I arrived at Guwahati airport and after some time and confusion (neither of my simcards worked in Assam) I met up with Pundarikacksha and we walked the painful 1.5kilometers with all my gear to the ISKCON temple where i was to stay.
Staying at the temple and hanging out with Pundarikaksha was great. I saw a few sights around the town including a temple on a small island which was quite nice, but to be honest Guwahati didnt have a lot to offer me. I was in Assam to see village life and some of rural areas of Assam but ended up being in the city longer than i wanted, mostly because of waiting for my flight out.
Pundarikaksha's Family Village
Two nights after i arrived we took the early train to the village. An hour passenger train (40rp!) west we arrived in Nelbahi, about 5 kilometers from the small traditional village that my friend Pundarikaksha's family lived. This was a really special occasion for me. Bordering on complete self sufficiency, Village had maybe around 13 familys. Some people owned acreage, others lived and worked on that acreage with them earning and being housed and fed. All grew rice, and I happened to be there at the end of the harvest, an important time of year where the most work is being done. See there is an annual cycle of growing the grain, so all the hard work is done at one time of year and the rest is pretty much just chilling and consuming all the grain in the stores, and tending to some vegetables and the milking cows.
It was very interesting to see some of the stages of the harvest. Here is my (most definitely incomplete) idea of what happens in harvest. All done traditionally, the workers were in the field with machette's hacking the grain into bunches which are then collected and taken to a holding area.
An amount of the grain still attached to the hay is spread out on the ground, four bulls are tied close together and led around and around in circles walking over the spread out grain. I'm not sure how long, but the idea is that all the grains separate from the hay and fall to the ground underneath.
After this has happened the separated grain is all piled up and then cleaned, this is done by humans walking around and visciously fanning the grain while it is slowly piled in a heap. I missed the part where the rice is separated from their covering.. but i'm sure it's equally ingenious and simple.
In the morning we were treated to hot cows milk fresh from the cow, and yoghurt fresh from yesterdays milk. (simply left in a bottle unrefridgerated overnight apparently. bam - yoghurt) I've never had milk so thick and satisfying.
A note on milk - i had stopped drinking milk for the past 2 years, mainly because i seemed to continually get bloated by it. There have been a lot of studies that state that humans arent capable of digesting cows milk. I found this to not make sense to me, as a firm believer that humans should be vegetarian I accept that cows milk is the civil way for us to obtain the nutrients only available in animal fats. I continued to consume dairy but just not drink milk and i was fine. A conversation with one devotee informed me that in the Vedic scriptures it actually states milk should be chewed. This sounds strange as it is a liquid but basically the principal is that in order for it to be digested correctly it should be mixed with saliva which happens naturally when you /eat/ dairy but not when you drink it. So i've been trying and haven't had any issues since.. Conclusive? Of course not. But i'm satisfied, and also now more nourished! :)
Bodoland and the NGO
That day we went and caught a few buses north to Bodoland, a tribal area of Assam that has a separate dialect and from what i gather wants to be a separate state. A friend of Pundarikaksha's is funding and running an NGO operation up on the border of Bhutan that is involved in protecting the environment, stopping poachers providing volunteer opportunities, and hoping to turn it into an eco-tourism site. Understandably he was excited that a foreigner would be visiting. I underestimated just how excited. Many people were present and I was ceremoniously gifted with silks on two occasions and treated in manner far greater than I felt I deserved including a few photos with large numbers of people. It was slightly uncomfortable really, but I understood the significance to them. It just seems strange that some random westerner could have importance regardless of who they were or what their attitude was, it was simply the colour of my skin. More of that 'friendly racism' that's hard to get away from but tiring over time.
We actually crossed the border into Bhutan at one point which was a slight concern as i didnt have my passport and was unaware if there would be any form of security anywhere, but all was fine. we didnt see a single soul. After the tour of the beautiful area that was close to untouched, I was asked for my opinions and suggestions for the project. My only contribution was that they immediately institute a no plastic zone, put bins around and attempt to educate the volunteers and visitors on the site that littering would destroy the place very quickly.. I say 'close to untouched because' Indians in general have an extremely poor attitude towards rubbish. Everywhere I've I see people simply discarding whatever is in their hands on the ground when they have finished with it. plastic or not. In some areas in some cities this is fine as people clean it and sort it etc, but the attitude is ingrained and even in this fresh land, there were little plastic wrappers, bottles and other rubbish just strewn around, it was easy to see it becoming a horrible wasteland quickly. I have no idea if the message was effective but i hope so.
That night we stayed at the NGO offices and got up early to head back to Guwahati as i felt the need to plan my departure from the state and move on.
Back To Guwahati
On the way back from Bodoland we had to catch a few buses and jeeps to make our way to Guwahati, these shared jeeps are quite popular and a great way to get around, far cheaper than taxis, and though not as cheap as buses, far more convenient and usually more comfortable. There is usually a wallah (salesman) as well as the driver and if possible they fill his seat too, so in the 10km drive we took in transit to another bus, our wallah hung onto the back of the car with the back door slightly adjar so he could hold on during the 100kph+ trip. During the drive he tapped me on the shoulder and indicated I should pay him 20rupees for the ride. I showed him I only had a 100rp note, so he let go of his hold and while it seemed he was gripping the roof with his chin attempted to fish out my change from his pocket. I immediately asked my friend who spoke assamese to tell him to hold on, that he had to get my bags from the roof when we stopped anyway so rather than risk life for whatever time he felt he would save, to just please for the love of god hold on. No one else seemed concerned.
Back in Guwahati at the ISKCON asram, I organised a flight from Guwahati to Bangalore to commence my travels down south, unfortuntely i had to wait 3 days or the price would be astronomical, it was annoying to lose the time but at least the accomodation and food was free, and I had more association with the devotees. I spent lots of time reading spiritual literature, meditating, seeing the deities, singing and chanting with the devotees and living asram style life, apart from my one afternoon off where i went to go see Avatar (awesomely cheezy but good eye candy) then on Tues 22nd Dec I flew to Bangalore.
Sidenote: Dont buy cheap rubber thongs from bangkok.. I dont know what it was but my feet had a serious reaction to them.
Staying at the temple and hanging out with Pundarikaksha was great. I saw a few sights around the town including a temple on a small island which was quite nice, but to be honest Guwahati didnt have a lot to offer me. I was in Assam to see village life and some of rural areas of Assam but ended up being in the city longer than i wanted, mostly because of waiting for my flight out.
Pundarikaksha's Family Village
Two nights after i arrived we took the early train to the village. An hour passenger train (40rp!) west we arrived in Nelbahi, about 5 kilometers from the small traditional village that my friend Pundarikaksha's family lived. This was a really special occasion for me. Bordering on complete self sufficiency, Village had maybe around 13 familys. Some people owned acreage, others lived and worked on that acreage with them earning and being housed and fed. All grew rice, and I happened to be there at the end of the harvest, an important time of year where the most work is being done. See there is an annual cycle of growing the grain, so all the hard work is done at one time of year and the rest is pretty much just chilling and consuming all the grain in the stores, and tending to some vegetables and the milking cows.
It was very interesting to see some of the stages of the harvest. Here is my (most definitely incomplete) idea of what happens in harvest. All done traditionally, the workers were in the field with machette's hacking the grain into bunches which are then collected and taken to a holding area.
An amount of the grain still attached to the hay is spread out on the ground, four bulls are tied close together and led around and around in circles walking over the spread out grain. I'm not sure how long, but the idea is that all the grains separate from the hay and fall to the ground underneath.
In the morning we were treated to hot cows milk fresh from the cow, and yoghurt fresh from yesterdays milk. (simply left in a bottle unrefridgerated overnight apparently. bam - yoghurt) I've never had milk so thick and satisfying.
A note on milk - i had stopped drinking milk for the past 2 years, mainly because i seemed to continually get bloated by it. There have been a lot of studies that state that humans arent capable of digesting cows milk. I found this to not make sense to me, as a firm believer that humans should be vegetarian I accept that cows milk is the civil way for us to obtain the nutrients only available in animal fats. I continued to consume dairy but just not drink milk and i was fine. A conversation with one devotee informed me that in the Vedic scriptures it actually states milk should be chewed. This sounds strange as it is a liquid but basically the principal is that in order for it to be digested correctly it should be mixed with saliva which happens naturally when you /eat/ dairy but not when you drink it. So i've been trying and haven't had any issues since.. Conclusive? Of course not. But i'm satisfied, and also now more nourished! :)
Bodoland and the NGO
That day we went and caught a few buses north to Bodoland, a tribal area of Assam that has a separate dialect and from what i gather wants to be a separate state. A friend of Pundarikaksha's is funding and running an NGO operation up on the border of Bhutan that is involved in protecting the environment, stopping poachers providing volunteer opportunities, and hoping to turn it into an eco-tourism site. Understandably he was excited that a foreigner would be visiting. I underestimated just how excited. Many people were present and I was ceremoniously gifted with silks on two occasions and treated in manner far greater than I felt I deserved including a few photos with large numbers of people. It was slightly uncomfortable really, but I understood the significance to them. It just seems strange that some random westerner could have importance regardless of who they were or what their attitude was, it was simply the colour of my skin. More of that 'friendly racism' that's hard to get away from but tiring over time.
We actually crossed the border into Bhutan at one point which was a slight concern as i didnt have my passport and was unaware if there would be any form of security anywhere, but all was fine. we didnt see a single soul. After the tour of the beautiful area that was close to untouched, I was asked for my opinions and suggestions for the project. My only contribution was that they immediately institute a no plastic zone, put bins around and attempt to educate the volunteers and visitors on the site that littering would destroy the place very quickly.. I say 'close to untouched because' Indians in general have an extremely poor attitude towards rubbish. Everywhere I've I see people simply discarding whatever is in their hands on the ground when they have finished with it. plastic or not. In some areas in some cities this is fine as people clean it and sort it etc, but the attitude is ingrained and even in this fresh land, there were little plastic wrappers, bottles and other rubbish just strewn around, it was easy to see it becoming a horrible wasteland quickly. I have no idea if the message was effective but i hope so.
That night we stayed at the NGO offices and got up early to head back to Guwahati as i felt the need to plan my departure from the state and move on.
Back To Guwahati
On the way back from Bodoland we had to catch a few buses and jeeps to make our way to Guwahati, these shared jeeps are quite popular and a great way to get around, far cheaper than taxis, and though not as cheap as buses, far more convenient and usually more comfortable. There is usually a wallah (salesman) as well as the driver and if possible they fill his seat too, so in the 10km drive we took in transit to another bus, our wallah hung onto the back of the car with the back door slightly adjar so he could hold on during the 100kph+ trip. During the drive he tapped me on the shoulder and indicated I should pay him 20rupees for the ride. I showed him I only had a 100rp note, so he let go of his hold and while it seemed he was gripping the roof with his chin attempted to fish out my change from his pocket. I immediately asked my friend who spoke assamese to tell him to hold on, that he had to get my bags from the roof when we stopped anyway so rather than risk life for whatever time he felt he would save, to just please for the love of god hold on. No one else seemed concerned.
Back in Guwahati at the ISKCON asram, I organised a flight from Guwahati to Bangalore to commence my travels down south, unfortuntely i had to wait 3 days or the price would be astronomical, it was annoying to lose the time but at least the accomodation and food was free, and I had more association with the devotees. I spent lots of time reading spiritual literature, meditating, seeing the deities, singing and chanting with the devotees and living asram style life, apart from my one afternoon off where i went to go see Avatar (awesomely cheezy but good eye candy) then on Tues 22nd Dec I flew to Bangalore.
Sidenote: Dont buy cheap rubber thongs from bangkok.. I dont know what it was but my feet had a serious reaction to them.
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