and efficiently (including a webcam photo to attach to my room
record). My room was "a suite" with a sitting room at the back.
Furniture was sparse and the only thing in the entire suite was a
single metal army cot that was sagging in the middle. The blue plastic
mattress was an inch thick and gave no cushioning whatsoever. The blue
pillow made of the same stuff might as well have been a plank of wood.
The floor was cement and the walls had been painted years ago. The
only decor were a dozen random nails sticking out of the wall. The
only other thing the room contained was a small pink garbage can. The
ensuite was tiny with only a bucket and a cracked indian style toilet.
At least the room was immaculately clean.
The resort was beautiful and spotless. Old planes and statues dotted
the grounds. Several short hikes went up the surrounding hills and
exotic fish swam in aquariums set into buildings in the central
gardens. They even had a vegetarian piranha. (?!?). The dining hall
was a massive marble structure surrounded by yet more beautiful
gardens. The interior was massive with a marble floor and ornate
columns but no tables or chairs. Guests sat on the ground on an inch
high marble slab that ran the length of the hall. There must have been
15 of these marble slabs organizing the dining hall into corridors. On
sitting a large stainless steel dish was placed on the floor in front
of you and the food started coming. The rice sat in a massive pot on a
cart and the curries were slopped on to your plate with a giant ladle.
Those not wearing pants recoiled as little bits of burning hot curry
slopped on to bare legs.
On average ten thousand people come to this resort a day. All are
treated as honored guests and as equals so the daily fee is very low.
In fact meals and accommodation are completely free. Although the
atmosphere is very resort like the Indians come as pilgrims not as
resort goers. They all looked at me respectfully but curiously even
when I went to the central temple to be blessed. I bought a ticket at
the counter and stood in line shirtless with the other Indians. My
stomach and back has always been blindingly white while all the other
shirtless Indian men were very brown (being shirtless and shoeless is
a temple requirement for men). The rather unexciting line wound
through the temple and at the end I found out my ticket purchase was
really for a bag of goodies. I have no idea what any of the stuff in
the bag is actually for.
That night I lay awake on my back as my arm fell asleep in about a
minute if I attempted to sleep on my side. The floor would have been
just as comfortable and at least it was flat. I felt guilty as some
Indians who arrived too late to get rooms slept in the halls.
Ty
****************************************************
Tyson Brooks
In India -
http://tysonwrites.blogspot.com/
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