Last India post

This will probably be my last post from India, since we are leaving very early tomorrow for Agra and the Taj Mahal. We spend the day in Agra and then take the train back to Delhi for our last night. Friday we are in Delhi and that night (actually early the next morning) we leave for the US.

I wanted to apologize if I've given the impression that I'm having a bad time on this trip. There have definitely been hard times on this trip but there is a satisfaction in making it through hard times (not the least of which are the great stories) - almost like testing yourself against forces much stronger than you and learning how to survive and find some joy in the outcomes.

Madison and the US are easy places to live, despite the cold, snow and minor life challenges. Here in India, every day that people feed their families some decent protein, find clean water to drink, wash their clothes and dry them without having them soiled by the smog, and move around the city without being hit by a tuk tuk (auto rickshaw), a motorcycle, car or truck is a huge triumph. Indians earn merit points every day that they stay alive and thrive amid the trash, press of people, dirty air and other challenges. No wonder the Hindus worship Lord Ganesh (the elephant god)... he is the remover of barriers and India has many barriers. So yes, it has been hard. Am I glad I came? You betcha!

I want to share with you the highlight of last night - the opportunity to watch a wedding procession pass by our hotel. November and December are the wedding season in India. The days are cooler and the humidity is lower, so the brides can actually use make-up without it sliding off onto their saris. Last night we left our dinners and ran to the sidewalk to watch a wedding procession where the groom was riding an elephant ( with his father behind him), ahead of him were 40-50 people dancing in the street, with women dressed in beautiful gold and scarlet saris and their men in black suits. Ahead of the dancers were musicians including drummers, flute players and men playing a stringed instrument that I've never seen/heard before. The entire procession was surrounded by men carrying huge electric chandeliers strung together with electrical cables and perched on their shoulders to light the way. Bringing up the rear was a poor man pulling a wooden cart laden with an enormous diesel generator used to power the lights. The procession moved very slowly, giving the dancers time to 'strut their stuff' and making the groom look very impatient. The procession was to end at the home of the bride where she would join him on the elephant and the 2 of them would be carried to a nice hotel for dinner and their wedding night. Quite a show!

The other minor highlight has been using public transportation to make our way around Jaipur. The cheapest and most available form of public transportation are the tuk tuks - three wheeled auto rickshaws, driven by Indian men, that make their way through thick, unfriendly traffic with very few crashes and fatalities (at least we haven't seen any yet). They look like 3 wheeled golf carts and move about as fast. The hardest part is having to wear our filtration masks everywhere. (I wouldn't leave for India without one - it makes my 'top 10' list of travel "musts".) The tuk tuks are cheap - usually about 100 rupees for a fairly long ride. That's about $2.50 US. Much cheaper than NYC or even Madison!

I hope you all are well. Thanks to everyone who has made this trip possible for us. I look forward to seeing your beautiful faces soon. And I won't mind the snow, the endless Christmas displays (there are none in India) and the kitchy Christmas music because ... there truly is "no place like home".

Namaste,

Donna