brilliant word massacre

i went to santana restaurant for the first time yesterday. and to my delight, upon opening the menu, was the most brilliant display of misspelled words i have ever seen. here's the list of winners and their apparent translation:
mashroom-mushroom
spagathy-spagetti
macroni-macaroni
potato cack-potato cake
peanet-peanut
pease-peas
boild-boiled
chees-cheese
omlet-omelet
lessy-lassi
peana culada-pina colada
bloody merry-bloody mary
musle-muesli
cabab-kabob
sweshwan-(this one's my favorite) szechwan
sous-sauce
***********************************************************************************
tit bits n observations
velvet dawn 830am
to my left is a giant english dude making his prescence known by crashing down in his chair. i've been waiting a half an hour for coffee and orange juice. he screams to the waiters-i'm in a hurry and i want my breakfast right away. of course this amuses me and i look right at him sternly, feel like telling him that mcdonalds is right down the street, but that's not true.

and to my right is a bloke who is the spitting image of michael caine. what's really funny is that he is reading a book on tantra. i had the pleasure of noticing his cd collection, also, which contained whitesnake!

the ladies came out in their beautiful saris yesterday for the holiday-combo republic day, martyrs day, dandi march day, gandhi death day. i especially love the kerala saris, which are all white with different colored trim. i guess when a woman wearsa white sari anywhere else in india, it means she's a widow. i think the kerala sari is the most beautiful. when the people dress up here, they look like peacocks, beautiful silks in pink and blue, green and yellow, with the little ones all decked, complete with jasmine flowers in their hair. it's a sight to behold.

so the movie i will see today, "kisna" with vivek oberi about a love affair between an indian stud and an english woman during the revolution has made indian film history according to the bbc. it is the very first indian movie shot entirely in hindi and than again in english. the english version will be released in the spring. hopefully in chicago!!! i will report back on the movie next blog. watch for it, folks. looks like a real good one. i've been watching the videos for weeks.

bindifry

in india, everyday is a holiday

so if you want to follow ellen's blog, it's at
www. extrachiliplease.blogspot.com
it's completely eerie now that all of the yoga students have vacated kovalam. it's surprising how much room we take up here. the hawkers and beggers really get to me after 3 months, my personal india limit, and i find myself not looking at anyone anymore, cause if your eyes meet, it means a potential sale or free money for them. every other day a bus arrives full of beggers that drape the paths all over kovalam, blocking you from walking. they begin to outnumber the tourists, and they are DESPERATE. you can be faced with a full throttle assault, often being blocked by 3 nasty sarong pushers. it's exhausting. india is one of those places you can't wait to leave, yet upon returning to home soil, all you can do is dream about it and count the days when you can return. what is that???
another temple fest at sri devi, burning and bombs, speakers installed AGAIN. yesterday was "republic day" and today is "martyrs day" commemerating mahatma gandhi's peace march. here in india every day is a holiday and the beach is scattered with tons of indians, men wearing nothing, women swimming in full sari. strange country.
bindi

rabbi, shakira, ellen part 2 oh my

i must confess i think i really like shakira. she can really dance, has a great voice, and is real pretty. in fact, i'm thinking of modeling my hair after her when i return. it's kind of like "heart" when they were doing the eighties thing.

wrapped up another 2 long and particularly grueling months with lino. he always closes with a full vinyasa class, which is always fun. it was anti-climatic cause i did it last year. now comes the hard part-maintaining some kind of vigorous practice. last year upon returning from india for 4 months, i got injured immediately and wasn't able to get as strong. than i slacked, and ate like a maniac cause i'd become anemic and weak from being very sick. i gained over 20 pounds. i'm so hoping i don't do that again. luckily i've not been craving western food at all, just avocados sometimes and salads. indian food is far more tasty, less bland, and extremely healthy. lots of people come here and only eat cornflakes, pizza, and omelets. i don't think i've had a single morsel of western food. i actually can't wait to eat at my favorite local indian restaurant-"bhabi's kitchen" when i get home.

here's a list of the strange movies playing on the strange cable channel called C.W.-cineworld.
captain invincible
glory man
cut
death on saturns moon
the killer inside
hold my hand i'm dying(with a full on drunk oliver reed)
popcorn
black cat
drunken tai chi
mission hill
monkey trouble (harvey keital and a chimp)
fart-the movie
terminal bliss

i've discovered a great indian pop star named rabbi shergill. he is a philosopher, quoting sufi poets, a farmer, and a rock star gorgeously clad in full on kurta-muslim wear-and a beautiful turban (i confess to having a thing for turbans-i really think they're sexy) there was a special on republic day on mtv asia with him, bikram ghosh-which you might know from ravi shankar and anoushka's band, and prem joshua, the danish god of indian fusion-NOT my cup of tea. too repetetive and new age.

why everyone's talking about rabbi shergill
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=63085
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ellen's corner-adventures in SE asia part 2

Let me bring you up to date... A couple of days ago, I woke up for my last morning in HCMC
My ankle was much better so I practiced and swam...Afterwards, I was headed back towards my hotel and encountered this fantastic aroma of butter flour and sugar..PASTRY!!!!...I followed my nose to this perfect little french bakery on a side street and proceeded to scarf down two of the most delectable croissants I have ever devoured washed down by some super-strong vietnamese coffee.( i like it black and strong, but the coffee here requires sugar and milk)..Headed back to my deluxe hotel and took a nice hot bath as I'll be staying in guesthouses again for the next 7 days...
I flew to Danang (one hour) and picked up a cabbie out front..He took me to the Cham museum ( the only one in the entire world) which was a pure delight...the style of carving is nothing I've ever seen before... a mixture of Hindi, chinese, with a little art nouveau thrown in...We drove throught the marble mountains where there are temples carved into the hillside..Nothing like ajanta or ellora...more pueblan?..
I arrived in Hoi An and walked about for the rest of the afternoon...It is a beautiful little town
of fisherman and tailors but it has been possessed by mass-consumerism...I was talking to this nice vietnamese man..He said that 15 years ago they had one hotel..now they have 73...they also had 20 tailor shops..now 200 plus....there are art shops and tons of souvenir shops..not really my scene...but very lovely...
Yesterday I got up at the crack of dawn to head out to My Son(beautiful mountain)..Ancient Champa ruins...They were totally devastated by the US bombing the Viet Cong...I have been feeling ashamed of my nation alot on this journey...Spoke with some Dutch fellows in detail about politics the other night...They don't hate ALL americans any longer...I turned them on to some anti-bush web sites, which they were really excited about..They basically feel like we all must be complete idiots to reelect that moron....Inaugaration?..Egad I think it's a done deal...GROSS!!
The temples were a disappointment after angkor..how can you top that?..When the bus returned to hoi an i rented a bicycle and rode out to this island of potato farms, rice paddies, banana and coconut plantations...it was one of my favorite afternoons thus far..People were very suprised to see a westerner and kept asking me "were yoyu are going to?"
I took an entire roll of photos..
I tried a new dish yesterday called Cao lau..They are about the thickness of linguine but square...made of rice flour and this special water you can only get from one well here in town..
talk about isolating your cuisine! ...the noodles are served in a lemongrass broth with fried wontons squares(they call them croutons)..fresh greens , scallions and Pork ( or tofu)...it was very good and the texture of the noodles is unique...there is another tradition here called the white rose which is sort of like shrimp shumai but the wrapper is folded in the lovely floral shape..
Today I'm off to the train station in danang and then up the coast to Hue and the DMZ
I'll tour the vietcong tunnels up there but i don't think i'll check out the US airbase museum/
The guest house lady just brought me my breakfast..it is a banana pancake that looks more like indian fry-bread.. and i honestly think it is smothered in Hersheys chocolate syrup..
So much for asian food...Gotta Go .. it smells delish.....love, ellen

bindifry

coiffed for god/adventures in southeast asia pt.1

i would first like to post some of my good friend ellen's e-mails that come from southeast asia. she is visiting cambodia, vietnam and thailand. here's the first installment:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here I am in Saigon..It is an awe-inspiring city teeming with people..about half the size of Mumbai but Viet Nam is a teensy little country. I went out on the street to have this freaky drink...It is black beans, white beans , tamarind, mango shreds, pineapple chunks, fresh coconut, passionfruit juice, shaved ice and cream...It is served in a tall glass with a spoon and it is astonishly delicious and refreshing. I arrived here in Ho Chi Minh city by bus from Phnom Penh..An interesting but dodgy little city that could use a couple of coats of paint and some rain to wash away the urine..I went to the killing fields and toul seng which was a torture and detention center during the khmerrouge fiasco...I absolutely loved the Khmer people(native cambogias)...Very slight and beautifulwith full smiles, prominent cheek bones and eyes that are full of laughter...Cambodia is a sadly poor country and the sex trade there is one of the worst in the world...Alot of the garment factories are being shut down and women have no other way to make a living..It is a devastating cycle...Tourism is there only hope, but the temples of angkor can only provide so much for the economy... English is taught in all of the schools and the children in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) are very well spoken and wildly enthusiastic about practicing what they have learned..In Viet Nam, not so much...I'll be staying here for the next 10 days traveling up the coast to hanoi and halong bay so I've been learning a little of the language...Fortunately they have the same alphabet as we do...Thank you France!! In Cambodia everything is in US dollars...It really enrages the Europeans and Aussies..But it is nice not to have to do the math...Here it is the dong...confusing...15,540 is a dollar..Egad...my mathematical skills seem to havetaken a nose dive... The temples were absolutely amazing!..I stayed 5 days instead of three...to see more. Today I was hit by a moto driver...he knocked me off my feet on the side of the street andI have a sprained ankle and a gash in my ring finger...the bastard didn't even stop but all of these lovely folks attended to me and a sidewalk vendor brought me a bag of iced coffee to refresh myself and pack my ankle...Most of the beverages inThailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam are served in a 2 handled little bag with a bent straw...I love it...Beats the crap out of disposable cups..I've got to fly...I am going to hobble over to the opera house to check out the symphony...20 bucks...not so bad..Viet Nam is much cheaper than Thailand or Cambodia...I understand it will be much cooler up north...It'll prepare me for the long journey home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
back to india
so no matter what the men do here, digging ditches, selling coconuts, building a wall-no matter how rich or poor, they ALL have the most perfect hair ever. my favorite pastime is watching the menfolk pass by and i just swoon at their grooming abilities and attention to detail. we sloppy americans can learn much from the coiffed indian. it's a god thing. or a bollywood thing. whatever it is, it works.

i was roped into "mother theresa's internet"this morning by my friend salman. i've been coming here almost exclusivel for 2 years, until one day i discovered the high speed giant screen computers a few steps down. unfortuantely i have to walk fast past salman, cause you really feel like your cheating on them when you do that. so here i am using internet i really don't want to use! the fruit ladies on the beach are the same. once you buy fruit from one, they own you. i have seen MANY catfights on the beach over cunning fruit queens "stealing" other fruit queen's customers! and these ladies are HARDCORE. you are never allowed to NOT have fruit for a day, so you have to search for alternate routes to walk so you don't get accosted.

this morning i saw a desperate man selling drugs in broad daylight, desperate as all hell. even coming into restaurants to do so. i have never seen that before-they usually only do that at night. i have heard most of the creeps selling are merely trying to support their own habit. sad. BUT his hair looked REAL good!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------tit bits
*5 YEAR OLD SACRAFICED
a 5 yr. old was sacraficed by a man to gain spiritual power today. this is the third such incident in a month.

*ARMY JAWARS PUSH 7 OUT OF A TRAIN
5 were crushed to death by the sampurna kranti express which was passing by at that moment. the civilians were thrown out of the train cause the army said the seats they were sitting in were reserved for army personal.

*5.5 TONNES OF GARBAGE REMOVED
"keep kovalam clean" campaign-475 volunteers sporting t-shirts bearing the slogan "less waste, more future"
-i noticed most of the teens were simply milling about talking on their cell phones instead of working, just like the maid in my hotel who finds little patches of shade in corners and hides there all day. she can actually make herself the size of a cashew!! scares the crap out of me when i "think" i am alone.

*HORRORS ON V.C.D.
-new releases are ruling the black market video charts: compilations of grisley pictures and videos of the tsunami horror selling for 4 times the price of, "swades."
-great demand for them-running out of stock. it shows everything-how people died, how they were buried, people who were saved, bloated bodies, cremations, property destruction. they are of good quality and sound.

bindi will be publishing a couple more excerpts from ellen's journey. i just hate to keep her adventures to myself.

bindifry

biogems and tranny

today i saw my first tranny on the beach. english tranny. cool.

yesterday sharaf came by to deliver kerala food. when i saw him, i asked him what bakrid meant. his answer was, "you take small cow and....cccctttt"-he makes a gesture of his hand moving across his throat. "so you mean bakrid means to cut the head off of a cow? you do it quick, right?" "no, slowly with a small knife you cut cut." "oh." "also a chicken and a bahh bahhh..." "a goat?" "yeah, a goat." "then you chop chop chop in pieces and take around." (?) so according to my muslim friend with very limited english, bakrid means decapitation.
_____________________________________________________________________
tit bits
JEWELRY MADE FROM 300 GALSTONES
inspired by the shapes and colors of the stones taken out, s. valsaladevi, pathologist, gave an artistic form to these "biogems" and designed a set of ornaments, necklace, bracelets and earrings, using the stones.

PARVEEN BABI DEAD AT 50
found dead in her home in juhu, she was known as the glamourous heroine of yesteryear. her first bollywood movie in 1973 was, "charitraheen," she went on to star in the famous filums, "deewar," and "amar akbar anthony." the cause of her death is not known.

PYGMY HIPPOS FOUND IN KERALA
not only pygmy elephants (remember?), but now pygmy hippos have been found in the same wildlife forest.

bindifry

goodbye sri devi, hello BAKRID!

*tsunami death toll-226,500
*dude without a shirt is STILL without a shirt
*chick in yoga class STILL using undiluted lavander essential oil and making lots of enemies
*yoga teachers ARE human beings
*46 more pictures at:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ljhill11/album?.dir=9e08&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
friday morning on the way to yoga, i was passed by several strong men each carrying away the massive metallica speakers on their heads up the hill and probably to the local mosque for yet another festival, muslim celebrated bakrid. sri devi temple fest lasted 8 days, not 3 or 5 or 10 or 12, which is what everyone told me. indians would rather lie to you than say "i don't know." it's just not part of their culture. they feel it's rude. so lying is better.(?) it gets to the point that you have to take a poll and go with the common denominater. the rewards i reap during muslim holidays is home made food. i have several sources and lots of muslim friends. i have no idea how long this holiday is, but like the mosque itself, their fests tend to be a little simpler, a little quieter. the hindu temples are very ornate, as their festivals. interesting.
i did enjoy the "experience" of the festival in my yard, however, 3-4 days would have been plenty. lots of sleep lost, can't hear so well. now i know why so many indians talk SO loud. when they were lighting off the m80s, women, children and men of all ages just stand right next to the explosions without covering their ears or even wincing at the massive sounds. amazing.
i'm gonna try to find some info on bakrid and will submit it next blog.

have come across the only "b" movie cable channel called cineworld or C/W. i was lucky enough to catch, "turkey shoot," an aussie movie from '81, a cult classic in the b-movie world. prisoners wearing bright yellow jumpsuits are released on an island so the authorities can hunt em down. hillariously graphic. unbelievable even.

bindifry

PRISONER OF HELL!!!

velvet dawn had live music this week. keyboards, 6 foot indian giant on vocals, a carlos santana clone on guitar, and mr. tambourine man. i've never seen a tambourine fronted santana cover band before. the entry was, "samba pa ti," followed up by some deep purple, and then a little french, americana, and german folk tunes thrown in. twas mildly amusing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
i got some cool christian rag with a picture of a business suit clad dude with shackles binding him to a tree stump wrapped in an anaconda with it's tounge touching his. he is standing on the edge of a cliff that is red (hell?) and behind him are 2 black and 1 red cross. below this picture reads, "he who does what is sinful is of the devil." the pamphlet reads WHO WILL DELIVER ME.
i love this sort of stuff, cause it gets weirder when you are far from home. how's this:

-woman goes to church, yet remains a drunkard and murderess
-wicked cause she makes that cursed drink-BEER!!
-"sin has bound my hands and feet, i am a PRISONER OF HELL!!!"
-"i killed my first born son!! i had him in a back pack and i was drunk and rolled on him and squashed the head of my sweet little son so he died!!!"
"what a wretched person i am! who will deliver me?"
THE ANSWER
jesus is the answer
the next page shows business man happy with bible in one hand, other arm stretching upto the sun rising in the hills behind him, the cross hangs the shackles and the dead snake.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
tit bits
*kareena kapoor looks like barbara streisand
*sting is playing in bangalore and new delhi feb. 4 + 5 th. the new brian adams me thinks
_____________________________________________________________________
hindu bits

*boy injured in freak accident
-8 yr. old alameen was seriously injured in his left eye when his teacher threw a pen at him to ensure his attention to the blackboard

*avoid sun-baked bricks for pongal
-environmental problems created from devotees baking bread

*pygmy elephants in kerala forest
-2 men encountered a small herd of 5 foot tall pybmy elephants in peppara wildlife sanctuary in kerala last week.

*guidelines for using elephants in temple rituals
-animals were not made to stand for over 4 hours for rituals
-conpetitions for selecting good-looking elephants avoided
-presence of spca (society prevention cruelty animals) present with 5 or more tuskers
-elephants with musth was an offence (?)
-animals taken in lorries over 30km
-mahout 3 year minimum experience
-force should not be applied
-fireworks should not be lit where tuskers are tethered

bindifry

stay close to the loo...

ok, first things first. the answers to the young world quiz:
1.finding nemo
2.HCL
3.ll cool j
4.it's a popular form of bullfighting/taming
5.eat it-it's a popular type of noodles, which are consumed raw or in a soup
6.convection
7.sirocco or scirocco
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so no matter how hard you try to eat safe, you still can get violently ill. my little safe lonely planet has done me wrong with serving tomato chutney from the previous cooking class. bad. you know what it is cause your stomach makes a familiar gurgling and you know it's all over. so i got to stay in bed all day yesterday watching more bad english flims, "white men can't jump," and, "waynes world 2-waynestock," staying close to the loo. coconuts and hydration salts delivered to my door. it's good to have friends here-thanks arnold. back to yoga today, did not think i would make it, but i figured drag my body there and begin, see what happens. you can always stop, ya know? however, i made it through my primary practice and it made me feel better. the body hurts a lot when you lay all day. get over it, get on with life. today i take it easy. swimming is theraputic. still waiting to "finish" intermediate, but don't care if it does not happen. got plenty to keep me busy. it took almost 6 weeks to get my old practice back from having a month off and 4 injuries to deal with, so it's all good.

temple festival going 2 more days. i asked 10 locals how long and got 10 different answers. it's funny how sure they all were about the duration. indians would rather lie convincingly than say "i don't know,"- course they were christians and muslims, what would they know about a hindu festival? i will miss it. it's the best malayalam jams i've ever heard-loud like a gay disco. and i'm the only freak who likes living right above it. they really jam out on those drums with the wild horns. it's pretty amazing, actually. my ayurvedic tailor, whom i've grown fond of (how many ayurvedic skirts do i need?) and is part of sri devi, invited me for puja tonight at the temple at 7pm. i'm there. as long as he tells me what to do, cause i'm not totally comfy with the spinning, fire, ghee, foot worship, and deity protocal. i guess a dude is going to carry the black sri devi on his head and dance tonight while little kids carry black candles and do fire blessings.
got me thinking, what does sri devi have to do with pongal? it kind of makes sense to worship the mother cause she symbolizes fertility, ya know? for those who don't know, sri devi is the equivalent of parvati (siva's wife), kali and durga.

don't know if this link will work, but i put up 23 photos, mostly of mumbai and agra, in my yahoo photos at:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ljhill11/album?.dir=/de9f&.src=ph&.tok=phfL0XCBqHfS0JtX
just e-mail me if the link fails to work.

bindifry

pongal pongal pongal

pongal

well it's officially harvest festival and it's celebrated all over india. here are some facts, and why i suddenly understand all the festivities at the sri devi temple.

-celebrations are part of sun worship (because the sun gives life and grows the plants)-hence the ladies throwing hundreds of flowers into little piles of fire at sri devi
-mid january has the sun moving into capricorn signalling the end of winter (vedic calandar)
-celebrated in punjab, assam, bengal, andhra pradesh, karnataka and tamil nadu. tamil nadu's harvest festival is called pongal, which means "rice."

*1st day pongal-bonfires burn and ashes used as manure for the future fields (sri devi had cleared out the field behind my hotel days before the fest in preparation, than the huge burning i did not know at the time was for pongal. remember thursday when i couldn't flee my hotel?
*2nd day pongal-sun worshipped (sri devi temple had the drummers playing ecstatically at the crack of dawn on tuesday)signalling the rise of the sun. milk is boiled over as a symbol of prosperity. (this morning i saw them doing this at temple)
*3rd day pongal-the ox and cattle crucial to farmers livlihood are worshipped. sometimes splashed with colored sand, painted, dressed up, and there are ox cart races and bullfighting all over.

so what kinds of things does one eat at pongal? rice and jaggery (jaggery is raw sugar)-the canes are stacked and waiting at sri devi temple. they also feed all the crows and critters, which is why at sri devi all the people sat down to eat and just all walked away from their half eaten plates without cleaning it. the entire place was full of animals feasting on leftovers. who knew there was a reason for this. at the time i had thought they were too lazy to clean up after themselves, but now it makes perfect sense. the names of the dishes traditionally eaten during pongal are called til gajak, til poli, and chakkarai pongal.

the festivites have been constant since thursday. there's too much going on to watch all the time-it seems to begin with the sun rise and goes till 11pm almost non stop. i did watch them errect a 40 foot pole with a long rope on it while a pile of frantic drummers played against avant garde horns blasting from the speakers. they tied a large pink marigold garland and a decorative hand made textile piece and hoisted it up to the top of the pole facing the sri devi deity. when it reached the top, off went the m80s, firecrackers, and fireworks. deity in red with giant orange marigold garland. than they wrapped the remaining rope around with music accompaniment and more explosions when that was finished.

so they are constantly playing this amazing film score music loud enough for you to hear all the way to trivandrum, which is why i'm the only one crazy enough to stay in the hotel above the temple. it's like having my own personal theatre speakers circling my pool, and i can get underwater when the m80s go off. it makes me wonder-who is the temple d.j.? does he get the job passed on to him by his father? does he audition? what would be the criteria? interesting. cause he's better than any club d.j. i've heard.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
here's a few questions from the hindu's young world quiz. i'll post the answers next time i blog.

1.in which popular movie does one come across deb, gurgle, gill and bloat?
2.it it's wipro for azim premji, what is it for shiv nadar?
3.the popular hip hop artist born james todd smith, would turn 37 today. how is he better known?
4.manju virattu may be witnessed during the pongal festival period in tamil nadu. what is it?
5.what would one do with a wai wai? eat it or wear it?
6.in physics, the transference of heat through a fluid or gas by the actual movement of the fluid itself is called...?
7.name the strong southerly to southeasterly wind in the mediterranean that originates in sahara region?

bindifry

temple fury

so the 10 day sri devi festival has begun. last night the 15 speakers that were now placed in different trees all over the place were blasting film score music. this puzzles me because i was expecting chants and devotional music and it sounded like one big indian rave. skeptical about sleep, they thankfully stopped the music at 9pm. course it was a thursday night, i am hoping they take pity on the sleepers and not let it go too late. however, in the past, they have gone past midnight. ear plugs do nothing to suffocate the sound, so your stuck awake with earth shaking sounds.(luckily they have good taste in music and i can't seem to get enough of IFSM-indian film score music) the ladies with the palm leaves had built a mini coconut palm house in the temple and another mini lotus flower hut next to the sri devi deity. when they woke me at 6am with head splitting drumming (fridays we practice together at 7, rest of week i'm there at 530), i passed by and witnessed 6 giant piles of fire and a circle of women throwing flowers into the flames. around 715 during yoga, off went dozens of fireworks and firecrackers. and than more music that made it almost impossible to hear lino calling the poses out. between that and the more than creative back-up sounds the taxis and rickshaws make (everything from love story to jingle bells), it reminded me of conference in mysore. guruji is SO quiet and profound when he talks, except you can't hear a word of it because of the musical horns and cell phone rings. i think the ring tones are an expression of high art here.
SO of course i'm thinking of a re-location of hotel, but part of me wants to stick around cause it's one serious party i have never been so close to before. it will take a gallon of patience and fabulous attitude. everyone involved is SO happy i'm just waiting to be dragged right into the festivities. the deity is getting her sari changed several times a day now. and half a dozen nubile indian youth splashing about in our swimming pool at 10pm. i'm hoping that elephants will come. the hawk's palm tree homes are in the middle of all this and it seems like they've relocated. how does a hawk move his entire family and nest?

so for the last 2 weeks, a girl has been practicing next to me who likes to use pure lavender oil when she does garba pindasana.(most of us use water) it suffocates me and i try hard to be in finishing when she gets to that pose rather than being the 2nd person to confront her. today she came up to me and asked me if her perfume bothered me. "it IS strong," i said. she apologized and went back to USING IT AGAIN! now yoga folks, the first things you learn about yoga are:
1. come 10 minutes early 2.do not eat before practice 3. absolutely no oils, lotions or perfumes.
this is horrifying and am rather surprised to see a seasoned yogi doing this. why is this a problem? cause the smell reeks up the entire room! not all of us are fans of lavender and it's extremely rude. why a teacher says nothing? i don't know. sometimes teachers just give up. fighting is futile. many students don't listen. i don't know why they spend the money.

saw a line of young backpackers, the caboose wearing a "von dutch" t-shirt. i found this amusing, cause one of those stores opened in chicago and i wanted a t-shirt. except they cost 150US dollars! guess the backpackers blew all their cash on t's. 100US can buy you a week in a ritzy hotel here or 2 weeks in a beach hotel. no judgement....no judgement... no judgement...........

well it's friday and it always seems like a vacation cause of the lead class and no class saturday. except theres nothing to do here but read, swim, watch tv, sit on the beach, or GO SEE THE NEW KAMAL HASSAAN MOVIE!

bindifry

amrish puri gone

AMRISH PURI DIED TODAY. HE WAS 72
one of the finest actors in bollywood. this saddens me a lot. he will be missed. a fine villian, he was. i think i got lucky and saw his last movie, "aitraaz." he rocked in that.

JAFFLES ROCK
jaffles are indian mini grilled cheese sandwiches made in a device much like a waffle iron. i've had a few dreams about them.

there's some kind of sri devi/kali/durga festival about to take place. all the restaurants are playing durga chants and the devi temple next to my hotel is totally decked out with the flower tunnel and tons of lights. they even set up a bandshell with, GASP, 15 STACKS OF SPEAKERS! like metallica would use. i don't expect to get any sleep this weekend. every day they bathe the devi statue and put her in a different sari. she's all decked out in red and orange today, yesterday yellow, green day before. many people sleeping on the ground there and old ladies in the field with huge palm branches dried out making those festival bird things they hang everywhere. many men carrying i don't know what in gigantic palm baskets on their heads to the temple. i admit i'm a little excited about this one. i'll keep you all posted.

bindifry

the ayurvedic tailor

tit bits
*"why chai time? "so we eat less." "what are the timings?" "730,1130,430,730
*feni time in goa-1-3pm daily

these above are ritually performed. much of india is asleep before 10am, and between 2-4, restaurants sleep sometimes till 730pm. late risers, late eaters. these are the people of india

*india is the land of "not my job, man." one job=one indian man. example-shaji the coconut wallah gets up too late to serve the eager yoga early riser coconut fans such as i. he is woken up by his brother and 2 co-workers. it's only recently they have given up on him in order to save the business, for we don't stay long being pushed out by the locals-THE MOZZIE.

*do you notice how india brings out the scizo in bindi? not write in my blog? impossible.

*i found an ayurvedic tailor that is being pushed by lonely planet. this is a new concept and his prices are double the average clothsman. it is nice soft fabric, like much of the fabric here. chemical free naturally dyed organic cotton. dyed with pure ayurvedic dyes. i don't know if this is marketing or what as i am not a tailor junkie. (terri, julie, deb-help me out with this one)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE HINDU

-baby found in amma cradle
the 38th infant to be found in amma's electronic cradle (amma or ammanchi is known as the hugging saint. her ashram is in kerala)

-piece of wood pierces boy's stomach
14 year old ratheesh was playing when he accidently fell on the wood

-norms for adoption of tsunami-orphaned children
--applicants must be 25-45 yrs old
--21 difference between parent and child
--community acceptance
--willingness of the children
willing parents contact office of the district social welfare officer, nagapattinam (phone#04365-253045)

-gender no bar to hear sexual offence cases
the surpeme court today ruled that no case could be trasnferred from a court to another on the ground that a lady judge would find it embarrassing to hear a case pertaining to sexual offences.

-mobile phones not safe for children under 8
studies show there are health implications

-the sri lankan president chandrika kumaratunga said she will adopt a tamil girl victim
after visiting the eastern coastline, the president had said one of her most touching moments was meeting an orphaned tamil girl. "she lost her entire family. i felt i should bring up that child myself."

bindifry

hawks 2-crows 0

thought you'd like to know the hawks have taken over both tall palms and crows aren't allowed close at all. the thing that concerns me is that they are doing building right below and if they chop those down, what will happen to the family nest? they burned down there heavily, so heavily i couldn't leave my room all day cause the only way out was to walk through it and my hair would smell like burned garbage for the duration of this trip. luckily i was finished with my swim when the burning began. the entire sky drenched in thick stinky smoke, pieces of charred newspaper flying everywhere. this is one of the things i don't like about india. the garbage is buried or burned. there is no such thing as recycling and plastic is a huge problem. to add to the horror, india is paid to import garbage from other parts of the world! with a billion living here and a large tourist population, it is getting real ugly real fast. if you choose to come here, purify your own water or refill at a purifier, such as the one provided by lino in yoga class. don't add to the trash problem.

yoga yoga yoga. what can i say except the pain never seems to go away. i think we are supposed to be aware of our pain, our weaknesses so we can learn to combat them.(bindi is in the school of xena warrior princess yoga and is learning a lot from gabrielle and xena) i don' t know a single person at any level who dosen't experience pain or exhaustion throughout this yoga. we just have to accept it as part of the ego destruction. it's interesting that some people's ego is stroked by this yoga, and others egos get destroyed. i believe the ones who have to battle hard, the ones where it dosen't come easy cause of body type, not having dance training or gymnastics training, are the ones who "succeed" in this yoga. so i guess you have to ask yourself, "do you feel good, punk? well? do you? " and if you do, come to india so lino, sharath or guruji can change that for you. than you will know yoga.

bindi

dude without a shirt

ok. there's a dude in this restaurant without his shirt on. now you don't see signs here that say, "no shirt no shoes no service," and the shoes part is ok, but something about looking at a hairy pot bellied white dude without his shirt on makes me lose my appetite. listen up-it is never ok to eat in a restaurant without your shirt on unless it's a beach hut next to the ocean. AND demand a tablecloth change! (i happen to like the company of ants myself)

bindi has her own soap opera in her yard. each morning when i swim, i can watch from the two tallest palms in the area. i've never stayed perched so high above the tops of coconut palms. it's a world above me. however, in these palms live the hawks. they look like mini eagles with a body in tan and head in white. they are magnificent. they have a nest and kids and the big drama is the crows that constantly take the food right out of the mouths of the babies. this is a never ending drama and way better than tv, no commercials! i guess i will miss this place.

heads up-new book reviewed for those who care called, "and......PRAN!." for those of you who like old bollywood filums know who he is. the greatest most popular villian during the 70s through the present. don't know where you can buy it, maybe amazon, but looks like fabulous reading. (hi jeff-i know you will have read this one before i get home-pass it on to mintz)

so bindi is seriously considering ending her blog. why? i just don't know what to say in my life which won't make me feel and sound trivial. i think being spared by a tsunami will do this to you. anyhow, i have under 5 weeks left in india and i have sort of become speechless. the world around me is no longer strange, but has become familiar, part of me. this is my 7th month this year in india and i'm afraid it's grown on me-not only it's beauty and magic, but it's turmoil. i accept the pain within me and around me.

talking about yoga feels tired and trivial. it is not a spectator sport. it's highly personal and discussing "posture" is posturing! however, i do know there are people out there who are interested, so i'll try to keep it interesting. today was a moon day and i haven't been practicing on those days. i do notice a difference in energy level and am affected by it. however, lino is kind enough to keep the shala open between 630-8 entrance times with no chant and very little adjustments. some people don't think they're getting their money's worth. he understands this. in mysore, you are often given 4 days off in a week just because or if they are in need of another holiday. it can be very expensive, especially with the first month fast climbing past 600US.

i watched, "quotation," yesterday with sharaf. i wanted to see a tamil filum called, "jayasurya," which he took me to, but upon arrival, refused to let me into the theatre. "theatre very bad" he said, don't know why except i did feel a little freaky being in that part of town. hard to explain the vibe, but it just wasn't right. SO he took me to the same malayalam (i apologize for repeatedly misspelling this word)movie he went to see when he dumped us off last week to see, "swades." (he is NOT a fan of hindi cinema and there was no way he was going to sit through THAT one again.) the movie was shot entirely in the dark, which got old. twas only 2 hours long with only 2 musical numbers, but instead felt like 4 hours. there was tons of blood and merciless violence, which looked real good in the dark rain. women are not spared, the hero was not spared. this was NOT your typical hollywood ending. women were the fattest i've ever seen(merely an innocent observation) and quite proud of their bellies, bless them. and i had no idea what was going on. sharaf with his very limited english thinks that i only care about fight scenes in movies. it's true i can't get enough jacke chan AND the tamil people are role models for hong kong, but i need more than that in a movie. i know it was mostly about revenge, and a sort of love thing that almost happened, but that's it. still, even without knowing too much, it is interesting to watch the south indian people in movies cause they are very dark skinned and have jobs just like everyone else around here-rickshaw drivers, cooks, coconut and iron wallahs. and the backdrop is often chennai in tamil movies or kochi in malayalam.
i think i take out my frustration of not really knowing what is going on by binging on bad english movies, cause i won't do that at home. i even buy many of the films i see here and watch them again with subtitles, opening a huge door of discovery. cept the malayalam and tamil ones are very hard to find with subtitles, even here.

so i am not formally concluding this blog. i can only promise to write less often until i return to the states on valentines day, trying to update once a week.

bindifry

*f.y.o./**b.b.b./and other ***t.b.s

*f.y.o.-for yogis only
**b.b.b.-bindi's blog break
***t.b.-tit bits
***************************************************************************************
well bindi took a blog break, not because she's lazy, but because she has nothing interesting to share at the moment, till today i guess. i've been concentrating on my health and well being, being very dilligent with building back my strength and getting my old bod back. takes time, but i am beginning to see that dim light at the end of my tunnel.

fyi
"next week we finish." these were lino's parting words to me this morning, after 5 weeks of intense yoga just trying to get back to where i was a year ago, pre injury. these words comfort me because i've been doing astanga for 6 or 7 years and after next week, i get to finish intermediate series, which means i can finally split my practice. lino believes in teaching stamina, the old fashioned way, by insisting you do full primary and intermediate until you reach the end. nowadays in mysore the practice is split earlier, like after supta vaj or karandavasana. i have 4 poses and 7 headstands to learn next week, than 2 weeks of intermediate only 5 days, friday full primary always. are my hips open enough? are my hamstrings ready? does the shoulder feel ok? what about that permanent crooked ring finger from the sprain? well i trust my teacher and if he thinks i am ready, it's showtime. i hate to admit to being goal oriented EVER in this practice, and i had let go of the fact that maybe this wouldn't happen cause of all the injuries, but i have before whined about the long practice. this shortens it to a reasonable time-instead of 2-3 hours, it becomes 90 minutes. much easier to handle in chicago. however, i have no teacher in chicago who can assist me, only friends who also do these poses. that's the way it goes, that's why i spend so much time over here. the method of working your body hard creates strength and stamina very much required for "nadi shodana," nerve cleansing, intermediate series, aka second series.
as i said before, lino has been doing lead primary on fridays, which is a super treat. these days in mysore, they have lead classes sundays and fridays and you have to be invited into the intermediate leads on sundays, which means you are very fluent in the series. only a handful are. intermediate is the flip side of primary, and both series used to be taught simultaneously in mysore. each series compliments the other. and it is quite dangerous to "take" postures from second series. i know of many people who do this, have done this, and are seriously asking for trouble. not only trouble in the body, but trouble in the mind. you don't just do what you want, you have to be given the postures by someone who really knows what they're doing, and for me, in the beginning, i would only take from teachers who have been to mysore, nowadays, only certified instructors-lino and dena. don't screw with this system. it's bite is very sharp.
SO what is lino concentrating on in his lead classes? sarvangasana sequence! that's shoulderstand, folks. he counts 25 in S.S., but it's so slow, it's more like 50 count, 50 count halasana, 25 count karnapindasana, 25 in urdva padmasana, 25 pindasana, 15 matsayasana, 15 uttana padasana. brutal! couldn't do it first couple of times out, but strong now. actually looking forward to it. in mysore, their thing is torturning you in uth pluthi. it's actually sadistic.
i love the lead classes cause it really sets the vinyasa, the movement. there are only so many breaths you are supposed to take, and each breath has a very specific movement. this is what we call "vinyassa." most people are quite ignorant of this specific thing, which is why i believe guruji is doing it, sharath is doing it, lino is doing it. very important.
my injuries have crept back, now i just have to deal with them. somehow you move beyond them, even though it's painful. painful not in a bad way, but in a balancing way. i'm not saying you should push, but injuries can be overcome over time with CORRECT METHOD, bandhas and proper breath. i do remember bragging that my injuries were gone for good, but they were just on vacation. it's ok. this is what we learn.
*************************************************************************************
tbs
a plumber came to my room to fix a water problem with his tools and toolbox. you know what an indian uses for a toolbox? yesterday's newspaper!

"i'd rather play the lead in a bollywood movie than play second fiddle to meryl streep."-kareena kapoor speaking of ashwarya rai and her taking a roll in a hollywood movie. gee, kareena, don't ya think if ya had ash's looks you would also be asked to play "second fiddle?"

i took scott and arnold to "swades" yesterday, it being my second time for this filum. "we the people" is the subtitle, and it's dedicated to mahatma gandhi. it's about a small town in uttar pradesh working together with the help of shah rukh khan, of course. he helps them get water, helps get the kids in school, teaches them how to build their own electrical system, brings the brahmins and the untouchables together in a very touching scene where the town sits outside to watch a famous movie, "yadon ki bharat." the movie quits on them, and mohan takes down the screen that seperates the castes. he teaches them about the stars in the sky, bringing togethre all people. all these themes are very gandhi. SRK is mohan, a nasa indian about to receive his US citizenship, who longs to visit his homeland. it's a tear jerker/feel good movie directed by the same director as lagaan. if you liked lagaan or/and love india, this one IS for you. bindi will be buying this one on dvd, she will have another bollywood party and show it with the subtitles. and the cd awaits my chicago arrival. the music is fabulous.

my friends sharaf, nass, mahin and sudek went to the beach tuesday, collected 12,000 rupees and took it and food and supplies to tamil nadu, the hardest tsunami hit state in india. such good boys. sharaf seemed so distracted taking us to the movie, i was wondering what was up. "you should see it, people everywhere crying, bodies everywhere, and the smell...." this is what he said to me. there have been many groups of people doing this here. we are only a few miles away from the destruction. that baby hit everywhere to our west, south and east, but decided to just skip over little old kovalam and trivandrum. who knows why, something about the position in the sea, something about blessings, something about luck. when is it bindi's turn? it takes a huge heart and huge cahones (balls) to put yourself in these places. there's nothing that can prepare you for it and it obviously affected sharaf, who is more used to such things than i am. i'm so close, it almost seems stupid not to go there, but i just don't know if i'm strong enough to see it. sending money is the easy way, but the temptation to go there is very strong. i think if sharaf does it again, it may be good for my soul.

bindifry

kerala feast

well i did end up going to my hotel managers house, col. rasheed. and i'm glad i did, cause he was having the spread just for me and it would have been horrible to let them hang. so here's the spread:
-first we are shown the house, however, it was more like a mansion. the colonel had been all over the world, egypt, dubai, china, etc. and had artifacts from everywhere. absolutely stunning place. the army is good to their people here. he's been retired 10 years, and our gathering was only us 3 (scott, who is in india only 2 days at this point, and arnold)and him and his wife.
-we were introduced to the film crew, who film in their house 5 days a month a very popular malayalum series on asianet at 7:30 pm. of course this made the event quite unexpected. we had to eat on the floor of the guest quarters because of this, but that was not half bad.
-he sat us down inside for beers, cause the indians don't drink outside in public in front of others out of respect. than we lined up to wash our hands and we returned to the quarters. the furniture had been taken away and 4 giant palm leaves (the wife does not eat with us traditionally cause she's serving) placed with 7 kinds of sauces and tit bits (like mango chutney, hot red ginger lime sauce, chopped long beans and mixed vegetable, which had green chili in it and looked like guacamole)
-mrs. rasheed did the honors and piled on that fat kerala rice in the center of the leaf. than first course-dal. we used our right hand to mix it together, add some spice (looked like a painters easel) and squashed a papad into the rice to bind it. papad is a deep fried tortilla like rice crispy bread. second course, sambar, a thin stew of hot dal with eggplant and okra, a hot as hell red prawn dish, (vegetarian?), and the curd came last. than fresh pineapple for enzymatic digestion. in india, they eat their food in a certain order for optimum digestibility. we did good, folded our palm leaves in half, and it was out to the garden for local black coffee and some photos.
that's pretty much it. took about 4 hours, than his "driver" took us back to kovalam, a good 40 minutes away. they live on the outskirts of trivandrum where i've never been before.

i felt quite honored being his guest. he invited me because he caught me red handed listening to air (all india radio) and singing along. he thought it was cute a little white girl who knows film songs, told his wife, and invited me with 2 guests. very sweet new years day, much better than new years eve.

the death toll of tsunami continues to climb and is still the main focus here on tv, newspapers, and in the hearts of the people. we weren't the only ones celebrating low key out of respect for the dead and dying. death toll over 170,000 and now people are starting to die from disease, which will to take the lives of many more people.

thanks to all who made donations. it's a wonderful thing when you can open your heart and your purse for something like this.

bindifry