Wednesday, 23 January - 7:00 AM

I'm inside a mosquito net!



When I got home last night, I found my hosts had put one up over my bed. It totally helped and also put my mind at ease so I could get a full night's sleep. It's these little things that bring me such joy!

Yesterday was another fine day. We left around 10:00 AM for a town called Ichalkaranji (itch-al-ka-ron-jee) where they welcomed us with beautiful floral garlands.

The first Rotary project we visited was a mobile medical clinic that provides free medical care to nineteen rural villages each week. We went to one of the villages and got to see it in action. What an amazing, beautiful project. Every day I am more amazed to see what the Rotary clubs do in this country.





From there we visited yet another textile factory. I've finally figured out that our days consist of one or more of the following three activities:

1) Visiting Rotary projects
2) Visiting vocational workplaces of Rotarians
3) Visiting temples

Sometimes we do all of these things in one day. And it seems that wherever we go, people give us tea and biscuits. I gotta say, I loves me some Indian tea. They make it with a spicy tea powder and boiled water and/or milk. I definitely wanna bring some home with me.

Our next stop after the textile factory was to a Rotary Colony. It's a small colony of 25 2-room housing units provided to poor families for a very, VERY minimal cost. Like... pennies. We got to go inside one of the houses. The woman and her kids who lived there looked so happy. And she offered us tea.





And after the trip to the housing colony - visiting the poorest of the poor - our hosts took us to a fancy restaurant for an amazing lunch. It was quite an odd contrast. It's actually pretty weird how the rich and poor live so closely amongst one another here.

After lunch we visited a really cool Jain ashram and got to witness a ceremony where a band played and people kept dumping pots of different colored liquids all over the giant statue of the deity. Even though our guide tried to translate what one of the monks was saying, I still really didn't get what was going on.


Jain temple ceremony.

Next we visited ANOTHER textile factory (Okay I get it!! Enough with the cotton already!!) Here's when I began to get a little cranky. It was hot and humid inside, and little bits of cotton were clinging to our clothes and going up our noses.


No more textile factories!!

Finally we ended up at a Rotary school for the deaf. This was pretty amazing. They build and maintain a school for a population of poor, deaf children. How else would these kids ever get a chance in life? The school is free and teaches them sign language, speech, art and all kinds of other classes. And the kids get a full meal each day which is something they may not be getting at home. We got to meet the kids and they were so excited to see us, and all wanted to shake our hands!

Afterwards, we took a small rest at one of the Rotarian's huge mansion before heading back to the Rotary hall to give our presentation. They had a dinner for us at a restaurant around 10:00 PM and then we headed home (to my mosquito net!!)

Today should be an easier day. We're meeting around 9:00 AM to go sight-seeing, but then have time off in the afternoon. Hopefully I can do some shopping with my host's wife. Kolhapur is supposedly famous for its chappals, and I also need to pick up a new suitcase for all the stuff I've acquired.

I've been here for ten days. Sometimes it feels like I just got here - sometimes it feels as if I've been here all along. India keeps teaching me lesson after lesson: patience, humility, tolerance... but most of all gratitude. I am not who I was when I left New Jersey. And for that, I am glad.

Tuesday, 22 January - 7:30 AM

OMFG. Yesterday was absolutely insane. We spent the day in a town called Sangli. Our schedule was jam-packed from 9 AM until midnight. In truth, I can barely remember all we did, but I'll give it a try...

1) Sangli Rotary Club - We saw their "health club" and the Jaipur Foot project wherein they provide free prosthetic feet and legs to people who need them.








Rotary gives four new people the ability to walk.

2) After that we took another hospital tour.


Great statue outside of the hospital.

3) Lunch at a vineyard owned by a Rotarian. Wine was provided, and now I know why Indians are not famous for their wine.


Bad, bad Indian wine.

4) Tour of afore-mentioned vineyard and winery.


Tasty Sangli grapes!


Bernie has a way with women and wine.

5) Tour of a Rotarian's textile factory, followed by tea.

6) Tour of another Rotarian's raisin factory (Sangli is known for its grapes) followed by another tea.


Lots and lots of raisins in cold storage.

7) Presentation outside the Sangli Rotary Club, followed by a cultural dance performance and a light dinner at 10:00 PM.

We finally got back to Kolhapur around 11:30 PM, but the guy who was driving me back to my host's house got lost. Then he seemed to get mad at me because I couldn't remember which house it was. Um... okay.

Today's schedule looks like a repeat of yesterday's. It seems that every Rotary club we land in wants to show us EVERYTHING! about their town and projects. It's a little exhausting. I think I would feel a lot better if it weren't for these damn mosquito bites.

But I'm trying to view it all as a lesson in tolerance and gratitude. I'm lucky because in a few short weeks, I will be on a plane back to my über-comfy life in my developed country. With both feet in tact. So for me, this discomfort is temporary. For others, not so much.

Monday, 21 January - 6:00 AM

Just woke up. Had a very good night's sleep. Last night my host showed me this plug-in thing that keeps away mosquitos and I apparently had not turned it on the previous night. Live and learn.

I attended a music program last night at 6:00. Rajiv's host had organized a sitar, violin and tabla player and they performed some classical music - a raga - in his living room for just a handful of us. It was really cool! And this guy's apartment was like a museum - all kinds of art all over the walls. Very, very cool.




Sitar player.


Tabla player.


Rajiv's host is the guy on the left with the gray hair.
This is his museum-esque living room.

From there I met up with Rajiv and Elizabeth and we were taken to a Rotary family get-together about 30 miles away at Panhala hill station. There were tons of people there, musicians and a whole lot of food. I tried my first paan and am still not sure what the fuss is all about. People in India sure do seem to like their paan.

I met one of the Rotary past-presidents last night and - as God as my witness - this guy was the spitting image of my late cousin, Julius. He looked, sounded, and acted exactly like him. In fact, I have found that so many people here remind me of people I know back home. I guess Carl Jung was right about archetypes.

I must say that my digestive system has probably been the best it has been in years. I am thinking it's because I am only eating whole, vegetarian food, fruits and a lot of water. I've also had no artificial sweeteners (which means no gum either, and I am a self-proclaimed "chain chewer!")

I just had a shower and then bathed myself in Deet. I am being eaten alive here -- I even have a mosquito bite on my eyelid. Today we're traveling to a town called Sangli and I think we'll be gone until evening. I feel like I haven't even seen my host family here. I feel kind of bad because they have been so nice to me - letting me stay in a big, clean room; feeding me; taking care of my laundry...

I find that every now and then I get these pangs of missing home. Most of the time we are so busy that I don't get a chance to be sad. But last night at the get-together, I felt kind of lonely - even though there were well over 200 people there. I suppose I should get up now and start the day.

Namaste.

Sunday, 20 January - 4:00 PM

Just got in from a fairly busy day. I had breakfast with my host family (corn flakes & banana, but they pour warm milk over it -- and it rocks!!) We met up at Bernie's hosts' around 9:00 AM. From there we went to see a martial arts demonstration which was pretty cool.


Little kids with weapons... never a good idea.



Afterwards, we went to a museum to see an outdoor arts festival. One of the artists drew everything upside-down. He did a drawing of Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosle, founder of the Maharashtran empire and gave it to me. Pretty cool souvenir! We also walked around in the museum itself.






The dude draws upside-down.

I'm back at my host's again, but only for a little bit. I'm scheduled to go hear a musical program at the home of Rajiv's host. Rajiv and Elizabeth are going to see some cultural dance program, and Bernie is going off on some jungle safari. Misty has come down with some bad bronchitis and is staying in to get some rest.

The host family I'm staying with is very quiet. They have two small kids and they don't seem to talk at all. I think maybe they're shy because at breakfast Vikram said, "Maybe we should have guests more often -- I'm enjoying these quiet meals!" Vikram's brother and his wife live in the house next door with their two daughters, and they are in the process of building a third house on the property for Vikram's mom and dad.

Sunday, 20 January - 7:00 AM

Morning here in Kolhapur. I slept pretty good for a couple hours but there was this horribly annoying mosquito that kept buzzing around my head. I had no idea that mosquitos made noise. But this morning I look like I have the chicken pox -- bites all over my head and face.

I've started reading a book that I picked up at the ashram called, "The Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna."

Last night's presentation was at an outdoor restaurant. It went pretty well except that the power kept going out. That's actually a big problem here in India - there is a limited amount of power and electricity so in some towns, the power goes out for a few hours every day. Chalk it up to another one of those little things that we in the U.S. take for granted.

I met Elizabeth's host, Shoba, who founded her own womens-only Rotary club. Women are allowed to be in Rotary here, and there are some who choose to do so. But the majority of the wives belong to the "Inner Wheel" which is kind of like a ladies' auxiliary club. I'm not sure if there are Inner Wheels in the U.S.


Women's Rotary Club of Kolhapur.

Shoba started the womens-only club to meet the needs of professional Indian women who have to balance their careers and household responsibilities. It's actually a great idea and the club members are all really great. I had the chance to sit and chat with a bunch of them last night and I think we are planning to spend the afternoon with them today.

I have a confession to make. I did a pretty crappy thing yesterday in the car on the way from Belgaum to Kolhapur. Rajiv called Wolf and, in his best Indian accent, told him I was leaving him for an Indian man. Even as it was going on, I knew it was mean. And now my heart hurts because I know that I hurt him. And I'm halfway across the world and cannot apologize properly. I hope he can feel my remorse. I hope he knows how much I love him and how it hurts me to know that I've hurt him.

Saturday, 19 January - 1:00 PM

We just arrived in our next town, Kolhapur. I am staying with a Rotarian named Vikram, his wife and their two kids. He owns a movie theatre that shows mostly Marathi films (Marathi is the language of the state of Maharashtra, where Kolhapur is located).

This is the best room I've had so far. It's Vikram's mother's room, but she is away in another part of India having an operation. I'm up on the top floor of a big house, with a private bathroom and an actual SHOWER! Since we're staying here for six days, I was actually able to unpack my clothes for the first time.

I'm sitting here in a nice, wooden rocking chair. After all the commotion of the huge family in Belgaum, it seems unnaturally quiet here! This morning in Belgaum, Veerdhaval, his sister, and two of the kids took me upstairs and taught me seven of the pranayama. Then he demonstrated some yoga poses - one where he moved his stomach muscles as if they were alive! Pretty cool... and maybe a little disturbing.


Veerdhaval and his son demonstrating the Lion pose.

The car ride to Kolhapur was a lot of fun. Me, Elizabeth, Rajiv and Misty talked about all kinds of things and I got a chance to phone home for the first time.


Elizabeth and Rajiv -- goofing around as usual.

I'm not quite sure what to do with myself at the moment. This host family isn't all over me... I guess it's kind of nice, but also kind of weird. And I can't figure out how to flush the toilet.

While I have some time, I think I'll write a little bit about my thoughts on India at this point. Being in India is like being on another planet. The climate and the geography, but also the people and the way of life. You can't really compare it to the U.S. I guess some people would get stuck on the hygiene aspect and dismiss India as being third world.

But in so many ways, they are way ahead of us. And it's in ways that really count. They are peaceful, contented, family-loving people. They're not stuck on status. They're not all cynical. They are one with the earth. They get it.

I just wish they had toilets that flush.

Friday, 18 January - 11:00 PM

What an amazing birthday it's been! When I went downstairs after my bucket, my Belgaum family was all waiting down there with a birthday cake! They gave me the ceremonial forehead dot, oils and sang "Happy Birthday." Then they all took turns feeding me pieces of cake!



Before meeting up with the team, Veerdhaval took me and Elizabeth to visit his iron casting factory. I have been to more factories in the past week than I probably ever would see in several lifetimes. And I am learning how things are made that I don't even usually think about. I mean, who thinks how iron car parts are made? I'm sure they have factories like these all over the US - probably even in my own town. But I guess I'd never given much thought to stuff like this. Maybe I should. Maybe my overall awareness is waking up.

We met up with the rest of the team and our first stop was to a Jain temple from several thousand years ago. It was pretty cool and relevant because the family I am staying with now are actually Jains.


Jain temple deity.

And after the Jain temple, we visited an ashram.This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. One of the monks sat with us and explained the real Indian culture: the belief that God (Divine) is within each and every being. That when one suffers, all suffer.


Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Belgaum.

He talked about death as merely shedding a shell. He talked of the balance of good and bad, happy and sad. That if one is suffering, he should take comfort in knowing that someone else is thriving. If we are experiencing bad times, knowing that someone else is enjoying good times and find peace in that. And remember that bad times will pass so not to dwell on them.

We were allowed to ask anything on our minds and his answers were so simple and so beautiful and made so much sense. I was filled with a sort of a-ha! feeling - very emotional. I guess what one might call a true religious experience.

After that amazing stop we went on a tour of the Tata power plant. It was interesting, but my mind was still buzzing from the ashram. In the evening we made our presentation at the Belgaum Rotary club. Rajiv had stuck an extra slide into the PowerPoint presentation and it turned out to be a birthday surprise! The club brought out another birthday cake (my second for the day!) and we all shared it.


Having my cake...


... and eating it, too!

After all that, our hosts took Elizabeth, Misty and I out for dinner and then we went to a movie theatre (owned by a Rotarian, of course) and I saw my first Hindi movie called Welcome!

I am so tired right now. These days are wonderful but man are they LONG! Tomorrow we leave for Kolhapur. I'm so sad to be leaving such an amazing family. And it truly was a birthday I will never forget.



Namaste.