Bandar! Jayanti! Momos! Oh my.

First monkey sighting! A bandar casually walked along the balcony edge of the rooftop patio, and of course I didn’t get my phone out in time to take a picture. Several of the restaurant guys rushed over smiling to see, and one of them tried to toss a banana and failed miserably…and we all laughed at his missed shot! I looked up the word for monkey and the first one (before bandar for ape) was hard to read due to stacked letters (and I need reading-glasses, badly…the eyes get worse in one’s 40s I was told at an eye appointment recently) and he laughed warmly, rubbed my arm and said “monkey!” Of course. Many of the first Hindi words given in the English-Hindi dictionary are just transliterations. Later on in the day this fellow and I chatted for a while…his name is Rajesh and is from Assam in East India and when I told him I wasn’t surprised because he looks Nepali, he said “I am Nepali!!” Two of the restaurant guys, Mohit on days and Laljit on nights, have also been very friendly and like to talk…they’re all helping me with some Hindi words as well.             

     A bit frustrated that the signal on the rooftop has been failing…it means that, when the signal is not entirely lost in the building (which happens also), I have to retire to my room to get any online work done and would much prefer to be outdoors. I have started to hang out on the balcony on my floor…much better. This evening I have been watching some of the fireworks for the Guru Nanak (Sikh founder) Jayanti (birthday).

I always forget how precious money change is here…people usually don’t want big bills. I have started hoarding the smaller bills and breaking the bigger ones. People are also very fussy with the quality of the bills, even though the visibility of the code numbers is really what makes a bill valid. I have had a bill with a small ink-mark rejected, and another with a tiny tear. I also can’t get over the exchange rates. When I first came to India it was about 35 rupees for a Canadian dollar, 45 for American. Now it is around 61 for USD!

Today I wrapped up some of the concert prep for tomorrow night and looked into the transit visa situation. It seems as though if I am in the airport for under 24 hours no transit visa is required…which is great. One less hassle. I’ll just arrange it that Alex and I leave for Nepal before my Indian Visa expires and arrive just before my flight back to Toronto is to leave. I also looked into the South India teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama around Holiday-time and the deadline has passed to get assistance with the Protected Area Permit (PAP) through the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Looking at the teaching schedule, Kundun is teaching very soon in Dharamsala (lining up with the celebration of the Descent of Shakyamuni Buddha from Tushita after teaching His mother Mahamayadevi) but a little too soon for me to be ready to head up there. Then there are MORE teachings at the beginning of December which feels like the best option. I can get some interviews with Tibetans done up there while visiting as well. Also, soon after Alex and I arrive in India after my brother Evan’s wedding at the end of January, there are MORE teachings not too far from Delhi, and on the Dhammapada (Sayings of the Buddha) so not too heavy and hopefully we can attend those together. I am thinking that since I may likely not even get a PAP for the Tibetan settlement anyway (and strange that on some lists of areas needing a permit this area is not included) because it takes 2-3 months, I’ll just let go of my plan to head down there. Although I have attended teachings there twice in the early 2000s, for the inaugurations of new prayer halls for both Drepung Loseling and Ganden Jangtse (2 sub-colleges of 2 of the major Gelug monasteries-in-exile), it is a bit of a tough go and when I was a monk I easily found places to stay in monastic college residences (khamtsen) but this time getting accommodations would be tougher.   

 I went in search of the Nepal momo place to no avail, and ended up at the Satyam rooftop restaurant, which had a cool view. You can see the streets lined with lights for today’s holiday:

And here is the centre of the market, replete with cows and megaphones running messages to watch out for suspicious items. There was even a huge SWAT truck there yesterday! 

                         

My mother-in-law Elizabeth is coming in March. It's so exciting that even before I arrived I started planning what the three of us could do, but today I thought that I'll also need to make sure she has some ducking-and-diving training for the traffic on tight streets! I've almost been rammed several times in Pahar Ganj already. Even when bikes collide, they're still smiling!