August 24-26 Trip Back from Kodai and New Adventures in Chennai

Tarot Cards, Paulo Choelo, Ruskin Bond and Life Stories

Well, I've been very bad about writing the past number of days, and mostly have just been jotting down random thoughts and observations...decided to sit down and get caught up today if possible...I don't want this writing to become a burden while I am away, but at the same time, I know I will regret not getting all my thoughts and impressions down on paper...so will do some today, and one of these days sit down for a long and serious seige at the computer to finish up the pages and pages of notes that have been accumulating and need expansion and explanation (note: little did I know that these pages would be snatched from me later on and never be expanded!)...I always have this thought someplace in the back of my mind that someday all this will be used as research for a book...time will tell-but I feel the NEED to write all the time...just hate spending the time to get it all into this electronic medium, but know if I don't keep up with it, it will be almost impossible to do later....I remember my last trip when for about 2 weeks I did not write, and when I got home to Israael it took me 4 days to get the entries completed...so...although I am vacationing, I try to do my best ...

Now...back to Saturday morning in Kodai....

Still having trouble getting train ticket...am now trying at the guesthouse since the other agent hasn't been able to move things forward -seems to be a real problem. Don't know why-am getting discouraged-if the weather was nicer I could go take another hike-we'll see later-want to know what is happening with my ticket and then I will feel better - KNOWING is very important for me-Uncertainly is difficult....

...GOT MY TICKET! HURRAY! really paid through the nose for having it arranged but I don't care...it is worth any price to be at peace again and know what is happening...every cent is worth being able to get on my way.

Now sitting in Bryant Park, an enormous botanical part in the center of town. It is a sad imitation of Ramat Hanadiv in Zicrhon (a fabulous botanical garden in northern Israel) -but I imagine for Indians coming from the city it is pure paradise. The sound of the cicadas is almost deafening. There is a lovely lilly pond and endless stretches of terraced flowers and green plants all around. If I was in a better mood I could walk around here easily for a couple of hours. No pics as the price of a camera entry is 25 rupees-but there is a large variety of flowers-most seen in gardens at home as well. perennials mostly arranged in neat rows-needing some upkeep and maintenance but still quite pleasant., And it is possible to roam off the main path and feel like you are "mountain" climbing. I really can see the great pleasure both kids and adults from an Indian city would find here and entrance fee is only 5 rupees.

As it is- I am now on my way to town to do a final e-mail check-eat some lunch and then go back and pack as I am being picked up at 5 PM to leave on the night train. Upper berth this time-new experience (in the end I actually had a lower berth so will have to wait for my trip from Chennai to Delhi to experience an upper berth)...I am not feeling well at all. This bombing in addition to the dreariness here has really gotten to me. Today it is not drizzling (not yet) and there is even a drop of sun here and there-saw my shadow a few minutes ago for the first time in 5 days!-Under other circumstances staying at a different place I could have been happy for 2-3 more days-but no longer. This is basically"packaged nature" and I prefer the real thing.

NOTES: Cultural norms: Muslim women walking around here with husbands (boyfirneds?) completely covered with only their eyes peaking out but the couples walk hand in hand and even with arms around each other...on the other hand: Indian women dressed in saris with midriff and belly completely exposed, flowers in their hair, bejeweled and smiling a laughing gaily...but very rare to see any public displays of affection between men and women...up in the hills I saw couples walking hand in hand but quickly moved apart when they saw me coming...as if they were caught doing something "wrong"...

I can imagine a guy like Ravin having spent most of his life in a city being enthralled by this place....95% of the tourists here are Indians and thoroughly enjoying themselves...But I imagine none of then have every been to the Himalayan hill stations-they are simply too far from here for a short vacation. IT could be like a New Yorker managing a few days up in the White Mountians, and thinking it is paradise- it IS quite beautiful there I remember from my visit as a child of 10...but having never had the opportunity to see the Rockies or the Pacific North West...
I am just finishing up this day. Must be back to pack and get my food in order for the trip. Will head back to the room around 3...that will give me enough time.

A Couple of Interesting Life Stories:
Silver Inn- Just said goodbye to the owner here of this place I've been using the internet and eating most of my meals...he is quite charming and I felt something different about him and his son Jeremy from the first day I walked in here...something different in their speech patterns, their accent when speaking English...couldn't put my finger on it but there WAS something different about them...so here is the story:

As I went to say goodbye, the guy asks me where I am from and I say Israel...and his face lights up with an enormous grin and he says "I am 1/2 Jewish...well, I know according to law I am not REALLY Jewish since only my father is Jewish, but I still feel 1/2 Jewish"...And then he shows me a picture of his father hanging on the wall and it looks like pictures of old Yemenite men you can picture, except instead of being dark skinned, he is light skinned, with a kind of fez type hat on his head and a long scraggly white beard....It seems his father is an Englishman (I still have to find out where is GRANDPARENTS came from ....) who joined the British airforce during WWII and was stationed in India where he met a girl from Chennai and they got married. As he said "If my father had not come to India first, I would be more Israeli than YOU are since I would have been born there!" Seems his father never stopped talking to him about his dream to move to Israel, but as we all know, few people see all their dreams become reality.
Anyway, the guys name is Moshe(the first day I walked in to sign in on the computer I SAW a user name on the password window "moshe" and thought it strange but was certainly not going to ask "who is MOshe?"....but in India he is known as NOEL!!! So his full name is Noel Moshe Nicholls...
He wants to go to Israel to live the rest of his life-family would not come-perhaps wife-trying to find out how he can do it..Weird world!!

OK...trip down the mountain to Kodai railway station....I think I wrote this before but the thought that came to me during the ride down was the big difference between this hill station and a place like McLeod or Manali in the Himalayan foothills is that those places are nestled IN the mountains, while Kodai is perched ON a mountain, making everything quite different... The ride up and down the mountain is deceptively beautiful and you can imagine yourself climbing up into the himalayas, but then at 2000 feet you reach the top and realize, eventually, that this is not the same.

Seeing fruit stands all along the way in the various towns...could be a market anywhere in Israel...Anona (custard apples) pineapple, oranges, bananas, avocado (which are called butter fruit here-quite appropriate if you think about it...avocadoes ARE like green butter on bread!!)...grapes....kiwis, mangos, papayas, and all arranged so beautifully in pyramids type piles…

Salvin, the driver..was such a sweet man…we arrived at 7:30 at the train station and the train leaves at 9:20… He refuses to let me sit and wait alone so he came into the station with me, we shared “dinner” of bread, cheese and “no” pear-he hates pears but ate in the end and gave chocolates to his friends the porters here…he lives in Kodai, his wife and 2 daughters live in a village about 85 km from Cochin and he sees then 1once a year for 2-3 days…(understand that getting this much information took a good 20 mintues of talking, hand signals, etc)…How did they Meet? She is a distant relative on his father’s side…(when I told this story to Rita upon my return , she said it is quite common among “those” people and that he for sure has another wife and family in Kodai as well. He was born in Kodai and lived his whole 40 year life there…his wife and family in the village is just incidental. She says most of the women in the end have to go out and work as the husbands don’t support them), but Silvan told me that all his money he sends home and his wife is a housewife, living near her family and taking care of his kids who he speaks to once a week on the phone…Rita says her maid's husband left the village and moved to the city where he has another family and so she eventually had to leave her 11 year old son and come to work in the city to support him….

The ride down the mountain was a sure test of my reserves to the limit. Always seems to happen in India, as those of you who remember my first journal will recall. My bladder was protesting for ages and my stomach churning from the never-ending curves…took rescue, ginger oil, sniffed lavendar, did Reiki, chewed gum, prayed to God, the angels and anyone else who could hear me…Just as I thought I could not take one more minute of this double torture..the curves ended- and 2 minutes later we pulled into a toilet. The 2 guys (we gave a lift to a hiking guide from the guesthouse to his home town where the next day his daughter was celebrating her 1st birthday so he was given the day off)…asked if I wanted tea/coffee but I said no thanks, my stomach was not doing very well and they thought this quite funny-actually laughed out loud but understood…Probably wondered what this lady was doing out and about all by herself anyway!

Now feeling quite good. Silven is waiting with me. Just went to check the car and will be on the train in less than 1 hour…but believe me-this has been one hell of a day! Hopefully I won’t have many more of these while here.

Monday August 25th

Last night, the evening after my arrival back in Chennai (the trip was quite comfortable, took an auto back to Ravin’s house and was there at 5:45 in the morning and went back to sleep for a couple of hours (there was a baby on the train so sleep was difficult during the night)…and while relaxing in the evening, Ravin got a phone call from one of his friends, female, from the city here (seems they know each other for a few years, they met at a corporate party once and have remained friends…) and so he invited her for dinner since she was going shopping here in the area. Her name is Payal (pile) which means those little ankle bracelet trinket things the Indian women wear, and she is around 30, career lady in advertising and not married. It was quite pleasant meeting another young upcoming Indian, and a female at that, and we spent a pleasant hour or so talking. Duirng the evening, she told us about her visit to the same palm reader I had been too and how impressed she was and what he told her .. And then Ravin mentioned that I read tarot cards (I explained that wasn’t quite accurate and I only use them for fun, or as a tool in counseling) and so she asked if I would be willing to do a reading for her “just for fun” and then Ravin mentioned healing as well…in the end I agreed as I have nothing better do do anyway…but she made one condition…that I tell her something I really want and she will bring for me in exchange-which is fine-so I said “bring me flowers”…I couldn’t think of anything to ask for and didn’t want anything expensive anyway…but she said “no way…something REAL” so in the end I remembered that I would be going the next day to ‘spencer’s plaza and told her I would check out a book there…and so the deal was done. Ravin said afterwards that she was kind of “flakey” (that’s my word) and probably would not come back…but in the end she did and we will get to that later.

I am actually now sitting in the coffee shop of Landmark-it is a department store but really come here just to look at the books…and discovered fabulous greeting cards as well which I may go back and stock up on if I have the inclination one day….I won’t buy any books and hope I will find what I want used and cheaper in McLeod, but there is nothing here they do not have!
If Payal really wants to get me something- The Alchemist by Paulo Choelo or his other book my kids all read and keep telling me to read-If I had the money I would go on a spree here and send everything home!

I am now sitting in the coffee shop of the same store. Really really nice-just sitting and relaxing on my own for awhile-a little too cold for me in this AC-got my train ticket this morning and then ravin dropped me off at Spencer’s Plaza to get shoes…my hiking boots are comfortable but I need something lighter for everyday. Too bad I didn’t listen to my instincts (there we go again-same story!! When will I learn???)…and bring my New Balance with me from home. So now went out and bought –put it on my visa so as not to spend any more of my not so much money here. And I really don’t need another pair but these are actually quite nice and may be able to dance in them afterwards. I drove some poor salesmen here crazy in 4 different shops. One even remembered Ravin from the last time when I came to buy sandals and said he was lucky he didn’t come today!. Tried on about 20 pair of shoes in 4 different shops and went back and forth between shops as well and finally settled on what I hope are the best. Not the cheapest-but I got a free T-shirt (!) so I can give Ravin a well deserved present.
He is being so patient and sweet with me. He thingks it’s all silly my saying he was “heaven sent” but I really do believe it! More later-better get home-don’t want anyone to start worrying about me
Fabulous greeting cards – WOW! Also saw some nice shirts but not buying anything more now…then out to the street to haggle over 30/40 rupees for auto home-can’t hide from India for long but I actually love it…the duality of this amazing country. The paradoxes.

Ruskin Bond – I picked up a book here at Ravin’s house “The best of Ruskin bond”…I’ve read something else by him in the past I think that Dyanne gave me, and anyone who has ever been to the Himalayas, even the foothills, will fall in love with this guy. He writes with utter simplicity, and utter beauty and grace…his descriptions are powerfully graphic and if I would ever have to describe a scene in the mountains or hills and cold not find the words, I would turn to him for a quote! Anyway, one of his essays in this collection is called “Thus Spoke Crow”…one of many essays, short stories, etc in “Delhi is not Far: The best of Ruskin Bond”. I am enjoying it immensely and for all his simplicity , some of his ideas are quite deep….just one or two examples of many:

“I’m not a bird of prey [says the crow]. YOU are not a beast of prey. So it is not by pursuit that we succeed-Because if we become hunters, then we would automatically bring into being-victims. And a victim’s chief object is to get away! And so it is with success. Pursue it too avidly and it will elude you”.

On fretting: …”when you keep fretting about [the outcome of ]something you’ve done, you can’t give your mind to anything else”….”expect the best-always expecting the best and usually you will get it!”

Monday evening:

Just finished Tarot and healing for Payal (yes, she DID come around) and the tarot reading was amazingly on target. And I got a bar of chocolate and the Alchemits in exchange-quite nice!

Tuesday 26th

Tried to call chanale and elisheva today to say Mazal Tov on their respective anniversaries but had no luck. Visited Rachel. Kind of depressing – her husband has been away for 3 weeks already and I am getting bad vibes and she was quite disturbed …today and cried her heart out to me…but I am just passing through and really don’t want to get involved.
Anyway, read the whole Alchemist today and now understand my kids fascination with it. I will re-read it and get more of his books. I really was drawn into it and noted several things. I imagine I never read it before, or that I read it NOW, because it was the right time and the right situation to fully appreciate its messages.

I’ve begun eating more and more India style with my hands and quite enjoying it. There is great pleasure in licking your fingers at the table and actually making your hosts happy to see it. Of course, I still do not eat ENOUGH, but I have begun putting weight back on anyway.

I will end this here…it is quite long, but today is a new day, with what new adventures I cannot imagine….

Bye to all….