My India - First Visit

I was living in India from 1999 to 2000 ...I had a diary than ...I feel the right time has arrived...I want to share my story about ''Mother India'' as they say...Land of colors, music, joy, legends, frienship, tolerance, romance, flowers, rivers, dance...

I will share my experiences , observations and my feelings...

You will find me in some music concerts, yoga seminars, cooking experiences , traveling , shopping in local language , watching the great sky, running from snakes...Also I will share my inner talks...

Surely I will share some Indian recepies , travel tips and few words for local language ...

First Visit in March 1995 (This part is not fromd diary)

I was following a guru and I attened a yoga seminar in Delhi. We were seven ladies from Turkey. One was ex pat from Germany.

When we landed the airport there was a very stong disinfectant smell... I do not know if it is same...Nevertheless you get used to after some time and eventhough you start to like it...

After waiting long time for our cars we headed for our camp.

First experience in traffic ...So crowded and full of noices...Even you can see ''Please Horn'' sign on each and every vehicle...In my country horning is kind of bad behaviour. Funyly enough after some time you get used to this too...

Two of us left for their hotel and five went to the seminar area. We were staying in a camp in fact...Not very comfortable as we used to but it was quite fun for me...It was our first experience in India...For all of us...As being ''strong'' and ''courages '' girls we decided the go around and do all the things by ourself...Not a very good idea....

As far as I remember I spent USD 1000 in one week and I learnt afterwords that normal below middle class family lives with that money couple of months...

So we surely learnt not to do shopping without local guide...Never again...

One of our friend was saying she knew all about precious stones...Some shop keepers sold us (thank got not me) a bracelet for USD 300...Just out side the door it was sold for USD 5 ...Beleive me same staff...This was a great lesson ...

We all took train and went to Taj Mahal...Day time first class...It was a good thing to do...To be infront of Taj Mahal was a really great experience...I remember my breath was taken away...Such a deep devotion the king had for his wife...Still we were feeling his love all around us ...The garden was just like heaven... I layed down , closed my eyes and try to feel the atmosphere there...A little squirrel was picking my rucksack than I opened my eyes again...Indian squirrels have lines...They say Lord Rama stroke them because of their help while he was saving his wife Sita from Ravana who is the horrible king of Lanka , than they had these lines...This is another story so that I will tell later...

Coming back to Taj Mahal , Wikipedia says ;It is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love.

Really we were feeling the eternal love was still flowing ...I beleive it never dies...Even people passes away their energy , their connections are still there and living...

Also first time in my life I saw colorful parrots flying around...Hundreds of them in all color...It was just like a dream land...There was another palace where you can just wacth Taj Mahal near Yamuna river...They say Shah Jahan lived his last days there and he was wacthing his beloved wife's monument...

As far as I remember two rivers were meeting between this palace and Taj Mahal...
Just like these two souls were meeting there...May be the king decided to built those buildings because of this symbol...Until those rivers meet each other in that point their beings and love will flow together...Who knows?

Agra was also fasinating shopping place...I admit all day we did shopping on the streets...Imagine we were all covered with dust and dirt...We were wearing local ladies clothes...Punjabi...Baggy trousers and long dresses...Colorful bangles and sandals too...

Than we dediced to go to Sheraton Agra and relax , have some juices...Five ladies who were carring many plastic bags and completely in a mass entered to the lobby...Imagine this...

Everybody was watching us...without looking anybody we directly went to the ladies room...I can not really say how we clean our bits and parts...Really embarassing in a way but we were completely enjoying the moment and beleive me almost dying with laughings...Tears were coming from our eyes...I remembered we made a make up over our dirty faces...

After our leave of the ladies room they closed it and sent cleaing ladies...We were not looking that part ...I know not polite but it was so fun...

We nicely had our mango juices and went back to train station...

Than we shocked...First time we saw people were living in the station...They were just like in their home...A big family...Accepting what so ever happening in their life very wisely...Vow...

Nevertheless some Indian ladies suggested us not to take the train in the night...Imagine five foreigner ladies in dark trains...Than we decided to stay in a hotel...This was the wisest decision I ever made I think...

By the way this whole week we could only eat nan as their bread and Coca Cola...Because we did not know the food and what ever we ordered were so much hot or spicy...We could not touch them...So that night we enjoyed our lovely Mangos...We were feeling like queens...

The basic rule in India ; do not eat from the street and drink good water...In my lastest stays I broke this rule anyway...I was enjoying the open air Chinise restaurants and drinking tap waters...Surely I had Hepatitis A and B protection...

The last day we visited our friends who stayed in the hotel and I remember how we jumped in to hamburgers and chips there...

I do not remember alot but when we were coming back to İstanbul , I was feeling a deep happiness in my heart.

I was so happy for this experince. People were so kind , humble, open hearted (excluding some shop keepers just like every where anyway) and enjoying the moment...I felt my ego went down with their humility...Negative ego swells the negative ego...I was just feeling me...

We were just like little girls...Enjoying from ourselves and laughing to ourselves...We forgot everything...Who were we , what was the day ...Blank...They call it living in the moment I think...

I also felt I was like an uncut stone and now I was a sculptor who was ghoing to give a shape to herself.

Than I realized I was in love with this land and the people there...

Here my the real story starts...

with love