Not with a bang, but with... FOOD POISONING!
Yep, my last meal in India slammed me good. By the time I got to the airport at 1 AM I could barely stand. I was shaking. I felt nauseous. I was short of breath. Both arms starting tingling and feeling numb. People looked at me in line to check in for the flight and asked "Are you alright?"
"No. Not good. Not good at all. I ate something bad."
"Bad food in India? No way." one guy said.
I finally got my bag checked and puked in the bathroom... and then I was mostly okay. When I got on the plane they had a doctor come give me some anti-nausea medicine and ginger ale and by the time I reached Abu Dhabi and got on the 16 hour flight back to LA I felt fine. Whew. India had to have one last laugh I guess!
After my 2 day OSHO adventure I was ready to be back on the road. In the "real India". So I left my hotel at 10am and took a tuk-tuk to the the train station. I was determined to take a Second class / Non-reserved train ride while I was here. And this was my last chance. The plane leaves at 4am tonight. Immediately after driving away from OSHO I felt India flood back in. Crazy traffic, honking horns, dust, dirt, trash. Ahhh, India! Good to see you again! I bought my Un-reserved ticket, and was the only non-Indian within sight. Everyone stared at me. (But what's new, it's India!). And after some very confusing directions about how I would actually get to my destination, I was standing on the platform in the 102 degree heat watching the train roll in.
Now, unreserved is that class of train travel where as many people as possible squeeze into a train car. There's no assigned seats and no limit to the number of people. It's the train car you have seen in pictures where people ride on the roof because there's no space inside and it's hot as hell. As the train came to a stop people would run next to the car, grab the handle and jump on. Shoving each other out of the way. I had my trusty rolling bag and joined the fray. The first guy shoved me out of the way, but I pushed another guy back, grabbed the handle and lept aboard.
The irony is the train actually stops after this. But people push in to grab seats, climb up and sit on the luggage racks, or whatever they can do. I just stayed in the entry corridor because it has a cross breeze and was there the whole trip. This was good except for the two stations we stopped out where everyone had to file my direction of the train to get on and off.
The first half of the 4 hour trip was nice. A good breeze. Not too hot as we went over mountains (surprising to me) on our way from Pune to Mumbai. It's 120 km and hazy, smokey and dusty the whole way. I actually think almost all of India (except Kerala) seems to be hazy, smokey and dusty. I was told it was due to pollution, or fires or dust or...
The second half of the trip was hot hot hot as we descended into Mumbai: aka Trash city. I'm not kidding you, I've never seen so much trash piled along the sides of the railroad tracks, next to the shanties, along the rivers, IN the rivers. Like islands of stinky garbage. It was pretty intense. (As was the smell. Especially at night, driving to the airport, there was 10 minutes of the drive that was like going through rot. It was awful. And I was feeling nauseous already. So.... whew).
Once we got past the outskirts the trash let up a little bit, and once we got to the center there was very little trash (well, no more than normal here). Getting into town required hopping off this train and being led by a nice India gal who had been on my train. She took me past the absolutely obnoxious cab drivers who would not go away and wanted Rs1,000 to take me to downtown. She took me to the local train which cost: Rs10. Yep. So I piled into a car that was jam packed like a mosh pit and rode another 25 minutes to Victoria Terminus. If you've seen "Slumdog Millionaire" you've seen this place. (Jai ho!). On the ride people would just stare at me. I mean STARE. I'd smile or nod and a few would do the same, but some never stopped staring. I know, a non-Indian on a local train. Crazy!
On my un-reserved ride I talked to a number of people. Everyone was confused about me being there. One guy couldn't believe I'd traveled all over India for a month. "It's so dangerous". I was also made fun of by these three men/women who wanted money simple because they were neither a man nor a woman. (This was never explained well, but I think they were hermaphrodites.) Some people gave them money. The one just stood a foot away from me on the crowded train and made fun of me. I knew she was because people were laughing as she kept trying to get money from me. Kept poking my arm and saying things. I didn't pay her. (I didn't pay hardly anyone who begged while I was in India.) It was very uncomfortable to be trapped in a moving train car with someone making fun of me and also being a bit threatening. (It occured to me that would be a great place for a horror scene to take place. There's no way out. Thank god the zombie apocalypse didn't hit right then!)
Mumbai was fun, but I was tired and it was hot. I unkowingly ate the doomed dinner and then said. "Well, it's my last night in India. What should I do?" And did what anyone would... I went to the movies!
I saw "GABBAR IS BACK" an Indian action film in Hindi with no subtitles. It was fabulously fun, and I was actually able to follow most of what was going on. Occasionally a line would be in English which helped. I talked with a local teen about the film and Indian movies during the intermission. (Yep, they have an intermission). Gabbar is an antihero fighting corruption and kicking ass. And in India there is a lot of corruption. It's strange how everyone knows about it but it's just accepted openly. Of course Gabbar is fighting the cause with martial arts and wit and charm. The audience would cheer and holler. And when the musical numbers started... (yep!)... I laughed out loud. I can only imagine a musical number busting out in the middle of FURIOUS 7 or DIE HARD. It would be amazing.
After that the sick started and I headed to the airport and the rest is history. (I actually sat next to a really cool Indian gal on the 16 hour flight and we talked a lot. It was fun to have one final perspective on India).
Which brings me to the end of this grand journey. It was fabulous. It was challenging. It was crazy. It was amazing. And here are some final thoughts which may or may not have been mentioned before in no particular order about this faraway land...(12 1/2 hour time difference from LA). Man the jet-lag is fierce!
I.N.D.I.A. --
Some joke that it stands for: I'd never do it again.
I've yet to return to any foreign country which I have visited. But there isn't any that I would blacklist. India isn't easy, but that doesn't mean it's not worth going. In fact, quite the opposite.
ASK ONE QUESTION: GET 5 ANSWERS.
If you have a question and you ask more than one person, you will get different answers from everyone. I'm not kidding. You need directions: 5 answers. You need to know the price of things: 5 answers. The second class train journey above, I got SEVEN completely different directions on how to get to my final destination. Somehow you have to sort it out and trust your gut. You might end up where you want to be, you might not.
ENGLISH ISN'T ACTUALLY THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
I was led to believe that English is spoken everywhere in India. And it is... sort of. But truthfully, most people only speak a little English. And if they do their vocabulary is usually limited to the particular profession which they work. This is a lot like Thailand, where the tourist circles can speak of that but nothing else. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this. A country should speak the language they do. They don't have to speak English to make it easy for tourists. Indian's also have a tendency to jump to conclusions when you're talking to them. This sounds like a gross stereotype, but the number of times I wouldn't even get my question out before a conclusion was given was amazing. And the amount of times I had to repeat myself to the same person bordered on the absurd sometimes. But as with all of India, keep your cool and just keep trying. Eventually you'll be able to communicate.... usually.
CULTURE SHOCK
I'm sure it's evident from all these emails, but the culture shock in India is significant. In fact, of the 37 countries I've been to, it is by far the most "foreign". The most unusual from where I live in the USA. (And I live in California! Which is already weird! Lol). The list of differences is so long I could fill a book with them. The one that keeps popping out is how people will just stare at you... from 3 - 5 feet away. Just stand right in front of you and stare. Nothing weird about that. The notion of personal space is just different. People are always on top of each other.
POVERTY IS EVERYWHERE...
I was asked for money so many times per day it was an automatic response to just say "No" and walk away. Occasionally people would grab my shirt or pants and I would say "NO." and Hold up my hand, waving them away. It sounds disrespectful, but that's how it's done. I was asked by people who were dressed the same as anyone else, and I was asked by people whose lives must be so hard, that it was very difficult for me not to give anything. There were kids who just begged. And then there were kids who pretended to be crippled by crawling around the train station. (Trust me, they weren't). And then there were the people who really were. Broken legs. Mishappen feet or arms. Missing limbs. And the saddest one of all: at the Delhi station a woman was totally scarred. Her face burned, an eye missing. Her arms and neck stretched and scarred. (It especially makes me sad because in some villages if a girl refuses the advances of a man, he and his friends might throw acid on her so that no one else will want her. I think this might have happened to this woman and it broke my heart).
NOTHING IS ON TIME
Look, just because your train leaves on time doesn't mean it will reach its destination on time. In fact, it's a guarantee it will not. Flights, cars. Only movies started on time: I guess that's true everywhere. (Except the one they just didn't run because the only audience was me and I arrived just as it was supposed to start.) It's called INDIA TIME, and it's best to go with the flow. Your 4 hour train will take 7. The office will open at noon (or maybe it's 12:15). The temple closes at 10 (today it's 10:20). Go with the flow and it'll all be good.
TRAFFIC IS INSANE...
I don't know what the rules of the road are in India. But I can tell you they are terrifying. At first. (And they continued to be for the most part). But I think the lack of rules makes everyone pay more attention. No one is texting while driving there, I can guarantee you that. Perhaps we should pay more attention and not expect everyone to follow the rules and do what we want them too. Everyone is on their own path anyway.
THE RULES ARE DIFFERENT...
From the USA anyway. Which, I'd like to point out, doesn't necessarily make them wrong. Just different. And it's not up to India to make it easy for travelers. India will do what India will do.
HOLY COW...
Yes, it's true. Cows are holy. In in most of the places I went cows and bulls could wander where they want, sit where they want and shit where they want. It's a strange experience to come around the corner in a narrow, twisty alley and come face to face with a 2,000 pound bull which almost blocks the entire lane. I stopped. It looked at me with indifference as it chewed the food left for it. I slipped between it and the wall, stepped over it's droppings and was on my way.
THE ENERGY IS EVERYWHERE
WIth all the people, all the festivals, all the food, the music, the traffic, the activity, the whole place is moving. And it's in your face. India is not for the timid. It will push you and challenge you. It did me. This was one of the most baffling places I've ever been. But it's awesome too. Unusual, unique, strange and fabulous. India is like no place I've been and if you really want to be someplace different... go to India.
SPIRITUALITY...
Well, as I mentioned in the last email. I didn't find it to be more "spiritual" than other places I've been. Yeah, there are a thousand festival and a million gods and a gazillion temples, but that doesn't make it more "spiritual", that just means it has a complex religious structure that is different from most places in the world. Thus some might call it more "spiritual". And if it is to you, that's awesome. We all find the power of something "more" from different things, and maybe you'll find it here.
RELIGION...
At a train station on the way to Shimla, painted in the tile, was this:
"The Allah of Islam is the same
As the God of Christians
And the Iswar of Hindus".
In Kerala, in the south, all religions live harmoniously together. They have for centuries. There is no fighting.
In Mumbai there are occasional riots where Hindu's beat Muslim's to death with clubs.
There are dozens of religions throughout India. Maybe even hundreds.
Some people get what religion is. Some people don't. It's just like anywhere in that reguard.
PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE
Yes, It's that crowded. Yes there is a crush of people here that I've rarely seen. There are cities on mountains, and traffic jams that make LA look like it's the countryside. But you can find isolation if you want. On a ghat late at night. On a mountain top in the Himalaya. Even in fields along train tracks (but watch out for the people taking dumps nearby).
The whole place is fabulous and frustrating, beautiful and ugly, mesmerizing and baffling, filthy and pristine. It's a land of contradictions and a land that is so complex that a single trip would never be enough to understand it. I don't pretend to. Which brings up something Anna said in Varanasi. I paraphrase, but she asked: why does it matter to understand something? Does it have to make logical sense? Maybe it's just about being there, in the moment, and feeling it. Not understanding it. But FEELING it. If you try to make sense of it, it's just going to drive you crazy.
So in the end I think that's the only thing you can do with India.
Feel it.
The good. The bad. The ugly. The beautiful.
FEEL it.
After all, it's India!
This is Craig Ouellette,
last surviving crew member of the Nostromo
Signing off.
Yep, my last meal in India slammed me good. By the time I got to the airport at 1 AM I could barely stand. I was shaking. I felt nauseous. I was short of breath. Both arms starting tingling and feeling numb. People looked at me in line to check in for the flight and asked "Are you alright?"
"No. Not good. Not good at all. I ate something bad."
"Bad food in India? No way." one guy said.
I finally got my bag checked and puked in the bathroom... and then I was mostly okay. When I got on the plane they had a doctor come give me some anti-nausea medicine and ginger ale and by the time I reached Abu Dhabi and got on the 16 hour flight back to LA I felt fine. Whew. India had to have one last laugh I guess!
After my 2 day OSHO adventure I was ready to be back on the road. In the "real India". So I left my hotel at 10am and took a tuk-tuk to the the train station. I was determined to take a Second class / Non-reserved train ride while I was here. And this was my last chance. The plane leaves at 4am tonight. Immediately after driving away from OSHO I felt India flood back in. Crazy traffic, honking horns, dust, dirt, trash. Ahhh, India! Good to see you again! I bought my Un-reserved ticket, and was the only non-Indian within sight. Everyone stared at me. (But what's new, it's India!). And after some very confusing directions about how I would actually get to my destination, I was standing on the platform in the 102 degree heat watching the train roll in.
Now, unreserved is that class of train travel where as many people as possible squeeze into a train car. There's no assigned seats and no limit to the number of people. It's the train car you have seen in pictures where people ride on the roof because there's no space inside and it's hot as hell. As the train came to a stop people would run next to the car, grab the handle and jump on. Shoving each other out of the way. I had my trusty rolling bag and joined the fray. The first guy shoved me out of the way, but I pushed another guy back, grabbed the handle and lept aboard.
The irony is the train actually stops after this. But people push in to grab seats, climb up and sit on the luggage racks, or whatever they can do. I just stayed in the entry corridor because it has a cross breeze and was there the whole trip. This was good except for the two stations we stopped out where everyone had to file my direction of the train to get on and off.
The first half of the 4 hour trip was nice. A good breeze. Not too hot as we went over mountains (surprising to me) on our way from Pune to Mumbai. It's 120 km and hazy, smokey and dusty the whole way. I actually think almost all of India (except Kerala) seems to be hazy, smokey and dusty. I was told it was due to pollution, or fires or dust or...
The second half of the trip was hot hot hot as we descended into Mumbai: aka Trash city. I'm not kidding you, I've never seen so much trash piled along the sides of the railroad tracks, next to the shanties, along the rivers, IN the rivers. Like islands of stinky garbage. It was pretty intense. (As was the smell. Especially at night, driving to the airport, there was 10 minutes of the drive that was like going through rot. It was awful. And I was feeling nauseous already. So.... whew).
Once we got past the outskirts the trash let up a little bit, and once we got to the center there was very little trash (well, no more than normal here). Getting into town required hopping off this train and being led by a nice India gal who had been on my train. She took me past the absolutely obnoxious cab drivers who would not go away and wanted Rs1,000 to take me to downtown. She took me to the local train which cost: Rs10. Yep. So I piled into a car that was jam packed like a mosh pit and rode another 25 minutes to Victoria Terminus. If you've seen "Slumdog Millionaire" you've seen this place. (Jai ho!). On the ride people would just stare at me. I mean STARE. I'd smile or nod and a few would do the same, but some never stopped staring. I know, a non-Indian on a local train. Crazy!
On my un-reserved ride I talked to a number of people. Everyone was confused about me being there. One guy couldn't believe I'd traveled all over India for a month. "It's so dangerous". I was also made fun of by these three men/women who wanted money simple because they were neither a man nor a woman. (This was never explained well, but I think they were hermaphrodites.) Some people gave them money. The one just stood a foot away from me on the crowded train and made fun of me. I knew she was because people were laughing as she kept trying to get money from me. Kept poking my arm and saying things. I didn't pay her. (I didn't pay hardly anyone who begged while I was in India.) It was very uncomfortable to be trapped in a moving train car with someone making fun of me and also being a bit threatening. (It occured to me that would be a great place for a horror scene to take place. There's no way out. Thank god the zombie apocalypse didn't hit right then!)
Mumbai was fun, but I was tired and it was hot. I unkowingly ate the doomed dinner and then said. "Well, it's my last night in India. What should I do?" And did what anyone would... I went to the movies!
I saw "GABBAR IS BACK" an Indian action film in Hindi with no subtitles. It was fabulously fun, and I was actually able to follow most of what was going on. Occasionally a line would be in English which helped. I talked with a local teen about the film and Indian movies during the intermission. (Yep, they have an intermission). Gabbar is an antihero fighting corruption and kicking ass. And in India there is a lot of corruption. It's strange how everyone knows about it but it's just accepted openly. Of course Gabbar is fighting the cause with martial arts and wit and charm. The audience would cheer and holler. And when the musical numbers started... (yep!)... I laughed out loud. I can only imagine a musical number busting out in the middle of FURIOUS 7 or DIE HARD. It would be amazing.
After that the sick started and I headed to the airport and the rest is history. (I actually sat next to a really cool Indian gal on the 16 hour flight and we talked a lot. It was fun to have one final perspective on India).
Which brings me to the end of this grand journey. It was fabulous. It was challenging. It was crazy. It was amazing. And here are some final thoughts which may or may not have been mentioned before in no particular order about this faraway land...(12 1/2 hour time difference from LA). Man the jet-lag is fierce!
I.N.D.I.A. --
Some joke that it stands for: I'd never do it again.
I've yet to return to any foreign country which I have visited. But there isn't any that I would blacklist. India isn't easy, but that doesn't mean it's not worth going. In fact, quite the opposite.
ASK ONE QUESTION: GET 5 ANSWERS.
If you have a question and you ask more than one person, you will get different answers from everyone. I'm not kidding. You need directions: 5 answers. You need to know the price of things: 5 answers. The second class train journey above, I got SEVEN completely different directions on how to get to my final destination. Somehow you have to sort it out and trust your gut. You might end up where you want to be, you might not.
ENGLISH ISN'T ACTUALLY THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
I was led to believe that English is spoken everywhere in India. And it is... sort of. But truthfully, most people only speak a little English. And if they do their vocabulary is usually limited to the particular profession which they work. This is a lot like Thailand, where the tourist circles can speak of that but nothing else. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this. A country should speak the language they do. They don't have to speak English to make it easy for tourists. Indian's also have a tendency to jump to conclusions when you're talking to them. This sounds like a gross stereotype, but the number of times I wouldn't even get my question out before a conclusion was given was amazing. And the amount of times I had to repeat myself to the same person bordered on the absurd sometimes. But as with all of India, keep your cool and just keep trying. Eventually you'll be able to communicate.... usually.
CULTURE SHOCK
I'm sure it's evident from all these emails, but the culture shock in India is significant. In fact, of the 37 countries I've been to, it is by far the most "foreign". The most unusual from where I live in the USA. (And I live in California! Which is already weird! Lol). The list of differences is so long I could fill a book with them. The one that keeps popping out is how people will just stare at you... from 3 - 5 feet away. Just stand right in front of you and stare. Nothing weird about that. The notion of personal space is just different. People are always on top of each other.
POVERTY IS EVERYWHERE...
I was asked for money so many times per day it was an automatic response to just say "No" and walk away. Occasionally people would grab my shirt or pants and I would say "NO." and Hold up my hand, waving them away. It sounds disrespectful, but that's how it's done. I was asked by people who were dressed the same as anyone else, and I was asked by people whose lives must be so hard, that it was very difficult for me not to give anything. There were kids who just begged. And then there were kids who pretended to be crippled by crawling around the train station. (Trust me, they weren't). And then there were the people who really were. Broken legs. Mishappen feet or arms. Missing limbs. And the saddest one of all: at the Delhi station a woman was totally scarred. Her face burned, an eye missing. Her arms and neck stretched and scarred. (It especially makes me sad because in some villages if a girl refuses the advances of a man, he and his friends might throw acid on her so that no one else will want her. I think this might have happened to this woman and it broke my heart).
NOTHING IS ON TIME
Look, just because your train leaves on time doesn't mean it will reach its destination on time. In fact, it's a guarantee it will not. Flights, cars. Only movies started on time: I guess that's true everywhere. (Except the one they just didn't run because the only audience was me and I arrived just as it was supposed to start.) It's called INDIA TIME, and it's best to go with the flow. Your 4 hour train will take 7. The office will open at noon (or maybe it's 12:15). The temple closes at 10 (today it's 10:20). Go with the flow and it'll all be good.
TRAFFIC IS INSANE...
I don't know what the rules of the road are in India. But I can tell you they are terrifying. At first. (And they continued to be for the most part). But I think the lack of rules makes everyone pay more attention. No one is texting while driving there, I can guarantee you that. Perhaps we should pay more attention and not expect everyone to follow the rules and do what we want them too. Everyone is on their own path anyway.
THE RULES ARE DIFFERENT...
From the USA anyway. Which, I'd like to point out, doesn't necessarily make them wrong. Just different. And it's not up to India to make it easy for travelers. India will do what India will do.
HOLY COW...
Yes, it's true. Cows are holy. In in most of the places I went cows and bulls could wander where they want, sit where they want and shit where they want. It's a strange experience to come around the corner in a narrow, twisty alley and come face to face with a 2,000 pound bull which almost blocks the entire lane. I stopped. It looked at me with indifference as it chewed the food left for it. I slipped between it and the wall, stepped over it's droppings and was on my way.
THE ENERGY IS EVERYWHERE
WIth all the people, all the festivals, all the food, the music, the traffic, the activity, the whole place is moving. And it's in your face. India is not for the timid. It will push you and challenge you. It did me. This was one of the most baffling places I've ever been. But it's awesome too. Unusual, unique, strange and fabulous. India is like no place I've been and if you really want to be someplace different... go to India.
SPIRITUALITY...
Well, as I mentioned in the last email. I didn't find it to be more "spiritual" than other places I've been. Yeah, there are a thousand festival and a million gods and a gazillion temples, but that doesn't make it more "spiritual", that just means it has a complex religious structure that is different from most places in the world. Thus some might call it more "spiritual". And if it is to you, that's awesome. We all find the power of something "more" from different things, and maybe you'll find it here.
RELIGION...
At a train station on the way to Shimla, painted in the tile, was this:
"The Allah of Islam is the same
As the God of Christians
And the Iswar of Hindus".
In Kerala, in the south, all religions live harmoniously together. They have for centuries. There is no fighting.
In Mumbai there are occasional riots where Hindu's beat Muslim's to death with clubs.
There are dozens of religions throughout India. Maybe even hundreds.
Some people get what religion is. Some people don't. It's just like anywhere in that reguard.
PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE
Yes, It's that crowded. Yes there is a crush of people here that I've rarely seen. There are cities on mountains, and traffic jams that make LA look like it's the countryside. But you can find isolation if you want. On a ghat late at night. On a mountain top in the Himalaya. Even in fields along train tracks (but watch out for the people taking dumps nearby).
The whole place is fabulous and frustrating, beautiful and ugly, mesmerizing and baffling, filthy and pristine. It's a land of contradictions and a land that is so complex that a single trip would never be enough to understand it. I don't pretend to. Which brings up something Anna said in Varanasi. I paraphrase, but she asked: why does it matter to understand something? Does it have to make logical sense? Maybe it's just about being there, in the moment, and feeling it. Not understanding it. But FEELING it. If you try to make sense of it, it's just going to drive you crazy.
So in the end I think that's the only thing you can do with India.
Feel it.
The good. The bad. The ugly. The beautiful.
FEEL it.
After all, it's India!
This is Craig Ouellette,
last surviving crew member of the Nostromo
Signing off.
No comments:
Post a Comment