The goddess and the pickpocket...

There are many street children in Kathmandu. The following info gives you some idea of the difficulties facing children here: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nepal_nepal_background.html

I think you'll agree it's pretty grim reading.

Since being in Kathmandu, the countrys capital, I have had contrasting experiences with two children from both ends of the spectrum.

While walking along one of the main shopping streets a couple of days ago I was pick pocketed. The thing is, I caught this creature red handed, with his hand in the front pocket of my bag. I say creature because I came face to face with a dishevelled child who's clothes were ripped and dirty, whose face was filthy and black, nose running and his bare feet were those of a person who had trodden many a rough path. The first thought that came to my mind was my belongings. He had managed to get my head-torch out and and I noticed the orange strap wrapped up in a cloth in his hand. I pointed at it and he dropped it on the floor. The next few seconds felt like minutes. Neither I or the child appeared to know what to do. People were gatherered around us at this point. The child just looked at me as if he expected me to punish him or hand him into the police, who were no where to be seen. I expected something to happen but it didn't. The child slowly drifted away until he was about 20m from us, then he fled, like the wind. At this point I felt no anger, no motivation to have him caught. I felt quite numb. This feeling slowly changed to sadness. He was no more than 10 years old. He's not been far from my thoughts since.



A couple of days later a very different experience. I saw a Kumari Devi. Kumari literally means Virgin, Devi means god. The living goddess which is the Kumari is an intriguing, and to me a somewhat disturbing tradition here in Nepal.

A section of the Nepali community called the Newari people has a clan who go by the name of Shaklya. From this clan the Kumari is chosen to be the living vessel of the god Durga. There are numerous Kumaris in Nepal and India but the most famous is the Royal Kumari (although now there is no monarchy I think the royal bit has been dropped) who "lives" in the grounds of the royal palace in Kathmandu. In a place called the Kumari Ghar to be precise. So, what is disturbing about this? Well, it's all about the selection process. When a new Kumari is to be selected a frenzied search begins. For a start she must be a virgin and pre-menstrual. She must have the "Neck of a conch shell", a "body like a banyan tree", "eyelashes like a cow", "thighs like a deer", a "chest like a lion" and a voice as "soft and clear as a duck". Once the contender has met these criteria the next phase of the process begins. The child must show signs of serenity and fearlessness. On a certain night 108 buffaloes and goats are slaughtered and beheaded then placed in a room. The room is illuminated by candlelight and masked men dance menacingly around. The child is placed in the room alone and must not show any fear, for the whole night. If this isn't enough she then has to pick the belongings of the previous Kumari out of a pile of clothes and other items. If the child passes all these tests she is then kept in the palace in isolation until she reaches puberty when she is reunited with her family.



While being the Kumari the child has to fulfil many ceremonial obligations. She is not allowed to set foot outside the palace unless she is carried and has to remain composed at all times. Then, on the very day she menstruates for the first time she is no longer the Kumari, she returns to her family with a pension of around 100 GB pounds a month (not bad here) and although she is no longer seen as devine she never quite shakes off the reverence of being a living goddess.



We went to the Kumari Ghar and were lucky to see her (it is good luck apprently). There is a window she appears in occasionally for a few seconds. It appears to be for the tourists but there were a few Nepali there too hoping for a glimpse. I have to say I felt similar feelings when I was pick pocketed a few days before. She too was no more then ten years old.

Below is a picture of a Kumari.

Tea is the new beer....

One thing I have not mentioned in this blog, quite erroneously, is the caste system here in India. The caste system is a complex system of social strata which is based in the Hindu religion (although not exclusively as around the world there are similar systems in some Islamic and Christian religions). There have been many changes to it over the years and the Indian government has outlawed caste based discrimination, however it still exists and has a significant effect on Indian peoples lives, in particular in rural areas where the vast majority of Indian people live. There are regional differences and mobility within castes is also known. The reason I need to mention it is because much of what I have been writing has been about the new India, the booming India etc and it is very difficult for me to see how the two can exist together. My first thought is how can caste based discrimination be outlawed when the very essence of it is to place a person on a social level? Surely this is a form of discrimination in itself? Interestingly the caste system was strengthened during the British raj as the British rulers at the time saw it as a similar model to the class system at the time in Britain (clearly they thought it would be a good people control tool). Needless to say the class system in Britain has been proven to be discriminatory and reduces social mobility, which in turn does not help economic growth.

Something I have noticed alot is that entrepreneurship is alive and well in India, this suggests that people can move up (and down) socially and economically. Many businesses express hopes of bigger things by naming themselves "..... Trading" or "... Enterprises" when the reality is they sell shoes or trinkets only ( I like to call them specialists, as I am sure they do too). There is no Indian I have met who would not tell you he can offer you all kinds of services, no job is too small and they are always willing to help. However I think if you dig a bit deeper there are many people involved in all transactions, all taking their slice. The person who originally helped you is merely the messenger and will benefit financially in the region of a few pence, if they're lucky. I have noticed this alot when being offered a service like a train ticket for example. There are many people involved. I have no idea whether the caste system is involved in this but there seems to be a hierarchy in all these things. It's another example of the difficulties the common man of India must have when correlating his/her own life and the supposed rich, world beating economy they are told of repeatedly. I recently read a survey about the Dalit people. Dalit is a caste and another word for "The untouchables". These people are seen as the lowest caste, many of whom live, not surprisingly in the state of Bihar, Indias poorest state. The survey tries to look at their quliaty of life compared to 20 years ago. (see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/2010/10/is_the_free_market_improving_the_lives_of_indias_d.html

The survey attempts directly correlate improvements to the "free market" effect on these people lives. There are indeed improvements but when you see those improvements are to do with issues which belong firmly on the lowest rung of Maslows hierarchy then you can see how far India has to go before it can say it is a modern nation.

We have been travelling for over a week, taking in some of the most amazing sights. The Taj Mahal, the worlds most famous monument to love, Varanasi, the holy city on the banks of the River Ganges and Darjeeling, high in the hills covered with tea plantations. We have had the pleasure of travelling with Meena and Jag, a British-Indian couple from West london. Jag is a man on a mission, a snack food mission. We have been eating some weird and wonderful foods and the fact that Jag speaks Hindi opens doors, of the snack food world, like never before. In particular we have discovered the Aloo Tikki. Essesntially its a potato pattie, fried then covered with chilli, sweet sauce, yoghurt, sliced ginger, coriander, lemon juice or a combinaiton of these. it is so tasty we have often had two for our dinner. And at the very reasonable price of about 30p a pop we have been enjoying them regularly!

We left Meena and Jag in Varanasi and moved onto Darjeeling. A very interesting place with it's own colonial and recent history worth mentioning. Darjeeling was controlled by the British in the 1800's after a history of governance by various states like Bhutan and Sikkim. A certain Mr Arthur Campbell planted a tea seed, which he brought from China, and started the first tea plantation there. The tea is now world renowned and sold, among other places, to Harrods (The beer here is awful, so it's Tea all the way). This spawned rapid development there and the creation of the "toy train", a narrow gauge mountain steam train which still works today. One of only three left in India (Shimla and Nilgiri are the others). The main draw here is the cool climate which I am told is the reason for the tea being so special. In recent times the people of Darjeeling, many of whom hail from Nepal or Tibet, have been pushing for an independent state. Everywhere you go there are signs saying "Welcome to Ghorkhaland". This has also lead to the creation, in 1980, of the Ghorkha Liberation Front who have often used violence in their campaign. Thankfully, all was peaceful during our visit. The highlight for me is the view. In the mornings there is the most beautiful horizon with the worlds 3rd highest mountain, Kangchenjunga dominating. It is awe inspiring and tells us we are getting closer to the really big mountains. Kangchenjunga is only about 300 metres smaller then Everest and stunningly beautiful, I could sit and look at it all day.

As I write we are in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. I am thinking about our time in India and I have to say I am torn. It was great to go back but the strengthening with age of my own pre-conceived perceptions and the glaring contradictions effecting the people of India I have been somewhat subdued in my enjoyment. There is clearly a relatively small amount of private enterprises, in the big cities, fuelling this surge in economic growth. But until I see proof that equality and respect has come to India (in my view a true measure of a countries modernity) then I cannot bring myself to forget the limbless and homeless people on the streets, the children begging and working, the roads which are impassable in remote places, the constant power cuts, the high illiteracy rates, the mountains of waste dumped on the side of the roads and hills, the disrespect towards women, the fact that to make a phone call people still need to go to phone box and perhaps most importantly the fact that there is still this system in place which means you are designated a social position at birth which means you will have little or no power over your potential and opportunities in life. Until I see this improving then I see a failed state reaping the benefits of the rich few and leaving its people behind to suffer.

Nepal however, doesn't propose to be anything other than in a state of political turmoil. It's one of the poorest Asian nations and since I was last here it couldn't have changed more. Picture this: 10 years ago I vividly remember being shoved to the side of the road by an armed soldier, it soon became clear that there was a very important person coming and the road needed to be cleared. As the cavalcade went past, inside the tinted windows, I clearly saw the King and Queen of Nepal. Being a bit of a royalist at heart I really enjoyed this. The pride on the faces of the Nepalis was also clear to see. 3 weeks after I left Nepal on June 1st 2001, the Kings son, Prince Dipendra picked up a machine gun and in a drunken rage murdered the King and Queen and 6 other members of the royal family before turning the gun on himself. Nepal has never been the same since. Chaos reigned for much of the time after this until a few years ago the monarchy was abolished and the republic was formed. Relative calm has recently prevailed but upcoming elections and their importance has caused tensions. So the kingdom is no longer the kingdom but one thing Nepal has which no one else has is 8 of the worlds 14 mountains over 8000m . This is the himalayan nation, the roof of the world and on November 2nd we fly to what is reputed to be the worlds most dangerous airport, on the ridge of a mountain, to start our trek to Everest base camp. I can't wait.

Below are some of the faces we saw while in India, one thing that is not in dispute is the Indian peoples complete confidence that all will be well, here is just a few of them.....

A State of failure and some very sore toes.

Over the past few weeks, on and off, we've had a TV in our hotel room. Sometimes, we've been able to watch BBC World News. I recently watched their edition of Newsnight, which appears to be a "best of" from the daily Newsnights in the UK (Marianne was over the moon.. not). There was a very interesting debate comparing the Beijing Olympics and the Commonwealth games in Delhi. Mihir Bose, former BBC sports editor, and a respected Chinese author debated the differences between the two games and why Beijing did so well and why Delhi seemingly didn't. The background to this discussion was the fact that India and China are seen as the two booming economies of the world and they are both acutely aware of this fact and keen to be the country which becomes number 1 over the US . Amid current allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the Delhi games some points were made which I think were very poignant and really got me thinking about the way this country works. The main point which seemed to be discussed was that of the State and its interaction with the people. The Beijing games seemed, it was suggested, to unite the whole country and people across China did their bit, not only for the games, but for their country. It was suggested that the state was involved in all aspects of the games, countrywide, and and used it as a tool for unification. This was apparently evidenced by full stadiums right from the beginning of the Beijing games. I have no idea if this was truly the case but the opposite was said about India and I can't help feel this was true. There is no doubt there is a huge gulf between the state and the common man in India. The fireworks and pageantry of the closing ceremony could not be further from the India I have seen everyday in the last few weeks. Within 50 meters of where I sit right now there are people living on the street, piles of rubbish everywhere, children working and obvious poverty. Are these not the responsibility of the State? This booming, rich and modern Indian State?

My perception of how a State works is simple but probably about right. The leaders of a State make rules, these rules trickle down to the people via regional and local governments charged with implementing them. They may tweak them lightly to fit the population, but ultimately the States wishes are communicated in a top-down way. The people get to give their opinion of this in the form of elections, ensuring the bottom -up approach is competing the circle. I have feeling, and this may be just naive, but this is somewhat of a utopian wish in India at present. Take the city of Chandigarh for example. A large city not far from where I am now, famed for beng the first "planned" city in India. Formed only a matter of 60 years ago, it was designed by European architects using the grid system, a bit like the "blocks" you get in the states. The idea was to ensure free flowing traffic and ease of navigation. Chandigarh is now also famous for it's gridlock. I read a piece in the Hindustan Times about it yesterday and it talked about the fact that many communities have popped up around the main part of the city, without planning permission, causing the centre to become clogged with traffic and pollution to engulf the city. It was suggested that these communities would almost always be made "legitimate" just before local elections, indicating political corruption and further confounding the problem. I think this is a classic exmple of how the system, outside Delhi and the halls of Prime Minister Singhs offices, works and proves that the States influence barely touches the people in the towns and cities of India. I think the race for the number 1 economy in the world will be won by the country who's people are with the rule makers, in a majority at least. India, unfortuately from what I can see is nowhere near that yet. We'll be in China in a few weeks so I will be able to see whether there is evidence of the States influence from top to bottom or not, hopefully it will be in a humane way.

So, we are in Mcleod Ganj again after 4 days trekking in the mountains. It was a fabulous few days but it also taught us we are nowhere near as fit as we would like to be! The terrain, although not too high, at a maximum of 3200 metres, was very tough. The first two days were up up up and not on easy trails either. Large, ancient boulder steps seemingly going on for ever and with a 10kg pack on it took it's toll on our legs. We were yearning for a some "down" time then when it came, on day 3, we remembered that going down is as hard, if not harder, on the legs than going up! 9 Hours of traversing rivers, climbing boulders and occasionally not having a trail at all really took it out of us and we have been resting here for the past 2 days trying to get our quads working again and getting the feeling back in our toes. It was so great to be back in the wilderness again though. We stayed in small farming villages on two nights and even a shepherds hut on the side of a mountain by a lake. This was really roughing it, as we ony had straw to lay on and our sleeping bags for warmth. The evening was spent by the lake with an open fire and a clear sky which was lit up with stars like I haven't seen in a very long time, I was transfixed. A few shooting stars and a tod of sweet Indian rum made for a truly magical night. We only saw 2 other westerners during the whole 4 days we were trekking, and the only other humans around were our guide and porter, and the occasional shepherd. Himalayan eagles circled on the morning thermals and the snowy peaks on the horizon made for a truly awe inspiring first trek of the trip, albeit a lesson in how city life does not prepare you for mountains too!

Tonight we return to Delhi, briefly, to get a train to Agra (Taj Mahal), then Varanasi. Then it's onto Darjeeling where we will eventually leave India for Nepal and our Everest adventure. I am starting to love this place again, it's taken a while, but it really is like no where else on earth.

Golden Temple magic...

There is nowhere like India to provoke a bit of self analysis. Last time I was here I was 24, now I am 34. This is certainly no holiday and the constant challenges to my ever shortening fuse, invasion of my personal space and the complete lack of comfort has caused me to look internally and ask: am I so different to a decade ago? I am pretty sure, although my memory does not allow complete accuracy, that back in 2000 I was comfortable with the way things are here. I mean, that's what India is like right? This is the way it is? This time round I can't help but notice the inconsistencies and contradictions which seem to be prevalent everywhere we go. Let's take spitting for example. Not such a nice subject I know, but it's a perfect example of what I am talking about. In many of the public spaces, bus and train stations for example, there are signs saying "No Spitting" (The fact these signs exist demonstrates some sort of recognition of the problem). These signs tend to be in English with the occasional Hindi translation underneath. At the bus station in Amritsar there were even "spittoons" which were essentially metal frames with a washing up bowl full of sand on top. The reality is that many men, and equally women, will stand next to these spittoons and loudly clear the back of the throat and spit on the floor right next to said "spittoon". No one will flinch, bat an eyelid or show any sign of disgust. I don't remember being repulsed by this then, but I certainly am now! The fact that it appears to be acceptable for a group of people to take Mariannes photo without permission, but turn the camera on this group and the look if indignation is palpable, is another example. The spaces allocated to women or elderly on trains and buses, which have only young men sat in them is again another example of the things I can't help notice as I travel about this crazy place. People are constantly sweeping here, I mean constantly. Yet, without wanting to appear rude, the place is filthy. This is of course viewed by my own "standards" and I cannot help but wonder if it is me who has just got older, grumpier and more cynically stuck in my ways. It probably is indeed the case.

We are currently in McLeod Ganj, home to the Tibetan Goverment in exile and official residence of his excellency the 14th Dalai Lama. It's also high up in the mountains again and nice and cool. We came here via Amritsar, the capital of Indian Punjab and the home of the Golden Temple and the Sikh religion. I remembered the Golden Temple from my last visit well, and it doesn't disappoint. It's hard to describe in words to be honest but having been lucky enough to have been to many of the worlds religious centres this one is right up there in the realms of magical, mystical places where you can feel the throng of religious fervour happening all around you. We got up early, well early for us, at 6am to try and beat the rush and the heat. It appears so did many of the pilgrims and worshippers. The entrance to the temple is a busy place full of people taking their shoes to the cloak room and readying themslelves for the upcoming prayers. Punjab has 75% of the worlds 25 million Sikhs and this is the place they all come, at least once in their lives. The Golden Temple itself is surrounded by a lake, which is where Amritsar takes it's name= The Pool Of immortality, or Sacred Lake depending on who you ask. I had to wear a head scarf, as did Marianne before we could enter the temple. You then find yourself in a large white marble square with the lake infront of you and the Golden Temple itself in the centre. The Golden part of the temple is reputedly pure gold, I have no reason to doubt this. It is a truly stunning and humbling sight, I couldn't really believe I was there again, a second time, when there are probably countless Sikhs who are lucky enough to only visit once in their lives. We took our time walking around the lake, meeting a few interested parties, most of whom were keen to talk about London and their visits there. Punjab is big in London and vice versa. We entered the queue of about 800 people walking across the walkway to the temple. This is when you really start to feel part of something. The beautiful music piped all around becomes clear. Tablas and an Asian sounding keyboard play with mystical chanting overlayed giving you a feeling which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Couple this with the mass of people quietly singing along with the music you begin to feel quite emotional. Well, I did.

Once inside the temple you see the musicians sat playing on the floor, infront of piles of flowers and money.There are many people vying for position to get the best spot so they can offer their money to the gods. The inside of the temple is dominated by a huge chandelier which lights up the intricately decorated room all in a hue of gold. There are balconies above with people looking down at the scene holding prayer books or kneeling with their eyes closed in a moment of reverance. Up stairs there is a holy man reading from a huge book, the holy book in the Sikh world. All these people are brightly dressed in orange, yellows, white and blues. The men with long beards and turbans, the women with beautiful sari's and golden jewellery. It is truly a welcome sight for sore, grumpy, cynical eyes.

Our visit to Amritsar also included a trip to the border with Pakistan (Wagah) to witness the bizarre ceremony carried out every night to close the road between the two countries. This whole event is played out like a military game show with around 2000 Indians on one side and considerably less on the Pakistan side. The idea is to out-do the other side with noise and bravado. I saw this in 2000 and it was considerably less rowdy than this time. It seems to correlate with the boom in Indian confidence and national pride. It's safe to say what India won this round.

Finally our time in Amritar was spent in the Jallianwala Bagh. A park where on April 13th 1919 a group of British Soldiers opened fire on a peaceful protest against the British rule killing many people, including women and children. Figures vary from 400 dead to 2000 but the fact that this was the catalyst for Ghandis quiet revolution will never be forgotten. The signs on the walls as you arrive speak of the British tyranny and evilness. Needless to say, we didn't stay long.

So here we are in McLeod Ganj, named after the British soldier who founded the town in the 1800's now the home of all things Tibetan. Unfortunately, all things exiled from Tibet since the so called peaceful invasion by China in 1959 which has seen a reported 1.2million Tibetans killed and thousands seeking asylum in India.The Dalai Lama is here and he used to do public meetings, which we would love to do, but apparently his age and health have put a stop to that. Or at least that's what we have heard. We also know not to believe anything in this land of inconsistencies until you see it with our own eyes, so watch this space.

We are planning to do some trekking from here and take advantage of the western style restaurants and hotels for a while (We had spaghetti last night, a rare treat). This is especially good because it means we can have a break from our self imposed embargo of meat and alcohol. For now, Paneer is well and truly off the menu.

Some pics below:

Sorry for the lack of pics.. the connections are slow and the pics are big files so it take ages to upload them.. will keep trying though ;)

Crazy, crazy times.....

Hi.. so, here we are in India. I wish I could say I have been having a huge adventure full of deep cultural experiences and learning about the intricacies of Indian life, but I can't really. We spent the first two days of our trip in Delhi. This place is quite hard to put into words. I have written pages of notes on the issues I see India, and Delhi in particular, facing at present. The big issue when we were there, and still is, are the Common Wealth Games. The Indian media and goverment appears to be very sensitive to its image, especially internationally. I couldn't help notice how often they used the words "showcase" and "modern". They seem to see this whole thing as a big opportunity to show the world how they have become a modern, rich and powerful society which can be a player on the big stage. I have no doubt that huge progress has been made, for example there is now a tube running throughout Delhi, its a really good one too. The problem is not many people can afford it. It really got me thinking about what being modern means. All I could come up with was compassion, equality and respect for others. I have real doubts about this with regards to Delhi and I am not surprised about the chaos regarding the games village etc. There are still homeless people everywhere including children. There is rubbish everywhere, the streets are full of holes and there are still open sewers in many of the streets. The main train station has people living on it and defecating on the platforms. Dogs still roam the streets and many of the rickshaw drivers still live in their riskshaws 24 hours a day. Ironically they often park outside the tube stations and take people who come out of the station. I wonder how much they have lost now their customer uses the tube for part of their journey? Can a city profess to be modern with all this happening? I am really not sure. There is no doubt the upper classes of India are doing well, but spending time in Old Delhi you can see that there are parts of the city which has made no progress at all. It is almost medieval. I discussed this with a guy on a train. He was a well educated young man from the north. He said "no one can change Old Delhi" and "the problem with this country is there is too many people".. I am sure I have heard that somewhere before. He is among an obvious group of young, English speaking people who are doing well. I wanted to say to him "why are there still kids on the street then?" but it just wasn't the right moment.. I fear it maybe easier for the well off people to look out into the world for their aspirations rather than to look inside and fix the problems of there own country. A poster I saw on the wall said it all really, it was a government poster which read "Help the homeless of Delhi, and paint a better picture of our city to the world". Its this twisted, upside down value that I see as a real problem here. I hope one day India will see that the best way to gain the respect of the world is to respect itself.

I have so much more to say about our time here so far... much of it positive too! It's a true assault on the senses. I am officially blown away by India again. However this time I have had a different experience, one which I wasn't planning. After a few days in Delhi I started to get a cough. Nothing too serious just a tickle. I just ignored it. We ended up in a city called Haridwar, one of Indias holy cities on the river Ganges. Every night there are ceremonies on the river and hundres of worshippers arrive to wash away their sins, its quite a sight. The next day we decided to get up into the himalayan foothills as the heat was getting oppressive.. all the time still with a cough. We arrived in a lovely place called Mussoorie, its at 2000m above sea level so nice and cool compared to the plains below. That night (sunday) my cough was really bad and I decided I obviously had a chest infection. I didn't sleep all night after having a bad night the night before anyway so the next day we went to a doctor who prescribed some antibiotics. I thought in a few days and I would be fine. If only. By 9pm I was in hospital.

Probably the most surreal experience of my life to be honest. (Sats-79%, Pulse- 115, Temp-39.4) I was proper ill, not man flu, not Delhi belly, proper ill this time! The guy in our hotel said I had him really worried.. Had Marianne not been with me I have no idea what would have happened she was amazing. I was lucky too, the standard of care in India is variable, at best. The hospital here is part of a group of Christian hospitals which are based in remote locations, except this one is not so remote luckily for me. I have to say I have been in dirtier hospitals in the UK and witnessed worse standards of care in the UK. They were happy to use our sterile needles we had with us but it was soon pretty clear that there were using sterile equipment for their IVs etc. I was admitted for 2 nights and diagnosed with an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. I had x-rays, loads of meds, blood tests.. the works. I had my own room which had a spare bed for Marianne. It was weird, the room was on the maternity unit! The nurses told me there had been 6 babies born there while I was, in from what I heard there was more than that!... one lady brought her baby out to show us.. hours old... it was bizarre! (but lovely too;) The hospital is supposed to be for poor people, so we made a big donation (it all cost less then a hundred quid). If you would like to do the same see here: http://www.eha-health.org/clinical/hospitals/72-hospitals/54-mussoorie

and here:

http://eha-health.org/units/41-hospitalcontact/16-mussoorie.html

So, not the start we planned.. but who could have planned that? We will stay in Mussoorie for a few more days as I am still on meds and feeling a bit rough but should be fully fit in a few days. Then its back on the road in this crazy crazy place :)

Some pics below.....