"B" as in Bombay

When I give people my name here, they always ask, "B as in Bombay?" and I confirm. When spelling my name (the next step) I've found myself saying things like, "T as in tabla," and I've realized I'm prepared to say things like "H as in Hanuman" (the monkey god) and "N as in Nehru." This corresponds with the fact that I'm feeling quite settled here in India (though I'll never accept widespread public urination), so much that I think some of the shine has worn off a little. I think this is a good thing, all a part of the process. There is less wonderment and awe, and I think that when we arrive in Bombay in nine short days I'll be ready to leave. I think.

We arrived back in Delhi this morning, after a twelve hour bus journey from Dharamsala. We payed more money for a "sleeper" but were unsure what that would look like, and prepared ourselves (as we always do) for the worst. It turns out that this bus has two levels. There are the usual two seats on each side of the aisle, but where there is usually a space for luggage, there are "bunks." Ambryn and I had a double which was considerably smaller than a twin bed. We were very thankful that we were sharing that imtimate space with each other and not a stranger. But this sort of intimacy is one of India's charms.

Rather than bringing us into the center of the city where we boarded, the bus dropped us off at a Tibetan refugee colony on the outskirts of town. As one fellow passenger said with a stone face, "Why would we expect that the bus would bring us where we want to go?" So we selected a dreaded rickshaw after being mobbed by about twelve of them and got in after we brought the price down by a third. Only a few meters down the road our ride was flagged down by "police" and after much scrambling for papers, much harrassment by the officers, about twenty minutes, and our driver looking quite depressed, we were off again. This feels like classic Delhi. We got to the NGO where we are staying but learned we can't check in for several hours. After washing our faces in the handwashing sinks in the cafeteria, applying deoderant in the stairwell, and trying to make ourselves presentable for the morning hours in this cosmopolitan city (in bus clothes we've been wearing for 24 hours) we realized that all of these factors combined with the fact that the place in which we are staying is a "social institute," has a chapel, involves coupons to eat, and has strict check-in and check-out times looks a lot like what "homelessness" looks like to many of the folks we've worked with in Chicago and Tacoma. We realized this with a lot of laughter. This is where we're at. A little ragged, but happy. Enjoying the adventure of it all, soaking it all up because the days go so quickly.

Parts of our off-season Goa travel (largely being a spectacle to North Indian men) and most of our Delhi travel kicked us around a little (but we've stayed level-headed through it all...I think we've managed to stay sane sometimes becuase of our ability to find the humor in ridiculous situations). We didn't really know where that Himachel Tours bus would bring us, but we knew it was out of the city and that felt good. Dharamsala, the home of the Tibetan goverment in Exile, was a true respite. We weren't able to have an audience with the Dalai Llama, but we did see his temple, tour the Tibetan museum, and tried to soak up as much of the place as we could. If and when we return to India, we both would really like to return and do some volunteer work to get a deeper sense of the community. The most refreshing part for us was that even though we were just passing through, we definitely sensed the community, something we've been seeking ever since we left Bangalore (so many travelers say this same thing...interesting). It is so exhausting to be a consumer at every turn...for every meal, every night's stay, every snack, every journey further than walking distance. In Dharamsala we met our neighbors, smiled at people, were able to strike up conversations with strangers, made some friends (including a woman from Belgium who has been traveling in Asia for the last two and a half years and was visiting Dharmsala for the ninth time, and a contemporary modern dancer from London), breathed fresh air, walked everywhere we needed to go, ate healthy food, hiked in the Himalayas, took courses in Reiki I and Reiki II, and received Tibetan massages. We learned about the invasion of Tibet by China in 1949 and the subsequent trauma the Tibetan people have endured since. The city is such an interesting mix of Indian locals, the Tibetan community (which I believe makes up the majority of the population) and all of the foreigners who make that place "home" for varying lenghts of time.

So now we're back in Delhi, and despire the overnight bus journey, some tummy issues, and our inabiltity to check into our room for a few hours, I think we're doing well. The combination of our experience in Delhi with the restorative properties of the mountains is pushing us through these days. We're hoping to see a friend here in Delhi, visit the National Museum, and then we're on another train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We'll find ourselves back in Delhi to make a connection, then on to Udaipur in Rajasthan (apparently the most romantic place in India and where Jame Bond's "Octopussy" was filmed), a connection in Gujarat and then Mumbai (Bombay).