Ooty: Too Sweet

I unfortunately forget the poetic terminology for that repetition of vowel sounds in a line. Any Lit nerd out there?

Anyway, Ooty is so sweet and cute. Just hopped over there from Coimbatore to join my homeboys ShmAmal and Vivek in their south India adventure. It was good to see bay area folks, and especially Amal and Vivek, since i hadn't hung out with them for months (and Vivek years?) even back home.

Anyway, our first night in Ooty was more just hanging out, catching up. After dinner, we went for a drink at a local bar. We were nicely surprised to find a DJ spinning some good hip hop, and soon enough we were joining the 15 or so other young folks -- Sudanese and Indian pharmacology students (guys) and white (European and American, I think) backpacker women -- on the tiny dancefloor. We got invited to an afterparty at the Sudanese students' place, which was also tiny and pumping with music. Good dancing. Lighthearted. The house and the vibe was a bit West Oakland. Haha.

The next day was probably more of the quintessential Ooty experience. We took a 4 hour tour, including the Dodabetta peak, tea factory, and museum. The museum was interesting. It had a number of panels that talked about the history of tea, from its likely discovery in China ages ago, to its spread and popularity in Japan, and then later to the Netherlands and England. Apparently, there was tea growing wild in Assam (East India) already, but quite a few plantations were started in India by the colonizers utiizing Chinese tea plans. Later, they started to cultivate East Indian tea, and then after some time (delayed due to the dominance of the East India tea company. Learned a few more things about this huge topic of tea. Inspired me to pick up that book on the history of tea -- I don't remember the title, but I remember the book cover (that's the visual artist dominating my perception, which sometimes happens --"it had a creamy white cover with reddish title. I'd recognize the font instantly!").

The rest of the afternoon was simply childish fun. We hung out in the botanical garden, were Vivek and I got a chance to play a little capoeira, what with both of us being way out of practice. But it was fun for everyone to just do flips and other crazy moves on the grass. Then we joined all the newly wed honeymooners on the lake. We got a rowboat, and Amal got to work out his arms and chest and flash big smiles at probably-single women who were paddling along in their paddle boats. This carnivalesque experience was topped off with all of us taking a go at the mechanical bull (i.e., you try to stay on the bull). Haha. All the women cheered when I gave it a shot, as I was the only woman at the time trying it out.

Homemade chocolate, locally made oils, and a ride on the toy train ride through picturesque rounded hills made ooty all the more cute. I don't think it was so much the attractions there, though as much as the mindset that people go there with that makes the experience so cute. I had so much fun.

Happy Year of the Doggy!

Here's something to feel optmistic about:
if, in the dog years, we do not feel perfectly confident that our
future will be bright, there is compensation to be taken in the form of
a general sentiment of good will and generosity. politicking will reach an all-time high of liberal idealism. those who have felt themselves oppressed will have a chance to speak out. socialism may rear its little pink nose. everyone is imbued with giving. taking is on the decline.

Thanks to Scott for passing that on to me. Travelling as I've been (where I'm waking up somewhere different every third day or so) has been destabilizing if fun, and suffering a little from that, along with my meditation practice, art practice, and English fluency, has been my update of the stars (astrology, not celebrities, mind you!) But luckily I still get wonderful bits of wisdom, poetry, positive vibes and other goods from friends. (I loved the piece on dreams, RW). Thank you for that. I miss you and I appreciate your encouragement & guidance.

Apart from feeling a bit travel-weary, I'm feeling generally optimistic. A few of the things I'm feeling good about:

+ Seeing Ajai get married in Trivandrum (Kerala), and to a really wonderful woman. (For those of you who don't know, Ajai is one of these people who inspire me and feed my soul!). The ceremony was intimate and sweet, and it was such a joy to meet his family and friends.

+ Receiving darshan (blessing) from Amma at Amritapuri

+ Being in Kerala, where you alost take for granted the sun, warm nights, fresh juice, and palms galore, and where there is an interesting political climate, what with the frequent marches of the the communist revolutionaries, the conversations with students on the beach (ah, you're from the Great Vietnam, one guy said to me), the realizations of things read in The God of Small Things, the strange new brand of classism (or is it old?), the coexistence of different religious temples and practices here (one guy we met who hosted us for a day brought us to a Hindu Temple, even though he was Christian and couldn't go in).

+ The wonderful experience of being in the rainforests at the foot of the Western Ghats near Madikeri, Karnatika. Stayed on the coffee plantation of a very sweet Coorg family who ran a small, simple lodging operation to tide them through while their honey business slowly recovers from a bee disease that was introduced to the area some years back.

+ Being next to the ocean again (Varkala) and eating fresh fish.

Anyway, things have been moving quickly, and lots has been happening in a short time. Hence the lack of updates from Sylvia. Travelling, especially this way, is a good challenge for me, especially being such a cancer and homebody. It's been teaching me to keep moving, to let go of your baggage, assumptions, useles plans really quickly, and keep seeing life for what it is, in its dynamically changing present. And then it's fun.