"Whatever you say about India, the opposite is also true."

View from the patio at our home-base & getting a flat tire during the six-hour drive to Manali!

7/2/2007

It's been a week since my last entry. I'll try to summarize the stories of the last week.
Palampur is known for it's tea. Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to tour one of the tea estates here in town. It covers 100 acres and is still only the third largest tea estate in Palampur. The owner, who inherited the estate from his great-grandfather was a jolly old man who picked figs and lychee off the tree for us to eat. After walking us around the grounds, he showed us the factory where they dry, press, and roast the tea.

We had another treat on Wednesday afternoon. Two Odissi dancers performed for us as their teacher, Kiran Segal, explained the meaning of the dances. Odissi is a classical form of Indian dance, originating from the city of Odissa. And Segal is known as "one of the most innovative and outstanding dancers/choreographers" of this type of dance. The three of them stayed at our home-base for two nights, giving us the opportunity to interact with them out of costume. When they did come out in costume, they looked incredible. The ornamentation on their bodies nearly took my breat away: jewelry covering their entire ears, headpieces, bracelets, and anklets. The first and second dances were interpretations of a prayer to the Hindu God Shiva and a story of a girl who outwits the god Krishna. The third dance, which the girls did together, was not an interpretation, but rather combined a number of seemingly VERY difficult moves.

Thursday the song god (with 330 million Hindu gods, surely there must be one) blessed us with the song "open, shut them". The song teaches kids to open and close their hands and "put them in their lap, lap, lap." This has since been a useful tool to stop them from slapping each other across the face. Instead, we remind them that, like the song, they should put their songs in their "lap, lap, lap."

Thursday was the last day for my volunteer partner, Megan. Since another girl, Jaime, only has two kids come to her placement and these days I normally have about 17, she has started to come with me.

Last week there was a court order for all the taxis in our state (Himachel Pradesh) to put meters in their cars. The drivers don't want to pay the cost of the meter, nor do they want their fees standardized. Since we take a taxi most days to work (a 30 min. drive one-way) we had to be shuttled back and forth. One of the days an undercover cab started to take us but the driver got a call from Lalit telling him to stop. Lalit had heard that one of the strikers was right near the school we teach at. We had to switch cars!

On Friday afternoon, all of us planned to leave for weekend trips. Six volunteers went to Armritsar, two went to Chamba, and I went with three other girls to Manali. However, because of the strike we postponed our trip about 12 hours and left at 4:00 in the morning. (The strike ended at midnight.) I slept most of the six-hour drive and the only unfortunate thing about that was I missed some incredible scenery. I would wake up every once in awhile when he hit a pothole or a horn beeped. I'd try to stay awake but the Dramamine was working too well. Luckily I had a second chance to see the views on Sunday evening during the drive back. We also got a flat tire going there! Fortunately, the driver, Rakesh, had a spare. Another group went to Manali a few weeks ago and weren't so lucky. The spare was also flat!

My summaries have turned into in-depth, detailed accounts, so I'll move onto our time in Manali!

We arrived around 11 and checked into our hotel, the Tiger Eye Guest House. Thank goodness we stopped at the office, which is down the road from the hotel, first. The guest house is perhaps the most difficult building to find. One must walk down a random path with no landmarks to distinguish it from all the other random paths. Then it's about a 5 minute walk through backyards and between farmhouses.

After breakfast and lunch, which we ate within a 1/2 hour of each other, we walked, shopped, and visited a Hindu temple dedicated to Hadimba. Hadimba is considered to be the incarnation of Kali (like our dog!) and is worshipped in times of adversity. The Hadimba temple, built in 1553, is Manali's oldest shrine. The building is a wooden pagoda with animal carvings on its facade and ibex horns along the sides. We decided to go to the Kullu Cultural Museum, which we learned had detailed models of the Kullu Valley's temples. What we didn't know was that the walk from the temple to the museum would lead us through a park with yak rides, snake charmers, and women carrying enormous raggedy rabbits advertising a picture with one of these hideous-looking creatures! I passed on the rabbit photo, but I did get on the yak!!! I don't have that photo but will post it when I get it! After passing the snake charmers, I turned quickly around to look right into the face of a man with what I thought was a snake. It turned out he was an old beggar with a cane. Unfortunately, I realized the truth after I screamed in his face. I tried to explain, but it was no use. He appeared unphased but everyone around was amused. In the end, the largest tourist attraction was one of us! Jaime was constantly being asked to pose for photos with little Sikh children.

Eventually we escaped the mayhem of the park and entered the museum's serenity. In addition to the model's, the galleries hosted a spinning wheel, old grinding tools, jewelry, clothes, and spice boxes. Some items were from 250 years ago, while others were 500 years old.

We then walked a terrifying walk down a busy street with ruthless drivers. Once again, we were offered an escape from the sounds and scenes that awaited us outside. Johnson's Cafe. A yummy restaurant, which we would return to the next day for a second meal.

Like any city we've visited, Manali had some reckless driving and overwhelming surprises. But at the same time, it was one of the most peaceful places I've been. This proves the theory, once again, that "whatever you say about India, the opposite is also true." Tall pines cover Manali's hills and parks. Mountains contribute a dramatic backdrop. And a river that runs through the city is calm when it's sunny and full of rapids after the rains.

We ended the night with a walk through the new city. In the evening, cars are kept out and the main street fills with pedestrians.

It poured the next morning and we were lucky to find an open bakery before visiting a temple dedicated to Manu. Manali is named after Manu, Hinduism's Noah, who went there by boat to recreate human life after floods destroyed the world. He laid the foundations of Hindu law that continues today, as well as the basis of the caste system.

From 9-10, we went to the yoga class we'd arranged the day before. The teacher, Nishant, does Hatha yoga. He taught us some very difficult moves, a few of which I had done before and a few I had never seen. At $3 a person (compared to $12 in L.A.) the class was definitely worth going to! The class ended and so did the rain. Shops opened and we couldn't help but go in! Later, we sat outside at Johnson's Cafe, sipping watermelon smoothies and I had an Indian masala omelet. We left Manali around 4 on Sunday afternoon. The fun weekend was almost over but I looked forward to returning "home" to Palampur.