I guess India is ‘unputdownable’, at least that was what I was told by so many things in Kolkata. Now I don’t think that is even a real English word but the good people of Kolkata do and, I guess, that’s all that matters. It is funny, everything is ‘unputdownable’ in that part of India. Their cricket team is ‘unputdownable’. Their cement is ‘unputdownable’. Their Masala flavored chips are ‘unputdownable’.

There is something I love about this country but it is a little hard to explain. India is rough around the edges but soft and warm in the center. I hate India for just about 15 minutes everyday but the rest of my time is spent in pure fascination of their amazing culture. I have been reading an excellent book, read and recommended by Koye, that gives some insights into the Indian culture called Shantaram. In the book it says, “India may not have invented love, but they have perfected it.”, and sometimes I see glimpses of truth in that statement.

Maybe it is the familiar family terms that I am always addressed with that makes a part of me feel like I belong despite the drastic contrast of my skin and appearance. Everyone addresses me in terms of family and it is amazing the feelings that those simple words invoke, especially on the other side of the earth from my home.

When volunteering in Kolkata, patients and fellow Indian volunteers would address me as ‘brother’ or ‘Uncle’. For example:

“Brother, brother….PANI (Hindi for water)”.

“Namaste Brother.”

All the kids and ‘massis’ (fellow women workers in Daya Dan) would always address us as ‘Uncle, Uncle’….usually following an instruction, either spoken or gestured, to help or play with the children.

We get a lot stares here, especially me, as we are ‘goras’ or foreigners…but they are always out of curiosity and always followed by a smile and usually an Indian head wiggle. Like many things in the Indian culture the ‘Indian head wiggle’ means a multitude of different things but they are good things like ‘I mean you no harm’ or ‘respect’. It is hard to describe but….I guess just picture a bobble head doll. We are growing beards now and Jamie’s magnificent beard helps him blend in…making me stand out even further (man I wish Koye was here). Often, Jamie gets compliments on his beard while I quietly await for one to follow for me…but none have been spoken because my beard is no where near as epic as his is. Sigh….anyway.

To continue some of my examples….upon walking home to our hostel in Delhi from experiencing the Taj Mahal, we stumbled across a local gathering at a shack near our hostel. There were about 10-12 people gathered, with women banging and singing in drums, obviously celebrated something. The hut was meager and was situated on a desolate track of land covered in trash. We met the dweller of the hut who lived there with his wife and 4 children (the newest only 2 weeks old). He was pleased to welcome us to his party and we joined watching the singing and stumbling along with his broken English words in communication. After exchanging pleasantries and smiles, he shared some of his homemade dessert and we offered some of our whiskey. Before long he began telling me and Jamie:

“You are my brother now, come, come” and he dragged into the hut to meet his wife and his newborn son. We warmly greeted our new acquaintances and they he started saying “Name, Name”. Jamie and I thought he was asking for our names again, so we reminded him of our names. He replied, “NO, no”, pointing at the newly born baby and repeated, “Name, name” with more enthusiasm. Jamie and I then realized that he wanted us to name his new son…we looked at each other in disbelief and assumed the task at hand. I looked at Jamie and said, ‘Napoleon?’ (the first name that came to mind)…Jamie’s face turned sour and the father was no more impressed. Jamie and I thought again for a brief moment and tried to remember something Indian, the first thing that came mind was the Taj Mahal we saw earlier that day. We replied with our final answer “Taj”, upon hearing it the father’s face was consumed by a large grin and he looked at his wife for approval and she nodded. So, his name will be Taj and you may not even believe this story but I will try to post a video, sometime in the future, of the proud father going nuts dancing to Indian songs afterwords (the quality is not great but I think you can get the picture). Here is a picture of me holding the newborn son (left) and Jamie with the proud papa, Amkush:

Another great experience was the town of Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is a small desert town 100 miles east of the border of Pakistan. Upon a hill in the middle of town sits an ancient fort that is over 850 years old. We were able to secure a room inside the actual fort. The room was something straight out of Arabian Nights and I kept hoping Princess Jasmine would pop out of nowhere and we could fly away together on our flying carpet. But maybe that was just the heat getting to me…it was about 106-110 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time we were there.

We decided to go camel trekking in the desert while we were in Jaisalmer and it was so cool. Now, I don’t know anyone that has ever ridden a camel but it is quite an experience. Camels seem like they are prehistoric beasts and when you ride them you feel like a king because you are about 10 feet tall. We drove out into the middle of the desert about 60km by jeep where we met a Muslim family that we hired to guide us on our camel trek. They barely spoke English but the younger son, Sadek who was 22 years old, spoke enough to get by. As we trekked into the desert we would stop at tiny villages mostly consisting of a few huts in the middle of the blazing hot desert. Upon our stops, we would greet the villagers and smile while their children took an extreme fascination in the strange ‘goras’ that had entered their homes. On a few occasions, we were invited to their simple and very small huts and would partake in the chai with goat’s milk that they offered us. At night, the Muslim men cooked a fantastic meal of daal, chaputi, vegetables and rice. Here, again, we were graced by the hospitality and love of the Indian people.

About every 30 minutes, Sadek, would ask Jamie and I, ‘My brother, you okay?’

We replied, ‘Yes, we are great’

Sadek answered, ‘Okay, my brother, if you okay…then I’m okay.’

A few moments of silence ensued….

Sadek: ‘My brother, you no forget me okay’

Me: ‘Sadek, we will not forget you’

Sadek: ‘promist’

Me: ‘What?’

Sadek: ‘promist?’

Me: ‘Oh! you mean PROMISE. Yes, Sadek, I promise we will not forget you.’

Sadek: ‘You take many pictures and not forget me, okay brother?’

Me: ‘Okay.’

Sadek: ‘My friend, we are brothers now. Next time you come and we go on a 8 day trek and see many villages’

Me: ‘Sounds good, Sadek, we will do that next time’.

And on and on it went as Sadek and the other guides showered us with hospitality in the desert, a place that is very foreign to guys from the mountains. That night we slept under the stars in the cool breeze of the desert. It was so quiet and we realized that we haven’t enjoyed silence like that since we arrived in India. There was a ringing in our ears from all the horns that are used and abused in the big cities around India…it was like we had just been to a loud rock concert. Jamie and I didn’t sleep much that night, there is something about the pure silence that initiates thought and allows the mind to dream and think uninhibited. We briefly spoke of the interesting situation we were in, two Christian men with four Muslim men in the middle desert where no one would find us. However, we weren’t worried; the people we were with, were good people. In fact, there are plenty of good people on both sides but it all gets convoluted from the extremists on both sides.

So I guess my experience in India was ‘unputdownable’ and I think everyone should travel here at least once in their life. Traveling in India is challenging but rewarding. Their culture is remarkable. In India, every man is a lover, a singer, and most of all a dancer….it is immensely entertaining. If you don’t believe me go check out a Bollywood movie. We watched a Bollywood movie, called House Full, and it was in pure Hindi, with no English, and Jamie and I were thoroughly entertained.

Well, my brothers and sisters (trying to sound Indian), we are about to leave Asia…the continent we spent almost 3 months on. Now, we head to Africa, a brand new continent with brand new experiences awaiting us. We have our good friends Eric Reitze and Ryan Miller meeting us in Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro. If it weren’t for Eric, our climb up Kilimanjaro would not be possible…he is carrying a large duffel bag of fresh supplies and new gear to aid us in our attempt to summit the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.

Thank you for all your replies and messages of encouragement they mean so much to us.

Until next time. Namaste.

Ryan

P.S. Check out the photos page for all the India pictures!! Below are some of my favorite pics:

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