Offroading from Gajner to Jodpur

As we stopped for Chai at the local village "store," the shopkeeper suggested a road though the desert that would bypass Bikaner and take about 30 - 45 km off our drive. Our "short cut" took us though the dunes on barely discernable roads or paths. Despite not knowing where we are going, we had no problem as everyone is so friendly and helpful. All our driver had to do was to ask someone here to go. The only challenge was there were not many people on these back trails, but we made it safely and it was fun to go through the villages.

Jodpur is known as the "Blue City" as the caste Brahma's or priests all paint their houses in the "old city" blue so everyone knows they are a Bhramain. It is also said that the blue color kept away mosquitoes.

We visited the impressive Jodpur fort high upon the hill overlooking the city. The current Maharja still uses it to hold official events.... (e.g coronations or Elizabeth Hurley's wedding recpetion!) After walking down the hill into the old city and the bazaar called Sadar Market we were taken to a textile store by our guide. I have to say that the Indian people have to be THE BEST SALES PEOPLE IN THE WORLD......needless to say we left with a few items. With all of the sounds, sights and smells and experiences of the day we went back to our hotel to rest, relax and recuperate.

The next day was our "road safari" out to the Bishnoi Villages. It was a fun day to visit a few villages and eat lunch at one man's house.

Our host for lunch.... where Beth helpped make Chapati from hand ground millet and wheat... over an open flame.

Stunning and heavy silver jewlrey adorn village women

Too bad.. we make better village people than Marharajas.

Poor media placement Jolly Fat-go

We drove across Rajasthan on National Highway 89 in rural village country. Everyone is stick thin and extremely fit from walking all over and not eating much. Dotting walls all along Highway 89, was Out of Home advertising - painted signs on walls. Jolly Fat-Go caugth my eye... sounds like a diet product doesn't it... But it couldn't be. What media firm would adorn walls with advertising that wasn't applicable to the audience. None we know. Jolly Fat-go must be a cooking oil with a long shelf life. Finally, we learned that it is indeed a diet product. Guess advertising is cheaper out in the country than in Mumbai where people are richer ... and fatter. A good reminder... cheap media does not necessarily mean good media !

Sacred Kolayat Full Moon Festival

We had an incredible day at Kolayat for the Kapil Muni Festival (for the Sage Kapi mediatated her to save mankind and he is also a descendant of Brahma) – like Pushkar only much smaller. The festival reaches its crescendo on the day of the full moon in Oct/Nov, this year Nov 2 - when we visited. We went twice, in the morning to see the action and then in the evening for the candle offerings set adrift on the lake.
Attending this festival is like going to Mecca for Muslims. There are hundreds of sadhus (like monks) who are there to offer blessings to the Indian pilgrims … and receive gifts – mostly rice, sweets and money.
During the morning, we joined thousands of Indian pilgrims – walking to the temple. We didn’t wee any other tourists only Indians. We were quite the spectacle. More locals took our picture than we took theirs. Men just wanted to shake my hand or speak a few words of English. Many of the pilgrims come from the villages and they rarely, if ever, see a non-Indian. It was pretty cool to be in the middle of an experience where there are not any other tourists.
The lake is ringed by many ghats (steps down to the lake), where pilgrims come to dip themselves into the lake to wash away all of their sins. As we walked around, we didn’t quite know what to do, how much to offer Sadhus, which temples to visit, whether it was ok to watch men and/or women bathing (usually with underwear on). So we mostly watched. We were blessed at a couple of temples.
It was interesting to compare this to Pushkar. In Pushkar, everyone wanted to sell us something or pose for a picture – for money. In Koyalat, there were no tourist goods to sell, but much more begging. Even the Sadhus asked for 100 rupees vs the 1 or 2 Indians offered.
We came back for Sunset.. when we figured the lakeside blessings would happen. Even though I just fasted for Yom Kippur to cleanse my sins, I still went into the lake, I figured it couldn’t hurt, right? Just after Howard came out of the Lake and we made offerings of floating candles into the lake, the sun set. Suddenly, the activity around the lake quickened! More offerings and what seemed to be spontaneous chanting began. Nothing like moonlight, candles and chanting to create a sacred space! And we were in the center of it all.

The Pilgrims at the lake placing floating candles

Me after dipping myself in the lake to wash away ALL of my sins!

Beth loves the color of the sunset before the full moon came out

Us with the crowds of Indian's, no white people

Earlier in the day all the colors at the ghat

Wildlife Sanctuary in the desert.....you bettcha!

Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary

We arrived at the Gajner Palace Hotel late in the afternoon after lunch in our drivers village and visiting he rat temple (thanks for the recommendation Kurt, we love it here). What an oasis this Palace Hotel and Wildlife sanctuary is.

On Sunday, November1^st we decided that we would spend the day relaxing around the hotel nd sanctuary and what a joy it was to not drive anywhere nor do any sight seeing.

I spent most of the morning watching the Phillies lose to those damn Yankees. Then almost the rest of the day watching all of the following animals:

Bl Backbuck antelope (with their long spiraling horns, these and many other animals are protected by the Bishnoi tribe)

· Chinkaras (Indian gazelles)

· Nilgai (known as Blue beard antelopes)

· Jackals

· Wild boars

And the birds were pretty cool too, especially seeing the Demoiselle cranes flying and come in for their landings, we also saw:

· Egrets

· Herons

· Quail

· Green parrots (galore)

· Eagles

· Ducks (of all kinds)

· Fruit bats (of so they are not birds but I’m including them here anyway)

Plus in the lake I saw a couple of turtles

Blackbuck antelope checking me out

Wild boar heading to the lake for some lunch

Jackal taking and afternoon nap in the shade

Family and Friends - photos and shout outs

During our trip so much that we see, do and experience reminds us of our family and friends, this posting is just few of those images and thoughts, as we are thinking about all of you.

For my niece Ryanne, a new flavor for Frito Lays "India's Magic Masala"

For Steve and Michele, cooking Indian food (and a belated Happy Anniversity)

For Peter and Ohelia, Indian maniquins also look European and here they love their dogs!

For Elanie Nickerson, just wanted you to know how useful your Birthday gift is to Beth, her Bagalini has been an excellent small purse to travel with.

Leaving Pushkar – Enter the Desert.

As we pulled out of Pushkar, we entered the desert for real. Pushkar was certainly sandy desert but was disguised by the thousands of people, cattle and camels staking claim of the sand dunes. The scenery reminded us a bit of the California deserts – think Mojave or Death Valley – though a bit greener.

We loved driving across the desert, with muted tans and greens of the landscape periodically interrupted by shocks of pinks, yellows and orange as women walked to and from villages wearing saris and carrying big loads atop their heads.

November December is wedding season in India. We saw processions that take place 1-2 weeks before the wedding in several villages. We’re still not clear on the meaning of these rituals but they are colorful and festive. The bride is the center veiled woman, predominantly in red.

On our way to Gajner, we detoured a few kilometers to visit our driver’s village and home. He is a poor man, earning about $100/month working for Star Holidays. He lives in Delhi most of the time, visiting home 1-2 times per month. We met his wife, youngest daughter and mother – along with every other person in the village who was within walking distance. They don’t get many foreign visitors! His wife made lunch for us. We sat in their only two chairs – Sayar, our driver sat on the bed and his wife served us lunch. She didn’t eat with us… it’s a strange custom but one we encountered in Bali as well. She made chapatti – from wheat grown on their farm, and ground in their own grinder, dahl, curd – from their buffalo’s milk, potatos and rice (more carbs). We finished lunch with a sweet of sugar, butter and some sort of starch.

I (Beth) am reading Michael Pollin’s “In Defense of Food” right now and his tenant is that we should all eat “real food” closer to it’s production. This meal brought that tenant to life in spades (pun intended).

Rat Temple - Karni Mata Temple

Western India, near Bikaner is the site of the Karni Mata Temple, a temple where a mother brought her son back to life as a rat. Indian’s believe that this entire extended family comes back to life as storytellers – and are thus sacred animals. This temple teems with rats who are fed sweets and grain. It’s auspicious to pilgrim to this temple with rats running to and fro. Yes, even Beth went in … with no shoes on, although not for long. I (Beth) couldn’t quite embrace the holiness of this place. It was one of the filthiest places we’ve visited in India. Yet throngs of people streamed in for prayer!

Pushkar Camel Fair - A pictures worth 1000 words

Camping Pushkar style

Colorful Sari with the cattle

Colors of Pushkar women

Camel dinner at sunset

Camel sellers looking for buyers

Pushkar camels.....fair

Mr. India - Pushkar Mustache contest participant

The Brahma Temple

Offerings at ghat, with man made bathing pool for pilgrams as Pushkar lake is dry!

SKS – Microfinance Field Visit

We’ve been inspired over the years by the stories of how small loans can transform lives. We were fortunate enough to visit the field office of SKS in Ajmer very near Pushkar. SKS is the largest MicroFinance organization in India, serving over 4 million women with over $1 billion in loans. These small, 1 year loans, typically 10,000 rupees ($200) per person are made to groups of 5 women who are mutually responsible for the loans and must attend group meetings for disbursement and repayment.

We ventured to the roof of a concrete block house for the weekly meeting– where 30 women welcomed us, some with broad smiles, others with timid gazes from behind veils, and yet others with enthusiastic invitations to sit by them.

The ritual of granting and repaying the loan is purposeful… building trust, preventing fraud and teaching rudimentary skills such as establishing a signature. Most of the women are illiterate and this may be their first interaction with a financial institution. To receive a loan, all 5 women of the group plus the husband of the woman receiving the loan must be present. A voter registration card, a photo and assessment of family details are necessary to receive the loan. All of the groups (6 in this case – 30 women) come together each week to submit their weekly $230 rupees (about $5) payment of principal and interest. The chapter leader, elected by the women , counts the money in front of everyone. The SKS field loan officer updates the loan books for each group of 5 women. The chapter leader then presents the money counting each denomination of bills to the field loan officer. Payments are also made for compulsory and optional insurance. Finally the meeting closes with a pledge that they will repay the loans, use the money for productive purposes and help each other should the need arise. The high ritual creates common witness that the money has been paid. It was great to see how engaged the women were.

The women were incredibly friendly and welcoming, inviting us to join them for tea and food, asked us to hold their babies and crochet with them. They even offered us a gift, a head cover used by men entering Mosques. With the loans, the women are able to buy crochet thread and beads in bulk to lower their costs.

The branch office was almost as interesting… certainly not the personal connection we made in the field but… to see binders for the 149 centers in Ajmer and the many steps in the process to prevent fraud and insure that all payments are accounted for was eye opening. And.. SKS is known to have the most efficient operations in MicroFinance. It’s hard to believe that money can be made – even charging 15% interest. The entire process is so labor intensive. It takes 12 staff to service this branch. For many reasons, it’s hard to imagine MicroFinance – in this model working in the US. AN INCREDIBLE MORNING.