2007_03_01_archive

A PASSAGE TO INDIA or THE RAJ QUINTET

I wanted to post a note telling you all I was going off to India, but

my computer decided - for a change - to stop functioning. Not to worry

- my trusty CM (computer mumche) came to the rescue when I got back

and put it all to rights. Actually - it's not his fault - I switched

servers and television cable companies - and the whole thing went

kerflooey. And all because my original cable provider, HOT, threatened

to discontinue BBC Prime and I couldn't have that so I switched to

YES. But the computer was linked to HOT and the HOT technicians

disconnected the computer - nasty nasty people - and it took forever

to get it all together again. And to add insult to injury HOT decided

to keep BBC Prime in the end!!

So back to my trip to India. It was my fourth trip there - my third

with my friend Myra - sans Arnon this time. There were five of us -

all women. Don't even ask. I have to say though that on the whole the

trip was fine - and interesting - and fun - and I now know more about

some of these women than I ever wanted to know - or needed to know.

Who complains - who is cheap - who is generous - who is "gameesh"

(flexible) - who is a swift pain in the butt - which ones I will never

travel with again - the list goes on. After all - FIVE women!! But all

in all - I'd do it again - only with some men next time as leavening.

Haven't you noticed? I have. When I serve on a Board of some

organization and it is mixed - men and women - there is almost no

infighting and sniping. Women tend to personalize everything.

Anyway - we flew to Mumbai - went to visit the Hare Krishna Temple

between planes - nothing like not wasting any time - then flew on to

Varanassi and then on to Delhi - where we picked up our car and driver

and spent the next few weeks driving to Agra and Fatehour and Jaipur

and Pushkar and Ajmer and Jodphur and Jaisalmer and Osian and Ranakpur

and Udaipur and then flew to Mumbai and then home. By the way - all

those "-purs" are in Rajasthan.

Distances are vast in India -we spent hours and hours on the road -

but we had a fabulous driver who really knew the country well - and

loves his country - and he took us to see all sorts of places that

weren't even on our itinerary. He even took us to his home to meet his

wife and to have some tea and cookies. Salaries are very low in India

- most couples have no more than three children - usually two - so

that they will have the money to educate them. Education is very

important - many of the drivers, in fact, are very highly educated.

And all of our guides were college graduates - many were already

lawyers or studying law.

And the icing on the cake - my friend, Cecelia from Rochester, New

York - was in India at the same time as we were and we managed to meet

up twice during our travels. However - she found the country boring -

a word I would never use in relation to India. The one thing we never

were was bored. Cold? Sometimes - the weather was unusually cold and

rainey for this time of year. Wet? Sometimes. Exhausted? Often - we

ran from morning to night...our choice as we wanted to see as much as

possible. But bored? NEVER.

I'll tell you more about the trip as time goes on - the fabulous