Lover of the Light

Right about now I am regretting not posting something in the middle of the week because I feel like I have so much to cover to fill you all in on what has been happening. I've written down things that I want to add on here in my little moleskine; problem is that I left the little notebook outside in the monsoon today and so it is a bit damp. But most of the ink is still there, so I can tell you most things!

A lover of the light. This was taken in the fishing
village attached to the city.

First of all, I am certain that James Herriot is turning over in his grave because of the animals here. They are everywhere and all of them in need of something. The majority of them could be fixed by a quick visit to the vet, the others might take a little bit more work. But all they do is fight and eat garbage. I thought of this while I saw this one dog with a limp being confronted by another dog (sans limp). I would have thrown something and separated them, but he could hold his own.

Second of all, I am beginning to learn a reason that I wanted to come here. One guy who is here to study with one of our professors for a few days said that he is here in India for the stories. He LOVES all of the stories, any of the folk stories, deity stories, or stories from the temples. Just the other night he regaled us with an anecdote involving Hanuman dropping the ring in the ocean and how someone helped him get it back. His love of stories caused me to think about why I am here. I realized: I am here for the devotion. I am in love with the level of devotion that people show here. Right now I can hear the ringing of the gongs and playing of the drums at the Krishna temple down the street, they do this three times a day. Talk about devotion. Everywhere I go, people exhibit these incredibly high levels of devotion and it is inspiring. I love seeing how religious these people are.

Also, this week we went to a Carnatic vocal concert. Carnatic vocals are what you hear when you listen to any kind of Eastern music. It sounds a bit like a call to prayer, with the wavering between the notes. I tried to find an example of some, but the internet is a little bit too slow. You should look some up because it is absolutely gorgeous. The guy who was singing did a beautiful job (even though the concert itself was long. We left after two hours and it probably went on for at least another two) and I could just picture these beautiful rice patties and thatched huts. It was incredibly serene.

Those are the things most noteworthy, I suppose. Now on to the temples.

Yesterday was incredible, we hit six temples. At least I think it was only six... We drove out into the country intending to only see one (Mukhalingam) but ended up stopping at the rest of them along the way. Let me try to describe the trip.

We drove three hours one way to get there in an air conditioned car. Now, air conditioning is lovely and all when used in moderation. People here do not quite adhere to that concept because they like to show off just how cold they can make the car. Needless to say that it took me a while to warm up again. We were stopped in a protest by the dentistry school. "The dentists are protesting". Basically they were shouting and burning tires and then went inside and we could proceed. 

Protests and strikes are a regular and exceedingly annoying occurrence here due to the recent vote to split Andhra Pradesh. It makes things a little bit more interesting than they otherwise would be. 

Once we hit the one lane road, we whipped down it at about 50 miles per hour (80 km), which was a tad bit frightening but our driver knew what he was doing. 

Just off the road was this old Shiva temple and we stopped and took pictures there. It was B.E.A.UTIFUL. There is this girl I am on the trip with who is a photographer and she saw this perfect photographic opportunity. To the left of the temple was this huge grove of palm trees. 

"Emily, can you go down there and do some yoga?"

Of course!! I am always looking for a new profile picture. So we went down and I started doing some of my new yoga moves that I've learned from class. I was just about to go into the bridge pose when I realized that I was standing in a nest of fire ants! Ouch. I just hope that some of the pictures turned out.

Let me fast forward and give you a brief overview of what I saw.. There were cows and sheep all over the road that were being driven by these men that look as though they stepped out of a National Geographic magazine. They wore the traditional sarong looking outfits with woven parasols to keep the sun off their already black skin. We almost hit a couple of the animals... While we were looking at one of the temples, it started to rain. Big drops. There is nothing more calming than the sound of rain drops on palm leaves (all the trees were palm and so the sound was everywhere).

We drove some more and made it to Mukhalingam where we listened to the story of the temple as told by the Handsome Priest. That is what I call him because I swear he looks like Robert Redford, just a little bit darker. We spent a good amount of time at that temple (my favorite thus far), then we hopped back in the car and ended up going to yet another big temple (Srikumam). However, that one is not important. 

Before this post becomes too long for anyone to read, I'll tell you about what I saw while on the road. I was in complete awe. I was there. In the India you see only in Planet Earth. The rice patties were lush and green and spread in every direction as far as the eye could see. There were no buildings except for a small goddess temple placed in the center of a group of palm trees. 

People in the fields wore the pointed hats of rice workers and were singing and laughing while they worked, all in traditional clothing. Spread across the vista were huge, rolling, emerald hills that faded off into the mist. There were dark clouds moving in. In the air you could see the white cranes flying all over, there were some cranes walking in the patties themselves. It was completely idyllic. I still can't believe that I was there.

Now, I just want to let everyone know that this is not all of India. It is not this enigma of a country that is full of gurus, with air that vibrates to the sound of OM. While parts of it might seem like that and at times that is what it feels like, this country is much more 'down to earth'. For example: open defecation is a thing here. You drive down the street and see people pulling up their sarees or their pants down and just letting loose right there on the sidewalk. Apparently, you haven't been in India until you've stepped in human feces. I've stepped in cow...so I'm getting close :/  The trash is overwhelming and even that is superceeded by the stench that it produces. The sewers flow full of a kind of gray mush that ... well, I just won't go into that. (random... I saw some sewer hogs yesterday too. They are these pigs that float along the sewers with their mouths open and consume the excrement..)

Even with all of that, this country is beautiful. The people are friendly and sweet. The food is to die for (even though you might feel like you will in all actuality die from eating it). I believe the juxtaposition of the trash and the transcendent create an atmosphere unique to India. And that is beautiful.