Katharine in India

India Ho!

• By Katharine
• 10 February, 2014
• 11 Comments

The view out my back door.

I’ve dreamed of going to India many times, but soft-edged fantasies are about to give way to sharp, chaotic reality. As much as I’m trying to prepare myself for that change, I suspect it’s like having your first child: Nothing you can do or imagine prepares you for the lived experience. The main difference, of course, is that India won’t be in my life forever unless I want it to be.

Right now it’s still deep winter in New Hampshire, and it’s odd to be worrying about how to prevent mosquito bites and sunburn. I’ll go from winter to summer in 24 hours as I fly from Boston, via New York and Dubai, to Delhi. Then I’ll become that odd creature, the American abroad. I was pretty good at that when I was younger, although even traveling in Europe, there were days when I just wanted to hide in my hotel room and not subject myself to all the challenges of negotiating a different culture.

Now that I’m middle-aged, I’m both more cautious and more confident. To ease the transition, I will spend my first week on a guided tour of the Golden Triangle: Delhi, Jaipur — “The Pink City” — and Agra, home to the Taj Mahal. I’ll also be visiting a heritage site, Fatepur Sikri, where the Mughal Emperor Akbar built a palace complex, intending it to be his capital. He abandoned the “Palace of the Winds” 15 years later because of a scarcity of water. My cousin Marilyn, who largely grew up in India, says she was fascinated by a life-size Parcheesi board there; apparently, the emporor’s servants served as the pawns.

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After my week’s tour, I’ll take off on my own for Pune, the headquarters of Iyengar Yoga and of the Osho Meditation Center. Remember Osho? He was originally Baghwan Shree Rajneesh, an eclectic, self-styled guru known for building a small city, Rajneeshpuram, on the outskirts of Antelope, Oregon, and owning and driving dozens of Rolls Royces. His followers dressed all in orange and were mostly young Westerners, whom he encouraged to overcome desire by indulging desire — especially sexual desire. Eventually he was kicked out of the United States, changed his name to Osho, and continued his mission in Pune. An AIDS test is still required for anyone planning to stay at the Meditation Center or its guest house. I’ll be staying nearby and taking a tour, but not joining in the weirdness or festivities.

Then I’m off to Kolhapur, a beautiful city known for its temples, especially the Mahalaxshmi Temple, dedicated to the consort of Vishnu. After Kolhapur, I’ll travel to Aurangabad so that I can visit the famous caves of Ajanta and Ellora, both World Heritage sites. The caves at Ellora are temples carved into the side of a cliff over many centuries by Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus. The caves at Ajanta are all Buddhist, and in addition to their carvings contain beautiful and well-preserved frescoes.

I hope you’ll join me on my journey.

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