Mcleod Ganj

Mountains.
Fresh, clean air.
Greenery without the layer of dust that is found everywhere else.
Travelers from all over the world.
A fusion of cultures.

This is Mcleod Ganj.



But after only a few days of being here, we are disillusioned and ready to move on because it is full of travelers who remind us what tourism and "traveling" really is: Consumerism.

We are consuming culture. We are consuming experiences and places and interactions as if (as Satpreet would say) "they are one more token" to add to the pile and brag about.

But how to make it more meaningful?

So maybe one last day to visit the Buddhist temples and learn more about the Tibet/China issue and then we move on.

Amritsar

Most of the past week has been full of time with Satpreet's grandparents and more relatives than I can possibly keep track of.

"Remember when I explained (insert the name of a relative) to you the other day?"
"She's the one..." "He's the one who..."
"Don't you remember?"

No, I can't keep track of all the faces, the names, the stories.

But it's been fun to see a different side of a dear friend's life. The side that most have not and will not get to see.

And had I come to India on my own, I never would have gotten to experience so intimately the culture and people.


Today we finally get our Indian clothing that we have been waiting for.
Tonight we go to the border of Pakistan and India.
And tomorrow we get on a crowded bus and head to the mountains- to Mcleod Ganj.

Amritsar

We have spent nearly a week in Amritsar and will be leaving tomorrow. No we did not plan on staying so long, but who could so easily leave such a wonderful grandmother as Naniji?

Naniji is all things sweet and loving. How beautiful it has been to see the exchange of affection between grandmother and granddaughter, and to even be welcomed into the exchange.

It has been so long since I have spent time with a grandmother.
Not since I was nine years old.

So thank  you Naniji for sharing your love with me.

Chandigarh

(Written on Saturday)

So after over 18 hours of flight and a layover in Switzerland, Satpreet and I made it to Delhi.

Some of you know of my fear of flying that has become more extreme the past few years...Thankfully these flights were amazingly smooth and (almost) anxiety free for me. 

Anyway, we made it to Delhi sometime after midnight Thursday morning and were picked up by Satpreet's future brother-in-law (whom I must add she nor none of her family-including her sister-had ever met in person before). We drove through the night to Chandigarh, the city Harpreet (future brother-in-law) is from, and what an interesting five hour drive it was... Even though I had heard stories of how crazy the driving is in India, I still wasn't prepared for adrenaline rush it provides. Never in my life have I experienced such insanity on the road. 

The past two days have consisted of eating massive amounts of food. Imagine the feeling you get after eating an entire Chipotle burrito in one sitting...that is the feeling we've had all day every day so far because we have been fed so much by Harpreet's family. And of course we must eat no matter how full we are, because in almost every culture it is rude to refuse.

Beside eating until nauseous, we have been able to explore a bit of Chandigarh and surrounding areas.  Harpreet took us to Gurudwara Jyoti Sarup Sahib. Gurudwaras are to Sikhs like a church is to Christians or a mosque to Muslims. This Gurudwara is special though in the sense that the 10th Sikh Guru's sons were martyred here.the younger (ages 7 and 9) sons of Guru Gobind Singh were bricked (burned alive in a small brick hut) here.

We also went to another Gurdwara that is tied to the 10th Guru and his sons, but the name is escaping me at the moment. It's been interesting to experience visits to Gurdwara's and notice the similarities and differences with the "house of God" of other faiths.

But that is all for now...

Our India Route

We have officially mapped out our travels!


One major change to plans: we're no longer going to southern India.

We had planned to travel to Goa (a spanish influenced tropical beach town), but have decided to travel to eastern India instead so that we can visit Darjeeling (think mountains and tea plantations), Bodhgaya (think Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha), Varinasa (the iconic holy city overlooking the Ganges) and Ajanta Caves (think ancient buddhist paintings in caves).

Here is the planned route:

Watch out India! Kaypreet duo comin yo way. Hollllaaa.

India

Alright, we all know that I am not the best with communicating via technology (phone calls, texts, facebook, email, etc.). So for those that I have not kept in the loop, I am leaving for India on March 27th and I will be there until June 12th.

11 weeks in India.

The first 6 weeks will be spent with my dear friend Satpreet, visiting her relatives who live in the northern region of the country and exploring areas like Agra,  Jaipur, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Mcleod Ganj, and Goa.

The other 5 weeks I will (hopefully) spend on a farm in Dehradun. And do a little bit of travel on the weekends. And if that doesn't work out, well there's always good old WWOOF to help me out.



What's my motivation for going to India?

Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure. In a way this trip has sort of fallen in my lap.
The idea of India only came about a few months ago as I was trying to plan a different kind of trip.
I was hoping to make my way to Lebanon, which has been a dream of mine for a very long time, and spend somewhere between 6-9 months working with a ministry or non-profit of some sort.

During that time, the idea of going to India with Satpreet surfaced. I thought that I could spend a month traveling India before making my way to the Middle East. But two events in the States sprung up that changed that: a family reunion in June and a wedding in August.

This family reunion is not just any old family reunion. It is a Barkett family reunion.
I only get to see my relatives on my Dad's side of the family when there is a wedding...meaning on average I see them once every 5 years maybe?
But it's not just that. This is an opportunity to learn more about my family history. My heritage. My roots. It's a family reunion including any/all Lebanese Barketts, especially those related to Saiid Azzam Barkett (my great grandfather who came to the United States from Marjeyoun, Lebanon).
This, to me, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I can choose to visit Lebanon in the future (as long as the country remains stable). And I most definitely will. But I do not have the same control over an event such as this reunion.

The other event that draws me back to the States is the wedding of one of my best friends in California. I would not in a million years consider missing it.


If it were only one of these events that I would be attending then I would simply spend the money it would cost to fly back and then return to the country I would be working in. But it is not. So, instead of embarking on a long awaited journey back to the Middle East, I am traveling to India.

As the day of departure nears and I research more of India, my excitement grows. There is so much diversity in the country. So much beauty. From the mountains of Himachal Pradesh to the beaches of Goa to the backwaters of Kerala and the desert of Rajasthan. Sikkhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam.

So much to see and experience in one country.

This stuff has got to go.

Much of this past week at home has been spent purging my room of the things I have held on to over the years. Things like clothing, trophies, school binders (dating back to middle school?!), trinkets, gifts, etc... Things I haven't used--will never use--but have not been able to let go of because they remind me of a person, a period in my life, an event, or simply a feeling.

Well, I am finally getting rid of it.
Not quite all of it, but definitely most of it.

And when I started it was a little scary.
I love to be reminded of the past...
and these things I've held on to, in a way, guaranteed that I would never forget those events, people, moments, and feelings.

But realistically it's not possible to hold on to all these things. They take up space. So much space. And for what? To look at once every couple of years?

So I am letting go. I am throwing away and giving away.

And now it just feels good. So good.