I am now in Khajuraho, staying at Hotel Green Place. What a day...But before I recount here are a few more pictures from Orchha...
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| Laksmi Temple |
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| Kiran doing henna on Miri's arm |
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| Colors |
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| Shiva Lingam |
So I spent the last few days in Orchha napping and hanging out in town. There was a little juice shop that sold sodas and I sat there the last few days and watched the unfamiliar world go by. Good restaurants in the area too and I made friends with some of the owners. I was able to get a feel for the pace of life there, which was slow and laid back and nothing at all like home. A few boys were fascinated by me one evening as I sat by the temple and eventually got me to sign autographs for them. I was totally baffled but complied. After having the same thing for dinner four nights in a row, I was certainly ready to move on to another town, but was very appreciative of everything the family had done for me. The organizer of my homestay invited me to come to the youth center on my last day and I played some board games with the kids and watched them play football (soccer) which was completely unorganized and eventually evolved into a ruthless game of dodgeball. This morning I said goodbye to my family and gave them many thanks before heading to the train station. It was such an amazing experience living under their roof for 5 days (or 6 I am losing track of time) and I will take it with me and never forget it. I got on the train for Khajuraho paying less than a dollar US, and found a seat after some friendly guys offered me a spot. The spaciousness did not last long, a few stops later more people got on and pretty soon the train was packed like sardines. The sets sat 4 but there was 6 on each side, and I was squished in between two Indians. The people sitting around me were friendly and very interested in me. After answering the usual questions, "what is your name, where are you from, are you married, how long in India?" the questions seemed to keep coming, a lot of them I could not understand through their struggling english, and I found that this was as exhausting as the uncomfortable seating arrangements. But I hung in there, they were very nice at least. Soon the bunch departed and I got some breathing room, which was short lived as anther round of Indians filled up the seats around me. Just as I was wondering what Khajuraho would bring and who I might meet, a man about my age come in and sits across from me. his english was better than I had heard all day, and we talked a bit. He worked for the hotel I am currently staying at told me all about it. As I did not have a place to stay and the brochure looked good, I said I would be glad to stay there, and we took a shared rickshaw (which was even more packed with Indians, there were 9 people in it, and it really only fits 3) and arrived at Hotel Green Side around 2 PM. The place was good enough for me and I got an AC room that actually has hot water! I met me new friend Rakesh in the garden where the hotel staff brought me lunch and chai. Later Rakesh took me to the eastern temples, which were pretty incredible, and some Jain temples along with the Hindu ones. He explained a lot of the symbolism and we talked a lot about Hindu gods and concepts. He also took me through Khajuraho village and pointed out the different sections of the village that belonged to the four different castes. This was my first real exposure to this. There were 4 wells, 1 for each caste, and 4 hospitals as well. He was of the Ksatriya class, the second from the top after Brahmans. Then we stopped at a local school run by volunteers and the head of the school showed me around. Small rooms with no chairs. He said that all castes study there, and inside they are all equal. I was thankful to get a real intimate look at life in the village and Rakesh took me to have more chai and then to the Shiva temple, which had a huge Shiva lingam, which put to shame any of the other ones I have seen so far. I followed everything Rakesh did as best as I could. I try to do as the locals do, and learn something in the process. Same is true for my eating habits. So this was a real fun time.
Rakesh offered to take me to a waterfall tomorrow, along with another set of temples. He also wants to teach me some Indian cooking, and told me about a place he knows where there is a kitchen by a river that we can use...ok sounds cool. He has been incredibly helpful and has shown me a lot of things I would not have seen otherwise. We talked a lot about the differences between America and India. I said that I have noticed that many Americans have much but are not happy, while many Indians seem to have little but are happy. He said the he is pretty poor but his heart is rich. I think this is true among many Indians, and it has been amazing to see this part of the world and witness the poverty and lack of comforts. India is definitely not the place to visit if you are not willing to get dirty, and live a little out of your comfort zone. It is a downright dirty place, chaotic, and nothing seems to work very well. Computers freeze, internet is slow or not working, power cuts off at random times of the day, trash is everywhere, personal hygiene is not great. Traffic is just ridiculous, people seem to be living on top of each other. Yet it is quite an amazing place, and there is kindness here, and respect for life, and something deep which I cannot quite grasp yet. I am slowly falling in love with India, while at the same time, missing my comfortable life in the US, and realizing how damn good we have it.
So I spent the last few days in Orchha napping and hanging out in town. There was a little juice shop that sold sodas and I sat there the last few days and watched the unfamiliar world go by. Good restaurants in the area too and I made friends with some of the owners. I was able to get a feel for the pace of life there, which was slow and laid back and nothing at all like home. A few boys were fascinated by me one evening as I sat by the temple and eventually got me to sign autographs for them. I was totally baffled but complied. After having the same thing for dinner four nights in a row, I was certainly ready to move on to another town, but was very appreciative of everything the family had done for me. The organizer of my homestay invited me to come to the youth center on my last day and I played some board games with the kids and watched them play football (soccer) which was completely unorganized and eventually evolved into a ruthless game of dodgeball. This morning I said goodbye to my family and gave them many thanks before heading to the train station. It was such an amazing experience living under their roof for 5 days (or 6 I am losing track of time) and I will take it with me and never forget it. I got on the train for Khajuraho paying less than a dollar US, and found a seat after some friendly guys offered me a spot. The spaciousness did not last long, a few stops later more people got on and pretty soon the train was packed like sardines. The sets sat 4 but there was 6 on each side, and I was squished in between two Indians. The people sitting around me were friendly and very interested in me. After answering the usual questions, "what is your name, where are you from, are you married, how long in India?" the questions seemed to keep coming, a lot of them I could not understand through their struggling english, and I found that this was as exhausting as the uncomfortable seating arrangements. But I hung in there, they were very nice at least. Soon the bunch departed and I got some breathing room, which was short lived as anther round of Indians filled up the seats around me. Just as I was wondering what Khajuraho would bring and who I might meet, a man about my age come in and sits across from me. his english was better than I had heard all day, and we talked a bit. He worked for the hotel I am currently staying at told me all about it. As I did not have a place to stay and the brochure looked good, I said I would be glad to stay there, and we took a shared rickshaw (which was even more packed with Indians, there were 9 people in it, and it really only fits 3) and arrived at Hotel Green Side around 2 PM. The place was good enough for me and I got an AC room that actually has hot water! I met me new friend Rakesh in the garden where the hotel staff brought me lunch and chai. Later Rakesh took me to the eastern temples, which were pretty incredible, and some Jain temples along with the Hindu ones. He explained a lot of the symbolism and we talked a lot about Hindu gods and concepts. He also took me through Khajuraho village and pointed out the different sections of the village that belonged to the four different castes. This was my first real exposure to this. There were 4 wells, 1 for each caste, and 4 hospitals as well. He was of the Ksatriya class, the second from the top after Brahmans. Then we stopped at a local school run by volunteers and the head of the school showed me around. Small rooms with no chairs. He said that all castes study there, and inside they are all equal. I was thankful to get a real intimate look at life in the village and Rakesh took me to have more chai and then to the Shiva temple, which had a huge Shiva lingam, which put to shame any of the other ones I have seen so far. I followed everything Rakesh did as best as I could. I try to do as the locals do, and learn something in the process. Same is true for my eating habits. So this was a real fun time.
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