So
I am in Coimbature, India. actually i am in a suburb of Coimbature, but i do not know the exact name. i can barely pronounce coimbature (coim - rhymes with coin, ba - like a sheep, ture - sort of rhymes with blur). i am listeining to The Gloria Record while i write this, but it is almost done, and i will listen to the music they are playing in the cafe when i take off my headphones. I am staying at the lovely home of Dr Asoka Varma and his wonderfull family. Dr Varma is an Ayurvedic doctor. He practices medicine that is prescribed according to the ancient Hindi texts, the Vedas. It i not unlike Homeopathy or Acupuncture, in that it treats dis-ease not by toxic medicines but by natural methods. he is very highly respected in his field, and also a very gifted Vedic Astrologer. Hi family is full of Love - i can accurately say that no one i know of that would read this, no one i really know in general, has ever been with a family as full of love as this one. we can all hope and aspire to their level.
being in India, with the people i am surrounded with, is like a very mild trip - i feel euphoric, peacefull, happy, tranquil, full of love. some people are of course suspicious of a white person in a very rural area, but mostly i am meet with smiles from the locals. prices are very different and the US dollar is very strong.
1 dollar - 50 rupees
newspaper - 3.5 rupees
soda - 10 rupees
pen i am writing with = 5 rupees
1 hour of internet at cafe = 25 rupees
new motorcycle (small 100 cc engine) = 60,000 rupees
air travel i comporable to US prices, and so are hotels in big cities like bombay and new delhi.
sEach day i awake around dawn and lie in bed for an hour or so. mother then brings me tea, with milk and sugar already added. wonderful tea. then i read the paper "The Hindu Times" or "New Indian Express" which has very little news about US. always there is violence between muslims and hindus, alays everyday. Dr Varma is adament that the fanatical ideals of muslims are to blame. Hindus are ery tolerant. before muslims came to india, jews, christians, hindus, sikhs, buddhists, all lived together peacefully, no quarrels between them. then muslims came and everything changed. they force conversions, loot and plunder, rape, kill people who do not agree to conversions.
Indian people are in general very simple. luxuries in the home i am staying in include: running water, tv with dvd and vcr, computer, washing machine (no dryer) refrigerator and electricity. the Varma's old house did not have running water, although it was very big. This simplicity makes it very east to make generalisations about people. Hindus have respect for all religon, save Islam. they view islam as fanatical and barbaric. the general opinion is that, if Allah is such a god that if you kill an infidel (non believer) you automaticly go to heaven, well forget it you can keep it. I dont want a god that rewards murder.
