A man from Cameroon sits in between myself and an Indian woman who now lives in San Fran on the flight from JFK to Brussels. His smile is huge and so is he. His arm rests well into my seat as we begin to talk about Nietzsche, Hume, Descartes, Christ, Buddha, love, and everything related. He talks about his way of life as the head of an all girl private catholic school in the English speaking part of Cameroon. The moment I picked up a book or just about dropped my head phones in another idea would fly from his mouth and I’d have to laugh and play. We agreed on much and nothing in the same. The main point is… All we are striving for in our search for ourselves, for spirit, for happiness is Love. Love is the root of any beginning as it lightens and gives us purpose.
The Indian man from Pune on my right laughs out loud with his headphones on while singing along with the “legendary Indian music” entertainment from the screen mounted on the seat ahead. He giggles that I’m a vegetarian because I’m from America… And Americans like to drink and eat meat hahaha. He is so kind. Not a minute after I sit down is he asking for a pen and paper to write down travel tips for me.
I get through customs painlessly and grab my checked bag. Two days of traveling. A driver is waiting for me as we walk into the 46 c (about 100 f) weather… And this is at 10pm. It’s hot. Culture shock smacked me straight in the face as we flew through the hectic traffic of blaring horns, bicycles, huge trucks with stacks of people, police man patrolling, people laying on the medium, people laying on cars, people and people and people.
I get to the the guest house I’m staying at. Trying to not feel bad about everyone insisting on carrying my bags and not having any rupee to tip. The angelic Ushi greets me and I have this overwhelming feeling of wanting to hug her. She shows me her home. It’s beautiful. I get a large room with my own bathroom and shower. It’s clean and comfortable and I’m so ready to sleep.
In the morning Ushi is waiting for me. We talk and talk some more while my breakfast of Paranthas and yogurt is being made. She is a Reiki master that travels all over the world healing. In town she works at the animal shelter. Her and her husband Avnish have three teenage children. They all live beneath the guest rooms. She shows me maps and I tell her my interests. I then venture outside to the Siki temple down the road. Traffic is madness here and every other rickshaw is trying to give you a ride. I just smile and shake my head as they keep going. I have absolutely no idea what to do as I enter this temple… So I try to look as lost as I really am until a warm hearted visitor points towards the scarfs and where I put my shoes. A kind Siki woman talks to me about their beliefs. They fall along the ideals that we are all one, there are no separations and that one must purify actions and thoughts to gather good karma. she reminds me to pull my scarf over my hair as I give the 50 rupee Ushi had told me to offer. A bag of sugar crystals is given to me in return.
Avnish, Ushi’s husband is waiting for me when I get back. He waists no time plunging into serious consideration of why I’m here, my energy, the understanding of happiness, the importance of finding a master teacher in yoga and meditation and stories upon stories of his life and past lives. He’s radiant and inspiring. He tells me beautiful tesons and smiles and laughs. He tells me that I give light and love and that for some reason he can’t stop telling me stories. He laughs. He says I’ll journey smiling, giving people the love they need and proceeding. He talks about presence influencing environments and I can’t help but smile. This is what I’m talking about!
It’s too hot to walk anywhere so Ushi suggests a car ride around Delhi later. My body clock is adjusting well, the homeopath no jet lag chews seem to have helped. Tomorrow I will visit the spice market (Asia’s largest spice market) Connaught Place, the artisan district, and many temples. An amazing start in my journey.
