A Final Namaste (email #8)

This will be my final Namaste to all of my lovely email readers.

In 24hours I will be boarding a plane heading for Prague, and then 2 dayson, heading for one of the Indian girl's great half auntie's villa onan island off the Croatian border (or words to that effect). It isbeyond my writing ability to express what an odd thought to me thatis! I've spent 4 months of one of the most vibrant periods of my lifein a land where 'sab kuch milenge Bharat mei' (Anything is possible inIndia). And now I'm going back to reality. Because India is just toomuch of a fairytale land to be considered real.

Perfect timing! A monkey just ran past the window chasing a peacock!Point proven. I think that the thing that I will find it most hard tore-adapt to in the 'real world' will be the lack of wildlife justroaming around. In no particular order, cows sit in the middle of theroad munching down on cardboard boxes; hennaed elephants cause trafficjams; donkies keep you awake at night (have you ever heard a donkey'smating call? Or the sound of them having sex? Well, it's loud. Reallyloud); monkies feed their babies mango pips stolen from your hands;pigeons are everywhere, but what's new?; you worry more about honeybees than mosquitoes most days, and you do NOT want to see a honeybee; peacocks wake you up in the morning instead of a rooster, andthen prance round like the rule the roost; dogs lie seeminglymotionlessly on the tops of cars, until they jump at you snarlingRABIES RABIES I HAVE RABIES!!!

Well that's what it feels like sometimes anyway… A bit more eclecticthen the occasional stray dog and an abundance of pigeons.

Ooh! Another peacock is wandering by – their tails really are as bigand as beautiful as in pictures… But they sound like car horns.

So here's the final round off of the past month or so! Lucky for you,I'm being confined by the time limit that a flight to New Delhi isgiving me, so it'll be quite quick. If you want more details onanything, let me know. Because you know me, I would LOVE an excuse toescape back into my Indian mental playground while I'm in EasternEurope…

Saying goodbye to my kids was one of the most heartbreaking momentsin my entire time here. And I've seen some terrible things that Idon't even want to mention in an email. It's odd how you can see suchinjustice in the ebb and flow of the world, but it's not until you'reactually physically and emotionally connected to something that it hasa profound and unexpected effect on you.

This happened when I was waiting to board a train at Jhansi. I wastalking in Hindi to some of the beggar children that lived on therailway line, and I decided to give them a treat and take their photosfor them. Which they LOVE. You get kids coming up to you asking youfor money or 'ek chappati, just one chappati' at about the same ratioas them wanting a photo. But the 3 girls didn't ask any of this, theyjust wanted to talk to their weird white girl who could speak a bit oftheir language. I'm taking their photo when a large man comes upbehind them and begins to hit them. And I don't mean a couple ofwhacks above the head with his palm, I mean ABUSING them. The sound ofthe back of his hands across their backs and faces was one of the mostsickening dull thuds I have ever heard. It vibrated off the metaltracks.

Well. I. Cracked. The. SHITS. I completely turned on him. I wasn't incontrol of what I was doing – my feet ran at this arsehole and I beganto abuse him with the most foul mixture of English and Hindi that Icould muster. When he tried to turn away, I grabbed his shoulder andwith a strength I didn't know that I had, I pushed my nails into hisflesh and pulled him back to me. Then I held him at arms length andSCREAMED at him until Mum pulled me away. And just as quickly as I hadstarted, I stopped and I began to cry. Weep. Wail. Whatever the mostmournful word you could think of, I was doing just that. I was sittingon the side of the tracks inconsolably shuddering, letting the tearsroll down my cheeks at the thought that someone could do somethinglike that to a bunch of kids the same age as my kids back in Udaipur.I never fully realized how much I cared for those little terrors untilI saw the hatred in which this man attacked other kids their age within a different place.

But then once I had gained the ability to breathe properly back, Iran down the platform until I found them. And they ran at me at huggedme. They held onto me so tight that I nearly began crying again in thememory of my own kiddies. And their smiles made me keep smiling.

And I've been smiling nonstop the past 3 weeks! Strangely enough, Ididn't even cry when I left the house in Bedla. The last weekend tripthat we had before we left Udaipur was the best of the trip, and I'mfuming that I don't have enough time to write about it much now!

Essentially, we went to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, which are desert townsclose to the border off Pakistan. At one point we were within a day'swalking distance from the Pakistani border, and simultaneously about100km from the nuclear testing site. Oh, and we were on camels… Whichis an experience in itself!

The 4 of us Aussie Antipodean girls went on a camel safari out to thedunes. And both sides of the experience were exactly as anystereotypical movie or book or photograph would lead you to believe.The dunes are these huge rolling masses of pale yellow sand that wewould jump off and roll down for 30 seconds until we would reach thebottom. And the camels were spitting, farting, rolling, pelvisbruising animals of splendor. Mine was dubbed 'Michael Jackson' (whichis what every touristy animal seems to be called). But I didn't likeit, so I renamed him. David Andre Alonzo. I don't really know why, butit seemed suitable at the time!

We trotted out 4 hours out to where the only light came from thestars. But it didn't quite feel right – I do miss the southern stars…I crave to look up and see the Milky Way. But the sight of the moonrising at 3am, out of the dunes, made every homesick thought I haddisappear.

Ahhh! I need to go!! But I haven't even spoken about the past 2 weekstraveling with Mum and the Barbs squared!! I might write a quicky inthe airport or something… But if I don't, here's a blow by blowaccount:

- Surprised Mum by picking her up at the airport dressed in my sari.She freaked out. Lots of tears.
- Went from living in Bedla with no running water, rarely electricity,boards with sheets for beds, straight to one of the best hotels in theworld – The Lake Palace. Literally a hotel in the Maharaja's oldpalace in the middle of the biggest Lake in Udaipur. Used the hotwater and the air con for all it was worth
- Met the Barbs. Took them around my home, and said goodbye to all ofmy friends with the promise I'd come back soon
- Flew to Varanasi. Saw lots of dead bodies either being burnt, orwhole and floating down the Ganges
- Flew to Khajuraho. Saw lots of explicit karma sutra carvings on thesides of religious Hindu temples. Possibly one of the oddest thingsI've done in India, nevertheless done with my mother in tow.
- Left the Barbs in Delhi. Awww.
- Went on to Jaipur with Mum. We bought 6 pairs of shoes in 4 hours.For under 10 bucks.
- Went back to Pushkar, which is my favourite city. Wandered aroundthe ghats and drank lots of chai and ate lots of street food in themost laid back town I've ever been to.
- Ajmer. Some huge Muslim festival that the Dali Lama was at that shutthe city down and made it really hard to do much. We stayed for 2hours and left…
- Back to Jaipur (where I am writing this now) for 20 hours before weleave for Delhi.
- Delhi – London – Prague – Croatia!!

And that's all folks! I'm closing this chapter and opening a new onefor Europe! I know I'm going to suffer some severe reverse cultureshock… I can't imagine life with showers and toilet paper, and withoutmonkies and green chillis. But at the same time, I can't wait for it!

I'm going to stop writing these long emails whilst I'm in Europe too.They take too long to write, and nobody ever writes back becausethey're too exhausted after reading the! So from now on, I'll emaileveryone individually either when you guys email me to tell me what'sgoing on back home, or when I see something that remind me of you!

So for now, thank you for being an audience to me travels through thisstrange land, and I'll see you in 24 weekends!

Daanyavard and namaste.

Love Jodha Xx