A good omen

June 3, 2007

This morning V and I went for a run. Yesterday I discovered that I only packed one running shoe (!) and I was due for a new pair anyway. I went to the local sports shoe store and got full service. The man measured my foot, put the shoes on for me, even tied them, and called me “ma’am” a lot. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable since I’m used to doing everything myself. I paid about as much as I would in the States. There are no real bargains on brand name stuff. It’s the locally produced goods that can be bought for much less.

After purchasing the shoes we went to a mall. It was so crowded. I cannot believe how many cars can be packed into that parking garage! It would be more than illegal parking in the US. As with everywhere else, there were plenty of employees in uniform ready to assist. Labor is easy to get in India so you get full service, even more than full service. Inside we went to a cookie counter and then to the bookstore. Inside the place was crawling with assistants practically following people around ready to help with anything one might ask for. I bought some books for the kids at a great price. Roughly $1-2 each including some Dr. Seuss paperbacks and some easy readers for Abi. What I did not find was Indian tales. I found some books for older kids about Indian tales and Hindu tales but did not feel they were what I was looking for. Back out again, we walked through the main mall. I was the only white person there and while most minded their own business, some started. One man gawked. He literally was stopped in his tracks, came over and stood smiling and looking me and the kids up and down. Kamini asked if he had a problem. He moved off and then stole another glance before Kamini waved him on. I am used to this kind of thing now after being here three times before, but one can never fully get used to it. It's interesting to be in the minority for once.

So this morning at 7:30, the sun already up and very hot, we went for a run. Leaving the wealthy neighborhood where Kamini’s house is, we went down a side street and found ourselves in a different world. It is so hard to begin to describe a scene that is so utterly different than anything I find in the states. The dirt road was narrow and shaded from above by lots of trees. There were carts of all kinds being pushed down the street selling thing. Mostly foods, but one man was pushing an old fashioned cast-iron sewing machine on a cart, presumably to sell his services mending clothes. We passed a water buffalo, several stray dogs. A child of Abi’s age watching two children including a 3 year old wearing nothing but a black thread around his waist. A chicken butcher with cages crammed full of ill-looking white chickens. A trash picker going through a heap of garbage, his collection bag full of strings, papers, and recyclable plastic. Young girls with water collection jars on their heads. There was a pungent odor of rot in the air down that whole street. But it was not as intolerable as it sounds. It was just part of that place. It belonged. Then back home to Kamini’s house, with the marble floors, running water, a/c in some of the rooms. It was such a different world. (Although even her house is not immune to the periodic power outages that strike a couple of times a day.) I may try to get some video clips of that street on my next run, but it will be a few days. Tomorrow we are leaving for Tirupati. I am going to attempt to hike the whole way again, about 3-4 hours steep climb. We are going to stay in a hotel and then wake up the next morning very early (around 2:30) for morning darshan. If we go for the later one we will be among about 3,000 people who are scheduled for that time slot. It runs similar to an amusement park in that regard-- you buy tickets for certain time slots and then you sit in holding cells until it's your turn to go.

Just about an hour ago we had a ring at the door. Two men dressed only in veshtis, looking travel-worn, explained that they were on a foot journey to Tirupati. This temple is one of the most pilgrimaged site in the world and many people endure self-imposed hardships in order to bring them closer to God. By removing everything else, they have only God. So these two men came and asked for some money for meals on the way. They had about 15 more days of walking to reach Tirupati. I had the girls give them the money and some water. How interesting that only tomorrow we are leaving for the same place. And more interesting that each of the girls was prayed for at that temple, for their conception. That temple is very special to me. I think of the visit of those two men as a good omen.