caution: indian vocabulary used excessively and without explanation

"I am writing this at the cape, in front of the sea,

where 3 waters meet and furnish a sight unequalled in the world.

For this is no port of call for vessels.

Like the Goddess, the waters around are virgin."

Gandhiji 15-1-1937

you know you've been in india too long when you start quoting gandhi.... yikes. also, my use of the quote is slightly misleading, as it describes kanyakumari, which i just left today. but hey, cut me some slack, all you cynics!

so yes, i have left sweet sweet sivananda ashram behind me in a trail of glory. my last day there we all went to a ceremony at a local temple where they were installing a new image of kali. there was a good deal of ululation, circumambulation, water throwing, flower throwing, pushing, shoving, explosions, red mud squelched between my toes (plenty upon everyone's sunday best clothing as well), all accompanied by two music sources playing simultaneously. what else would one expect? and it was all finished with a lovely cup of delicious miscellaneous sweet goo given as prasad. (god, i miss prasad! we used to get it at least twice a day at the asram....)

the next day a group of us went to kanyakumari and there i remained. i stood up to my pastey white knees in the indian ocean, bay of bengal and the arabian sea all at the same time while a beautiful wind blew my hair into my face and my dupatta into everyone else's faces. between cameo appearances in MANY indian tourists' holiday snaps i could feel the power of the place where swami vivekenanda attained enlightenment and gandhi's ashes were scattered. open blue ocean as far as the eye could see, the point where even india can't go any further. i said goodbye to my ashram friends at the suchindram temple, a glorious huge temple with an undeniable spiritual potency. we got to play musical stone pillars, each with a different note, and also watched some priests smear a good quantity of butter on the tail of a massive hanuman statue (to soothe it after ravanna lit on fire of course!). the darshan was an explosion of energy that left all of us amazingly abuzz even after such a long day. everyone tried to kidnap me back with them to the ashram but i told them that it was time i had to fly off (i've got to go/i've got to go/ faith is an island in the setting sun...?).

there on the tip of india i stayed at vivekenanda kendra, the sorta ashramy thing set up in memory of swami vivekenanda. for those who don't know, vivekenanda is famous for mobilising national and religious unity in india and proudly showcasing the spiritual wonders of india to the world (in a nutshell). the next day i went to an exhibit at v.k. about environmental activism based around traditional indian ways of life. there were displays of low-cost, eco-friendly buildings, herbal gardens, organic farming methods, water management displays, traditional medicine information.... did you know that india supports 16% of the world's population but possesses only 4% of the earth's potable water? i'm not one for statistics usually but it still makes one think about how much prisitine water westerners flush down their toilets everyday. a beautiful and provocative exhibit that i'm not quite sure what to do with now that it's in my head....

i also spent some time in a 1000-year old siva temple, a gorgeous christian church (no pews, you sit on the floor), walked through a fishing village and got invited into various homes to play with plenty of ragamuffin kiddies like the crumpled superstar i am, and went to see the gandhi memorial where his ashes were kept before being put out to sea. it was crazy to do so much in one day after the intense and yet comforting schedule of ashram life. did i mention that i miss the prasad?

one long, hot, dusty busride and i ended up in madurai today . i was aiming for rameshwaram (don't ask....). the left half of my body is sun burnt from sitting squashed up against the window grate of the bus.

prasad.