Looong post ... This is what I get for not updating

Hello!

I realise it's been a while since I've written anything. It was partly due to lack of time, partly due to just putting it off. And now I have truckloads to write about and will have to do my best to keep it short - which I'm normally not very good at.

Anyway, one thing at a time.

Tiruvanamalai

Juliane and I spent another couple days in the Ashram. The Ashram itself was interesting, but, as I said, one would probably have to spend more time there in order to really indulge into the spiritual and other aspects of that.

What we did do - and what was, as we were told, very good karma (have to make up for whatever bad karma has led me to lose my iPhone) - was walking up the mountain behind the Ashram, which apparently inhabits Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction (though that is not to be understood negatively as westerners will think at first). We started out quite early to avoid the heat, which allowed us to get a beautiful view of the city at sunrise that we took many photos of. You can see those in my Picasa albums.

Anyway, we had a mountain guide that kind of made himself be the guide - just walked along, so I knew he'd probably ask for money later. So I asked him what he'd like to have - "whatever you'd like to give". That's always good. Anyway, he did do a very good job and showed us places that we wouldn't have seen on the mountain otherwise (or wouldn't have known how to interpret), so that was really nice. On the top of the mountain, which on some days becomes a huge fiery pit (they smear it with gee and put that on fire), we also had a great view and could have some of the well-earned breakfast that we'd bought the day earlier. Our tour guide on the way down wasn't happy with the 500 rupees I wanted to give (which is a decent price) and asked for "more". Gave him a couple hundreds, which I shouldn't have. But anyway.

We also looked around the town a little and found a nice "German Bakery" - as most of these places in India, it wasn't really German, but at least more so than what I'd seen the year before in Dharamsala ("German Bakery - step in for Indian, Chinese, Italian and Israeli food"). So we went there several times actually. We also had a nice, slightly spiritual discussion with one of our ashram neighbours, though Juliane and I both found him a bit sexist ("See, everyone experiences things their own way. When you walk up a mountain, you might not have any problem with it, but she will get sore and complain"). But still nice. ;)

Pondicherry

So after that, we went to the coastal town of Pondicherry. Pondicherry used to be a French colony, and at least at the coastline, that is still more evident than I thought it would be. Unlike what some had predicted, it was not like rickshaw drivers could speak French better than English, but many people in shops did actually speak French, by far the largest portion of the tourists were French, there were French restaurants everywhere and so on. And actually, a really nice, relatively calm and clean place to be. Anyone that travels in India and wants to start out slowly should maybe go there first. It also has cheap alcohol for those that are interested... :)

From Pondicherry, we also took a trip to Auroville. Auroville is a town named after Shri Aurobindo, the founder of an Ashram in Pondicherry (which also runs a guest house that, once again, we stayed in - only 100 rupees a night!). Auroville is kind of a socialist-spiritual utopia city which has also attracted many foreigners. It's interesting, but, once again, probably a place one has to stay (and actually live and work) for a few weeks in in order to grasp it. As far as the Ashram is concerned, Juliane and I found the role that Aurobindo and especially his spiritual companion, a French lady named "The Mother" a bit strange. A cult around single people is just strange to us.

After that, we just asked an autorickshaw driver to take us to a village around there which was also a nice experience. It wasn't like an untouched village in the middle of nowhere, but still, not a place where many foreigners go, and we did get a quite cordial welcome from the people there and also got to see a temple which I thought might be relatively old. Once again, you can see that on the photo page.

Kerala - Allepey, Munnar, Kochi

After Pondicherry, we went back towards Chennai, stopped for lunch in the town of Mammalapuram (where we met a law Professor of the University of Bremen that had just visited NALSAR in Hyderabad and knew Hava in NUJS! What a coincidence), walked around a little there (they have many stone sculptures, old ones as well as new ones that you can buy - some as big as a grown man, or even bigger) and then went on by bus to Chennai to take a night train down to Kerala, where we went on by bus to the town of Allepey.

In Allepey we had a nice hotel and were already planning to do a backwaters tour. The Lonely Planet said that what one should really do is rent your own houseboat for 24 hours and then go around these channels through jungle-like surroundings. It reminded me a bit of what you see in Vietnam films like Apocalypse Now (only much nicer as it was all in peace of course). At least the vegetation was very similar. We had the boat to ourselves along with a captain and a cock who served lunch, a snack, dinner and a breakfast. A really nice experience, though the next time, I think I'd rather want to go on a small canoe or something and then go further into smaller canals where the houseboats can't go. Anyway, Kerala seems a place so well-made for tourists that you could spend an entire several-weeks India trip just going there.

After Allepey - which was quite hot and really humid, we were sweating while just sitting in the shadow doing nothing -, we decided that it'd be nice to have a cooler day in the mountains so we went up to the hillstation of Munnar. Since the boat was expensive (4.500 Rupees for the 24 hours), we wanted to save some money and travelled on by bus, which was quite a trip. Not only did the drivers perform many overtaking maneuvers that I would have never dreamed of attempting - on the second bus, the mountain streets were so harsh on the engine that it just kept dying. Then the bus attendant guy had to push something in the engine with a broomstick and then it worked again - until at some point, the engine (which is just under a cover right next to the driver inside the bus!) started to lose cooling water, so they had to fix the pipe with some strong tape and then got lots of water to pour into an opening at the top. I have no idea how much longer that bus was going to survive, but we did make it to Munnar.

Anyway, Munnar is a nice hill station where they grow a lot of tea. We only had one day and felt a little weak or even sick after the sudden climate changes of the last few days, so we decided to take it easy and hire an autorickshaw for a day. The driver was a really nice guy that showed us around places, took us to a Tea Museum (which is actually a tea factory with a small museum part) and up the mountain - where I got to see elephants living in the wild for the first time in my life! They weren't right in front of our faces, but walking through the forests/tea plantations just a few hundred metres from that. And we probably wouldn't have spotted them without this driver so that was also very much worth it.

At night, it was actually relatively cool there, Juliane later had a cold that might have originated there (or perhaps the fan in the hotel that we later had in Bombay). So anyway, that was refreshing, but we had to go on because we still wanted to look at Kochi and our time was limited as we had a flight to Bombay a couple days later... So... On to Kochi.

Kochi, or at least Fort Kochi, is also a former colonial town, originally by the Portuguese and then the Dutch. Once again, a really nice and relaxing place, and actually it did look Dutch in parts - for instance around "jew town", an area where still today some Jews live and even have a synagogue.

Once again, we had an autorickshaw driver to ourselves who was extremely nice. I found these people to be a lot more honest and friendly than in Northern India. He actually gave us a discount after having taken us around an would refuse to take tips. He just asked us to please recommend him to others. Extremely nice of him. He did take us to a couple shops where he got commission for taking us there, but he was honest enough to let us know. And after having dealt with Kashmiri carpet salesmen, I think I will never find it difficult to say "no" to someone trying to sell things to us again ;) Anyway, he also showed us some nice places that you wouldn't normally find yourself so easily, like spices storage rooms and a laundry area where you can see how the dhobis, the people that take your laundry on the streets or in hotels or from your home, work.

At night, we went to see a kathakali dance. It's a classical Keralan dance art that features background singing, silent dancers with lots of makeup but very strong facial expressions, and very fancy dresses. It told a story out of the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic poem, and was very entertaining and interesting to watch. It was washed down a bit for Western audiences, but that was good, as they explained exactly what they were doing so you weren't lost watching the performance so much.

Bombay, Delhi

After that, we went on to fly to Bombay where we stayed in a relatively shady (as in, not very comfortable, but actually quite clean), but quite conveniently-placed hotel - it is right in Colaba at the Leopold cafe around the corner from the Taj Hotel at the sea. In both places, you could still see traces of last year's terrorist attacks. We spent a couple days in Bombay, one of which was Holi, where we stayed in in order to hide from people throwing colours as we didn't know anyone there that was going to "play Holi", but we still got to meet some friends nonetheless. On Holi, we went into the Gandhi museum in the house where he stayed when he was in Bombay (Mani Bhavan), which we probably wouldn't have done had we not tried to hide from colour-throwers, so that actually worked out quite well. Apart from that, I still really like the city, but there's not so much new to report as this was already my third visit there... And there'll be another one in late April :)

We took a night train from Bombay to Delhi, which is quite a distance, but it only takes 17 hours (which is quite good for almost 2,000 kilometres) and they serve you food, it's quite clean, you have a berth to sleep and everything. In Delhi, we could stay with Kaushik's family, extremely nice, hospitable and interesting people, so our last portion of the trip was made very comfortable for us. We did a bit of sightseeing, looking at the presidential palace and the government area around there, the Bahai temple (unfortunately only from outside and the visitor's centre as there were too many people there) and some ruins of one of the "old Delhis" where they also put one of the Ashoka pillars with edicts - Ashoka was an ancient ruler of India that later turned Buddhist, his "wheel of dharma" or law is now on India's national flag.

We also took a day's trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra. As we had to do that short-notice, we only got a train back, not going there, so we had to take a bus. Quite a long journey and so we weren't in the best of moods at the Taj itself, especially since security there has increased a lot and it was just flooded with people (it was a Saturday), but still I found it very impressive and soothing to look at. In the evening we could take a train back anyway so that made it more comfortable.

Juliane left last Sunday to go back to Germany and then I went for my first day of work at Luthra & Luthra Law office here in Delhi. My first week went well, only I see a tendency for interns to get work only relatively lat ein the afternoon, so they have to stay longer which makes it difficult to plan what you want to do in the evenings during the week. I hope that won't keep me from at least spending some time with NUJS friends here outside of the weekends, but it should be fine. After some complications in the first few days, trying to find a place to go online, getting a new SIM card for Delhi and all that, AND having to deal with blisters on my feet because I am not used to wearing fancy shoes all the time ;), I settled into work quite well. Now I'm enjoying my first weekend trying to catch up on things online (as you can see), and later today I'll met an Indian student that will go to Freiburg in April for his LL.M. program. So I have to make sure he knows what's coming :)

Anyway, will try to update this more often now, though my life here will probably not be as eventful as when traveling. Though there might be some trips on the weekends, so we will see!

Of Ashrams, Monkeys, Pub Rats and Indian toilets vs. mobiles

A lot has happened in the last few days. Bad karma, probably having its roots in a previous life, has made my mobile fall into an Indian toilet. I have seen my first rat in an Indian restaurant, and of course, it was Oly Pub in Calcutta (believe it or not, I managed to go there about 15 times without ever seeing a rat. That must be a record). I have fed a tortoise named Tobias. We created a new Rum/Bacardi Lime/Cola/Beer drink that, I think, should be called Rubacobee; though I'm still not sure whether or not anyone will have that. But one thing at a time.

I had some wonderful days in Calcutta and I really can't believe that my visit to NUJS is already over again. As I won't know anyone there anymore in a few years, I'll do my best to find a cheap flight to come again next year - not for a trip as long as this one, but maybe a visit for just two weeks, which I would spend only visiting NUJS. I think that would be more than worth it.

My sister seemed to really like Calcutta also, although the city is probably harsh on people that come to India for the very first time. I did the same, but I had the calm retreat of Salt Lake and NUJS Campus, while I took Juliane sightseeing immediately as we had limited time. But loud traffic, crowded areas, pollution, heat and all the other inconveniences did not, from my impression, keep her from agreeing with me that Calcutta has a charme of its own, and that that charme is so predominant that it outweighs all the cons about the city. I'm not sure if it is cons really, as seven people in one auto-rickshaw, honking cars everywhere, so many people working on the streets and shady pubs with rats actually define that charme for me to a large extent.

We also had some time to spend with some of my friends in NUJS, though I feel that I didn't have enough time on Campus and to go out with everyone at all. I'm glad I'll see many of the "noojies" again in Delhi in March and April. I hope that will all work out. What was also sad is that I couldn't say goodbye to everyone properly, but there just wasn't enough time and you never know when everyone will be on campus. Anyway, Julian and I went for Oly Pub with Vardaan, Shubho, Anuj and Joydeep, to lunch with Deepthi and Tobias, to another lunch with Joydeep and Kavana and yet another lunch with Lun.

Oh, and as far as the sightseeing is concerned there are still some places for me to visit in Calcutta that I have not seen, i.e. the Birla Temple, Park Street Cemetry and the Marble Palace.

Anyway, so the last night in Calcutta we stayed at Shubho's place for a wonderful dinner (nice Bengali food) and then flew down to Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu, took a taxi from there to Tiruvanamalai (approximately three and a half hours for, I believe, around 200 kilometres for 2300 rupees - a bit less than 40 Euros, decent for your own car I think) where we're staying in an Ashram by Sri Ramana that Tobias' parents had suggested to us. We haven't spent that much time in the Ashram yet, but will eat there a couple times for sure and look at some of the happenings going on there. It's all for free, or rather, donation-based, so we should really take part in some of the things there I feel. I'm very interested in Indian religions and philosophies and agree with a lot that I've read, but really on a purely intellectual level - I really like watching ceremonies going on, but I feel a bit out of place when it comes to being part of them myself. There's many westerners here that don't seem to see it that way though. Whoever wants to experience hippie life of the 60s and 70s again should probably visit this place.

Today we went from Tiruvanamalai to Gingee, a place 35 kilometres from here that we had seen on the way that features two big forts on two relatively steep hills. We went up one of them, which was quite a task in the bright sun and above 30 degrees Celsius. Thankfully I'm not that temperature-sensitive and feel like I've become a bit accustomed to Indian weather again anyway, and I got a very fancy fishermen's hat in Calcutta for 50 rupees (haggled down from 150 - that was still too much though I think) against sunstrokes. There were many school classes there that were all very excited to see Europeans, so we had to take many pictures of and with them, shake many hands, and explain many times where we were from. Some late-teen boys got a bit annoying (while the teenage girls as well as children were very nice and a bit less assuming), but it was more entertaining than anything else. And a monkey jumped at Juliane to steal a soda bottle from her, but thankfully she managed to hold onto it without being bitten or anything like that.

After that, we went to have a South Indian thali at a place that was not exactly fancy (more or less on the roadside), but had really good and really cheap food: The two of us ate a lot and I had some extra Sprite and the sum only came down to 118 rupees. I really like South Indian food (especially traditionally off a banana leave!), so I hope to get a lot more of that down here. Later today we just want to have a look at the Tiruvanamalai temple (one of the largest in India), tomorrow we plan to get up very early to walk up the mountain here before it gets too hot to do it while still enjoying yourself.

And for anyone wondering about the mobile portion of the first stanza: Indian toilet, having to kneel, which causes pockets to point downwards, and iPhone falling into a black hole. You can imagine the frustration. But it was a freak accident, not my fault!! Let's leave it at that. ;)

I'm back!

Well, I've finally made it back to India! I'm spending a few days living on NUJS Campus in Kolkata, on 23 February my sister Juliane will arrive and then we'll be taking a trip around Southern India: First Tamil Nadu, then Kerala, then Bombay, and then we'll fly up to Delhi for another few days of sightseeing before I start an internship with a law there - this will be another six weeks, so in total I'll be spending ten weeks in India.

I must say that I've never been this happy to return to a place. I flew out from Frankfurt on Sunday morning, 16 February, had a good flight and then had my friend Shubho pick me up from the airport in Kolkata. I was extremely excited when I saw the first signs that I had really come back to India: I could see the Ambassador Taxis from the plane already, and when getting out of the airport I got excited by the smallest things like the smells in the air as well as cows on the street, little shacks by the road and all that. I spent the night at Shubho's place, and it was great to meet him and his family again.

The next morning, we went on to NUJS Campus, which I was anxiously looking forward to. I had only told very few people, like Shubho, that I was coming back, so I knew it would be interesting to see how my friends there would react to a surprise visit... Shubho, who is now in his fifth and final year, was teaching a class to the students in third year, many of which I had become good friends with when studying in India a year ago, so I thought I'd just enter the class with him unannounced. They really all were very surprised, and I was so happy to see them all. Within minutes I felt right at home again.

Now the last couple of days I've been enjoying college life, just being on campus and spending time with everyone, though unfortunately many of them are busy with their vivas (oral presentations of their written projects) at the moment - still, there is always someone that is not so busy at the time, and also, there's Tobias, my friend from Freiburg who is now doing a semester here just like I did, and Roman, who I also know from Freiburg and who is studying for two trimesters in another law college (NLS) in Bangalore, Tobias' parents that have come to visit, and Hava, another German student who is here for an entire year (which I think is a good idea - people have been asking me whether I had come back for an entire semester and I wished I could say yes. A part of me wished I had just planned to spend the entire ten weeks in NUJS, but many of the students will be in Delhi at the same time that I'll be there)

Anyway, there's still some things I have to take care of before I can be fully connected again - I cannot use my Indian SIM card anymore that I had last week, so I hope to get a new one soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to use that to go online also, especially when traveling. But for now, I just want to enjoy being back here and spending as much time with my friends as possible... I'm sure the days will pass all too quickly.