heading north

Today K and I are heading to Delhi/ Amritsar/ Jaipur. I am sooo excited about going to Amritsar because I have wanted to see the Golden temple up close for years. For the best views and experience of the temple one is supposed to go between 4-5am or after 10 pm but train schedule from delhi and our itinerary won't permit us to visit dring this time. We'll be there in the afternon. The Golden Temple ( Harimandir) is a sacred place for Sikhs. Anyone may enter Harimandir as long as they cover their heads ans wash their feet efore goingin and do not consume alcohol, other drugs, or eat meat on the premises. What I like about the place is that their is a huge communal kitchen where people work together to make food for everyone. The place has always meant community and harmony to me, so I hope i find that to be the case in reality.

In Delhi we will be attending Republic Day festivities. Republic Day celebrates the day the Constitution of India became effective in Parliament. The parade is also an opportunity for the armed forces to show off their might.

Jaipur will be regular touring around-- checking out old palaces, shopping! (beautiful jewelry there), walking around the 'pink city'

details: no pictures lately because i lost the cable that connects my camera to my computer in all the moving, packing, and shipping. Will pick up the cable in Bangalore on the way back and pics will be posted thereafter.

Hope all are well.
x

On the market

I'm driving myself nuts wiht a personal statement i 've been trying to write for days. My policy is that if I get bored writing something then there is no way that I can expect somebody else to find it interesting, unless i'm explaining something tedious. So, I have asked some folks to send me personal statements just to jog my memory about how to write one of these things again. I also care alot about this application and i think that's part of the blcok. Hmm, well, I'll have to finish and mail it by tomorrow--c'est la vie.

So we're in Mysore now chillaxin'. We are both going nuts with our schedule being a bit disjointed but the days pass happily. We go for walks around 6 am and today i start my yoga class every evening. k spends the day studying and running around town doing small errands. I spend my time doing laundry, helping cook some meals, reading, and writing. At night we watch some trash TV, the travel and living channel ( love it!), movies, or going for rides on the motorbike.

Let me tell you about the movies..we rent dvds and vcds from a place close by that is known for having a wide range of movies. Upfront they tell you original dvds cost five rupees more than pirated copies. Every time i go i always ask for the original dvd of the movie i've picked. and each time they charge me the extra five and say, " enjoy madam." The first time i brought a movie home it was"Little Miss Sunshine". The english version did not have audio but the Spanish voice-over did. The only english version had english subtitles but no voice could be heard only background music and the little girl in the movie shrieking at times. So i went back to the store and asked for another copy of the movie--one on which the sound worked.

They said, "but madam doesn't it have english subtitle?"

My reply, "there's no way this is the original. Can you give me the original?"

"Madam, only one. watch subtitles, still will be funny," the store clerk said with that not-yes-but-not-no head waggle.

On the way home k, laughing, said to me, " you still strive for 100 per cent customer satisfaction despite having lived here for over a year. Customer just isnt number one here jaan."

I just half-smiled, shook my head and shrugged.

home,home,home...