Friday 7 October
Delhi Airport was a welcome sight. Once again only passengers were allowed beyond the entrance doors. The army guys took too long trying to read our boarding passes and studying our passports, deciding whether we could enter. They had no idea! Soon though, we were on our way to the domestic gates and the wait for our plane to Bodh, to be called. I can’t remember a thing about the flight so it must have been uneventful as these things go. Bodh is in Bihar State, one of the poorest in India, about 12km from Bodhgaya, and the road is dangerous even in broad daylight. In the interests of both our safety and health, we took an expensive taxi ride to the Root Institute (www.rootinstitute.com) – a Buddhist meditation centre also engaged in charitable works. We weren’t here for a meditation course, in fact only managed to get in between courses, because Howard wanted to show me the area and the work carried on here. We were warmly greeted by the admin people, signed in and shown to our room. In reflection of the solemnity of this place, the accommodations were typically a very basic room with a small table, two chairs, small bookcase, two beds, a bathroom, no towels, not toilet paper, mosquitoes, a balcony to sit and contemplate.
After settling in we went over to the eating pavilion for a simple dinner of soup and breads. Just what was needed and I almost felt greedy going for seconds. Luckily, there weren’t many people and the pavilion was large enough to accommodate about 100 people, so we could seclude ourselves, as my coughing fits weren’t improving. Tonight, for the first time, Howard seriously broached the idea of sending me home early. The alternative, returning to Delhi on Monday for an unplanned, indeterminate stay, cancelling plans for our flight Tuesday, further east, to visit the Platform Kids, and see what eventuated. We decided to give the antibiotics and disgusting cough syrup a chance to do their work.
On Saturday, Howard, who was doing quite a bit of coughing of his own and laughing it off, walked into town to find an email place to check on any news, the post office and do a bit of shopping. Howard said there were many beggars in this pretty disgusting little town – except for the temple complexes. Meanwhile, I tried to read the most boring book ever allowed into print! The Finkler Question. This nearly drove me to distraction, but I had nothing else to pass the time with and too miserable to think of anything – including this blog! Luckily, Howard had found a book exchange and chose something for me get into. Can’t remember a thing about the book but it must have been better than the boring Finkler.
Sunday 9 September –
Having had another terrible night, the decision was made and my spirits lifted instantly together with that guilt feeling that I would be leaving Howard on his own. I could see that he wasn’t very much better than I. So today, Howard took another walk into town to send an email to our travel agent, so that he/they could set the wheel’s in motion for my return. As Howard tells it, a simple email could take quite some time to send. Having gone to a hostel to use their computers this time, because generally, hostels have reliable email access, Howard learned that it appeared that all of the internet cafes, were running off the same phone line, if the line dropped out, so did every public computer in town. If too many people were on the computers, the speed and connectivity, already super slow, would be worse – if possible. That and the regular power outages, colluded to be a frustrating state of affairs. We also decided to pack as much into our one bag – to leave Howard with only his day pack and another shoulder bag. And, we decided to send some stuff by post, to lighten both our loads. Sunday drifted, the sun shone, it was hot, the ceiling fan whirled and we passed the time.
Another restless night and by 2.00am we decided to leave a phone message with our agent to alert him to our email. Still awake at 4.00am (9.00am back home) I called again and croaked into the phone – Howard having lost his voice completely, mostly due to use of his inhaler, couldn’t do it and in between laughing at my/our predicament the sympathetic soul at the other end assured us that they would swing into action and have some news for us by late morning – our time. After breakfast, we wandered out of the complex, across the road to the Tara Children’s Project (part of the Root Institute) which is a fledgling orphanage. Here TB and some HIV/AIDS affected children, orphaned and abandoned are also looked after. There is plenty of room for expansion here and the young Spanish lady – together with her husband and local workers, are dedicated and love their children. We had decided to give some of Julia’s money for one of their programs.
After confirming that I’d been booked onto a Singapore Airline flight near midnight tonight, Howard had one more trip to make into town – to print my boarding pass, cancel the remainder of my Indian flights and post off a few bulky items. To save time I asked him to take rikshaws and never mind haggling too much. When Howard hadn’t returned by 12.30, I started to worry – no, it was panic. Two and a half hours was more than ample time wasn’t it? NO, this was after all India. I was waiting in the food pavilion, had even put a plate together for Howard. We should have been leaving by 2.00pm latest. In my panic I blurted (yes, tears flowed) out to the lovely admin man and he offered to send a driver into town to find Howard. As chance had it, once the man headed back to the office, Howard appeared! After explaining his adventures to the admin man – who immediately returned to organise some food for Howard (what wonderful people here) when I managed to explain I was guarding some for him.
Howard looked tired, a bit bedraggled and heated! Slow going at the internet café was bad enough but the slap stick of the operations at the post office had Howard caught in a comedy drama at “the worst post office he had ever been to”. The post office was crowded with the usual pushing and shoving, but a power outage into the bargain had the place in chaos. He was allowed around the counter with his (2500IR or, $50) 5kg box which then needed to be weighed once filled. The scales were only a small (toy) set so a bit of too-ing and fro-ing with the contents which was then underweight, then they said he could also have a smaller box (1kg) for the remainder. Then the power failure and his helper – the one who understood what Howard wanted, disappeared out the back door. Howard was told the man was rushing down the street to start up the generator and eventually returned. Next they had NO customs declarations so the helper found some paper and set about HAND WRITING one for each parcel, next, scanning the parcels to produce receipts for payment and wait for it…… their computer wouldn’t work! Howard was watching the clock tick away, the helper appeared sympathetic but, he had all day. Howard asked if he could take his parcels and send them from another post office but this was not allowed. After many attempts, the scanning worked, Howard paid up, got his receipts, found a ride and returned, sweating and worn out, to the Institute! After lunch we made time for a shower so Howard could freshen up, then the Institute arranged diver (much less than the ride out) took us to the airport.
Here are the few photos taken at the Root Institute. https://picasaweb.google.com/irenewheatley/BodhGaya?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCISFs9blw9G9qAE&feat=directlink
There’s more comedy to come, but now here is our friend Lobsang’s account of the journey he made to Bodh Gaya with his family in December 2011. Reprinted with his kind permission, this is a very different story to ours, enjoy:
Dearest Irene and Howard, I hope everything is fine with you. We are back again in Shimla and it is very cold. Well in Bodhgaya, it was one experience that I will never forget for my whole life. Let me tell you everything about this experience. On the 25th December, I started my journey just after my work at the clinic. We took a bus to Dehra Dun, where my parents live. We reached there on the morning of 26th of December around 2AM in the morning.
We slept till 8 and then after having our breakfast we started to pack our things. Can you imagine? We had a total of 16 luggages comprising of food, cloth, kitchen wares, blankets and quilts and lots of other things for the 8 of us. We even had 3 boxes of handmade noodles which could be the easiest food that we can cook. Yes, we even took a big gas stove. It was one scene at the train station that you would have loved to see and I even took a picture of it. The train station was filled with Tibetan people who were also going to Bodhgaya for the Kalachakra. Almost all the other Tibetans had that many luggages. The train compartment that we had our booking, consisted of only 5 Indians on that particular journey (we heard it was the same situation for at least a week after our day of journey too). The travel by train was a very pleasant one, since we had lots of food cooked from our home that we had. Hahahaha!!! We even had hot water filled in 2 huge flasks with which we even had our own tea for the whole journey; similarly most of the others had the same food from their home.
For that one day of journey, we Tibetans in that compartment felt as if we are in Tibet; travelling together for a pilgrimage, sharing our food. It was one good feeling. We reached Bhodgaya around 4am on the 28th of December, but before that we were informed that the train would have a stoppage of just 5 minutes at the Bodhgaya station. It created a panic situation to all of us; since everyone of us had more than two luggage per person and the luggage were huge ones too, moreover most of the Tibetans were either old or children. I started to shift our baggages to the exit two hours before the arrival time, so that I could take them out as soon as the train stops since I am the only person from my group who could move all the baggages. As soon as I was able move two items to the exit door, the whole compartment of the train that we were in, turned into chaos. Everyone else started to move their own things to the exit side. The exit was so packed that we were not even able to move ourselves properly. Then we made a group strategy that we would all work as a group and asked all the children and the seniors to stay calm and look after the small bags and all the other would be taking the bagagges out together. It worked perfectly. When the train stopped we started to throw, literally throw all the baggages out of the train. Although it turned to be a real stampede like scene however everyone got their things out safely.
When we reached the Gaya train station, we were greeted by the Tibetan Youth Congress volunteers who helped us with our baggage’s. The train reached Gaya station 3 hours late and the station was again full of Tibetans waiting to end the night. It was actually crowded with Tibetans. The volunteers asked us to wait at the train station till the dawn since the road to Gaya, approximately 20 kilometers is not safe during the night. At dawn we started our journey again and booked two jeeps which took us to the tent that we have booked. When we reached the location of the tent, it was a sight to see. There were hundreds of tent and it took almost 3 hours to locate our designated tent. The tent was huge and we actually like it. We bought dried grass to make our bed. The tent turned out to be very accommodating, which was actually able accommodate the whole sixteen of my family. Our tent was situated at the last corner of the whole camp. I took a nap while Samten, my mom, and my aunt (my father’s elder brother’s wife) started to cook our breakfast. I did not sleep whole through the night on the journey.
Well I hope I am not boring you with all these details of my journey. The next day we went for the real pilgrimage. Bodhgaya is a small town and it seems the government of Bihar expected one hundred thousand people however we heard later, that there were somewhere around three hundred thousand people, so you can imagine how it would be. The infrastructure of this small town literally crashed. There were not enough toilets, there is always a rush for the water where we have to push around for our drinking water, and the road is almost jammed everyday. The people who came there for the initiation of the Kalachakra were not just Tibetans but also many more Indians and westerners from around the world. Inspite of all these inconvenience, Bodhgaya being the epicenter of Buddhism, where we Buddhist believe Buddha got enlightenment has lots of energy. The first pilgrimage that we went was the holy stupa located just next to the peepal tree where Buddha got enlightened.
The stupa was simply awesome with lots of spiritual energy. It was crowded like the rest of all the other holy places in Bodhgaya. But it seems not every Tibetan who came there is a pilgrim because on the 30th of December during the night when we were sleeping. Someone stole my camera which I bought for the pilgrimage paying heavily and my money from Samten’s handbag. The thief which we believe has to be a Tibetan took the money from the bag and left the bag at the opposite corner of the tent. The thief took the camera however he did not get the battery and the charger which was being charged when we slept. Early that dreadful morning, when my mom woke up, she was asking Samten why she kept her bag at the corner, where we have made our kitchen. We then found we have been robbed of all the money and latter found the camera too missing. It was a very painful day for us however we could not do much other then report it to the organizer about it, who could not do much either. Tibetans believe that when we lose something very precious, it also takes away bad future along with it. And that is how we consoled each other for the loss we had. On that very day we went again for three other holy locations however I was very worried about rest of our stay at Bodhgaya. On the 2nd of January 2012, we were joined by my two sisters and their whole family making the total living in that tent to 16 people. On the night of third of January, it rained making our stay at the tent miserable. The tents were not water proof. Although it was considered good omen to have rain on such occasion as Kalachakra however it rained heavily for two days. The camp was made on a field therefore it was mud everywhere we go. We were not able to walk with our shoes because the mud was really deep so we have to walk with our feet, naked. Since it was really difficult to walk to the toilet which was overflowing, people started to defecate wherever they find a corner. It was a hell. We stayed two more days in the tent and the rain did not stop.
So on the third day of the rain when we found that it is not going to stop raining, I and my brother-in-law started to look for a house where we can find a proper room. And as I mentioned in my previous e-mail, there were very very expensive however we managed to find a room and its front for Rupees ten thousand till the end of the prayers in a small village near the main temple. Considering the fact that we were sixteen people living together for ten days at that Indian home for Rupees 10000.00 was not that expensive although when we slept, it was real crowded and we cannot easily move when we were sleeping. The room was so small that we have to move the entire kitchen to a small corner where my sister and her husband slept. To make our morning tea they have to move away and rise up early. The best thing about the new location was that it was located near the main ground where the prayers where to be held. On the next day after we shifted to the new location, we went to few other holy places located approximately 50 kilometers from Bodhgaya, like the place where Buddha first preached, and the ancient Buddhist University.
Both the place has lots of energy and it really feels good there and we all felt very spiritual. It was a very nice feeling to show around the ancient Buddhist world to our children. I even encouraged my kids to give alms to the beggars there. Almost all the place of the pilgrimage was packed with Indian beggars and there were lots of small children. So we bought ten packs of sweets which was not that expensive and asked the kids to distribute all of them to all the children beggars. She was very pleased with what we asked her to do. The place where Buddha first preached, a place which was full of energy was located on a peak of a small hill and the journey uphill was really tiring and since my dad was not able to walk properly he stayed back. I felt bad about it but there was nothing I could have done since he is very heavy. It was very nice to have to travel to all those holy places with the whole cavalry of my family. Then the prayers or the real Kalachakra initiations started in a huge tent which could accommodate some one hundred thousand people, but as I mentioned earlier the total people who came for the prayers was in the excess of three hundred thousand, so naturally there will be rush. It was really difficult to get a proper place to sit for my whole family nonetheless we manage a small place in the tent.
For the whole Kalachakra, it was really difficult to get in. The best thing to have senior citizens among us during a Kalachakra is that, they rise up very early and go to circumambulate the stupa after which they just stay at the small place that I was able to keep for the family. The thing is, people go in the tent as early as possible to keep themselves a small place and we would not have got any place had my mother and the other old people from my family reached the tent early. The Kalachakra itself was a very wonderful experience. We have to remain in the tent the whole day and the monk would distribute lots of Tibetan breads with tea in-between the prayers, which was our lunch for the whole of the Kalachakra. I have sent you the picture of the breads in the attachment, hope you like them. The actual plan was to visit Varanasi, again a very holy place for us as a pilgrimage after the Kalachakra however we have to cancel it since we were robbed of the money for that.
Although the theft left me thinking a lot however after the Kalachakra, I prayed that the camera and the money that I lost will be of great help to the thief. Although it sounds crazy, I prayed this with my whole heart and hopefully I still do wish that. Now while coming back, our train coming from Kolkata, a city from the far east of India has a stoppage of just five minutes and since this time we were the whole sixteen together going to Dehradun, you can imagine the luggage. It was a mad rush nevertheless the journey back was very pleasant since this time again, we had our food ready. Dehradun being the last stop for the train, we had no problem unloading. On the 16th of January, I and my family left Dehradun for Shimla.
As for Dasel, her father and her new mom would be joining her very soon and would be coming back to Shimla somewhere in end of March. I can tell you one thing that, she is very adorable and I am very happy that she would have her family back although it would be very sad for us. When we reached Shimla, I really do not know how, but I went into a kind of depression or rather an after-holiday blues. I was online however I did not feel like doing anything. Although I did accept the theft somehow it was not going away easily from my mind. It then became a kind of routine to procrastinate my works and in the meantime I was also making Samten and Pelmo feel bad too. A man is always a man, very selfish most of the time. Nonetheless this e-mail of yours cheered me up although it took me more than a week to complete this e-mail, to which I am very thankful to you. Thank you for making my days better. You take care and forgive me for long silence and I hope I have not bored both of you with this long e-mail.
With lots of love, Lobsang and family.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/irenewheatley/BodhGayaCrowdPictures?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Delhi Airport was a welcome sight. Once again only passengers were allowed beyond the entrance doors. The army guys took too long trying to read our boarding passes and studying our passports, deciding whether we could enter. They had no idea! Soon though, we were on our way to the domestic gates and the wait for our plane to Bodh, to be called. I can’t remember a thing about the flight so it must have been uneventful as these things go. Bodh is in Bihar State, one of the poorest in India, about 12km from Bodhgaya, and the road is dangerous even in broad daylight. In the interests of both our safety and health, we took an expensive taxi ride to the Root Institute (www.rootinstitute.com) – a Buddhist meditation centre also engaged in charitable works. We weren’t here for a meditation course, in fact only managed to get in between courses, because Howard wanted to show me the area and the work carried on here. We were warmly greeted by the admin people, signed in and shown to our room. In reflection of the solemnity of this place, the accommodations were typically a very basic room with a small table, two chairs, small bookcase, two beds, a bathroom, no towels, not toilet paper, mosquitoes, a balcony to sit and contemplate.
After settling in we went over to the eating pavilion for a simple dinner of soup and breads. Just what was needed and I almost felt greedy going for seconds. Luckily, there weren’t many people and the pavilion was large enough to accommodate about 100 people, so we could seclude ourselves, as my coughing fits weren’t improving. Tonight, for the first time, Howard seriously broached the idea of sending me home early. The alternative, returning to Delhi on Monday for an unplanned, indeterminate stay, cancelling plans for our flight Tuesday, further east, to visit the Platform Kids, and see what eventuated. We decided to give the antibiotics and disgusting cough syrup a chance to do their work.
On Saturday, Howard, who was doing quite a bit of coughing of his own and laughing it off, walked into town to find an email place to check on any news, the post office and do a bit of shopping. Howard said there were many beggars in this pretty disgusting little town – except for the temple complexes. Meanwhile, I tried to read the most boring book ever allowed into print! The Finkler Question. This nearly drove me to distraction, but I had nothing else to pass the time with and too miserable to think of anything – including this blog! Luckily, Howard had found a book exchange and chose something for me get into. Can’t remember a thing about the book but it must have been better than the boring Finkler.
Sunday 9 September –
Having had another terrible night, the decision was made and my spirits lifted instantly together with that guilt feeling that I would be leaving Howard on his own. I could see that he wasn’t very much better than I. So today, Howard took another walk into town to send an email to our travel agent, so that he/they could set the wheel’s in motion for my return. As Howard tells it, a simple email could take quite some time to send. Having gone to a hostel to use their computers this time, because generally, hostels have reliable email access, Howard learned that it appeared that all of the internet cafes, were running off the same phone line, if the line dropped out, so did every public computer in town. If too many people were on the computers, the speed and connectivity, already super slow, would be worse – if possible. That and the regular power outages, colluded to be a frustrating state of affairs. We also decided to pack as much into our one bag – to leave Howard with only his day pack and another shoulder bag. And, we decided to send some stuff by post, to lighten both our loads. Sunday drifted, the sun shone, it was hot, the ceiling fan whirled and we passed the time.
Another restless night and by 2.00am we decided to leave a phone message with our agent to alert him to our email. Still awake at 4.00am (9.00am back home) I called again and croaked into the phone – Howard having lost his voice completely, mostly due to use of his inhaler, couldn’t do it and in between laughing at my/our predicament the sympathetic soul at the other end assured us that they would swing into action and have some news for us by late morning – our time. After breakfast, we wandered out of the complex, across the road to the Tara Children’s Project (part of the Root Institute) which is a fledgling orphanage. Here TB and some HIV/AIDS affected children, orphaned and abandoned are also looked after. There is plenty of room for expansion here and the young Spanish lady – together with her husband and local workers, are dedicated and love their children. We had decided to give some of Julia’s money for one of their programs.
After confirming that I’d been booked onto a Singapore Airline flight near midnight tonight, Howard had one more trip to make into town – to print my boarding pass, cancel the remainder of my Indian flights and post off a few bulky items. To save time I asked him to take rikshaws and never mind haggling too much. When Howard hadn’t returned by 12.30, I started to worry – no, it was panic. Two and a half hours was more than ample time wasn’t it? NO, this was after all India. I was waiting in the food pavilion, had even put a plate together for Howard. We should have been leaving by 2.00pm latest. In my panic I blurted (yes, tears flowed) out to the lovely admin man and he offered to send a driver into town to find Howard. As chance had it, once the man headed back to the office, Howard appeared! After explaining his adventures to the admin man – who immediately returned to organise some food for Howard (what wonderful people here) when I managed to explain I was guarding some for him.
Howard looked tired, a bit bedraggled and heated! Slow going at the internet café was bad enough but the slap stick of the operations at the post office had Howard caught in a comedy drama at “the worst post office he had ever been to”. The post office was crowded with the usual pushing and shoving, but a power outage into the bargain had the place in chaos. He was allowed around the counter with his (2500IR or, $50) 5kg box which then needed to be weighed once filled. The scales were only a small (toy) set so a bit of too-ing and fro-ing with the contents which was then underweight, then they said he could also have a smaller box (1kg) for the remainder. Then the power failure and his helper – the one who understood what Howard wanted, disappeared out the back door. Howard was told the man was rushing down the street to start up the generator and eventually returned. Next they had NO customs declarations so the helper found some paper and set about HAND WRITING one for each parcel, next, scanning the parcels to produce receipts for payment and wait for it…… their computer wouldn’t work! Howard was watching the clock tick away, the helper appeared sympathetic but, he had all day. Howard asked if he could take his parcels and send them from another post office but this was not allowed. After many attempts, the scanning worked, Howard paid up, got his receipts, found a ride and returned, sweating and worn out, to the Institute! After lunch we made time for a shower so Howard could freshen up, then the Institute arranged diver (much less than the ride out) took us to the airport.
Here are the few photos taken at the Root Institute. https://picasaweb.google.com/irenewheatley/BodhGaya?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCISFs9blw9G9qAE&feat=directlink
There’s more comedy to come, but now here is our friend Lobsang’s account of the journey he made to Bodh Gaya with his family in December 2011. Reprinted with his kind permission, this is a very different story to ours, enjoy:
Dearest Irene and Howard, I hope everything is fine with you. We are back again in Shimla and it is very cold. Well in Bodhgaya, it was one experience that I will never forget for my whole life. Let me tell you everything about this experience. On the 25th December, I started my journey just after my work at the clinic. We took a bus to Dehra Dun, where my parents live. We reached there on the morning of 26th of December around 2AM in the morning.
We slept till 8 and then after having our breakfast we started to pack our things. Can you imagine? We had a total of 16 luggages comprising of food, cloth, kitchen wares, blankets and quilts and lots of other things for the 8 of us. We even had 3 boxes of handmade noodles which could be the easiest food that we can cook. Yes, we even took a big gas stove. It was one scene at the train station that you would have loved to see and I even took a picture of it. The train station was filled with Tibetan people who were also going to Bodhgaya for the Kalachakra. Almost all the other Tibetans had that many luggages. The train compartment that we had our booking, consisted of only 5 Indians on that particular journey (we heard it was the same situation for at least a week after our day of journey too). The travel by train was a very pleasant one, since we had lots of food cooked from our home that we had. Hahahaha!!! We even had hot water filled in 2 huge flasks with which we even had our own tea for the whole journey; similarly most of the others had the same food from their home.
For that one day of journey, we Tibetans in that compartment felt as if we are in Tibet; travelling together for a pilgrimage, sharing our food. It was one good feeling. We reached Bhodgaya around 4am on the 28th of December, but before that we were informed that the train would have a stoppage of just 5 minutes at the Bodhgaya station. It created a panic situation to all of us; since everyone of us had more than two luggage per person and the luggage were huge ones too, moreover most of the Tibetans were either old or children. I started to shift our baggages to the exit two hours before the arrival time, so that I could take them out as soon as the train stops since I am the only person from my group who could move all the baggages. As soon as I was able move two items to the exit door, the whole compartment of the train that we were in, turned into chaos. Everyone else started to move their own things to the exit side. The exit was so packed that we were not even able to move ourselves properly. Then we made a group strategy that we would all work as a group and asked all the children and the seniors to stay calm and look after the small bags and all the other would be taking the bagagges out together. It worked perfectly. When the train stopped we started to throw, literally throw all the baggages out of the train. Although it turned to be a real stampede like scene however everyone got their things out safely.
When we reached the Gaya train station, we were greeted by the Tibetan Youth Congress volunteers who helped us with our baggage’s. The train reached Gaya station 3 hours late and the station was again full of Tibetans waiting to end the night. It was actually crowded with Tibetans. The volunteers asked us to wait at the train station till the dawn since the road to Gaya, approximately 20 kilometers is not safe during the night. At dawn we started our journey again and booked two jeeps which took us to the tent that we have booked. When we reached the location of the tent, it was a sight to see. There were hundreds of tent and it took almost 3 hours to locate our designated tent. The tent was huge and we actually like it. We bought dried grass to make our bed. The tent turned out to be very accommodating, which was actually able accommodate the whole sixteen of my family. Our tent was situated at the last corner of the whole camp. I took a nap while Samten, my mom, and my aunt (my father’s elder brother’s wife) started to cook our breakfast. I did not sleep whole through the night on the journey.
Well I hope I am not boring you with all these details of my journey. The next day we went for the real pilgrimage. Bodhgaya is a small town and it seems the government of Bihar expected one hundred thousand people however we heard later, that there were somewhere around three hundred thousand people, so you can imagine how it would be. The infrastructure of this small town literally crashed. There were not enough toilets, there is always a rush for the water where we have to push around for our drinking water, and the road is almost jammed everyday. The people who came there for the initiation of the Kalachakra were not just Tibetans but also many more Indians and westerners from around the world. Inspite of all these inconvenience, Bodhgaya being the epicenter of Buddhism, where we Buddhist believe Buddha got enlightenment has lots of energy. The first pilgrimage that we went was the holy stupa located just next to the peepal tree where Buddha got enlightened.
The stupa was simply awesome with lots of spiritual energy. It was crowded like the rest of all the other holy places in Bodhgaya. But it seems not every Tibetan who came there is a pilgrim because on the 30th of December during the night when we were sleeping. Someone stole my camera which I bought for the pilgrimage paying heavily and my money from Samten’s handbag. The thief which we believe has to be a Tibetan took the money from the bag and left the bag at the opposite corner of the tent. The thief took the camera however he did not get the battery and the charger which was being charged when we slept. Early that dreadful morning, when my mom woke up, she was asking Samten why she kept her bag at the corner, where we have made our kitchen. We then found we have been robbed of all the money and latter found the camera too missing. It was a very painful day for us however we could not do much other then report it to the organizer about it, who could not do much either. Tibetans believe that when we lose something very precious, it also takes away bad future along with it. And that is how we consoled each other for the loss we had. On that very day we went again for three other holy locations however I was very worried about rest of our stay at Bodhgaya. On the 2nd of January 2012, we were joined by my two sisters and their whole family making the total living in that tent to 16 people. On the night of third of January, it rained making our stay at the tent miserable. The tents were not water proof. Although it was considered good omen to have rain on such occasion as Kalachakra however it rained heavily for two days. The camp was made on a field therefore it was mud everywhere we go. We were not able to walk with our shoes because the mud was really deep so we have to walk with our feet, naked. Since it was really difficult to walk to the toilet which was overflowing, people started to defecate wherever they find a corner. It was a hell. We stayed two more days in the tent and the rain did not stop.
So on the third day of the rain when we found that it is not going to stop raining, I and my brother-in-law started to look for a house where we can find a proper room. And as I mentioned in my previous e-mail, there were very very expensive however we managed to find a room and its front for Rupees ten thousand till the end of the prayers in a small village near the main temple. Considering the fact that we were sixteen people living together for ten days at that Indian home for Rupees 10000.00 was not that expensive although when we slept, it was real crowded and we cannot easily move when we were sleeping. The room was so small that we have to move the entire kitchen to a small corner where my sister and her husband slept. To make our morning tea they have to move away and rise up early. The best thing about the new location was that it was located near the main ground where the prayers where to be held. On the next day after we shifted to the new location, we went to few other holy places located approximately 50 kilometers from Bodhgaya, like the place where Buddha first preached, and the ancient Buddhist University.
Both the place has lots of energy and it really feels good there and we all felt very spiritual. It was a very nice feeling to show around the ancient Buddhist world to our children. I even encouraged my kids to give alms to the beggars there. Almost all the place of the pilgrimage was packed with Indian beggars and there were lots of small children. So we bought ten packs of sweets which was not that expensive and asked the kids to distribute all of them to all the children beggars. She was very pleased with what we asked her to do. The place where Buddha first preached, a place which was full of energy was located on a peak of a small hill and the journey uphill was really tiring and since my dad was not able to walk properly he stayed back. I felt bad about it but there was nothing I could have done since he is very heavy. It was very nice to have to travel to all those holy places with the whole cavalry of my family. Then the prayers or the real Kalachakra initiations started in a huge tent which could accommodate some one hundred thousand people, but as I mentioned earlier the total people who came for the prayers was in the excess of three hundred thousand, so naturally there will be rush. It was really difficult to get a proper place to sit for my whole family nonetheless we manage a small place in the tent.
For the whole Kalachakra, it was really difficult to get in. The best thing to have senior citizens among us during a Kalachakra is that, they rise up very early and go to circumambulate the stupa after which they just stay at the small place that I was able to keep for the family. The thing is, people go in the tent as early as possible to keep themselves a small place and we would not have got any place had my mother and the other old people from my family reached the tent early. The Kalachakra itself was a very wonderful experience. We have to remain in the tent the whole day and the monk would distribute lots of Tibetan breads with tea in-between the prayers, which was our lunch for the whole of the Kalachakra. I have sent you the picture of the breads in the attachment, hope you like them. The actual plan was to visit Varanasi, again a very holy place for us as a pilgrimage after the Kalachakra however we have to cancel it since we were robbed of the money for that.
Although the theft left me thinking a lot however after the Kalachakra, I prayed that the camera and the money that I lost will be of great help to the thief. Although it sounds crazy, I prayed this with my whole heart and hopefully I still do wish that. Now while coming back, our train coming from Kolkata, a city from the far east of India has a stoppage of just five minutes and since this time we were the whole sixteen together going to Dehradun, you can imagine the luggage. It was a mad rush nevertheless the journey back was very pleasant since this time again, we had our food ready. Dehradun being the last stop for the train, we had no problem unloading. On the 16th of January, I and my family left Dehradun for Shimla.
As for Dasel, her father and her new mom would be joining her very soon and would be coming back to Shimla somewhere in end of March. I can tell you one thing that, she is very adorable and I am very happy that she would have her family back although it would be very sad for us. When we reached Shimla, I really do not know how, but I went into a kind of depression or rather an after-holiday blues. I was online however I did not feel like doing anything. Although I did accept the theft somehow it was not going away easily from my mind. It then became a kind of routine to procrastinate my works and in the meantime I was also making Samten and Pelmo feel bad too. A man is always a man, very selfish most of the time. Nonetheless this e-mail of yours cheered me up although it took me more than a week to complete this e-mail, to which I am very thankful to you. Thank you for making my days better. You take care and forgive me for long silence and I hope I have not bored both of you with this long e-mail.
With lots of love, Lobsang and family.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/irenewheatley/BodhGayaCrowdPictures?authuser=0&feat=directlink
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