Hey Everyone,

So I made it to the first stop on my trip, Varanasi, on 10/29.  I took the train with this American guy Brian who was at Belur Math and also happened to be going to Varanasi about that time.  We figured it would be safer to travel together since Indian trains are notorious places to get all of your stuff stolen.  He left for the Himalayas a while ago and I'm staying on until the 15th.

I'm having a pretty good time so far.  When I first got here I spent a ton of time exploring the city on my own.  Varanasi is one the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, so its layout is totally insane.  The part of the city where most of the temples and tourist stuff is is called the old city.  The streets are only these tiny allies mabye 10 feet wide at the most.  They're crowded with people, motorcycles, cows, goats, tons of dogs, cats, children, and the occasional water buffalo.  The most interesting part of the city is the ghats.  Varanasi is built right on the Ganges, and the streets that dead end into the river turn into this long system of stairs that stretches the whole length of the city.  Different stretches of stairs have different names, and collectively they are know as the ghats.  These stairs extend mabye 40 feet down into the river (based on what I've heard and my guess) and built into them are tons of shops, temples, lounging places, and other buildings.  The most fascinating thing about them is that when the river rises during the rainy season, the ghats, including the shops, temples, etc. go underwater and are eventually covered in mud.  When the river recedes the government sends these guys with big hoses around to blast the mud off of the stairs and reclaim the ghats.


The cops here are also pretty fascinating.  They're more like a para-military outfit.  They carry these old Russian and British weapons, mostly World War Two era, and their only concern is keeping traffic moving and checking for bombs.  It's not the safest place in the universe, but there's a lot of Westerners around, Westerners and Chinese.  My American pride has been pretty wounded by the lack of American tourists and the heavy Chinese influence.  I was under the impression that China was pretty much a third world country, but there's Chinese people all over the place over here who don't seem to have any less money than any of the white people.  I've only seen a few Americans, virtually all the other westerners are Europeans.  Again I pretty much thought that the US was the only country in the world, or at least the most important one.  But over here, besides the big multinational corporations, the US is a pretty abstract concept.

So anyway I'm having a good time.  I'm sick of the city and I'm spending most of my time nowadays just relaxing at the center.  I leave on 11/15, after Kali Puja, for Mayavati.  I'll close with some pics.

Rip

Brian posted on the Indian train.  The train ride was like 10 hours and it went by pretty fast.  We sat next to some Russian guys and it was a good chance to see the Indian countryside, which has some pretty beautiful parts.  It's good to know that not every inch of India is filthy and disgusting (even though the train pretty much was).

 View of the Ganges from a hotel at Varanasi

 Varanasi from the Ganga just before dawn

 Sunrise on the river

 The city just after sunrise

 Another view of the city from the river.  If you look closely in the center you can see a fire burning.  That's one of the many burning ghats, places where dead bodies are cremated, around Varanasi.  Varanasi is a holy place to die according to the Hindus and walking around you see lots of funeral processions with people shouting and chanting going by.

 Here are some of those guys hosing the mud off the ghats.  Like I said, they do this every year after the waterline drops, unveiling all kinds of stuff that is buried by the mud for part of the year.

 For example this temple, which still has some time before it will be fully out of water.  Its foundation is starting to slip into the river bank causing it to lean.

 Varanasi is an old old city.  Here are some ruins I saw along the ghat, notice the cow hanging out in front.  The cows in India are basically just big rats or raccoons.  They live off of the trash and charity of humans just like any pest, and since no one kills them they are all over the place.  There pretty cute though, especially the native Indian cows, and if they didn't shit all over the place I would say we should get some for the US.

 Another view of the ghats.

 A view of the city from a rooftop restaurant.  It might be a pretty good shot if it wasn't obscured by the monkey-proofing job.

 If you look closely you can see a troop of mischievous monkeys scattered throughout this picture.  When these monkeys came around, people got out on their roofs with big sticks to try and keep them from causing trouble at their place.  It was pretty awesome to watch from behind our monkey proof cage.

 Another boatman I met.  He let me try rowing for a second and it was insane.  I couldn't move the boat at all.  Not only do these guys have to be really strong, they have to know how to maneuver a boat and have to be able to fight currents in the water and stuff.   They make bank though.  A boat ride costs 200 rupees per person per hour, about four dollars, and this guy gets to keep half.  To put that into perspective, anyone who makes above a hundred rupees a day (like 2 dollars) in India is not poor.  So this guy does get bankrolled for his toil.

 Temples like this are dotted all over the ghats, built into different nooks and crannies.  It's hard for me to imagine that this was totally buried in mud just a little while before.

 Shops and stalls built into the ghats.

 A quieter section of the ghats I found to chill at.

 This dude is washing his water buffalo.

 This guy's fishing.

 After the bath the guy chains up the baby and leaves the mom off leash to wander around and graze on whatever trash she can find around.  Presumably that guy will be back later to collect them.

This is the night worship at the Ganga.  

With obsequious pranams,

Rip

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the long delay.

A lot has changed since my last post.  Shortly after coming here I decided that after I finished my program here I was going to pursue further studies in the United States.  After that I did a lot of research and determined I would have to leave India a in Nov. 2013 to finish a few classes and take the SAT so I could go on to a four year school in the US.  Once that was settled I worked out a program for the rest of my time here so that I could get the most out of what Vivekananda University has to offer.  However, the difficulties of living in India have finally caught up with me and I've had enough.  I don't have any excuse for leaving, I tried for some time to adjust and keep up my enthusiasm, but it's just too much for me to handle.  So I have purchased my ticket for January 1st 2013.  I'll fly out of Kolkata and stop in Australia for a month to visit family on my way back to the US.

But besides all that a lot of cool stuff is going on.  It's Durga Puja at Belur Math and I've been taking prasad with the public everyday.  They feed tens of thousands of people everyday and it's total chaos standing in line and trying to navigate it all.  But it's kind of cool in it's own way.  The Puja has also been cool, the Math set up this massive stage on one of the lawns where they have this huge image of Durga and the worship goes on practically all day.  Also, next week I'm going to leave the university and spend a month seeing some different parts of north India.  I'm really looking forward to having some free time to explore and really get a feel for the country.

So that's it, I'm doing well, but staying here is no joke.  By the end I will have been here 6 months, which is a decent amount of time.  I'll be back in the US sometime in early February.  Thanks a lot to everyone who supported me and for all the love and encouragement I got, I'll make sure to post lots of  pictures of my trip.

Ripkyn

Hey Everybody,

So everything's going fine, the last week has been really fun.

Swami Ganganandaji, Myself, and Rolo

Visvakarma Puja 2012

Visvakarma is the divine engineer of the universe, therefore anyone who makes a living from a machine or from building things, offers worship to him once a year.  For instance, taxi drivers, rickshaw wallahs, and construction workers decorate their cars, rickshaws, and tools with garlands of marigolds.  Visvakarma Puja is a big deal at the University because we are building a new building.  The construction workers turned part of the unfinished building into this shrine over night, and then took the day off to play ridiculously loud music starting at 6 AM and dance around throughout the night in the abandoned warehouse where they live.  It's a little weird seeing cement mixers, cars, and computers decorated with garlands, but it's only another example of just how religious the Indian people are.  They will spiritualize everything, and find someway to bring God into every aspect of life.  It takes weird forms sometimes, but at the end of the day I think it's charming.

Rolo checking out the shrine, notice the rest of the building around it.

 Another view, some of the workers watching a part of the worship.

The University building at night.

 Vidyarthi Homa Ceremony 2012, Narendrapur

A couple days ago was the Vidyarthi Homa ceremony, which is the formal initiation of new students into student life.  It's done with a ritualistic worship followed by a Vedic fire sacrifice called a "homa."  We got up at 4AM and crossed Kolkata to go to the city of Narendrapur, which is outside of the big  city in a more rural setting.  The Ramakrishna Mission center sits on a huge piece of land with various schools, hostels, and other buildings scattered throughout.  This ceremony was only for the first year Vivekananda University kids though.

The Narendrapur Temple, where the ceremony was performed.

Homa Fire

Can you spot me looking stoked that I get to sit on the floor.

In this photo you'll notice separation of the sexes in action.  India's incredibly conservative, I've talked to maybe 4 or 5 Indian ladies since I got here 3 months ago.

VC Maharaj, he's the more prominent looking monk on the left.

Bus ride home!

 Shivam Maharaj (from Argentina) and I after the homa.

VU students, this is a typical shot of what the hostel kids look like.  I live with these guys all the time and I know the names of like 5 students at this school owing to the fact that we don't speak the same language.

 Vivekananda University's Narendrapur Campus (I'm at the main campus at Belur Math)

Myself, Ayon Maharaj, and a Narendrapur brahmachari (junior monk) waiting for lunch.

Strictly the homies, notice Palash sitting in the middle looking hard.

The servants of the main VU campus who were for some inexplicable reason given the day off and brought to the ceremony so they could hang around.  These are the guys that serve tea, clean, and garden around the school.  I had to snap this pic because these guys are awesome.

After lunch some of the monks and I broke away from the group and went to explore Narendrapur.  This is the cow-shed.

Abhushek Maharaj, Ayon Maharaj, and Shivam Maharaj eyeing a cow.

Shivam Maharaj having a moment with a pregnant buffalo.

The kids on the bus ride home.

That's all for now, sorry for the delay.

Sorry for the week delay, I've been busy.

So I've gone into Kolkata 3 or 4 times since I last posted.  Kolkata is kind of like a mix between a Vietnam War movie and a zombie apocalypse.  There are no traffic rules or clearly marked sidewalks and around 5 million people with a population density of 63,000 people per square mile (compare to 4,541 people per square mile in Santa Barbara).  As you drive at maybe 20 mph max through the city the road is just a strip of asphalt between two walls of people on either side.  It gives the impression of a huge city where the government has lost control and the people are amassing into the streets.  The combination of the massive amount of people and the sheer lawlessness of it give it the impression of being the epicenter of a zombie apocalypse.  The Vietnam War movie element comes from the tropical scenery and the noise and confusion, the fireworks also add to the war zone ambiance.  Anyway when I got here Arupeshananda Maharaj told me that the world is wrong calling the US the land of the free, because India is really the land of the free, you can do whatever you want here.

 I really like going into the city, it's like a trip into someones subconscious, you never know what your going to see or how its going to make you feel.  But it's not something you want to do until you've spent some time settling in.  The amount of poverty, suffering, and decay happening here is shocking, and driving around you really get in the midst of it.  I'm starting to get used to it in one sense, but it's wearing me down in another.

Anyhow so far I've visited Narendrapur, Swamiji's House, Institute of Culture, Dakshineswar, Udbodhan, Balaram Mandir, Kathamrita Bhavan, Kankurgachi, Cossipore, and an apple repair shop.  My favorite place by far has been Dakshineswar, followed by Balaram Mandir, with Udbodhan pulling in at third.  I hope to get another trip to see some other centers planned in the next couple months, but we'll see what happens.

Sorry for the delay, I've been terrible about getting pictures taken, I can try to pull something together.

So this week went on as last week, Palash-Da is in Chennai and my health is better even though it seems like there's always some little thing wrong.  But I'm getting more used to the food and sitting on the floor and it looks like VC Maharaj is sending me into Kolkata this week with the VU Brahmacharis to visit some of the places associated with Ramakrishna's life.

So just know that everything is fine, and I'll close with some pictures.

Pet monkey of a truck driver who was delivering construction materials to the university.  He lives on the truck tied with a chain that slides on of those bars you can see at the top of the truck.  

Prakash Maharaj, hostel manager, at the bottom corner.

Trying some American pistachios. 

I forgot to send this out over the weekend but now I'm getting to it.

Basically nothing has changed, I got a cold and recovered, and now I'm just trying to take the random health problems in stride.

I plan on posting some more pictures of the VU property in the next few days.

So again sorry for not writing more often, I haven't forgotten about the blog, so expect a new post once a week coming out during the weekend.

Not much has changed since last time.  I'm settling into a routine and my health is improving some.  I'm taking breakfast in the University with the teachers now and am trying to snack more, and I think I'm putting some weight back on.  I'm still not sleeping much but I'm starting to get used to it.  I can function fine on 5 1/2 or 6 hours of sleep, but I drink a cup of coffee right when I get up and have tea throughout the day.

I started going to Belur Math almost everyday to salute President Maharaj.  When you go for pranams, he sits in a chair behind this little barrier and he's flanked by his secretaries.  The second time I went, one of his secretaries pulled me around the barrier and brought me right up next to him.  This secretary asked me who I was and relayed it to President Maharaj.  Pres. MJ never said anything to me directly but it seems like after the first time I went he asked them to bring me around the next time I came.  After I made my pranam he dropped a bunch of candy in my hands and I left.  Now they all know me and when I go Pres. MJ stares at me pretty much the whole time I'm in there.  One of the secretaries always makes a point to give me some candy.

Anyhow so I'm doing better, there's other stuff I could write about but I don't want to freak anyone out, so just know that I'm safe and happy.