Final words of wisdom

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller -

As the faithful followers of this blog might remember; I really wanted to go to Varanasi because I was hoping to find something important there, that is, the reason I chose to go to India.

Well, I found many things in Varanasi, the most fascinating Hindu city on the banks of the Ganges.
People were bathing and washing their clothes in the Ganges, taking sips of its highly polluted water and not to forget there were the live open-air cremations of which the ashes flow down that same ‘Holy River’. The shocking thing about all this was that I wasn’t shocked. Early one morning, sunrise-time, I took a one-hour boat ride to watch the people performing their daily rituals. It was unreal, entertaining, inspiring and unforgettable. One of the best moments in my India! 

I also found fellow travelers, which makes you feel less alone while backpacking on your own. There were the shy mouth cap-wearing Japanese girls I shared the boat ride with, the Belgian couple that made me realize it wasn’t easy speaking Dutch after using mainly English in the previous 3 months, the American girls who I met in the train to Varanasi and I was about to meet many, many times more during my trip and of course the lonely Japanese guy who needed me to fight of all the Indian touts at the train station like Dal needs Chapati.

The most valuable thing I found was the guest house where I was staying, owned by a family with their hearts at the right place. This family runs the Learn for Life Society and a few years ago started a free school for local poor children. The Society also runs a woman empowerment group. They are really doing great work and a short visit to the school was very inspiring. On a daily basis they provide some 50 children with breakfast and lunch, a school uniform and lessons in Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, Stitching and Arts. These children get a way better chance to escape poverty than the numerous children I saw working and begging in the streets.

It opened my eyes. It was actually there all along but this experience and all the poverty I have seen in India makes me want to dedicate my future career in helping people who really need it and for some reason do not get the opportunities to escape their sometimes miserable situation.
So finally, (I think) I found what I was looking for!

And if that wasn’t enough, I came across another school on my next stop in Bodhgaya, one for orphan children; Siddharta Free Children Educational Centre. Two kindhearted guys I met at another charity organization brought me there. Again, impressive work they are doing at this free school in the extremely poor state of Bihar. However, just like at the school in Varanasi, they are too dependent on random donations. Donations are more than welcome of course but they are not regular which makes the school very difficult to manage and expand plus there is always this uncertainty about having to close down due to insufficient funds. In the next few weeks I'm going to see if I can help them change that.
(If you want to know how or contribute to this noble cause, just contact me on dennisvanerp_87@hotmail.com)

It has been two weeks since I left India. Already feels like months. Luckily it hasn’t been so hard adjusting to the Dutch lifestyle again. Some structure is actually nice after 3 months in that crazy country  subcontinent. I do miss the people though…I miss the Indian families that invited me for delicious dinners and the teachers and staff at the kindergarten. I miss my buddies at the gym and of course our mildly insane neighbor. They quickly made me feel at home in Chandigarh. Not to forget, I’m very thankful to my Indian friends who organized so many things for us and tried to help us out wherever they could; Anmol, Harmeet, Karan, Kunal, Preet and Robin…you are always welcome in my country!

Fortunately I wasn’t the only outsider in India. I met a bunch of foreign trainees like me. Too bad I didn’t have the chance to spend more time with the great people that arrived in the last few weeks but the first 2 months gave me sufficient time to get to know some interesting characters:

-          Daniela; with her I shared the mind-blowing Golden Temple experience

-          Malick; my African brother who always takes care of his eggs

-          Maria; my Ganges-dipping partner in Rishikesh

-          Sebastien; the spiritual Dutch connection

-          Jonas; our chai-making white Sikh, who is always interesting to listen to

-          Marta; my energetic Colombian friend who always puts a smile on my face

-          Jose; the dancing, cooking and turban-wearing Brazilian party animal

-          Nora; such a sweet, positive and great girl who is sooo cute together with Preet

-          Sasha; spontaneous, always laughing and easy-to-fool blond roomie

-          Mariano; crazy,crazy, crazy guy who is always in for a joke, and a surprise

-          Martin; my fellow adventurer, thali-lover and Holland-supporting Terry Fox runner

-          Gabi; basically impossible to describe in one line. Let’s just say she’s a big part of my India.

Guys, I miss you!

Ok, enough with the sentimental crap. Let’s not forget what this blog is about.
Competition! Dennis versus India! 27 versus 27 so far..
Lots of things happened the last week, let’s see how it affected the score shall we?

India gathered…8 points!* After visiting the main burning ghat (cremation site) in Varanasi I had to throw away one of my favorite shirts as it smelled too much like burning bodies (1)
* Not a Himalaya mountain to see during 3 days in Darjeeling. My dream trip was not complete (4)
* My 24-hour train to Delhi had a delay of 9 hours so I finally spent 33 hours in that train, pretty pissed off and ignoring all the friendly but privacy-destroying Indian people around me (2)
* It eventually took me 44 hours to go from Darjeeling to Chandigarh. My rhythm was out of control! (1)

Dennis gathered… 11 points!
* Survived some very questionable restaurants in Agra, Varanasi and Bodhgaya (2)
* Sleeping like a baby in my first (not-so-spacious) sleeper train (1)
* I am able to talk about cricket with the Indian people and they actually believe I know a lot about it (1)
* I managed to go to Darjeeling even though my train ticket got cancelled last minute (1)
* Finally got the courage to get rid of my curls by having a funnily-performed haircut at a Darjeeling barbershop (1)
* Ran out of money during the delayed train ride but managed to buy a bus ticket to Chandigarh with the 200 rupees I received from a nice stranger (1)
* Introduced the sexchange theme in India (2)
* Donated a hockey stick + ball to the kids of a nearby slum area. They were very happy! (2)

So…I won!
Let’s do a rematch some day... 

Thank you for reading,

Dennis Singh van Erp

Holi Shit

It’s been a while since I updated this blog of mine.
Reason?
Too busy seeing other parts of this Incredible India.

The last 2 weeks of my amazing stay I realized one of my more recent dreams; travelling through India with nothing more than a backpack full of clothes, some rupees in my pocket, my precious camera around my neck and the travel Bible in my hand.

I am back home now. Not Chandigarh-home but ‘really’ home in good old Gemert, where the cows are locked in, the sun is hiding, the food is spice-less and let’s face it.. everything is still the same.
Time to take a trip down memory lane with the help of my notebook. I see that the first words I wrote are: Why not? Famous words in Chandigarh among the interns. There, it has a deeper meaning, something you will only understand after living in India for a while.
According to my notebook, it’s Sunday evening (March 20), and I’m on a rooftop restaurant having some chai and looking at the Taj Mahal for the first time of my life. Although it is only lighted by the full moon (which seems to be full here every day) it is still an impressive sight, mostly caused by the thought of visiting it tomorrow in daylight. I am all alone now because I said goodbye to my 13 colourful friends earlier this day. They joined me for one of the most extreme religious festivals in the world:

- Holi -

Wikipedia says: Holi is a spring religious festival celebrated by Hindus. The most celebrated Holi is that of the Braj region, in locations connected to the Lord Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon and Barsana. The main day, also known as Dhuli Vandana in Sanskrit is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other.

I say: Holi is an extremely colourful religious festival celebrated by Hindus. The most crazy and chaotic Holi is that of the Braj region, in locations connected to the Lord Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon and Barsana. The main day, also known as Dhuli Vandana in Sanskrit is celebrated by people attacking and blinding innocent foreigners in small crowded streets, collectively, from rickshaws, shops, roof tops and up close without giving them a chance to recover from their purple, green, yellow and pink injuries, by using coloured powder/paint and organized blockades.

Yes, we ‘celebrated’ Holi in Vrindavan.

Unforgettable!

One thing keeps coming to mind; walking together through the small streets of Vrindavan, trying to protect each other from the never-ending numerous paint and powder attacks, shielding my face by looking down at the wet, pink-coloured tiles and feeling happy, excited and a bit angry and scared at the same time.

I realize now this represents very well how I see India:

- too many people

- colourful

- being a target as a foreigner

- crazy, mostly in a good way

Monday morning; I wake up at 5 AM so that I’m sure not to miss the Taj Mahal in all its glory at sunrise. First I take a shower, already the third one after the Holi spectactle, trying to get rid of my pink nails, back and neck. Still no success! Once on the streets I happily notice I’m not the only one with Holi-tattoos.
I arrive at one of the many roof top restaurants at around 6 and although the sun is not visible yet I finally see the white marbled wonder in clear daylight. Some monkeys join me for the view while the sun is finally showing its face and gives the Taj Mahal a beautiful soft glow. After taking too many pictures and some breakfast I decide it’s time to walk back to the hotel and discover that one of the monkeys has stolen my camera cover. You know what, I don’t even care! I’m backpacking through India, I feel good, I feel independent, I feel strong, I feel alive! Nothing and no one can stop me.   

Later in the afternoon I walk through the South Gate and staring at one of the most famous buildings in the world. The feeling is indescribable. Not just because of its beauty, but more what it represents to me and that I’m able to be here on the other side of the world. I am ‘able’, meaning that I have the guts to leave my safe and secure surroundings in my own country, to discover other cultures and other people. And discover more of myself. It makes me very proud that I changed a few years ago in someone more adventurous.
Well, so apparently the feeling is not indescribable because this is exactly how I felt walking through the gate.

Ok , so I am proud. But am I also winning? Let’s take a look at the score shall we?

-Marchl 17^th:  Being really sick for the second time in such a short time, just before I’m supposed to go on my dream trip. I’m taking an (expensive) blood test to rule out some things. I’m panicking, am I able to travel like this?    India: 3 points

- March 19^th: After our bus to Fatehpur Sikri breaks down, we jump on some sort of pickup truck with other Indian people. We adjust very well to the Indian ways of transportation.    Dennis: 1 point

- March 19^th: Getting pretty aggressive as the touts around Fatehpur Sikri are really getting on my nerves. A policy of ignoring doesn’t help and it’s really too much for me.    India: 1 point

- March 20^th: Sharing an auto rickshaw with 14 people, twice. We adjust very well to the Indian ways of transportation.    Dennis: 1 point

- March 20^th: Sitting on the roof of the taxi because our clothes are too dirty after the Holi war. We adjust very well to the Indians way of transportation.    Dennis: 1 point

- March 20^th: Creepy Indian guys harassing our girls throughout the day. I cannot believe how disgusting these people are!    India: 1 point

- March 20^th: Surviving the Holi Vrindivan War.    Dennis: 2 points. (At least!)

- March 21th: Monkey steeling my camera cover.    India: 1 point

- Decision not to rebook my flight back home but go on the journey after all despite feeling like dying.    Dennis: 3 points

Looks like it's going to be a tight match until the last minute.
Next stop: Varanasi, another unforgettable part of my trip… but more of that in the next story. I’m going to ride my bicycle now.


"I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world" - Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey