Like a bursting village in the day and a cemetary at night. Bodhgaya is an eerie town after 10 pm. Not a sound or a wishper from the day time loudness. It is a really strange feeling if I must say so
Thursday, June 30, 2011
A morning under the bodhi tree
Sitting just sitting under the bodhi tree makes us reflect on life.
People from all walks of life even indians revere this place of a holy man who have seen the way.
Though self stavation may seemed like the way to salvation. I believe that suffering is one of the passage to salvation.
Monks toruists prigrims locals alike are seeking one thing.
The knowledge of life and the key to salvation.
All things equal and all things a reflection of a blink through time.
We pounder the essense of life and death.
We think we ponder we achieve therefore we are human
Last day in bodhgaya
Wounds heal with time and time waits for no man
A mans life is like a healing wound
Burning and scarring with time that pass us by
Like a candle burning out.
It will come a time we need all part
Something random will come to give us lifes next challenge to come
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Staying in a monastary
I have noticed that many travellers are staying ina monastary and that they are cheap but there are rules in those monasteries so if I do not have a choice then I will stay in those.
But I believe it will be fun living in one and I will have lots of opportunities. Leaving in a guest house isnt so bad either
What a stack of 100 rs bills
The money changer actually gave me a full stack of 100 dollars bill what a spread.... Going to ticken my wallet
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The hill where buddha did his sermons
Rajgir where the buddha did his most holiest sermons and is the holiest place in rajgir.
Amont that is the first road that the king built to see the buddha preach and the place where xuan zeng first saw the monestary and went towards it
Nice people and people who appears and disappear
India have always have a way to amaze me and disappoint me.
It have also left something which cannot be discribed in my heart.
Something which all the dirt noise and heat cannot discribe. The pure friendiness of a stranger . The rudeness of one person to another.
I have chosen to take the good memories with me which brings me to thid one incident on the bus in calcutta in bbd barg where I was trying to find where is the housie office and I randomly asked this one gentlement and the moment I ask he jumped into action as though he was anticipating for me to ask.
He brought me down the bus showed me and orientated me and I was catch by surprise by his friendiness. He also threw in a little history lesson that the new democratic gov have just been sworn in and calcutta used to under a ciommunist gov for the last 20 odd years.
He gave me his name card and ask me to call him and showed me his office also pointing to all the historical sites like the synagou built by the persians 400 years ago.
He was a really unexpectedly friendly chap and after all that he greeted me goodbye and went to work
Walking through calcutta you cannot avoid all the reminents of the communist gov. Stalin marx and all the communist crest are sprayed and displayed all around town.
There even is a musuem for it.
Calcutta is really the havanna of cuba.
Old buildings that were kept in its original condition. If it were capitalist the builds will surely be dismantled and rebuilt .
Calcutta cannot be said is in need of a fresh new paint and gov and the people are showing that they are ready for it and priming to go prime time.
In calcutta , the main draw is the victoria memorial ala american capitol and taj mahal mixxed for this concoction of a grand palace for the beautiful young queen victoria built in the southern side of the city ala central park in new york. With lady liberty I assume on the top of the vm really a magnificent masterpiece
Calcutta have also indias oldest metro which one american I met in the city who told me that the tunnel was built by human manual digging. Which of cause is an over exazz. But the metro which has only 1 line sure looks old and you have to hear it . It is non air conditioned at least for the trians. Niceeee
Also in the station I was greeted by a really friendly policeman and at that time I was carrying my backpacking bag I looked ready to move and was stopped and was greeted by his stare first as though I was a criminal and then he smiled and wished me the best in my travels.
There is a touch of innocence in calcuttas police but they looked really serious in their job and at every junction they are all ready to jump into action.
I have never look at police who looked so fresh in their white uniforms
Calcutta have also been the home of famous nataji who together with gandhi moved the independence of india. Gurus like chandragupta who was the gurus of many leaders of india. Also not forgetting mother teresa of calcutta who is one of the most famous figure of unconditional love and affection ever shown by a human being.
Her stories have touched many and her missionary have always been the ease and care of the terminally ill and sick so they may pass on with dignity. I am proud to say I have been ans made that prigrimage to her grave in the very simple house where she stayed.
The vibrations cannot be less felt and the missionary have always served the people well
However many controvercies have been said about the missionary where it had alledged that it had taken donations from dictators and such and also for teresa pious stand on not using contraceptive. Not a very good practice for a state that have got one of the highest aids and hepititis rate ever. Also for a city being famous for the wrong reasons are not one thing the calcuttans want to be remembered for anyway. Bearing in mind that indias nobel peace price winners have all worked in calcutta at one time or another
However we cannot deny teresas story of compassion which have touched the world over and over again. Her legacy and work will surely go on as humanities greatness human story.
Haha im writing this while im in bodhgaya and sometimes this inspiration to write really comes only after the collective thoughts of a few days.
Will be heading to patna this friday morning and really hope to see the famous patna musuem and also use it as a base hopefully to vashali and kerisaya.
Till then the nexxt post god bless
People and places
Im planning to say 5 days in bodhgaya and I must say this has been a really humbling experience and have met lots of people coming for meditation courses.
Met a couple gitar and ravi who have come from varanasi and is here for a meditation course and they in turn have met some really jovial and wonderful people. It was really fun being with them where they constantly made crude jokes when they were in meditation and such really funny and wonderful people in white meditative robes.
Went around the different temples and I must say the most impressive must be the thai temple withs its reflective arches and shiny fachaes and each very well tendered to.
All the temples are so well respected by everyone even indians pay tribute to the temples.
Still all around alots of beggers were around and at last I caved in and gave at least 15 rupees to that boy. The only reason I gave was his persistance and he was alone too.. One hard decision I had to make which is really hardbreaking.
Also there were lots of begging mothers outside the temple gates those I would like to give but they were too much and plentiful which would make a sticky situation if they were to launched on me together.
Rule is if you want to beg .... Beg alone and in a corner. Or simply be a lone begger
Waliking round temples of bodhgaya.
International organisations all around thr world have built many temples around the southern loop of bodhgaya and i must say its been really interesting to see that so many temples have been created in the holiest land of buddhism .
Really an eye opener but the temples only open at 2pm and im here at 1 waiting at a restaurant and hope that this rain will pass on too
Beautiful bohgaya
Apart from our adventurously ganho driver who drove like the king of the road.
I was appaulled by the beauty of rural bohgaya which have given me new prospecrive.
Countless temples all around and many more that I have not seen peeling away the dust to find the pearl was the real challenge.
People you meet and all the in your face poverty slowly peels off to show u what the place is all about. Self realisation
Been to rajgir and that was where thebuddha spent the most time preaching the middle way. On the exact spot where he preached looked out of the whole 5 hills this was the place where many hold dear as the holiest in rajgir because of the many sermons he held there.
In nalanda , there is the ancient nalanda university still in a state of an archeological survey. I must say it has been a real treat to also know that it is also the place where the chinese monk xuan zeng from journey to the west have gotten to. He taught at the university for 5 years and went on to help solve tribal sectorian disputes with wisedom.
He returned to china to the emporer and spent 14 years translating the texts and also in turn translating the confucius text to sanscript and brought back to india
He died peacefully in yuhua palace in china.
A memorial have been built and I must say its a befitting tribute to a man who have officially introduced and influenced chinese culture with the brand of buddhism he have made
Heading on a long train ride to gaya
Had to book a really long train to bohgaya which is 15 hours which normally takes only 6 hours
Dun ask me how but it is strange what the extra 5 hours are for
Still thats the only available choice last I say
Poorest of the poor on gaya
Upon coming into gaya it felt like india again.
The trians were overcrowded with people who didnt pay
Whole famiies of homeless people on the platforms of railway stations.
People appearing at your seat at random in the trian.
That was really an experience I must say so myself.
The real heartbreaking scenes were replaying all over itselves again and again.
Which makes it even more hard to swollow the poverty these people were living in.
Gaya is in the poorest region of india and also the most dangerous. Where each trian there had a policeman to keep the peace.. Always not a very unasurring sight.
The people also sat beside my bed berth and I was like wtf in the middle of the night at 3am.really a sign that it is not safe to travel at night in bihar in the land of the buddha. What happened to this holiest of place? Feeling like jereseleum again and again
Once in gaya it was a 13km trip to bohgaya the holiest sitw in buddhism where it all happened where one man was awakened to the meaning of life.
A dusty smally dirty town in the poorest and dangerous of the whole region....
Beggers and such
Seen lots of beggers and was overwhelmed by them
However things about beggers and their comparism
Singapore beggers just kneel one corner and stay put
New york beggers casually ask you for change
Indian beggers kneel pull nag run shout pledge at you for alms.
Indian beggers I must say are all in a class of its own
Taking my hat off to the beggers of india who have tested and extended my tolerance level towards empathay
Great city lousy weather
Its been a really wet and terrible day for me as its been raining the whole day non stop. Really taking a toll but im having my favourite jeeri rice and tikpa chicken niceeee
Avoiding yogurt and milk at all cost
Got abit of a stomach emergency last night and well I should have gotten off dairy porduct
Talk about underestimating my stomach potential lol
Afterthoughts
Hot as hell
Every corner smells like urine because people are urinating everywhere
Traffic rules are non existant
The litter bin is everywhere at your convinience
People are rushing to squeeze into every train imagined.
Sewage systems are heywire.
That sounds like my india :)
Cacutta. Medical hub???
Its been a hot day and I must say that my fellow trian mates are there are medical treatment
One man is going for eye surgery
Another for heart
Last for back
Apperantly many south indians are going to the north for better and cheaper treatment
Surprising as I am speaking a boy is kissing my legs and begging for alms . Omg
Its quite interesting that the poorer north is having better medical facilities probably due to its chaotic communist past
Another sweating hot entry
Giving back
I have always been verry heartless when giving to beggers.
I technically ignore them and its not that I dun want to give but its now my mission to at least give some to mothers with babies
At least I know that I will be giving to someone who needs it and also hope that the husband or pit lord does not take away the money .
Too many beggers too little to give.
Time to unload the sweets and pens
5 more hours to cacutta
A sri lankan and a bangalore
Met two amazing people while travelling and I must say it was expectional to hear their stories
First off was a strong old man at 70 who told me all about how he donated his kidneys and all his life stories.
Another was a sri lankan who married a mumbainese and also all his wonderful stories.
Both was fasinationing and really an eye opener to travel with
Germans and india
Met a german who was like in india for the last 6 months and all he did was volunteering farmering in one location.
He was in chennai and was transiting to dehli but could not get the apporpriate tickets. He went to the foriegn tourist booth and was rejected as he was on a voluntary work visa.
Hence we started and I helped him cause he seemed so blur and we manged toget eq or emergency quota tickets.
One blur look from him and I remembered another couple who is german white and muslim. They were really fun people and I must say we really hit it up the moment we met. They were mid way on their journey and were still very energetic throughout.
Haha germans do love india lol
Christianity in chennai
It has always been a fasination of how christianity have always been able to capture hearts and liberlise love to an equal footing
Judging from the number of churches that I see there is really no dening that christianity have captured the hearts of many here in tmail nadu
Religion also is here to stay and india have always been a place where people are still trying to find that meaning in life which makes them happy and satisfied
Not forgetting the number of chrstian tomb its simply amazing.
I have. Always marvelled at the expect where singaporeans are always ready to face any cultural shock as we alreay a multicultural people.
Trian rides
Trians are the quiessential experience in any indian experience
However a summer day trian ride is too hot for a lack of a better word .
Been ssweating for the whole day and girping down tons of water.
Night fall is coming and its getting cooler thank god for the cooler weather.
Learnt a very important word and its puriii which is water in timil lol
Stil a night more to go and will be reaching calcutta tomorrow afternoon.
What a hot start to a trian ride.
Not to say some young girls in the trian are also quite hot lol
Calcutta with bristes on my leg
I dunno what it is but it certainly with my shoes. Giving me lots of problems.
First its the shoes giving me serious bristes not forgetting the rain getting into them.
However cacutta with the monsoon coming in is really no joke that the road will turn into a drain for you to soak your leg into.
Missed a few churches and also afew uneventful sites.
Saw this girl at the corner of the church who doesn't sound american but with a soft voice to touch.
Then miracuriously saw her again at another cafe.
Must say that its really been a fatefull day.
Another girl who is there for work and is changing to another place to work back in carolina.
These few days have been a mad rush and hopefully I will be able to share more
Yes also have been to sri aurobino house where it is the place where he was born. An interesting house fir meditation
Touched it before and touching it again beggers
I have seen many beggers and the worst I have seen are indian beggers
A compaism
Singaporean beggers just kneel one side and say put
New york beggers ask you casually for change
Indian beggers stick to you smile shout pull nag at you for change
Something
In the plane
A plane more then half full and lots of empty seats . Two indian workers sitting beside me though I wish they were an old couple who would have a wealth of experience and stories which they could share but nevertheless good lads by the side
Side in a transition mode where I must say the first thing that hit me was the smell of indian cedar. Similiar with the ones used by europeans but much more pungent.
There you go india hit me even before I was there.
Two deliberations as to the choice of lodging. Should I go to chennai central or to egmore which is the backpackers hub.
Still deliberting and wondering what new surprises india may ring to me this time
Zzzz sleepy cat ;)
Two years on
Chennai airport with unsurprising development it really seemed like nothing have changed foe the past 2 years.
Entry is the and buildings and even the tiltes look the same . Quite surprised at how slow the development is which brings us to potential faster development in chennai .
Looks like the only others here is me and a caucasian old lady kkekkeek
1foot out the indian railways
What a hot and really memorable trian trip up to calcutta.
Steaming hot weather
Steaming good trian grubs
Foot out of the trian for a foot suntan
Old wise man who are always there to give advise
Sweating all thw way
Beautiful indian panorama that cannot be experienced else where
A real neeed to go to the toilet but nothing is coming out zzzzzz
Till then this text was texted while im still on the trian
Maybe I should ask the conductor to see for upgrades to ac??
The wide scourced indian plains.
Where every guru seemed to attain nirvarna
Arrived in calcutta and it poured like hell
Omg to calcutta monsoon weather .
First thing in and its the monsoon omg am I drenched dirty tired and hungry
First thing is the accommodation and I spend a leisurely 1 hour to get to it and well the streets are pretty easy to navigate .
Second met a few volunteers from america and hongkong who were fresh and doing missionary work. Must head it to their enthusiasm and also determination. Gave some big brother tips to them too
My calcutta journey just started and hopes that it will be a great one ;)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
landed safety in chennai
have some back dated posts but im here in chennai and what a busy day it was !
first and formost
1 . thank god for foreign tourist quota ! - got my sleeper train tickets
2. yes chennai boy are very naughty lol
3. your neighbourhood mama store is still the most trusted and best place to change money
4. most taxi drivers are clueless at exactly where everything is lol
5. dun ever ask an indian on the streets for directions unless he is a gov official
6. yes many magnificient buildings are being built in chennai
7. chennai's metro building is causing lots of jam
8. my public bus uncle drives like he drives a ferrari and he OWNS the road heheheh
9. why can't they keep the power on in hotels lol
10. chennai marina beach is as beautiful as before
this is just my start of the whole adventure and im trying to fantically get wifi !
duhz >)
take care people miss ya !
first and formost
1 . thank god for foreign tourist quota ! - got my sleeper train tickets
2. yes chennai boy are very naughty lol
3. your neighbourhood mama store is still the most trusted and best place to change money
4. most taxi drivers are clueless at exactly where everything is lol
5. dun ever ask an indian on the streets for directions unless he is a gov official
6. yes many magnificient buildings are being built in chennai
7. chennai's metro building is causing lots of jam
8. my public bus uncle drives like he drives a ferrari and he OWNS the road heheheh
9. why can't they keep the power on in hotels lol
10. chennai marina beach is as beautiful as before
this is just my start of the whole adventure and im trying to fantically get wifi !
duhz >)
take care people miss ya !
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Airporty
Checking in and wow to the chennai and jarkarta queue. Zzzz early flight in and a touch of sleep . Hopefully my last minute connections pay off looking at the queue.
One of the risks that I took is the connection with the trians which I booked knowingly too late . Been put on waiting list which is always a risk.
Hope that it pulls through and put me on rac or cnd . The joy of uncertainity a bitter sweet pill ;)
Tomorrow will be a great day to fly
Its since been one and a hlf years since my way back to india. It has always been an inspiration and an honour to breathe see and taste this culturaly and physically potent place
Bless the people of this fantastic nation!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
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