filth soup

vancouver--> seattle--> amsterdam--> delhi

it's amazing how much nervousness can suddenly just be washed away. my first footstep on pahar ganj at 2 in the morning and i start smiling like a fool. delhi is familiar and homey. the smell of urine, the ambivalent cows, sad sick dogs, burning garbage and legions of pashmina salesmen... these are things i have come to know well and even cherish in some perverse way. the skin on fresh buffalo curd, cheap thalis, remembering my hindi, booking train tickets, blaring bollywood music, the smells of sandalwood, rose and jasmine leaping out of this overwhelming smell-scape for brief but enchanting moments. those things are nice too. chai! i missed this all and i am happy that it feels so good to be here once again.

i did, however, underestimate the monsoon. it has been raining continuously since i got here late last night. the streets are a filthy soup of cow dung, garbage, human fluids of various variety and everything else imaginable. suddenly i dream of gum boots and a poncho.

i've slept about 6 hours total in the past 2 days and i'm on a night train tonight to varanasi. i'll write more from there before i go to the ashram on the 17th.