Last Days

My plan had been to leave McLeod Ganj Saturday, June 6, spend 2 days in Amritsar seeing the Sikh Golden Temple and then travel to Delhi to catch my Wednesday, June 10th, flight home. But then there was some unrest in the Amritsar area which settled the question--did I really want to see one more sight? No, I didn't.

So I've stayed in McLeod Ganj. I will leave tomorrow evening, Tuesday, June 9 on the night bus to Delhi. Wednesday evening I will be on that flight home.

As it turned out Sunday was Buddha's Day of Enlightenment and the day of his death. As Ngawang's wife said....a very special day. It was a day to visit the temple and walk the kora. Both were centers of fervent activity as devotees flocked to celebrate the day. Along the kora the devotees were even more generous with coins for the beggars - this being a sign of compassion.

The beggars, or those who handle them, knew this aspect of the day and arrived in large numbers. One woman said she saw beggars being delivered to McLeod Ganj by the truckload Saturday night. She likened it to the scenes in Slumdog where the wealthy pimp managed the kids. I never saw the pimps here, but I saw the beggars.

I could hear them from our building Sunday morning. They were already in place along the kora. When I went to walk the kora, I saw some old, some single, some men, some Hindu priests, but mostly families and women with children lined the path...often on both sides...their tents, or blankets, and belongings behind them. Usually I see a handful of beggars in one or two common spots when I walk the kora. Yesterday there were hundreds all along the way.

There were the normal maimed with injuries well-healed, but there were also some men with very raw sores or burns that looked too fresh to be anything but intentional or staged, maybe even faked.--This is the part of India that sets me back.

This morning I hear no voices coming from the kora. It is quiet. I assume the pimps came with the trucks last night and carried the beggars away.

No, this morning I hear the normal everyday sounds....
-the bells on the pack donkeys
-the crows and songbirds
-packs of wild dogs
-one lone dog who whines in distress
-the guests at the guesthouse next door packing up their cars
-a few Tibetans headed to the kora
-a water pump....our side of the hill seems back to normal.

The sun is shining but that doesn't mean we won't have rain, thunder and lightning pass through later today. The monsoon season has begun.

I'm wondering if everything will fit into my suitcase - perhaps I should pack and see. Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be here soon. And then....I will be home. I'm ready for family and friends and Salem routines.

Our Monkeys

Four days until I catch the bus to Delhi and though my thoughts are moving toward home I still want to post this info on the monkeys. When I took some of these photos I wasn't sly enough or fast enough and was hissed at by the one that seems to be in charge. I want my disturbing them to have been worth my fright.

I've mentioned the monkeys a few times in this blog. The first time was in March when I saw them along the road on the way to Ooty. I mentioned them again when I arrived in McLeod Ganj and was told to close the kitchen door so the monkeys couldn't get in. And then there were the quarreling ones at Baby Taj in Agra.




All three incidents were the same breed of monkey. They're common here. They're in the trees, along the roads, and on the rooftops. I tried for some time to get a photo of the ones who walk along our balcony. And here's what I finally got. Guess when the kitchen door is closed they're not inclined to slow down.


There is a spot along the kora, the ritual circuit, around the Tsuglagkhang Temple where a group of monkeys congregate most mornings - the young, the parents and the veterans. Three weeks ago I had one snarl menacingly at me. I now carry a rock, walk quickly, and look straight ahead when I walk the kora. So I wasn't too surprised when I was hissed at taking the pictures. Nothing like a bit of reality to go with your meditation.

Once I saw another breed of monkey on the other side of the temple complex. They were in some trees. They looked bigger. Their faces were black and they had long white or gray fur/hair on their bodies. I saw them only that once.




These are the guys we see most every day in McLeod Ganj.