Getting here, Settling In, Meeting people...

Before leaving Toronto for India this time, my flights got changed. Originally I was to arrive in the afternoon, which NEVER happens and was one of the reasons I made that particular flight-booking. After landing here 8 times or so over the last 18 years I can’t remember not arriving in the middle of the night and taking a long cab-ride to the other side of Delhi to the Tibetan camp Majnu Katilla near Delhi University. This now seems kind of kooky to me but old habits die hard…I was still cranking out old routines from the early days of travelling in a group under someone else’s wing. I always dread banging on a guest-house door in the middle of the night and waking the guard sleeping by the door, dragging sleepy monks out of bed to check me in. The new flight, however, was to arrive at 1045pm…not great but better than arriving sometime after midnight. Although I like being with the Tibetans, now I find it much easier to go to Pahar Ganj near the Delhi train station after having the experience of being here with Alex in 2010.

                               

            I flew Jet Airways through Brussels for what I thought was the first time but upon arrival to the airport I do remember being in Brussels before. The plane magazine had some great articles, one on the wedding industry in Rajasthan and another on the 10 day Durga goddess festival in Kolkata.  There was also a picture of flight attendants with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a blurb about their honour in having Him travel on Jet Airways…I took it as a good sign! Then again, I also took as a good sign the playing of 2 amazing Stevie Wonder songs at Pearson Airport before departure…signs in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. On flight 1 I was seated beside an older Punjabi woman who kept holding her head which led me to believe she was having a headache but perhaps this was just her way of trying to get some rest. One thing was for sure…she had no problem getting comfortable. She started putting her bare foot on the arm-rest in front of us, and then even bolder, placing her leg right over our arm-rest. She must have elbowed me 100 times flailing about on the flight. Here are some stealthy pics: 

I have experience with foot-sisters such as herself. On a past flight a passenger behind me kept putting her bare foot on my aisle seat arm-rest. I would occasionally push it off. This time I didn’t do anything but was very close to signalling the steward to give her a word about it, but at this time they were serving a snack so she sat normally so she could use her tray. I was surprised at how much they fed us…both flights (each about 7 hours) had meals, snacks, drinks and on the 2^nd flight I asked for a beer and was given 2 Indian Tiger beers which was kind of the stewardess, and delicious! On the 2^nd flight I had 2 seats to myself, which was fantastic and allowed me to stretch out or lie down for a bit. I got some sleep but mostly watched movies…22 Jumpstreet which was silly but fun, a bit of the terrible Malevolent, a bit of Side Effects which had an interesting premise (experimental anti-depression meds causing violence in sleepwalking) but became too creepy, and most of The Departed (which is absolute genius). It seemed as though we arrived in no time at all.

            The arrivals area of Indira Gandhi Airport has been totally redone since I was there last, with immaculate if ugly carpeting, and an enormous art-display with flowers and 10s of what seemed like Buddha hands (with lotuses in the palms) in different mudras such as fearlessness and refuge, all above immigration. Determined to start using Hindi as much as possible, the customs officer barely noticed me but when I said “shukriya” to thank her she told her colleague “he just said shukriya!” in Hindi, which made me giggle. Waiting for my luggage I saw the foot-sister from flight 1 and waved at her. She smiled. It’s always a crap-shoot waiting to see the state of luggage on arrival and everything was alright except the only thing I didn’t put into a ziplock bag was some baby power which of course exploded and, in my state of delirium, made it look like I had spilled cocaine all over the place. I paid for a pre-paid taxi and reminded myself to be as patient as I can be, and to go slow and enjoy every moment. It is easy for me to get frustrated with the barrage of people relentlessly tugging and scamming….always wanting something. Leaving the airport and looking for a place to quietly touch my hand and head to Indian soil, out of reverence, I noticed how nice the weather was. The last time I was here was in the depths of summer, but even in jeans, socks, shoes and a button-down I was comfortable. It’s been perfect, actually…not buggy either. The cabbie was unusually non-chatty. I was enjoying the air which, despite the pollution, always has a special quality to it. I also noticed again how my mind changes as soon as I am in India…I thought of it as the loving embrace of the Mother, and contemplated what India is…and decided it is the people…and look forward to spending most of my time meeting and talking with new Indian friends and informants during this trip. The cabbie brought me to Pahar Ganj as I looked for the place Alex and I stayed at 4 years ago….which proved impossible. I started noticing signs that showed that some hotels offered free wifi. I was anticipating that getting signals would be easier this time, and it is the case fortunately. Getting near the end of the main market road I jumped out and dragged my stuff over a gutted front-stoop and into a pretty clean lobby. I asked for the rate and the fellow at the desk said rs 1200 and I laughed. He said non-AC would be rs 600 and I said that was more like it. He told me I could see the room first and in my delirium I asked I f there was an elevator (which is not so crazy…some places do) because I dreaded the idea of lugging my stuff up to the top floor only to not like it and have to go all the way down again to leave. The fellow at the desk then escalated saying “What do you think? We are trying to run a business here!” and I picked up my stuff, humbly apologized for upsetting him and moved on. This brought me to Anoop Hotel which is fantastic: clean, friendly, good food, great signal, rooftop patio with an excellent view...like this almost full moon over Delhi...

...or Mahatma Gandhi-ji graffiti saying "horn for peace"...

...replete with very sweet hotel kitties..."where's the food, human?"...

...and lots of travellers. Well, actually I have found fellow non-Indian travellers to be non-engaging…like they are all invisible to each other except for their own travel-partners. Despite smiling at each traveller, only a couple have been brave enough to exchange a few words. That’s alright…I’m here to connect with Indians anyway…but I won’t give up on travellers. Anoop advertises a 24-hour kitchen but is never the case…always an excuse such as the cook being gone or sick etc. Every night I have gone upstairs after staying up late working on my ethics revisions and a couple of dudes are always asleep by the kitchen. Oh well…I just have to eat enough earlier. Because I have spent so many years holding the monastic vow to not eat after midday, I tend to skip dinner so I am trying to break that habit. I do, however, plan on taking week-long temporary vows but want to get more settled here first and likely will wait until I find a place that suits my needs in Jaipur. I need to be able to cook for myself since the Mahayana Fast Day Vows (which are almost identical to novice monastic vows) call for abstaining from black foods such as meat, onions and garlic…which is tough to accomplish when eating out. 

            I could not start recruiting study participants until my ethics approval came through from the U of T Humanities Research Ethics Board, so I was champing at the bit a little. In the meantime, I intended to get out to some temples in between work sessions and meet people to connect and practice some Hindi. I have met several interesting people. The first was a financial advisor from Kolkata who invited me to sit and chat, and we had a really good discussion about spirituality. I noticed that despite being quite engaged and a good listener, he was often trying to convince me of some things…such as his idea that nirvana is nothingness and so on. I told him that certain concepts, such as nirvana, have different meanings depending on who uses them and the context, and in retrospect I wish I had said that I wasn;t trying to convince him of anything and he doesn’t have to try to convince me of anything…I did say it is okay for us to have different opinions and this makes the conversation very rich. What was nice is that he didn’t want anything from me….this and people trying to convince me of things have been major themes.

            The next day I went for a walk in search of a Jain temple that the restauranteur told me about…I also wanted to attend the Ramakrishna temple. A fellow made a comment to me, I think about the traffic in the tight laneway, and we started chatting. Turns out he was Bhutanese, with a Bhutanese father and Indian mother from Assam. He had a sweet and intelligent demeanor and told me he was a Buddhist teacher and I told him “me too!” I noticed early on that he didn’t really want to hear from me, so I took the dialogue as ethnographic training in listening deeply and giving up my side without worrying about it. After exchanging emails I said farewell, ready to move on, and he invited me for tea, and we went to a tea-shop down another alley. I plan on giving in to these chance encounters. He told me all about being a herbologist, teaching Buddhist meditation at a university for rs 300 a day and having to trek 4 km to work every day and how hard it is to live on that. I then started to wait for when he would ask me for something. Strangely, when he talked about mantra and vipassana…I asked if there was some sort of tantra involved as I was genuinely interested. He couldn’t really explain the connections. His English was excellent so not sure if it was from language barriers. He also talked about G-d a lot. At one point I questioned, “G-d in Buddhism?” and he didn’t really get it so I dropped it. He did ask me some questions about myself, and I showed him a picture of Alex and he said “oh, beautiful. She is a healer, and full of love and light. I can read people’s faces. Oh yes…please send her best wishes.” It was quite sweet. The picture, actually, was one of Alex on a suspension-bridge in Drumheller…one of our favourite places. Amazingly, 1 PhD student and 1 candidate in the Department for the Study of Religion at U of T are from Drumheller!! What are the chances? Anyhow, then my new friend talked about needing a phone and not being able to afford it, and geared up by saying “I have a question for you” and changing positions in his chair to lean in and look me in the eye. Here it comes. “Do you have any leftover things?” He also asked if I had Canadian coins, which is a common question here. I really should bring a pile of change next time…it would thrill people. I told him I didn’t bring much and that I wished I had brought my old cell-phones with me because they would be useful to him. Anyhow, things wrapped up soon after this and we exchanged farewells and remarked at how nice it was to meet, and I kept walking. Afterward, I ended up getting kind of lost amidst the alleyways, which was fun. I found a couple of temples, one Mayadevi and another Krishna, but they weren’t very inviting…I also don’t want to intrude. I happened upon a group of women debating and was quite taken by the scene and it somehow filled me with joy and admiration, but I moved quickly past, not wanting to gawk. I was also full of admiration for humble shopkeepers and noted that I am much less critical of people here. In Toronto my mind is full of judgment, which I watch and work on…but here those thoughts are more settled.

            Yesterday I finished my ethics revisions and got approval within mere hours of submitting...which hasn’t really sunk in yet. After close to 100 pages and months of work, and some anxiety around not having approval before arriving here, it’ll take a bit of time to really get it in my bones. It is a great relief, and I will start by printing my project info sheets after inserting some Hindi and Tibetan translation and contacting some of my Jain connections to ask for help with recruitment. I also had to finish up remote preparations for a concert I booked at Hard Rock Café in Toronto this weekend, one that has been unusually frought with trouble. Two bands out of five dropped, both with good reason, another thought they were on the bill but were not so they happily jumped aboard, another thought the minimum advance ticketing requirement was the total for all 5 bands…which is so ridiculous I can’t even wrap my mind around it because it would be crazy to think that 35 fans in a 400+ capacity room on a weekend night is acceptable. Anyhow, all that is in the bag and the show should squeak through. I have a good team to run the shows while I am away and it certainly helps to have more income for the research trip.

            After working all night I relaxed a bit today and on my walk was approached by a Sikh fellow. We talked about Guru Nanak and I found out it is his birthday tomorrow! The first temple I attend might very well be a Gurudwara for the celebrations as I still haven’t gotten to the elusive local Jain tample or the Ramakrishna Mandir. He said “come, let’s have tea and talk” so along we went to a Nepalese restaurant. He kept asking me what I want for my life, and I said “happiness and to help others” and I mentioned the three trainings in Buddhism, concentration, wisdom and ethics…and that the goal is enlightenment but I could do with improving my mind even a little. We ordered 2 chais. He had some stock phrases like “Guru Nanak asks, what is the human mind?” and kept saying that the whole universe is a Gurudwara when I asked where the local temples were. He showed me a picture of Guru Nanak and then a wonderful picture of his Guru and his cohort when he was 18 (this fellow is now 67), all in yogi garb. Then he told me he is an astrologer and that people pay him to read their auras and faces. I told him no, thanks but I don’t need a reading. He then got quiet, and it was a bit awkward. I amused myself by noticing that they had Nepalese momos and ordered some to go, and paid for them and the teas. I told him I was sorry and hoped I didn’t offend him by not wanting a reading, and he raised is hand to reassure me and said “not necessary! If you don’t want to hear.” Then he clammed up again. A couple of times I reminded him that the discussion started about Guru Nanak and then he moved towards the astrology reading….and he shrugged and beamed under his burgundy turban. I asked about his family, and then humoured him by asking how much readings were. He said “2000, 3000, 5000…it depends.” I said, “wow…that’s a lot!”

The momos arrived on a plate, and I reminded them it was to go but then said “let’s just share, yes? Unless you are vegetarian?” He said he was not, resisted a bit but then we enjoyed some amazing chicken dumplings. He then told me that I was sincere, direct, with a good heart but living in lower energies without good concentration. He can read my face. I said “ok…yes, I certainly could use more concentration!” I then mused by saying that concentration can be useful but with a bad intention it can be destructive…like a sniper. They’re really focused as they kill people. He wobbled his head in disagreement. I went through it again, and said “all I mean is that certain qualities can be misused if done with negativity.” At another point we were discussing the self, and I touched on the Buddhist concept of anatman, and he wanted to know more. As I described it he wobbled and said “no, no, no” and I said “I’m not trying to convince you. I’m just sharing a Buddhist concept.” No, no, no. So, I said, “thanks so much, what a pleasure to meet you and have dinner, and have a wonderful celebration tomorrow!” I got up to leave, and we walked a bit together. He asked if everything was okay and I reassured him that I just needed to get some work done. We exchanged farewells, and on my way back I bought an English-Hindi pocketbook and a Hindi guidebook.

            This Sunday is the inaugural lecture in a monthly series at the International School for Jain Studies, which I am glad to be in Delhi for. I need to get to some offices this week to try and get a transit visa (since they messed up my dates by starting my visa upon receipt rather than the dates I requested, which leaves me 2 weeks short in April. Alex and I plan to go to Nepal at that time and hopefully I’ll have a transit visa to be able to catch my flight out of Delhi at the end of April) and a Protected Area Permit (PAP) to go to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings in South India around the holidays in December. I’ll keep looking for monthly places to rent in Jaipur and leave by train next week.

            That’s all for now! More to come…