Life is the path you beat while you walk it

The above words of wisdom by poet Antonio Machado somehow describe our journey, we think. The route that we actually have travelled (bottom of this post) differs ... quite a bit from the one we initially had in mind (see first post of September). Erlend says this is only good, as it shows that we have indeed travelled where we really have wanted to go. Making a plan does not mean that it has to be kept all the way but that the NOW always invites new opportunities, he says. Trond accords. Here in Calangute, Goa there are still no huge hotels. Add to it the effects of global recession and you get a very quiet, easygoing atmosphere that suits us at this point. Our nervous systems have no doubt taken a beating by traveling about by trains, cars, motorbikes and three-wheelers. In about two weeks we return to Scandinavia from Delhi. Until then we may as well remain here. Here is why:

Calangute Beach, Goa

So long.

The updated map that shows where we actually have traveled, click on it for a closer look.

Robbed at gunpoint

We were robbed twice on the day actually. The first one was kind of ... sweet. We were shopping for water near the Yamuna river at Vrindavan on Wednesday when the shopkeeper suddenly pointed to Trond's spectacles and said something in Hindi about being careful and monkey. In a split of a second something very fast grabbed the spectacles off Trond's nose and they were gone. High up in a tree outside of the shop a monkey showed them off and even took bite of one of their tips, as to inform us both of the potential barter item -- food -- and what would happen to the specs if we did not get the drift. Then the men there went through their routine and threw up bisquites to the animal who landed the specs gracefully into the hands of a person on the ground from about 7-8 meters up. Apparently this sort of thing is very common in Vrindavan and elsewhere, the monekeys are very shrewd – and do you know the people there are taking after them, the guy who threw up food to the moneky also wanted money from us!

Monkey-bitten, still usable

The second robbery was more sinister. It took place a short while later when we had wandered bit along the very peaceful banks of the Yamuna onto a particularly charming area where there were only a few cows and occaisonal some herdswomen. Suddenly two men popped out from behind shouting that they had "moneyproblem" with one of them producing something that looked like an old pistol to us and pointed it towards us. Trond thought it must be a fake and started to quarrel with them. The man without a gun, who looked a bit strong, searched Erlend's pockets and took whatever money he found there and a neck silver chain. The man with the gun and Trond got into a physical squabble and a shot was fired directly at Trond from some five meters. Either it missed or the gun was fake but Trond got worried that they also may have knives. So he too gave up whatever money he had but refused to let them have the mobile and passports. By now the robbery had lasted a few minutes and it seemed the robbers were satisfied with the cash they had managed to extract so they started a retreat into a nearby village and went on to to run. We ran after them and they again pointed the gun at us so we decided to leave it there.

Between robberies on the banks of Yamuna

Afterwards we proceeded to a nearby police station only a few minutes away to file a report. They took Erlend on a bike down to the river to determine where the incident had taken place. On way the sub-inspector halted a few times to beat up taxi drivers who carried too many passengers with them. He had a large stick whch he used most actively for that purpose. When this devoted policeman finally reached the river much nearer to the city than where the robbery actually had taken place he promptly decided that the spot where we had been robbed was outside of his geographical jurisdiction. He simply let Erlend off the bike and adviced him to take the matter to another station accross the river and told him to walk back on foot to the police station where Trond waited. We then decided it was better for us not to trouble the police with the matter. The only useful thing we got from our visit to the police was an information from a guard there who said one should walk in a group of at least four or five persons when visiting the Yamuna river in these places, never go alone or only two as it is a dangerous place. But we had not seen any posters or notices about it and the hotel personel also did not warn us when we had asked them about directions in the morning.

Well, we are safely back in Delhi now frm where we will fly to Goa tomorrow. When visiting Singapore and Malaysia earlier we rested very well and thoroughly enjoyed the tropical climate and environment. The island of Pangkor in Malaysia had dreamline beaches where we swam; the rest of it was easygoing, most and beautiful and cheap. Back in Singapore we could relax with margiis and even go for a tremendous morning walk in a particularly rolling natural area at the highest point of Singapore, very nice before returning to India. So long.

Silent witnesses

Post Varanasi

Varanasi (Benares, Kashi) is an ancient town with a rich spiritual history. It is said that if you die there you will not need to be reborn and a dip in Ganges there will earn you the same. But to tell you the truth, Ganges looks so much more inviting much further up, north of Rishikesh where we were earlier, than at Varanasi these days. On the whole we were not enchanted. The pressure on foreign tourists is just huge here, there isn't a place where you are left in peace for touts who want to take you to hotels or into their shops. Then the annual Mahaotsva music festival that we had been looking forward to. But we found it wasn't up to our expectations; mediocre musicians, singers and dancers. The quality was so much more better at the annual Soorya festival in Thiiruvananthapuram in Kerala the month before, from what we could understand. But that is only our poor understanding.

Anyway, after six eventful and momentous weeks in many parts of India we took stock -- and left for Malaysia where we are now; in sweet Ipoh north of the capital Kuala Lumpur (KL). Today we visited the Gua Tempurung cave, which is really awesome, the biggest cave in these parts of the world. It was a huge experience of what nature is able to create, an immense internal mountainous world. Try to see a video on YouTube or go to the homepage.

On Monday Nov 9 we visited the Batu caves outside KL. That was a big spiritual experience, a fantastic natural temple in the form of huge caves with various internal domes. Most probablyHindu mystics have meditated there since ancient times and these days there are South Indian temples and observances there. Breathtaking! Once upon a time the India Reich stretched down South East Asia to include Thailand (Siam is a localized form of Shyam Desh which means "The Land of Krishna"), and all the way down to Singhapur ("Lion City") and beyond. All you people who travel to Thailand, beware if you meet the king there because he will speak with you only in Sanskrit. Now, today the Chinese have made their definite stamp on Malaysia, where they conduct much of the business of everyday life, while the Malay people are taking care of govt. and municipal administration; that's what we've been told anyway.

Malaysia is soooo green and fresh and well kept. The roads we've seen are better than Scandinavia's and it is a pleasure to travel here -- so much less stressful than in India, which is really a difficult country to move in mostly due to the acute overpopulation and lack of govt. control, or should we say interest, in ordinary peoples life and circumstances, most probably.

Tomorrow we will visit the island of Pangkor, which is a coastal resort, and stay there a couple of days before returning to Singapore, where we flew in from Delhi, to return to India next week.

Oh, for those of you who are interested in pure vegetarian food we forgot to mention one thing: In these parts of the world we get delicious pure vegetarian food at Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. They are everywhere and they don't mix onions, garlic and eggs into their preparations. We only have to choose dishes without mushroom -- and it is a feast every time! With lots of lightly woked greens and other veggies, steamed, fried and what not tofu, mock duck, sweet and sour pork, fish, etc., everything vegetarian and very TASTY in all sorts of sauces of various colors and hues! The selections of fresh fruit drinks and other delicious sentient fluids are also overwhelming. Nice kitchen! The Indian restaurants here in Malaysia and in Singapore are also much better at our kind of food than those in India itself, we find. Here the Indians really listen and prepare properly, while the standard in India has gone down much in recent years. Most restaurants in India who advertise "PURE VEGETARIAN" are not at all pure and offer non-veg as well. The lowest point came in Chennai where we were attracted by a posh looking establishment advertising "Jain food" which is really the epitome of pure vegetarian food in India. But what we were served there was full of onion and garlic. So we had to scold them for both degrading the noble Jain tradition as well as not respecting our humble wishes, and ended up with something a bit poor after having had to wait for some time more.

So long.

Jamalpur

The small city of Jamalpur in Munger District, Bihar is the birthplace of Baba, the founder and Guru of Ananda Marga, It is therefore a place of is of great significance and joy to margiis. Being the home to the biggest railway workshop in South East Asia is Jamalpur's other claim to fame.

For a spiritual practitioner this place is a wonderworld. In the field and hills above the city saints and developed yogis have performed meditation for hundreds and thousands of years. Hence Jamalpur is a highly vibrated place well suited for spiritual pursuits. If you don't know what "a good place for meditation" means it could be likened to the difference bwetween ice cold water and nice warm water for swimmers, or a proper learning environment and a good teacher for education, etc. Anyone who performs sports, arts, etc., at higher levels knows the difference between highly conducive and less helpful environments, and so do those who perform spiritual meditation. Of course, as meditation is inner work it can be performed anywhere irrespective of the immediate surroundings in one's daily life . Anyway, after coming here Erlend suggested we stay on for some days more so that we may properly enjoy the atmosphere as well as the company of the margiis here who had the privilege of knowing Baba intimately. We therefore abandoned our plans for the Rajgir arts festival in order to devote ourselves more to spiritual sightseeing and the company of devotees at Jamalpur.

It is the third time that Trond visits Jamalpur. One thing he noticed this time is how much damage to the environment the mining of the hills in the area have done. Much of the Death Valley and large chunks of the hills at the north end of the field including parts of the ascendence to Kali Pahar (Kali Hill) have been blowed away in recent months and years. Soon the whole landscape may be gone if this large-scale demolition is allowed to continue.

On Sunday October 25 we went into Death Valley as it is called owing to a story of a mass slaughter by one army of another a long time ago. The valley's fearful atmosphere is famous and locals advise against entering the valley after dark -- it is thought to be haunted by the souls of those who were closed in here to meet a cruel death once upon a time. Desolate Death Valley is therefore a favourite place for tantrikas who prefer to meditate in peace at night. We chose early morning as our time of entering and truly enjoyed our walk up through the valley in splendid solitude. Finally a lonely, most natural and unpolluted place in India, teeming with flowers, butterflies and sing-song birds! After first having passed the areas destroyed by mining we came into the other half of the valley, untouched and verdant. Midway we sat in the shade of a big tree for meditation. Out at the other end we were greeted with stunning views of undulating hills and vast agricultural fields to the north-east of Jamalpur, and, to the right of the rear of the valley, breathtaking view of Jamalpur city and its surroundings, much more impressive view than from Kali Pahar. It takes about 30 minutes to walk up Death Valley, an effort richly rewarded with deep silence, calm, natural beauty and the breathtaking view of the Gangetic plain around Jamalpur. Be sure to set aside a public holiday such as Sunday for coming here as weekdays are cordoned off -- and there aren't any street lights to brighten up the nights in this valley.

Atop Kali Pahar 

At the mouth of Death Valley when entering from Jamalpur railwaybridge and the lake below Kali Pahar there is a large old tamarind tree that also attracts spiritual interest. It is another most wonderful spot to which we shall return for night meditation.

Under the tamarind tree 

As you probably understand by now Jamalpur is something of a fairytale land for the spiritual thirsty. On Saturday we ascended the Kali Pahar for meditation at Baba's spot there and enjoyed the grand views both over Jamalpur town and the interior jungle stretching far into the north. Earlier we had walked on the field beneath the hill where Baba used to go ever so often. Back then it was more of an outskirt, even wild terrain but these days most of the field with the Tiger's Grave and other remarkable spots and tantra piithas has been turned into a golf course! It is surreal to sit down on the grave and on any other spot there to be surrounded by eager golfers who seem to be in dire need of a green card crash course most of them ;)

Tiger's Grave in the field above Jamalpur town 

For those of you who have no idea of the "Tiger's Grave" it harks back to the year 1864 when a tiger and an Englishman both died in their mutual clash as a result of their encounter there. The tiger's grave was a favourite sitting place for Baba where he brought many disciples and performed various works. The Englishman's grave is just a few meters away.

The Englishman's grave 

The inscription on the Englishman's grave 

Nothwithstanding the various encroachments upon the legacy of Baba and other spiritualists of the area, the sweet powerful vibrations of blessed Jamalpur remain very obious to visitors. The Ananda Marga jagrti must be one of the biggest in the world. The spacious meditation hall with its rich accoustics make Sunday Dharmacakra a great experience with around 60 local devotees in attendance. Baba's small room on the original 1950s tiny establishment is the definite place for meditation where very little effort is needed other than closing the eyes.

Accross the street of the jagrti Ananda Marga runs a school with some 75 children.

Too late for admission here 

The present principal is Acarya Mantracaetanyananda took very good care of us. We can only recommend margiis to come here regularly. Best times for visiting: September/October to February/March, as the summer months are very hot. When you have arrived be sure to arrange for a guided tour so that you can familiarize yourself with all significant places, like the ones we mentioned, Baba's birthplace, the office where he worked, his living quarters after marriage, the interesting corridor from those quarters to the jagrti, etc., and then have ample time for yourself to enjoy your favourite spots for days and nights together!

Erlend and Acarya Mantracaetanyananda Avadhuta,
Principal of the Ananda Marga Primary School at Jamalpur

Tuesday night we will unfortunately leave Jamalpur for the great arts festival in Varanasi, Shiva's city. So long.

Happy Diipavali!

On Saturday Oct 17 we celebrated Diipavali in Bhuvaneshvar in the state of Orissa. Diipavali is perhaps the greatest festival in India celebrated over many days with great intensity culminating on the main night in an inferno of fireworks and bombs that last from sunset around 6 pm to midnight. It is very difficult to have a normal conversation during those hours due to the unbelievable noise and incessant fireworking. Those who only had the experience of a western new year's celebration should really try this one! We enjoyed it from the roof of the jagrti building in Bhuvaneshvar, a large three storey building that houses an Ananda Marga pre-school and organisational activities here. Diipavali means "row of lamps" and all homes, buildings, etc are decorated with lamps. The typical home decoration is rows of tiny oil lamps and elsewhere electrical arrangements have made much forray. As we write it is Thursday and still explosions are heard here and there in most places in India.

Earlier on Saturday we had visited Konark and Puri by a friend's car. The suntemple at Konark is huge, a tourist magnet famous for its erotic scultpures on the temple walls. The entire construct is a massive wagon on many colossal wheels drawn by huge creatures, a magnificent tribute to the sun. We did not like though that we had to pay 25 times as much for the entrance fee as the Indians have to. The authorities have made such rules at many sights in India, they make foreigners pay a whole lot more. It seems the taxi drivers follow up on it even as they just don't accept normal pay from us. A breach with the traditional Indian hospitality methinks. In Puri we were simply outdone by the massive Hindu crowd that were out burning straws ("their karma?") and doing other rituals at the Jagannath temple, so we never made it up to the temple walls there. Not a big problem as foreigners are not allowed inside that temple anyway. Walking on the beach of the Bay of Bengal at Puri was grand and very refreshing in the hot afternoon. Te Indian families know how to bath together, playing and enjoying in the waves like anything! On way we also managed to climb a hill outside of Bhuvaneshvar where there is a spectacular view from a Buddhist peace pagoda constructed by the Japanese we heard in memory of some Hindu royal who had converted to Buddhism. The vast landscape stretching out in numerous ricefields and other crops is just so green these days right after the monsoon. A very beautiful sight.

At the Japanes pagoda 

At Konark

Found a new friend at Konark

Orissa is a beautiful coastal state and like most of the other eastern areas it is very poor. The contrast between the serene, colourful landscapes and the devastating poverty is really ugly. The exploitative forces that keeps sucking the wealth of these poor states are generally found in western parts of the country and abroad. As a consequence of its huge exploitation India is a remarkebly apathetic and at the same time radicalized country. Nothing is hidden here, the multiplicity of Indian life is also found in its soco-economic, political and cultural spheres. Typically in the airport of Hyderabad there are piles and long racks of books on poverty, ecological democracy, upirisings, leftist politics, and works by thinker and activists such as Vandana Shiva and Arundhati Roy, along with the timepassing literature usually found throughout the world's airport lounges. We had never seen such an amount of radical literature in an airport before.

The freshness of the Bay of Bengal, at Puri

By coming there we have deviated from our original travel plan, which we thought we would do at some point. The reason for our deviation was a visit to a homeopathic doctor recommended to us. We visited him and his family on Sunday 18 Oct in Banth village a few hours from here. A trip into the quiet, beautiful interiors and not the least to the traditional hospitality of rural India. Were we taken care of! The love, care, smiles, simplicity. The lost treasures of contemporary urban life, not to speak of western individualist society.

Monday we did Bhuvaneshvar city. We saw some exquisite example of the local Kalinga temple style with wonderfully balanced architecture and graceful ornamentation and figurines. We weren't allowed inside the Lingaraj Shiva-temple by a young Brahmin boy. One wonders how long the exploitative upper castes of India can hold on to their horrible positions of supremacy. We also visited an area of Jain caves. Tuesday (yesterday) we left for Patna, which wasn't on our plan either. Originally we had thought to go by train up to Jamalpur but most recent hard political violence en route in the states of West Bengal, Jharkandh and Bihar has made us think differently. Even in Munger next to Jamalpur Maoists last week burned a railway station. They have destroyed rail tracks and public buildings in many places along where we were supposed to travel. It is not difficult to understand why peasants ("Maoists") in those areas are desperate; the explotation is extreme. They therefore have our sympathy and understanding but we don't want to be involved in violent troubles just like that. We arrived safely in the grand Ananda Marga jagrti in the blessed city of Jamalpur last night, Here we will do plenty of meditation an enjoy the company of great spiritual people. So long.

Everyday yoga and meditation is a good way

to spend holidays and everyday life as well

Hyderabad, and some previous stuff

Coming into the state of Andhra Pradesh we got the feeling that we are leaving the deep south and getting the whiff of north India again. The Muslim rule in this area lasted right up to 1948 when the people launched a movement to join the rest of the newly independent Indian union. The state capital Hyderabad teems with large and beautiful expressions of Muslim architecture. Many of the large public buildings like the High Court look like Muslim palaces. In the inner city area of Charminar the Muslim population is 70%. Taking a walk around there in the evening is like being in an Arab country -- wonderful bazaar ambiance! But one also remembers having read horrible descriptions of communal unrest that are not uncommon right here, and one shudders of what may be happening here again in a not too distant future if these difficulties are not sorted out permanently.

Erlend at Golconda fort, Hyderabad

Golconda fort is an enormous establishment within Hyderabad. It is now mostly a ruin. From the top, quite high!, one enjoys a spectacular view of Hyderabad city and its surrounding, which seemed to us mostly a pleasant green landscape. We also visited the Salar Jung museum where we saw astounding ivory works and wood carvings, amongst so many other items.

In this area too organisations are busy rendering relief work. Today we met with Gyandev who heads the AMURT work from here. He is doing heroic work, distributing whatever foods, drinking water, bathing soap, and other minimum necessities that he can get hold of. After the recent floods hundreds are dead, nearly a million have become homeless in this state of Tamil Nadu and in north Karnataka. It hadn't rained like this in a hundred years here. The rain seems to have stopped now. Before it rained the people only experienced drought. This year the monsoon was very minimal throughout India and there is food shortages with food prices skyrocketing everywhere.

At Vivekananda Rock, Kanyakumari

In India it is not always easy to get an Internet connection. So we're behind on giving you some more photos. When in Trivandrum we went down to Kanyakumari, which is the southernmost tip of India. Three oceans meet there: the Bay of Bengal, the Arab Sea, and the Indian Ocean. A few meters off shore we visited Vivekananda Rock where there is a temple and some other memorials of this national hero saint who visited the USA and did much work in India to generate national religious consciousness. Nowadays it is tourist place and we only spent a few hours there before returning to Trivandrum.

Outside the Vishnu temple in Thiruvanthapuram

Foreigners do not have access to many Vishnu-temples in India. Here Erlend stands outside the biggest Vishnu-temple in Thiruvananthapuram. But finally, in Mysore, we were allowed inside one and it was nice to see an ancient Vishnu-temple from inside there.

Us at the beginning of the journey, in Delhi on day 1, 22 Sept. 2009

Lastly, a picture taken by Trond (right) of us both, on our first day in India, in front of some old protected monument at Malviya Nagar, Delhi. This is more than three weeks ago. Since then Erlend the sweetmeat explorer has gained a couple of kilos -- but he is still underweight -- while Trond has shed about seven kilos and is approaching something that would be considered normal. We have decided to take a similar photo on that spot on our last day in India mid December for the sake of documentation. That's all for now, all the best to you wherever you are!

In the Deep South

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) is the capital of Kerala, in the southernmost parts of India. It is warm and some places down here are humid too. We stayed with Acarya Sadashivananda in his ashram on the outskirts of town, where he runs a KG cum primary school for some 50 children. A very pleasant large garden property with tall coconut and other palm trees. It rained very hard some times during our stay. Hundreds of people lost their lives and very many more their homes in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states. The Ananda Marga people we stay with have therefore been busy in relief work. They are known for their expertise in removing dead bodies, cleaning out houses, distributing food stuffs, blankets, etc. -- not only in India but in most coastal south Asian countries especially after the 2006 tsunami. One night it rained so heavily that we could not go for the scheduled concert. Instead we listened throughout the night to the awesome drum beat of Mother Nature on the roof over our heads. Otherwise we attended two evenings of stunning vocal and dance performances at the Soorya festival here. The quality of classical south Indian art is something to be experienced, highly recommended! One day we visited Mysore, a historical royal city with a fantastic palace, grand temples, the vast Vrindavan gardens and other great sights. From Trivandrum we left for Bangalore and the AMURT relief HQs there where they were very busy rendering relief in areas hit hard by the rains, collecting funds amongst city people for the benefit of those suffering in the rural areas, etc. One night we were entertained at the home of Prabha, Sashirainjan and their two boys Dhyanesh and Devesh. We were much amazed by their level of education, which we found to be well beyond the Scandinavian. Devesh is 5 and spoke fluently with us in English and was able to show ample proof of his academic achievements in areas of writing, maths, etc. Dhyanesh rendered a beautiful song by Michael Jackson and played the keyboard very cleverly. We had a wonderful night with this most hospitable family. From Bengaluru (Bangalore) we left for Chennai (Madras) to attend the Ananda Marga Dharma Maha Sammelan (DMS) at a community hall there. It turned out a grand weekend with plenty of inspirational company of margiis from these parts of India, singing, dancing and meditating together, and listening to very good speeches by the spiritual head of the global Ananda Marga organization, the Purodha Pramukh. The food served at this meet three times a day was wonderful, south Indian specialties galore! We stayed at a nearby lodge and had a very good time indeed. Today we’re doing Chennai before leaving for Hyderabad tonight. It is very humid and well above 30 degrees here -- sweaty! From Hy'bad we will try to upload some more photos from the recent weeks for you. So long.