morning prayer at mosque in bhopal

people

Mobility

i should have known when the hotel manager said he'd give me a wake up call at 2 am...there was no phone in my room. why was i getting up at this ghastly hour? driving to Indore, train to Kota, car to BUNDI. knowing the unlikely hood of the offer made by the INDIAN HOTELIER, i set 2 alarms of my own.

when i made my way to the car outside, my driver, ABDUL SAMET, was fast asleep in the back seat. apparently he doesn't have a phone in his car either. i gently knocked so as not to startle. he was up with such alacrity, he hit his head on the ceiling of the small sedan. he then flung open the door and stood there, hand extended, as if he'd been waiting to welcome me for the last two hours. i sat down.

to say that the next two hours were harrowing would be an understatement. 2:30 in the morning, on the roads of small town INDIA, with a nodding chauffeur is not the place one goes to meditate. i sat erect. the passenger. the cheerleader. with english lorries passing by within inches on either side, my audible mantra was, "ABDUL, YOU AWAKE?"

we stopped at an INDIAN starbucks for a pick me up. these are those photos....

My thoughts on Movement in INDIA:

Imagine you body, your human form, hollowed except for one artery running its entire length. then imagine everything passing thru that artery; blood, oxygen, carbon dixoide, water, food, waste, muscles, ligaments, joints, bones, thoughts, emotions, all functions of the body. add to that cows, chickens, elephants, goats, monkeys, rickshaws, oxcarts, tractors, transport buses, tourist buses, bicycles, rickshaws... welcome to traffic driving in INDIA.

i had heard this from several veteran Indian travelers before i began my journey. "come on. i've rented a car in every country i've traveled in." a knowing smile was their response.

i don't know the length of my stay on this planet, but it would have been exponetially shorter had i decided to exercise my valet skills on the mean streets of this sub-continent. moving in this country is a stream of consciousness, a religion unto itself. you must have faith in the oncoming and the ongoing. church is held whenever mobility is required. your prophet is your driver.... one foot on the brake the other on the gas....INDIA.

Khajuraho fair and Bollywood in the square

There's some fucking going on

between wedding season in India (Shiva was married to Parvati on feb 24th. hindu calender) and a visit to Khajuraho's Kama Sutra temples, one begins to understand how reverance for sex is inherent in Hindu culture.

enjoying a glass of wine on the rooftop of my abode, I was interuppted by a loud bang. then another. then another. i looked over my shoulder and fireworks were exploding overhead. i walked to the railing to have a peek a realized the source of the explosions was coming two blocks away from my hotel. camera in hand, i ran down the steps, out the door, up the block, round the corner and came face to face with an elephant. that's right an elephant. an "oh fuck" followed. this was a HINDU WEDDING. A RIVER OF ECSTACY.

leading the charge was the Elephant aforementioned. her and her trainer followed by the firework handler, discharging at will, firecrackers worthy of a rolling stones concert in the early 90's . next came the drummers. then a series of footmen carrying chandeliers and green neon lights on their heads. then the children. after them, the women dressed in their Sari Best. i picked one to be the bride as she was the nucleus of these colorfully clad beauties. all eyes pointed in her direction. everyone dancing around her. screaming. alive...

then came the men. equally ebullient. one stood out as he was at least 6 feet taller than the rest. he wasn't on stilts. he rode a horse. a big, beautiful, garnished stallion. i later learned, that among the many things this horse symbolizes, it's also an inside Hindu joke. put simply, the man has one more chance to leave. leg it (or hoof it )...catch the last train....if he decides to remain, he cannot grumble for his getaway has been squandered.

next in line the elders. both men and women, who danced similar steps, to similar music, in a similar, yet different time. each stride filled with the wisdom of experience. slow was their pace.

a group of young boys spotted me taking pictures and began asking where i was from. "America" i said, "BARACK OBAMA" they replied. they requested to have their picture taken. i suppose they wanted their participation documented in photo albums beyond their extended extended family.

i ran on ahead to get the best posistion i could, to observe the procession as they entered the matrimonial locale. they rounded the corner. the firework man let one fly. the horses, with soldiers on top guarding the entrance, reared back and sent a group of men flying into 50 parked motorcycles that fell as if they too needed a break. this was damn exciting. madness insued. mayhem. unadulterated joy. my camera battery died. i receded into the shadows. faceless. watching the smiling succesion go by. i looked up and similar fireworks were going off all over the city.

a gentleman by the name of anand accompanied me to ORCHHA. he's 29. he is to be married in 2 months. Anand has seen his bride to be once. no words exchanged. not one. not one syllable. with a hello, he had spoken more to me than the woman he is to spend the rest of his life with.

Anand has a masters in History, Archetiectual History, and Homeopathic medicine. he's refused his parents previous marriage arrangements 4 times. he has one prerequisite... INTELECT. none before had cut the curry. his bride to be has a masters in HINDI and Sanskrit. is he nervous...yes. anxiety... fuck yes. in love? pause...."love will come. it always does. that is the way."

that is the way."

Khajuraho. the pictures speak for themselves. Hindu religion has many centers... the ubiquitous SHIVA LINGHAM is one of them. a symbol of the universal sound, OM. the carvings have many purposes not least of which is to stimulate. the point where man and woman do not exsist. the purpose of the universe is soundless.

wg