The Plan

(this post was published once we hit the ground)

A few months back, I got a call from my good friend Mike. It was a day or two before his birthday and he informed me that he was planning a “spiritual pilgrimage” to India, and he wanted me to come. Since I am the primary caretaker for the two youngest inhabitants of the house, this posed a smallish problem. If somehow I could figure a way to get to halfway around the world and return in, say, four or five days, there would have been no problem. I trip to India, however, requires a little more commitment. Fortunately, I am either married to the greatest and most supportive person on the planet, or there is a serious chemical imbalance in her that I am yet fully unaware of. For now, let's all assume option "a".

In either case, here I sit, three short months later; seat 30G on Flight 292 Chicago direct to India. We’re a bit past Quebec on the in-flight map and still have about a dozen hours left, but I was able to secure the elusive bulkhead once again and was nearly bumped clear up into business class, but no dice. The gate agent actually seemed dismayed as this prospect. I, however, was exuberant. I still am.

When we land, it will be close to 10 pm in Delhi. Supposedly there will be a man waiting for us with a sign with our names on it. Apparently this man will put us into his autorickshaw (or Indian Taxi of sorts) and drive us directly to the Wood Castle Hotel. We know very little about this place other than the pictures made it look clean and it had received a handful of pretty good Internet reviews. Time will tell.

Our first day in Delhi will be spent with Prittam who is a student and friend of a friend of a friend. We’re paying about $30 to drag us around Delhi for the day and give us a lay of the land. We’ll probably stay in Delhi for a couple more days before flying to Varanasi to visit and old friend from college, James Hackman, who lives there doing web work.

From what we can gather, Varanasi is the Jerry Springer Show of India but devoutly religious…and possibly less midget wrestling. Possibly. Each day the bodies of loved ones from all over the country (and the better part of the geographic region) are burned in effigy along the banks of the Ganges River in Ghats, or steps, that lead down to the water. This all takes place yards away from other devout religious people ritualistically bathing in the fetid waters along the banks. Aside from the bodies, which are dumped in the water after being more or less consumed by flame, there are also sever sewage pipes flowing freely into this holy place.

We’ve been told that there isn’t quite a better metaphor for India than this place; steeped in tradition, teeming with energy and action, and yet somehow broken and poisoned. It promises to be something worth writing about.

After a few days in Varanasi, we are going to make our way to Bodh Gaya and see if we can’t get a few moments under the Bodhi Tree, the place where Siddhartha supposedly achieved enlightenment. I believe we are staying a place called Mohammed’s House. The guide books all say just start asking around and someone will point you in the direction of the place. No phone number, no address, just word of mouth. We’ll be going off the grid for this one.

A day or so later we plan on reemerging in Kolkata and a place called the Oberoi. I’ll let you Google it, but safe to say, that after the planes, the trains, the autorickshaws, the cows, the cremations, and the countless miles we’ll walk along crowded and noisy alleyways, we felt we need to treat ourselves with a balcony room.; how very American. Oh well, at least the pillows will be soft, the pool warm, and the water in the bathroom hot.

So that’s the plan. It’ll probably change. I hope it does. It’s India after all. Changing is what this place all about.