[JPM Travel Journals] INDIA and NEPAL 01 Intro to India Holi Holy Vrindaban The Sadhu in Taj's Shadow Pushkar's Respite A Sitar & a Vespa in Udaipur The Clean-Bombing of Mumbai Goa Beach Hippie Sighting Tours Unequal Vision in Benares Everest, Out the Window Into Their Thin Air Anna Purr Now Within You Without You Rishikesh Part 2 Amritsar: Bold, Gold His Holiness of Dangerous Liasons Delhi Visit #5 New Delhi Turns to New York [ PHOTO ARCHIVE ]

Pushkar's Respite 18 March 01 Pushkar, India. Staying at the Lake View guesthouse, as have had it recommended to me by several people in advance of my arriving here. Pushkar lake itself is considered holy, pilgrims coming from all over to visit and circle it, and the locals coming out to the water's edge each dawn and dusk to perform their Puja-- circling lamp flames and singing and the megaphones kick in, incense, the whole 108 yards. Pushkar Monkeys at Sunset. My room has two small shuttered windows which open up to a view of the ghats, the steps, right to the water's edge. Its a small, quiet room, with a small, quiet ceiling fan, but its wonderfully lit in the mornings by the sun reflecting off the lake. Very old-fashioned-- more like a temple or ashram room than a hotel room, for sure. But it is clean and calm and nice, with the mixed qualities of being a tranquil lair but of also an astute ashram lodging. At that, I might even try out a yoga session with the live-in swami at the guesthouse who does Hatha Yoga classes. The last two mornings I've been abruptly awoken by someone enjoying the fine acoustic qualities of the mountain ridge beyond the lake-- at about five there are always a few early risers who seem to like hearing the echoes of their yelping across the lake. Its actually more funny than obnoxious, as I roll back over tucked into my fine sleeping bag to get a few more winks and dreams. Yesterday afternoon when I was napping between chapters of my book, I was awoken by a lost goat walking around on the ghats making its goat-noise. Poor guy. What am I saying, at least he was born in an exclusively vegetarian town. Every night there is a parade through the center of town; dozens of people carrying the electric lights all on long wires and rolling a diesel generator on wheels behind a large float of some pudgy Brahmins and a Sun God deity of some unidentified sort. Apparently a lot of film crews like to come here because this is such a festive, nutty town. And that is without ordering a 'Bhang Lassi' to find out what the 'Bhang' (tellingly pronounced 'Bong') is, and what it is doing in a yoghurt shake. But even despite all this, it's surely the calmest place I have found yet. And this explains why its been a while since I've written. This is my third day here and I am just now starting to allow myself to think about where I want to go from here.. though I still think it will be a few days more here. The relaxation is nice. I've been in India for two weeks and I am just starting to feel -some- of my control tendencies to gradually subside-- absolutely essential to ever being able to enjoy this mad place. Like Vietnam, I've found it crucial to avert focus to only the positive things. If one thinks about the number of times the bus has stopped for yet another local pickup (on a promised direct run of tourists) or gets frustrated by the third hour of waiting for a late train, or allows anger to build over the number of attempted swindles and scams, well, it cant be allowed to run or to ruin it-- so instead I must focus on something positive I can immediately find-- perhaps a funny advert painted on a wall, or a very colorful figure making their way somewhere, or a bashful glance from some else... Not to mention if things start getting me down I just head out and go get some super cheap Indian food-- streetcart samosas or some nice sweets. Happy Firewood Lady. Been meeting some people here and there, and chatting with them: A 20 year old german guy who bought a 1979 Enfield motorcycle for about US$600 and has been driving around India for the last four months. A jet-setty New Yorker designer who's slumming it for the next few weeks here in India. A young tall Swede with yellow specs, perfect english, and a lot of funny stories. A couple from England that have been on the road for almost a year. And there is the two Irish lads that intend to be gone for 18 months on $15k: just started it all with a week in Kashmir (!) I met them because they were getting swindled by a lakeside 'priest' who had just conned them into a phoney ceremony that ends with you getting badgered to pay $5 $10 $20 to be blessed and annointed or something like that, and when you try to pay the nominal 50 cents or so, they freak out. Well, I saw it happening and told them absolutely not to pay more than 20 rupees and that they demanded Rs 1000 ($20+) was insane! The fake priest's sidekick starting pushing me around and trying to get me away! And then later this sham holy man confronted me, mad as hell that he only got $1 from these poor greenhorns (who'd been duped into the Kashmir houseboat trip as if it was safe, along with two Korean ladies who speak three words of english and hindi each.) Anyway, always a scene. I was enjoying sitting at the lakeside, writing in my journal and watching the children play, when this Priest of the Holy Tourist Dollar came screaming at me, I AM A HOLY MAN! I WANT PEACE BUT YOU WANT FIGHT! Been reading a lot. Buy a used book for cheap from one of the book stalls and read the whole thing in a day; return it and repeat the process. Some Henry Miller, William Sutcliff, Hunter S., Gita Mehta, and all. Tonight maybe a sunset hike an hour up to the top of this hill, where there is an old temple and a great vantage point on the 'city.' A Sitar & a Vespa in Udaipur >> ©2001 JPM. All photography and writing copyrighted.