Mommy Comes to India

Tues Feb 5, 9:47 pm 

Mom and Ruth left yesterday after a great weekend in Varanasi. It was so much fun to have them here. I finally had the courage to go into the art gallery I had been eyeing, and was able to get the wall hanging in my friends shop that he would not even tell me the price of (turned out to be $18. I love India).

But I am getting way ahead of myself. Mom and the girls, Ruth, Kay, and Mimi, arrived in Varanasi on Thursday afternoon as their last stop in a marathon tour of Northern India highlights. I cannot even comprehend the speed they went it. In like three days in Jaipur they did as much touring as I did in 6, though they did not have Hindi class four hours a day.

I met them as they were checking into their hotel, after taking an auto from my house. I was a little frustrated because I knew I had paid about 20 extra rupees (40 cents) for the drive over, but when I told the ladies that they laughed in my face. After spending the next few days with them, and watching them tip more than I pay for dinner I understand why. Their hotel was like nothing I had ever seen in India, and if it were not for the saris on the clerks in the lobby I would have thought I was in the US. It was amazing, and the food was even better. Meat that was safe and prepared well. I was in heaven.

Anyway, we met the tour guide the first night and went to the Arti Ceremony, which is a nightly ceremony on the Gunga, consisting of a bunch of attractive young priests waving fire and other objects in a circle. I had been meaning to go see the ceremony since I got here, for it is an incredibly important pilgrimage event, but I am happy I waited for the tour guide who was able to get us really good seats. At the end of the ceremony Ruth, mom, and I lit commemorative candles for Avi, and sent them into the Gunga, something that is supposed to be helpful in the next life. It was a very moving moment.

I spent the night in the hotel room with mom and Ruth, and when they woke up at 5:30 for their sunrise boat ride mom made the discovery that the headache I had been ignoring for two days was a fever, and I was actually sick. I had assumed if I ignored it it would go away, but I guess I needed my mommy to take care of me. She put me on antibiotics, and I spent the day watching TV.

When the ladies got back from their tour I took them out for their first time in the street of India without an official tour guide and a car waiting. I got five of us into one rickshaw, and they said they felt like real Indians, for they could not believe how close they were to each other. (Note: there are five passenger seats in an Auto, and it is really quite roomy. I have gotten in six before, and more is not abnormal.) I took them to their first non-government approved restaurant, and they met my friend Sunni Ji for spices and incense. We even found our way into a new shop, a place they NEVER would have found, for it required blindly following a guy into some allys, but it turned out to be a great find. Mimi and Kay were on their last day in India and they were able to get all of their gifts and last minute items in this store. I even got invited to a wedding (which I did not attend).

The next day Mimi and Kay left to go back to the states and Mom and Ruth switched to a hotel down in my part of the city. We spent the afternoon walking around my area, and we were all able to get some amazing folk art. Mom got this colorful wooden boat that is so large I have no idea where we are going to put it.

That evening, after a show put on by the program, the three of us went to my house to have dinner with my host family and the two other girls who live there. It was one of the funniest meals I have ever had, especially when I found out that the man I though was the grandpa of the house was not related to them at all. He was an old employee of their sari shop and was just visiting. It has seemed weird that he would get locked out of the house so regularly when he lived there, but now it all makes sense. I have finally solved the mystery of where he sleeps (the backyard)! They could not believe that I thought they were related, and I could not believe that they weren’t. My whole sense of reality has been altered. MIND BLOWN.

Sunday brought a chill day of homework, the River Ashram, and last minute shopping, but the real fun came on Monday. After breakfast at the program house Alex, Ruth, Mom, and I went to my host dad's sari wholesale shop and looked at the most beautiful hand crafted pure silk saris that I have ever seen. Because he is not a retailer, and the two saris Alex and I brought were not making his week, there was no pressure, just fun. We spent two hours oohing and aahing, finally picking out a few for him to bring home so that his wife could help us try them on for a final decision. I ended up with an electric blue one with silver embroidery. I don’t know where I will wear it, but I cannot wait for my first opportunity. (Shilpa… getting married soon?)

Finally it was back to the hotel to say goodbye. A hug and kiss later Mom and Ruth were on their way and Alex and I were back to the program house for lunch and homework.

Things seen on Hindi TV:

• The History Channel dubbed from English into Hindi, with English subtitles
• A carful of women leaving behind other women
• Hallucinating woman
• Grey’s Anatomy
• A dance scene a la Saturday Night Fever, but with an India man in his underwear.
• A group of teenagers one by one giving speeches in Hindi, but using a water bottle as a fake microphone

Things learned from Hindi TV:

• There have been 9 seasons of One Tree Hill
• Smoking is bad for health