After another delicious omelet and an overdose of coffee I eventually ventured to check out the “village” of Bhagsu near Mcleod. I like walking on these twisted roads on the hill side because you can’t see to far ahead of you, which is nice. Until a speeding rickshaw comes and almost takes your life or leaves you with a really bad bruise. There are a lot of birds here. So much variety, different colors and sizes. I don’t know my bird species well, I wish I had a certain someone who knows all the names of birds and plants to tell me, but I was able to enjoy the diversity non the less. Baghsu was not that far away at all, it took about 15-20 minutes to walk there. I don’t know what I was expecting but my book said that it was a “quieter” place than Mcleod, sounds good. But then as I approach I see more of the same. Misplaced and mismatched two and three storey concrete boxes with shops selling refreshments and knickknacks. A sign in Hebrew and English read “Mexican and Israeli food.” this is another place where a bunch of western kids come and hang out together, sing around the fire and eat falafel. All the Indians here came from all over for the opportunity to make a buck off of these people, nobody is really from here. There is no village. hmm.. Ok, by this point my expectations are low, I already know that there are no sleepy quiet villages anywhere here. So I keep walking trying to enjoy whatever comes my way, no matter how familiar and uninteresting it may be. Signs for a “waterfall” pointed in one direction, and I thought “what the hell, why not, ill go see a waterfall.” it was a nice walk up steep hillside paths and steps leading to the “waterfall” only to find at the end a trickle of water down a rocky side of a hill. “is this the waterfall, oh god, so the village is not a village and the waterfall is not a waterfall.” I walk back with a smirk on my face wondering “what was I really expecting? Niagara Falls? And what am I looking for anyway, that’s not me, I never used to go around looking for things, villages and waterfalls. Why am I not just hanging out and enjoying this place, why is my heart not here, what am I looking for?” sounds like a really deep conversation with myself, right? Not so much. But really why was I so annoyed? On my way back I was having this bitchy monologue in my head, Anthony Bordaine like, bitching and complaining about how everything sucks. Maybe those levitation or rebirthing sessions or whatever are not such a bad idea. I realized soon enough that my frustration had nothing to do with India or what I have found or what I haven’t found. I came with my own baggage and I should have checked it at the airport. My mind and heart was somewhere else and I wasn’t allowing myself to enjoy my experience. With that realization being repeated in my head like a broken record I headed back to town.
Later that evening I wandered down a street that I haven’t before. I walked by one place that seemed to have lots of people. I walked in and sat, on the floor Japanese style, at a table. There was a Dutch girl opposite me, we talked for a while. It was a Japanese run place and they had delicious food, I had their dinner set which came with okra and eggplants in soy sauce, rice, two huge potato cakes, egg salad and something else all for 130Rs ($2.80) amazing! We spoke about our experiences in India and traveling and we seemed to be on the same page when it comes to disappointments. We were laughing and making light of the whole thing. Just next to us at the other table is a French couple. The girl looked like an incarnation of Sinead O'Connor and the guy…. Kinda just looked like me. I noticed them because they were not entertained by our conversation. They were probably judging us for not really getting into the spirit of India and shaving our heads and dressing the role. It was an interesting side by side comparison: two people who seemed to totally do the India thing and make belief and us two totally resistant and jaded. Two extremes, and I didn’t want to be part of either. I need to find a middle or else the next month will be painful.
No comments:
Post a Comment