One of my favorite things so far is both the routine and spontaneity of each day. I wake every morning to two things: 1) the Muslim call to prayer, which I promptly fall back to sleep after, and 2) the rising sun. Most days I get up with the sun, do some meditation and yoga, then figure out my day.
In the morning I always hear the neighbors and their little baby crying crying crying. I can tell they have more than one child as the baby’s cry is always whinny, sounding like it is being tortured by an older sibling who needs some attention. I also hear a man calling out in the streets selling all sorts of vegetables. I can’t understand Hindi, but Accram told me he was saying “potatoes, onions, ginger”.
Accram, the manager of the hotel is up early every morning, usually at 5:30am for the call to prayer. But heads to the new property where in the basement there are several cows that need to be milked twice daily.
As you walk down the streets in the morning most of the shops have not yet opened and I enjoy the quiet. Once the day has begun men line the streets outside their shop constantly badgering me to come inside and have a look. It is the most infuriating daily experience as you can NEVER move through the streets unnoticed. No matter what you do; ignoring, pretending not to hear, smiling politely, nodding politely, walking swiftly, giving succinct responses, they still holler at me and try and get me to come inside their shop and buy whatever it is they are selling. It is exhausting!
One particularly grumpy day I had again ignored an invite for chai with one of the shop owners. After the refusal I caught myself in my grumpy state and wondered what it was about. Most of it was still adjusting to a new climate, time zone, culture, ‘a whole new world‘, not to quote Aladdin or anything. On my return the same man saw me and said “do you have time for chai now”? I thought to myself “I do”. So I sat down with . . . I cant remember his name, and had a cup of chai on the porch of his shop. It was actually enjoyable. Out of many things we talked about I remembered this “ if you are too sweet people will eat you up. If you are too sour, people throw you away”. I like the phrase and decided to keep reminding myself of this when a) I am too sweet that people take advantage of me and b) when I am sour and just need to touch base with what is bothering me ;)
One of my other daily routines is watching the dozens upon dozens of hawks that sail about in and around my hotel. I watch them fly. I watch them perch on a roof top. I watch them watching all that is around them. They are so graceful and beautiful. I have already taken a million pictures of them with my super new and fantastic camera J I also watch all of the people that live in the buildings around me. Sometimes they are painting a wall, sometimes washing clothes, sometimes a young boy running along the edge of a roof top!! Yes I am a creeper, even in India, Hahahahha J Someday the little kids see me and yell out “halloooo”! It is adorable!
In the evening I usually pop into the brother hotel/restaurant and see some of my friends there. Last evening I met a Canadian woman who has been traveling for 5 months. She started in Greece, went to Turkey, Lithuania, Tanzania, Ghana, Nepal, and is now finishing her journey in India. Back home she works with autistic children. Cool connection. She reminded me of Tabitha.
When the sun goes down I retire to my hotel room. The other night as I was brushing my teeth I could hear some drumming in the distance. It grew louder and louder. It was getting closer and closer. To the point where I knew it had to be just down below the hotel. I came out of my room to the balcony and sure enough there was a group drumming away in the night. It was so incredible, so powerful. I love drums. Their intensity and beat grabs a part of me and I am rendered helpless to its rhythm. The drumming was in celebration of the Muslim holiday Mohorum. Who knew? Not me! But I enjoyed it just the same. The past two nights now the group has come through the streets drumming. It sounds fabulous !
As dusk hit’s the Lake Palace hotel lights the torches bordering the beautiful Taj Hotel. We have a spectacular view from the roof top patio at my hotel. The sun goes down behind the mountains and shortly after you can again hear the call to prayer echoing throughout the neighborhood. Another day has passed in beautiful Udaipur, with its beautiful people, and their daily routines. It is a beautiful life.
In the morning I always hear the neighbors and their little baby crying crying crying. I can tell they have more than one child as the baby’s cry is always whinny, sounding like it is being tortured by an older sibling who needs some attention. I also hear a man calling out in the streets selling all sorts of vegetables. I can’t understand Hindi, but Accram told me he was saying “potatoes, onions, ginger”.
Accram, the manager of the hotel is up early every morning, usually at 5:30am for the call to prayer. But heads to the new property where in the basement there are several cows that need to be milked twice daily.
As you walk down the streets in the morning most of the shops have not yet opened and I enjoy the quiet. Once the day has begun men line the streets outside their shop constantly badgering me to come inside and have a look. It is the most infuriating daily experience as you can NEVER move through the streets unnoticed. No matter what you do; ignoring, pretending not to hear, smiling politely, nodding politely, walking swiftly, giving succinct responses, they still holler at me and try and get me to come inside their shop and buy whatever it is they are selling. It is exhausting!
One particularly grumpy day I had again ignored an invite for chai with one of the shop owners. After the refusal I caught myself in my grumpy state and wondered what it was about. Most of it was still adjusting to a new climate, time zone, culture, ‘a whole new world‘, not to quote Aladdin or anything. On my return the same man saw me and said “do you have time for chai now”? I thought to myself “I do”. So I sat down with . . . I cant remember his name, and had a cup of chai on the porch of his shop. It was actually enjoyable. Out of many things we talked about I remembered this “ if you are too sweet people will eat you up. If you are too sour, people throw you away”. I like the phrase and decided to keep reminding myself of this when a) I am too sweet that people take advantage of me and b) when I am sour and just need to touch base with what is bothering me ;)
One of my other daily routines is watching the dozens upon dozens of hawks that sail about in and around my hotel. I watch them fly. I watch them perch on a roof top. I watch them watching all that is around them. They are so graceful and beautiful. I have already taken a million pictures of them with my super new and fantastic camera J I also watch all of the people that live in the buildings around me. Sometimes they are painting a wall, sometimes washing clothes, sometimes a young boy running along the edge of a roof top!! Yes I am a creeper, even in India, Hahahahha J Someday the little kids see me and yell out “halloooo”! It is adorable!
In the evening I usually pop into the brother hotel/restaurant and see some of my friends there. Last evening I met a Canadian woman who has been traveling for 5 months. She started in Greece, went to Turkey, Lithuania, Tanzania, Ghana, Nepal, and is now finishing her journey in India. Back home she works with autistic children. Cool connection. She reminded me of Tabitha.
When the sun goes down I retire to my hotel room. The other night as I was brushing my teeth I could hear some drumming in the distance. It grew louder and louder. It was getting closer and closer. To the point where I knew it had to be just down below the hotel. I came out of my room to the balcony and sure enough there was a group drumming away in the night. It was so incredible, so powerful. I love drums. Their intensity and beat grabs a part of me and I am rendered helpless to its rhythm. The drumming was in celebration of the Muslim holiday Mohorum. Who knew? Not me! But I enjoyed it just the same. The past two nights now the group has come through the streets drumming. It sounds fabulous !
As dusk hit’s the Lake Palace hotel lights the torches bordering the beautiful Taj Hotel. We have a spectacular view from the roof top patio at my hotel. The sun goes down behind the mountains and shortly after you can again hear the call to prayer echoing throughout the neighborhood. Another day has passed in beautiful Udaipur, with its beautiful people, and their daily routines. It is a beautiful life.
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