Jai Mata Di! and Other Tales

August 24th, 2012 - Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Hey Everyone!

  It's Marina again!  We switched up email order this time so that I could describe some of the places that Orion has already been to (on his last India trip) and written about.  But he wanted to write SOMETHING (since it is his turn) so we decided to take turns.  Haha.

  So where did we leave off?  Ahhhhhhh yes.  Srinagar!  So Srinagar was awesome as you all know judging by how stoked I was in my last email.  BUT all good things must come to an end, and we had to leave.  The owner of our houseboat, Amin (pronouced Ameeeeen) walked with us on the morning of, negotiated with a guy speaking no English and found us a ride headed to Jammu (directly south of Srinagar.)   Instead of riding it all the way, we had plans to go to Katra, a town famed among Hindus for Vaishno Devi, a giant mountain with a cave and a shrine dedicated to Divine Mother.  The trip was glady uneventful and we hopped off at Katra unscathed.

  Katra is a VERY popular pilgrimage spot for Hindus, but completely off the map for foreigners.  As soon as we arrived, we knew we were the only white people in the whole town.  We set to work finding a cheap hotel, which turned out to be extremely difficult as NOBODY spoke English.  Nobody.  Conversations went mostly like this:
"You have room?"  (Often misunderstood, in which it would be followed by many repetitions and simplifications, often down to only, "ROOOOMMM?????" or charades like acting while saying, "SLEEEEP!")
"Yes. Room."

"How much?"

At this point, the mutual understanding would cease.  

"Yes. Room."

"Yes, but HOW MUCH."
"Room?"
"HOW MANY RUPEES?"
"Come. Have room."

Many times we would simply give up here, or start pulling out our money and waving it at them, or try writing down numbers, or counting on fingers.  However, eventually we managed to find a room!  We passed out from exhaustion hoping to rest up for our epic pilgrimage the next day.

  So!  Vaishno Devi.  What to say.. What to say.. 

  The town of Katra exists completely as a base for the pilgrimage to the top of the mountain.  Thousands and thousands of people are ALWAYS here hiking it and it is always busy, always packed, always full.  We had barely started walking when we were already in the thickest crowd.  There was sort of a frantic, intense, electrifying devotional energy in the air that sort of blasted you with power and came from the zillions of people walking, limping, crawling or dragging themselves up the mountain in devotional fervour for the blessing of Divine Mother. 

  Vaishno Devi has a cave at the top in which, long ago, was discovered three matching rocks in a row.  If this was found in Canada, someone might might have said, "Wow this is cool," taken a photo, maybe told some of their friends or taken them to see the cave, and probably only thought about the rocks having any significance for maybe half a second.  Maybe. 

  BUT.  This is India.  So In India, someone happened to be strolling on top of a mountain, found a cave, found some rocks, and immediately thought of his Divine Mother, and claimed the rocks to be manifestations on the three aspects of Her in natural form:  Kali, Saraswati, and Lakshmi.  Not only that, but after worshipping the rocks and the mountain as Divine Mother, and telling everyone about it, then millions of Hindus would journey to climb to sacred mountain for years and years and years, and then the government would spend millions of dollars blasting the mountain to build a safe path, designing the temple to hold thousands of people and setting up regular security checks for safety (though very half hearted), and hundreds and hundreds of business owners would haul supplies up the mountain to fund their snack shops, ice cream shops, food stalls, etc.  Oh India.

  So if you're imagining a beautiful gorgeous tropical mountain, with a tiny gravel path winding its way up the steep cliffs and valleys, with nothing but the calming sounds of Mother Nature in your head, and meditative peace surrounding you, and clean fresh greenery and air to breath and see and enjoy.........You're wrong.

  Imagine instead a beautiful gorgeous tropical mountain... Covered with a wide-enough-for-a-truck paved path winding its up the steep cliffs and valleys; completely packed with people - rich, poor, healthy, missing limbs, deformed, as young as a newborn baby, and as old as too ancient to be climbing a mountain; a constant din of noise of people, horses, bad music, good music, live drums, kitchens, and even small cars; garbage EVERYWHERE, including thrown off cliffs and down valleys in disgusting reeking heaps, defouling the face of the sacred mountain; monkeys everywhere, often attacking you; sad, malnourished, mistreated horses with limps, slipping all over the wet path, being brutally whipped by their owners, with fat people seated atop them, too lazy to walk up; any so many shops everywhere selling everything and anything you could possibly think you might want; and so much more my overwhelmed senses were probably too occupied to notice.  

  We hiked through the madness for probably 4 hours, including tons of stops of food and ice cream more and more frequently the higher and more tired we got.  The total distance up is 12.5 km.  That is only ONE WAY.  However, when we reached the top, there was no resting.  If you have any dream of ever actually getting to SEE the shrine, you must immediately get in a too-long line up to lock up all your baggage and shoes.  So we did just that.  Of course this is India, so there is no nice single file line.  There is pushing and shoving and a mini battle to claim your place in line.  You must prove your strength and ability by holding your ground to be worthy of a good spot in line.  So prove we did, and we eventually got through.  At the very start of the line, after we'd been waiting for a super long time, a few scumbags were trying to cheat the wait and dodge in ahead.  Not by my watch!  Me, the tiny helpless woman that I'm considered in this country, pushed and shoved those darned men right back until they gave up and tried the guy behind me.  HAH.  

  So finally we were ready to get darshan (divine sighting) of the Mother!  We walked down a very long, narrow, winding hallway with a bunch of other people until we reached the outside of the tunnel.  For a moment we enjoyed the amazing view of the mountains and nature all around us, and then we entered the tunnel!  I think it used to just be a long dark cave like tunnel, but to accommodate the millions of people, they turned it into a marble hallway.  Water dripped through cracks in the roof as we walked and people devotionally cupped the water in their hands and splashed it on the heads, as they would with holy water.  Finally the end!!!  After the miles and hours of hiking, I was surprised to see people getting maybe 3 - 5 seconds to view and pray to the lingams before they were ushered on by the temple workers.  Being white has it benefits however, and when we got to the altar, the pandit gave us a lengthy discourse on the meaning and significance on the shrine, and we maybe had a full minute or two!  We prayed to Divine Mother for blessings, and that was that!  Out we went.  It may seem like a seriously long and vigorous undertaking, for a simple and very very short viewing of 3 small stones, and to people not there, they may wonder if it was worth the effort.  But I am certain that everyone who has completed the pilgrimage with devotion in their hearts has definitely left feeling refreshed, regenerated, and blessed by Spirit.  

  Forgot to mention one thing!  EVERYONE,. the whole way up, and the whole way down, shouts to anyone and everyone as often as they like: Jai Mata Di!!  (Victory to Divine Mother!)  There are groups of people who get chants going for hours at time while hiking, and there are people who repeat it like a mantra when they feel too tired to carry on and need the extra strength, there are people who say it as a greeting, and people who just say it just for fun!!  We enjoyed joining in with the people and felt often that this simple statement melted away the strangeness of our foreign cultures and reminded us that we are all from one unified culture of the soul!

  Jai Mata Di!

  It's Orion now. 

  After Vaishno Devi, we took a bus to Jammu, but rather than dropping us at the main bus stand like we thought, we got dropped at the special Jammu to Katra bus stand located next to the railway station.  This was a minor setback, solved by deciding to brave the intensity of "general boarding" and taking the train instead of the bus to Pathankot.  We walked into the usual chaos characteristic of Indian train stations: garbage everywhere, people everywhere, people sleeping in garbage, strong smells ranging from dhoop to rotting flesh within a few metres of each other, mangy dogs eyeing you warily from the shadows, oppressive heat, crowds of people shoving their way through battlefield-esque line ups, and people, people, and more people, of all shapes and sizes.  We stood for a moment at the entrance, appreciating the madness, then entered the fray.  It took us several stressful minutes to figure things out, but eventually I pushed my way out triumphantly from a writhing crowd of people clutching two general tickets to Pathankot.  I was only sixty percent sure that the tickets would actually get us to Pathankot, so when we got to the platforms, we asked several people and discovered that "general boarding" means that you can take any train you want going in the direction of your destination, you just have to fight and win the battle of getting on the train.  If you lose the battle, you can still win the war, waiting until the next train and going through the same process again and again until you get on.

  We found a comfy spot against a pole and set our bags down so we didn't have to sit on the sticky concrete, and waited.  We had about an hour, so we had some snacks and mentally prepared ourselves for the coming test.  As time went on, the platform steadily filled up with more and more people, and poorer and poorer people.  We were in the right place.  At fifteen minutes to the scheduled departure time, the tracks were lined with masses of people, all looking down the tracks and conversing intensely.  The air seemed turbulent and the energy was agitated.  A few times another train would blow its whistle and people would leap up, grabbing their bags and getting ready to sprint.  This gave us a bit of a warning as to how ready we should be, and we prepared our bags for a quick escape.  

  There were several more false alarms, but eventually the actual train arrived.  It came barrelling down the tracks are breakneck speed, and the people started rushing like the rapids in a river.  We joined the flow, and watched as some of the more agile members of the group grabbed onto the handles of the doors and were whisked away by the speeding hunk of metal.  The train stopped, and our throng of thriving bodies caught up to the last car.  We looked around as we pressed viciously into the mass, and realized with amazement that this huge crowd of people, possibly a hundred, were meant to fit on one car.  We steeled ourselves and used our packs to our advantage, crushing our way a little further into the people.  The train doors had not yet opened, and there was a minute of held breath, where everyone waited and steadied themselves and pushed in on the people in front in a vain attempt to gain some ground.  Suddenly, the door sprang open.  Everyone started shouting, bags were being lifted up high to try to squeeze in closer, and the mob mentality reigned supreme.  

"Crush it!" we yelled as a battle cry, and we commenced the push.  It seemed like no one was moving at all, as about fifteen people were wedged in the opening blocking it completely, but then one person was through. Shouting triumphantly, he darted into the darkness of the train.  More people started getting on, and we realized that soon the seats would be full if we didn't catch up.  We doubled our efforts and used our weight to squeeze people aside.  I was clutching my guitar case by the neck, praying that it would not get snapped on the battlegrounds.  Finally, Marina clutched at the handle next to the door, but then slipped off, as someone ripped savagely through the opening.  We were separated by a few people, and I reached the door first.  Mustering all my strength, I elbowed the people next door aside and hauled my heavy load through the narrow opening.  I thought Marina was right behind me, but as I dashed to search for a seat I heard a cry.

"Orion! Help!"  I looked back to see Marina at the opening, but unable to get through.  She was wedged between several general boarding veterans, who were stopping at nothing to get on.  One missed step, and she was at risk of being trampled by the raving mob behind.  I ran back, offering my hand, and with a big pull, we careened through the door and rushed to find two seats conveniently waiting around the corner.

  But the war wasn't won quite yet.  We took off our pack and claimed our seats, placing our large bags at our feet.  People were continuously rushing onto the train, and everyone was shouting in many Indian languages. At one point someone came into our area and before taking his seat, yelled angrily at us for a few minutes in Hindi.  We eventually figured out that he didn't like the placement of our bags and we found places for them beneath a seat and up above on a rack. Things slowly settled down as people found their places, and we saw the people who had failed to get on walking dejectedly away.  One of the men in our compartment, a young nice guy, left through the window, explaining to us through hand gestures that he would ride on the roof of the train to be more comfortable.  The appeal in his decision was quite obvious to us as we sat squished between  several people in the heat. 

  By the time the train left everyone was happily chatting and the seating situation had improved dramatically.  Some people had climbed like monkeys to sleep on the luggage racks and people had moved places conveniently to arrange for the most comfort for everyone.  The rest of the journey was very comfortable!  I'm sure that sometimes general boarding is not the best choice, and it's probably more crowded on some other trains, but all in all, this was an enjoyable experience! The battle for our seats was exciting, and well worth the effort to not have to sit on a dusty, polluted, rocking, half broken down, bumpy bus.  Aside from almost missing our stop, all was well!  Our phone started working at the exact right time (as we left J&K) and we talked to our family in Pathankot just in time to find our proper stop and make it HOME!  Success!

  Here's Marina again:

  So we've already described Pathankot.  Home away from home.  Blessed comfort and hospitality.  How we love to relax there!  Anyway, we chilled there for a few days and then decided to go to Amristsar for a couple days, and come back to Pathankot once more before our train to Nepal!!!!

  So Amritsar!  We arrived by local bus, and Orion's YSS friend, Sushil, who lives in Amritsar but happened to be out of town at the time, called his brother Suraj, who picked us and our huge bags up at the bus station.. on a motorbike...  But it turned out to be okay!  It went like this:  Suraj, with a bag in front of him (often the pack cover would blow into his eyes, and cover his mouth and nose, and it was up to me to keep our driver from crashing or asphyxiating by moving the cover); then me, balancing a guitar on one leg and a ukulele on the other; and Orion on end, wearing the other pack, barely hanging on.  What fun!  We arrived safe and sound at Sushil and Suraj's OTHER brother's house, where we would kindly be offered a place to sleep and food to eat.  We never got the name of the other brother (though I'd bet money is started with "Su") or his wife because they didn't speak a word of English.  It was all okay until Suraj left...

  The couple who gave welcomed us into their home were very lovely and generous people, who fed us well, and gave their bed to sleep in at night, as it was the nicer room (such is the Indian hospitality.)  However, guessing from the fact that they spoke no English, I doubt they'd ever been around white people, nor had any of their friends.  Very shortly a rather large crowd for such a tiny house all crammed into our bedroom, and we knew we had no hopes of privacy (such is the Indian way.)  Not one spoke English and they all sat and talked to us though we couldn't understand, and talked to eachother about us and we couldn't understand, and tried to speak to us in English and we couldn't understand, and the whole thing was rather awkward.  Grateful as we were for their welcoming us and their genuine hospitality, we were glad to escape during the day to see the sights of Amritsar.

  Here's what we saw: The Golden Temple, The Attari India/Pakistan Border Ceremony, and the Jallianwala Bagh.

Golden Temple:  Is AMAZING.  It is like the Mecca for Sikhs, and world famous.  After checking your shoes you enter the temple grounds and are immediately cleansed by a wave of the most powerful peaceful relaxing energy.  I immediately felt at home.  The grounds are in a square, with tall beautiful white buildings walling the grounds, and then a marble walkway around the whole thing, with a gorgeous man-made lake  (called a "holy tank" haha) and the beautiful, shining, golden temple right in the centre accessible by a walkway.  If you sit on the edge of lake, you must sit cross legged, but I'm not totally sure why.  Men AND women must cover their heads, which makes perfect sense to me!  Its respectful to cover your head in a holy place, so if women have to do it, why shouldn't men?  A head is a head, male or female!!  Anyway.  So you wait in line to enter the temple, and then you get in and the energy is so great! I just loved it.  They have seriously talented musicians playing devotional music inside the temple all day.  There was an amazing tabla player, two esraj players who sang, and later the esrajs were swapped for harmoniums.  Their voices and the tones of their instruments rang out crystal clear and I knew that it wasn't man playing those instruments - It was the God inside those men, channeling creative power perfectly through their capable hands and voices.  Seriously the most BEAUTIFUL music I have ever heard.  Like angels!  We went back several times to soak up the vibes, and get the Sikh guru's blessings, and to enjoy the only real music we had heard since leaving Canada.  

India/Pakistan Border Ceremony:  Seriously the strangest I have ever seen human beings act.  What an odd spectacle this is!  30km from Amritsar is the Pakistan border.  Every single day EVER, thousands of people crowd to the border to see the ceremony.  The crowds pushing and shoving to get closest to the front of the line are very reminiscent of the General Boarding on the train.. Lucky for us, being whiteys, we get our own SPECIAL VIP entrance and get to steer clear of the madness and get the best seats!  So we found seats easy enough and surveyed the setup.  Each country has built massive grand stands to accommodate the thousands and thousands of people that show up every day to see the silly ceremony, and they are always full.  Patriotism is extremely high.  When the ceremony begins, a random guy starts shouting stuff in Hindi, and the crowd responds in unison, but we had no idea what they were saying.  The words stir everyone into a frenzy. A similar thing takes place on the Pakistan gate.  Both Indian and Pakistani guards line up on the respective sides, and then the gates between the two countries are flung open.  Each guard in turn takes his turn walking up to the edge of the gate, having a mock battle with the other side's guards and the marching back.  It is so RIDICULOUS how they walk.  Its like they are soooooooooo angry that they become comical.  They march soooo drastically fast and overdramatically, and then perform these insane high kicks that look like they may kick themselves in the head and give themselves concussions!  Then they grab the ropes of their respective flags and inside of lowering the flag normally, they do some weird dance where they throw the rope around and march angrily.  Its quite hilarious.  I took quite a view videos, so hopefully we'll get a chance to post one.

Jallianwala Bagh:  This is a mid sized park area near the Golden Temple grounds, with high walls, where almost 20,000 Indians were martyred by the British General Dyer for peacefully meeting to protest tyrannical British Laws.  The Bagh used to be an empty field, but its now been converted into a lovely park.  We walked around learning about what happened, including reading accounts of survivors, and viewing spots in the walls where actual bullet holes are still visible.  The story goes like this:  A group of people were meeting to rally against these unfair laws in a nonviolent manner.  General Dyer and his men showed up with a tank, but being only one entrance to the high walled Bagh, it wouldn't fit down the narrow passage.  So he and his men marched in with guns loaded.  The crowd did nothing to threaten them or hurt them, but without any warning or chance of surrender, Dyer ordered his men to take aim and fire into the crowd, killing as many as possible.  The actual order given to the General was to "disperse the crowd" but he took it a step further.  What followed was a horror story of people screaming and running, trying to escape.  People tried to climb the walls, only to picked off by the British soldiers or pulled down accidentally by other Indians frantic to escape.  Other people threw themselves into the well inside the Bagh trying to escape.  Over 120 bodies were found drowned in the well after the massacre.  A very few people were able to escape over the walls but in the end over 15,000 people died, including one seven-week-old baby and many women and children.  This horrible event was a major factor in getting India its Independence from the British.  If you want to learn more, I STRONGLY recommend watching the movie Gandhi with Ben Kingsley.  It has a very intense scene showing the events of that day.  If you don't want to watch the whole movie, YouTube the scene.  I'm sure its on there.  (But you should definitely watch the whole movie.. Its really good.)

SO.  That's that.  We hopped on our train and after some difficult sleeps, we are now in Gorakhpur (birthplace of Paramahansa Yogananda!!  Unfortunately his old home is 50km from town, so if we hope to visit it, it won't be until we come back to India) where you can catch a 3 hour bus to Sunauli, the India/Nepal border crossing town.  We are going to NEPAL!!!! SO EXCITED.  

On a sadder note....  Orion got his camera stolen in the New Delhi train station.  He was waiting in line and some &*(*%($*@^$&*(% nabbed it right out of his camera case.  All his photos from our whole trip thus far are now gone, except the few that we uploaded to FaceBook, and a couple that happened to get copied to the Sawal's computer in Pathankot.  We are very sad about this. :(  Whats more, he had to purchase a new camera right away, and ended up spending almost 500 dollars!  That's DOLLARS my friends...  So perhaps our trip shall have to be a tad shorter.  Or maybe we'll have to go to Europe and live on rice while we busk on the streets, earning money to continue our travels.  But, c'est la vie mes amies.  On the plus side, Orion burned some SERIOUS karma and his evolution shall be rapidly increased, well some other shmuck gained some mega bad karma and perhaps his house shall burn down or something.  Haha.  What can you do but keep your chin up and move on??  Also, he's really stoked on his new camera which has lots of fancy new features that the other one didn't have.

Anyway.  Next time you talk to us, WE SHALL BE IN NEPAL!  Wish us luck with dealing with the countless border scams we have to overcome.  

OM Shanti, Peace and Love,

Marina and Orion

P.S.  Sorry for the insane longness of the email.  It is almost as ridiculous as the Border Guards' anger dance.  Almost.