eye contact. Also today I ran into a Finnish girl I'd met at the Sivananda ashram.

Overall it's not much cooler here than in the South, so if I don't fall in love with an ashram here I'll probably head up toward Dharamsala soon, perhaps with a detour to Gangotri, the mouth of the Ganga.