Sandhya's update: a month later, we are sitting in almost exactly the same spot where we were last time transiting through Kuwait. Transit anyone? To be precise: we spent last night and all day here, at the "airport hotel" where we were basically locked in -- lacking a visa to visit the state of Kuwait. So we weren't allowed to step outside the hotel, and were served sad meals. Something between Indian and continental. Three meals in a day where there was nothing to do, and nowhere to go. I slept a little, but Lisa was restless. We tried watching some of the bollywood video cds I had bought in Hyderabad, but they don't really work well on the computer, and the ones that did did not have English subtitles. 

This long transit we owe to the fact that our flight from India was late, which meant we missed all our connecting flights, and had to wait 24 hours for the next connection. The delay in departure meant that my last few hours in Hyderabad were spent in great frustration dealing with unhelpful travel/airline agents... I experienced the airport lounge version of road rage.

All the blissful hours I had spent this month were rapidly getting diluted, adding to my sadness at leaving my family.

Well, now we are half-way back to the US. My computer carries pictures that I took relentlessly, photographing everything at home, on the road, in the car, even my taxi-driver in Chennai. Each picture is imbued with a flavor that is as rich as the emotions I lived this past month.

It's impossible to say what the favorite part of this vacation was, but the family trip to Goa was definitely right up there. We stayed in a villa owned by Rahul's friend, lovely and quiet. It rained most of the time, and we made a couple of long excursions out to other parts of Goa. One of them was to the Brahma temple in Valpoi, a 2-hour drive from where we were. There are apparently only two temples dedicated to Brahma (Brahma being one of the triad of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Interestingly Brahma also "created" (fathered?) a daughter named Sandhya).

This temple is quite deep in the forest. The statue of the deity itself is said to be from the fifth century. It is really beautiful, about 5 feet tall, and very detailed. The story is that the Portugese who starting occupying the are in the 15/16th century began an inquistion-like persecution and destroyed several temples. The Brahma statue was spirited out of its temple and hidden in the forest. Now, all these years later, the local villagers (about 40 families) are putting the money together to build a proper temple around the statue. Currently, the temple has a stone enclosure and the sanctum is temporarily made of aluminum and plastic sheets.

On the way we also stopped at 7th century cave dwellings and temples. These were small caves hewn out of the red laterite rock that is abundant in the area, and the ceiling constantly dripped water (it may only be seasonal of course, since it was the monsoons). There are three shiv-lings, each in its own cave. I was fascinated, though I don't think the rest of us were quite as enthusiastic. Interesting pictures.

There was much more, in particular some quality beach time with the family. It was just so wonderful to have my whole family there, each of us doing our own thing, but also doing a lot of stuff together. For a few moments, I got to be my nephew's hero, as I held his hand and coaxed him into the waves. Somewhere in the two trips I made to the beach and swam around, I injured my back (tail bone) and was in quite some pain till my brother gave me his wonder painkiller pill. I still have pain from that day, and have taken to wearing a belt to help ease the load on my lower back.

And so many more memories...

While we sit here, contemplating another $10.00 coffee, waiting endlessly for our next flight. Ah, Kuwait. Somehow you won't make it to any special place in my memory book.

oy!

We are stuck in Kuwait for 24 hrs. staring at the ceiling in the hotel room. We can't go outside the hotel (which is at the airport) or else we have to go through all kinds of rigamarole to get on our flight tonight. We were delayed in HYD. The plane was 5 hrs. late. We spent the whole time screaming at people on the phone because no one would tell us what to do and no one was taking responsibility. It sucked. Finally, we decided to take a risk and get on the plane and see what would happen when we got to Kuwait. Luckily, they put people up at the airport all the time (evidenced by the tons of people in the lobby with plane tickets and passports in hand). Why couldn't they just tell us that? GRRR!

Anyway, more details late. S and I are going to watch a Hindi movie right now. I just downloaded a VCD player! Yay!

Enjoy the pics!

Time for another chapter

Hello again!

I thought it was time for another post. I updated the pictures yesterday but it takes so long because the internet is slow and unreliable I'm usually quite tired by the end and don't have the energy to write. Anyway, I digress...

So, Sandhya and I went to a very upscale, luxurious spa in Gatchibawli (aka Cyberbad) called Ista. We thought that we'd do some market research while we were here, in case we want to start a spa someday! I think her friend misunderstood the scale of the spa we could create and sent us to this place. 

Ista was amazing but part of a huge hotel and the international spa association. They are adding a school for massage and estheticians. Apparently, once you are certified by this school you can work anywhere around the world and their curriculum is certified by both Ayurvedic and Yoga Accreditation bodies and includes training in "international spa therapies." This consists of  courses in spa management, body and beauty treatments, massage, sports therapy, reiki, fitness, and athletics. Interesting!! This particular spa Ananda Spa, is all over India (Rishekesh, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bombay, etc.). Check it out: http://www.anandaspa.com and the school at http://www.anandaspainstitute.com/about-us.asp

If I ever get the itch this would be a good way to earn a living and be able to travel. This would also be a good job if I wanted to get involved in the international spa industry. Cool! 

The massage was pretty good (you could tell it was a branded routine though) and all the fancy stuff like the hot towel on my feet and the beautiful ambience kind of made up for what the massage lacked--character. They really paid attention to the little details--each individual chair had a towel rolled up on it, there were little bottles of water and fruit available everywhere. All the speakers/headphones next to the chaise loungers were Bose. Luxury!

Gatchibawli is interesting because it's home to Microsoft, Honeywell, and other IT companies. There is also a golf course being developed (who needs kilometers of green grass in this heat and with a water shortage?) This city is full of camps with blue plastic tarp shanties where laborers live while they are creating these new buildings. It's an interesting and difficult to observe juxtapositioning of 3rd and 1st worlds. Ista is definitely part of the 1st world scene in Gatchibawli. It's hard not to feel conflicted.

There are 2 guards that scan your car with bomb detectors which goes under the car when you enter the driveway of the hotel. They also checked the trunk, and what did they find in Sandhya's dad's car? Millions of books, no bombs! LOL!

Afterwards, they brought is freshly juiced vegatables with all kinds of yummy spices. Delicious! I tasted black salt, turmeric, corriander, ginger (I could be wrong...Don't try to make it at home without testing for yourself!)

We then sashayed over to the restaurant and had a glass of wine and a pickled beet, goat cheese napolean like thing (layers) with rocket (arugula). YUM! The food and wine together was under $10 us. The massage ran us about $35-40 each. Juice, aesthetics and tip included! Not too bad!

Now for the next exciting adventure...

Qutb Shahi Tombs.

We arrived and were received by a gaggle of men (arranged by Anna-s's dad) to show us around the place. We were able to drive in while others were only allowed to walk. We were also waited on, performed for and served soda when we were thirsty. It's too weird. I guess the Director of Archeology was Anna's friend in the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) where they both worked or knew of Anna from name and post or something (they didn't look like contemporaries so I'm guessing the latter). Anyway, the mosoleums were beautiful and the tombs inside had scriptures of koran written on them. Arabic is quite a beautiful language to look at as well as hear--it's more interesting than some romance language. You can really hear the  pain and the sorrow and sensuality and life in the language. I actually really like that you can hear the call to prayer everyday at Sandhya's parents house. I know that they are quite hassled by it and it feels invasive to them, but as a visitor it is something interesting, I guess.

The last king of Golkunda (which was a huge empire that present day hyderabad city is a a part of) was Muslim and so the park is in traditional Muslim style. Islam dictates that one can't have any idols so they use what god creates, nature, to represent his greatness. All muslim parks are very beautiful, full of greenery, water, and flowers. They also often represent 4 channels in their designs representing the 4 promises in heaven: milk, honey, wine and pure water. Golkunda (in which the tombs are located) was a huge territory and was famous for it's diamond mines and the Kohi Noor diamond which now crowns the British queen. The last kings tomb was left unfinished because the kingdom was attacked by the great Mogul empire that then ruled most of India (right up to Afghanistan. In fact Kandihar in Afghanistan was often a tussle between the Persian empire and the Mogul empire because it was in the liminal space between both. The Emperor that attacked Golkunda was Aurangzeb, "the last emperor" because soon after him the empire started crumbling. He was also the son of Shah Jehan who built the Taj Mahal. To seize his throne, he killed the crowned prince and imprisoned his father. He was a very strict Orthodox Muslim. Interestingly, the Princesses of the empire were never allowed to marry for fear of competition from their husbands for the throne. After the official tour was over Anna (pronounces Un-na) told us many more stories and sandhya is now (in her truly veracious appetite) is consuming a book on the last two emperors of the Mogul Empire. 

Sandhya is busy going through old books, clothes, and love letters from 15 years ago. Needless to say she is also going through tons of emotional stuff with her parents and family (more internally than externally). It's really been hard for her and also very lovely and a great opportunity. Yesterday she had a bad back--nothing specific, just random pain. I wondered (as did she) if it was due to the above mentioned explorations. Ya think? She'll probably tell you more about that though. It's interesting for me and it's hard not to get lost in her process. I'm having a bit of a hard time focusing on myself. It's difficult when everything revolves around another person's family system and also you are dependent on the family drivers etc. I think I just need to take a break... Blogging helps, and I think I'm going to write an outline for a presentation I am going to do at Rahul's de-addiction center on body centered awareness and empathy. Cool!

Yesterday, though I had some good conversations with Raisa (S's niece). We talked about our views on spirituality and what it's like to be a teenager and grow up in India in the Luther clan. I think I'm a better friend to kids these age than their disciplinarian. It was nice to hang out with her and just be able to chat--just she and I. My job at Naropy gets those roles confused and it's difficult to connect with the kiddos that age. I might actually be a good therapist to that age group. 

More Later,

L*