Namaste!

Da Eagle has landed!
Bye-bye England, hello India! Waiting in the wings for takeoff has fuelled my brain with enough ideas about what i want to do. So finally, I'm here, and one of the first things I would like to do is to find a good ashram. Imagine though, if you could take all the ashrams that exist in India and put them together? They would take up a fair chunk of the country – which is why I have no idea where to begin, and which is why I have decided it's better to just let the ashram come to me.

On the buses
Staying with my uncle in Delhi, Faridabad. This is base for a few weeks until I decide on plan of action. Faridabad is dusty to high hell. Take a bus journey through this city and you'll feel choked by the end of it, especially if you make the mistake of sitting next to the window. By the time you want to get off the bus, it's so ramssacked with people you practically find yourself slow-motion-swimming through a sea of bodies to get to the front, exhausted with claustrophobic palpatations and gasping for air. You also need to hold on to the nearest thing to stop yourself from flying through the front screen as the drivers have a habit of slamming the breaks at unexpected times.

Traffic
Think Indian traffic and think rickshaws, buses and cars trying to out-do each other as they dodge cows strolling in the wrong direction and avoid getting crushed by stacks of precariously balanced goods carted by donkeys and camels. Just a couple of years ago, charged by the EU for being “too loud” and breaking the so-called noise-pollution law, Spain was hit by an order demanding it “keep the noise down”. If EU officials consider Spain noisy, then they obviously haven't taken a white knuckle ride through a busy Delhi street on a rickshaw with the wind blowing through your hair and a cocktail of smells spanning sewers to samosas engulfing the nostrils as you inhale zillions of particles of dust and find yourself going deaf with incessant honking. Even if there is no need to beep, they still feel the need to. It's a traffic jungle out there and you have to beep-whack your way through all the chaos.

It's a crazy kind of chaos that most people will either love it or hate. I can positively confirm that within a matter of days, I've managed to hit the ground running and synchronize with India's chaotic way of everyday life. I think you need to have a sense of humour to appreciate the chaos in India because people here have a certain way of dealing with it, and that generally happens to be with a wide toothy smile. Found myself in a traffic jam the other day sitting in car with cousin and aunty. It was a very busy bazaar and the jam involved a two rickshaws, a cow, and three cars clogging up a narrow street junction. I noticed traffic jams are caused by people who refuse to move because they actually enjoy being a part of all the commotion, honking horns, hollering in jest and having a good old banter in the middle of it all. More and more people will come out onto the street to watch and you will notice how everyone is wearing this silly grin.

Holier than thou cows
They are absolutely everywhere. And certainly considered holier than thou, especially in the eyes of Indians because the cow is a Godly figure and can do no wrong, even in the middle of a busy road, where traffic will stop to let her holiness pass. Even when the cow has no intention of moving, cars and rickshaws will wait until she has decided it's time to move on.

So far, I've seen them strolling casually through the hectic bazaar, sleeping outside the outlet of an internet service provider, chilling out next to a street vendor selling fresh lime juice and as mentioned, walking about in the middle of busy roads, causing traffic jams. The cow is even known to walk into your office and chill out next to your desk. So when they say “holy cow”, it's a literal a reerence to the revered sacred status of the cow. In India, the cow is a godly figure, a representation of the cowherd led by Krishna, the God of Love. Krishna is famed for his love of butter, which came from the milk of the cows that he took care of. Like a mother, the cow is a provider, a giver of milk, her love is symbolized by the milk she gives and it's an unconditional love like that of a mother. The mother is respected as a Goddess in Hinduism, therefore, the cow, who is considered a symbol of motherhood, as giver of of milk, is also worshipped. In fact just this year, the value of the cow was given consideration on a scientific as well as spiritual level when South Africa hosted an event that discussed the medicinal value of cow dung and urine, and life as a vegetarian.

Cows, bazaars, buses and traffic jams, if I can get through this, then I think I'm gonna be okay here in India. The real test will be travelling long distance on trains and surviving for at least another six months, not to mention the diabolical level of poverty that I will inevitably see. I feel initiated into Indian life already and most definitley feel ready for an adventure! :-)