Mumbai

Mumbai is big and new, where Delhi is older and dustier. As the film capitol, Hollywood has come calling here, too, speciall since Bollywood's "Slumdog Millionaire" won the Oscar for best picture in 2010.

Mumbai is the new India.

It seems there's a new business, a new high rise, a new apartment, or a new road on almost every block, or at least every district. It's a little bigger than Delhi at nearly 18 million in population, about twice the size of New York City. It's hot and humid and lush, located south of the Tropic of Cancer on the Arabian Sea and flush against tall hills which hold back the rain clouds from getting to the hot, dry interior.

From high rises in the distance to new roads in the foreground, the view from my hotel room tells the story of Mumbai in the 21st century.

Since the Arabian Sea wood flood a subway system, Mumbai is building a monorail mass-transit system instead.

There are jobs in tech in finance, and in entertainment. Mumbai is the home of Bollywood, the center of the India film industry, which makes more movies, title-for-title than Hollywood, USA.

With the breakout Oscar-winning success of Slumdog Millionairre two ears ago, Bollywood is on the map.

"We've been big for a long time, and now we're the best," said  a proud Jagmohan Singh Kundan, general manager of operations at the Whistling Woods Film School, a private film school founded a decade ago as a training ground for cinematographers, editors, producers and actors.

Whistling Woods, located in Filmland, an area of deserts, forests, towns and temples set aside as a back lot to serve as setting for Bollywood movies, offers short, specialized programs for students worldwide, and a two-year post-baccalureate in filmmaking, producing, acting and other specialties. Kundun offered to serve as a host for subsequent student trips for Arkansas State.

Whistling Woods animation students work on an illustration in fine detail.

See more about Whistling Woods at:

http://www.whistlingwoods.net/

Tomorrow, we visit more of the city, and visit the ancient Elephantine Caves, off the coast.

Last days in Delhi

An anchorman rehearses before a news show at NDTV, India's top news network, similar to CNN in the U.S.

In our last days in Delhi, our smaller group got to work to lay the ground work (we hope) for next year.

The day after our students left, we visited the very high-tech and modern NDTV studios, in which were were given to full tour of the facilities, housed in a six-story high-rise. Within the building there are production facilities for news, entertainment and financial programs. The network has channels that broadcast in English, Hindi, Tamil and other languages. And it's growing, according to our tour guide, producer Rachna Nayyar.

And NDTV is truly international and connected to the US, the UK and other markets. Rachna was headed off to San Francisco, New York and London after or tour to help coordinate an international "green" telethon to raise money to help address climate change.

We next went the Times of India, the largest English-language newspaper in the world with more than 7 million readers worldwide, according to Devlin Roy, the principal of the Times' journalism program, a one-year post-baccalaureate degree program which aims to prepare young journalists to work in the multi-media company. The Times company has affiliate companies working in multi-media, financial management, marketing, advertising and a vast array of publications. Roy really rolled out the red carpet, he took to visit with Punit Jain, vice president of development for the company, Vikas Singh, resident or managing editor, and Arindam Sen Gupta, executive editor.

In both media outlets, the executives with who we talked were anxious to work with us to help develop ASU's ties with Indian media, and to support us on future tours.

We barely had time to catch our collective breaths as Sangee Seth, owner of our hotel, the Golden Apple, and his wife, Anu, took us to a private club, the Roshanara Club,  for dinner. The club, a large marble cricket club built by the "Britishers" in the 1920s, had a full array of activities, restaurants, and a men-only bar area, where Sangee was happy to introduce me to his many friends in the business and professional community.

http://roshanaraclub.in/


Indian restaurants often don't open until 7 p.m., and Sangee's club was on the other side of one of the world's major cities, so it was a late night.

Gautama, the Buddha, is said to have sat under a bo tree to meditate before starting his ministry, and the bo leaf is the model of of the shape of  many Buddhist burial sites,  called stupas. It is also similar to arches and doorways throughout India. The style of architecture was used by Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, the British and modern builders.

The next day, we explored pre-Mughal artifacts and monuments. Sometimes, with the Taj Mahal and other monuments, the Mughals seem to dominate Indian history. But there was more than 3,000 ears of civilization in India before them, We started at Lodi Park, the capitol of the muslim Afghan dynasty that preceded the Moghuls as rulers of north India. Their monuments were hundreds of years older, smaller, but similar, and no less impressive.

One of India's ubiquitous house crows makes its hoarse call as it seeks shade at Emperor Sikander Lodi's tomb at Lodi gardens park.

Sara E. McNeil explores the Bara Gumbad mosque in  Lodi gardens park.

A grounds keeper weeds the garden in the 98-degree midday  heat  front of a Emperor Mohammed Shah's tomb in Lodi garden park , the former capitol of the Afghan Lodi dynasty, in Delhi.

A local man finds shelter from the heat at Emperor Sikander Lodi's tomb in Lodi park.

We then went to the hot and dusty National Museum, which had exhibits dating back to the Indus Valley civilization that was contemporary with the Egyptians, the Sumerians and the Chinese. We also saw a photo exhibit on some Indian tribes which practice unusual traditional lifestyles in which women plug their noses and wear traditional tattoos.

http://www.soulsurvivors.in/

Moghul Emperor Jangahir admires a painting of the Virgin Mary in a painting at a the National Museum of India. The Mughals honored the traditions and practices of the christians and Hindus under their rule as well as the religions and cultures of their visitors. 

On our last day, we stayed close to our hotel, located in an upscale neighborhood, and did some shopping in a local bazaar.

Our next stop is Mumbai, and then home.

The first farewells

Carl Lindquist, driver Balbender Singh, Sara E. McNeil, Kate Zibluk, Jack Zibluk, tour guide and fixer Saurav (Sam) Somani, Kalee Haywood and Shenetta Payne prepare for our last tour of Delhi before Kalee and Shenetta's departure in the evening. Sam and Mr. Balbender also departed our company that day.

Kalee Haywood and Shenetta Payne went home to Arkansas Thursday. The rest of the group will be staying on a few days to do some international recruiting recruiting for Arkansas State, and to prepare for next year's tour. We will be without the services of tour guide and fixer Saurav (Sam) Somani and driver Balbender Singh, who both were excellent companions and helpers.  I will be posting fewer entries in subsequent days.

Hear Kalee Haywood's final thoughts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fps9Ais9AaA

Hear Shenetta Payne's final thoughts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nePDxSYMdWw

Our last stop on the tour was to a Tibetan Buddhist refugee community. Since the Chinese invaded the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in 1959, many Tibetans have fled to India, including the most famous Tibetain, Tenzing Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharmsala.

Shenetta Payne observes a temple in the central square of the Tibetan community.

A monk takes a stroll through the square.

Kate Zibluk spins a prayer wheel at a Tibetan temple. As you spin the wheel, it releases its prayers.

If you meet a sadhu on the road...

On our last day in Rishikesh, I took a hike away from the Indian tourists.

A sadhu, or wandering holy man, walked up to me. He said he name is Baba and he was from Mumbai. As  many sadhus, he wanders around the country, asking for donations. I gave him 50 rupees, about a dollar.

Baba asked about me and my life. He said he noticed our party wandering
around town because we were among the only westerners.

Small-time, independent yogis await customers.

A handcraft salesman talks with his daughter.

A student reads at an ashram.




And then we departed down the mountain and went back to Delhi by train.

Indian trains are notoriously crowded.

Exploring the holy city

Shanetta Payne and Kalee Haywood do some shopping in the  Rishikesh bazaar.

Since Rishikesh is a comparatively small city that hugs the banks of the upper Ganges, it's hard to get lost. Most of the sights, businesses and accommodations are within a block or two of the river.

We spent the day exploring mostly as a group, but we made smaller individual or small-group trips to discover the sights and sounds of the city.

Carl Lindqist strides off the ferry across the Ganges at sunset. followed by Kate Zibluk.

A lone monk does some morning reading in his ashram.

A living Buddha observes passersby from his perch inside a pedestrian mall. Twin Buddhas spend all day attracting customers to adjacent restaurants that serve traditional regional food.

See the other Buddha in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsdIbOqeMhA

A macaque monkey forages for food beside a busy street. The monkeys can be very

aggressive when they are hungry or when they feel threatened.

Street scene in north Rishikesh.

Street scene from inside a Himalayan handcrafts shop in north Rishikesh.



Children who sell  flower boats help light its candle to prepare to set it in the Ganges at sunset. Hindus set the little boats on the river at sunset  to show reverence to Vishnu, the god of control and balance, and the legendary source of the river.

A meeting with a Holy One

Kate Zibluk participates in the Ganga Aarti, the Hindu fire ceremony, on the banks of the Ganges River in India. Our group was the only group of westerners in the front of the throng of 500 participating in the ceremony.

“When you look at yourself and ask ‘What am I doing here?’, you’ve gone from going on a tour to being on an adventure,” my best Connecticut friend and photographic mentor, Bill Treloar, once said after a grueling canoe trip.

As I looked around the Ganga Aarti, or Ganges fire ceremony in Rishikesh, India, and noticed we were about the only western participants, I think we crossed that line.

Rishikesh, at about 55,000, about the same size of our small city of Jonesboro, is famous for its ashrams where Hindu devotees study and pray, the holy men who study and worship, and its swamis who lead the congregations. It is famous for the Ganges, whose cold and fast waters, it is said, come from Vishnu, the god of balance and control, and it is popular with pilgrims from throughout the world who come to visit, some seeking enlightenment, and some who want to see the spectacle.

Hindu pilgrims, tourists and others come from throughout the world to visit the spiritual center, Rishikesh.

The fire ceremony provides the primary spectacle. It is presided over by the city’s current lead swami, Chidanand Saraswati, head of Parmarth Niketan, who has an international following. A swami is not a formal title. There are no rules or board certification requirements to become one. A swami is a holy man who through spirituality, charisma, and not a little self-promotion, builds a following.

He demonstrated it at the fire ceremony, where he led the chants as devotees danced, swayed and prayed.  At sunsets, acolytes gather around an amphitheater at the river’s edge facing a walkway with a giant statue of Rama, the idealized male form in which Vishnu was reincarnated, according to Hindu practice.

The swinging bridge is the major thoroughfare across the Ganges for residents and visitors to Rishikesh.

See what it's like to cross the swinging bridge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qltZVhdOhQ

About 500 monks, pilgrims, worshippers, acolytes, devotees and sightseers gather around the swami, following the evening taping of his television show. 

Hindu monks ready themselves for the Ganga Aarti ceremony, held daily at sunset on the Ganges in Rishikesh.

He then leads an hour-long set of hymns and chants. Participants set little boats made of leaves and full of flower petals and a candle into the river and watch them sail by, and then the participants pass candles to one another as they chant a mantra led by the swami or simply sit and pray.

Hindu women enjoy the ceremony.

Participants flot little bots made of paper and leaves,  full of flowers and lit by a candle into the Ganges.

Swami Chidanand Saraswati leads an hour-long session of chanting as the the focal point of the Ganga Aarti.

The ceremony is in two parts, according to Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati, who hails from New York and holds a degree from Stanford University, and retains a California-girl style of self-expression. She  has also been one of the swami’s main aides for 15 years, leading seminars worldwide and appearing on the Discovery Channel and other international networks. She said the first part is about reaching out to others and putting your dreams upon the water, and the second part, in which participants share candles, is about cleansing and burning away sadness and unhappiness, and then sharing the experience.

The swami and his chief aide, Sadhvi Baghwati Saraswati, a Stanford University graduate, discuss and explain the ceremony at a special invitation-only reception at the ashram or residence, after the Ganga Aarti.

Saurav "Sam" Somani, our guide, negotiated with the swami’s staff to get us front-row seats. We were the only westerners in our part of the crowd, and the only non-Hindu participants in candle lighting and passing ceremony.

Afterward, we were invited to an audience with the swami in his inner sanctum, or ashram, during which followers asked for his insights and wisdom. Mostly they asked about evangelizing his message. 

We then shared a vegetarian dinner (Rishikesh is totally vegetarian and alcohol-free by law) with several followers, one of whom was from our neighboring state of  Missouri, and who recently edited an encyclopedia of Hinduism. The group asked about our impressions of the country, and we were polite and positive about the friendliness and the willingness to reach across religious and political barriers that is endemic in the culture. Afterward, another Missouri acolyte, a University of St. Louis student, met us and discussed his efforts to protect the river from pollution.

We discussed the commonalities between our faiths, and I talked about my hope to build bridges between Americans and the people of India.

After we thanked the staff for the hospitality, other followers stopped us before we left to fill out a customer satisfaction survey, complete with a request for a tax-deductible donation.

It was a reminder that besides the fact Christians and Hindus share many beliefs and philosophies, we also share an appreciation for showmanship, and understanding of the necessities of the financial bottom line as well. Finding the balance of the sincere and authentic, the spiritual, the practical, the financial and the promotional is the key for success in any culture.

The Shatabdi Express and the Holy City

Kalee Haywood, Shenetta Payne and Carl Lindquist pause along the edge of the
Ganges River  as it flows through the lower Himalayas at Rishikesh, India.

It's a long road from Jaipur at the edge of the arid Thar desert to Rishikesh in the lush forested foothills
of the Himalayas.

For us, it took two days to travel 700 miles by car and train to Rishikesh, a center of small devotional
centers led by assorted, often self-proclaimed, holy men, called maharashis.  The most famous  resident
maharishi, Mahesh Yogi, founded the Transcendental Mediation movement in the 1960s. His ashram
drew all four Beatles, actress Mia Farrow, singer Donovan Leach and others in 1968. While the high-living
 yogi's presence has faded after his death a few years back, Rishikesh still draws pilgrims seeking enlightenment from throughout the world.

And the pilgrims are mostly Indians and other Hindus seeking to touch the sacred river, the Ganges, which
 flows here through the gorge down to Haradwar 30 miles below, where the river meets the Gangetic Plain,
watering fertile croplands on the way to its delta in Bangla Desh.

We followed the Ganges upward for a time as we headed north by a train dubbed the Shatabdi Express
northward. We watched the parched, hot and dusty lowlands turn wet and lush.

Kate Zibluk watches the farmlands of north India roll by on the Shatabdi Express from Delhi
to Haradwar.  Passengers enjoy free meals, tea and coffee during the six-hour ride.

Shenetta Payne enjoys a chat about American education and its opportunities with an Indian
woman riding the Shatabdi Express from Delhi north to visit her husband, who works for a major
engineering firm.

On our own in Rajastan

Shenetta Payne shows off her new nose ring. It's just a clip-on, by the way.

On Friday, we had a day to explore Jaipur on our own. Since ASU International Programs Director Carl Lindquist knew Jaipur, he suggested shopping for souvenirs and handcrafts for which the city is famous.

We made a list of places to visit, and the hotel manager called up a small fleet of  three motorized  rickshaws, or “Tatas,” the little three-wheeled, two- passenger taxis found throughout India.  We had their services for 300 rupees, or about $8, for four hours.

Srinivas Gropal drives through Jaipur traffic in his three-wheeled motorized rickshaw.

See and hear what it's like to ride with him at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yfFd8qguZA

My driver, Srinivas Gropal, explained that the taxis are a major mode of transportation for working Indians, business people and tourists. He aid he had operated the same little vehicle since 1991, when he was a chauffer for a French tourist who bought the car for him after she went home.

Since we started our expedition before mist retail outlets opened, Mr. Gropal took us to a vintage art dealer, which specialized in hand-making prints on antique parchment paper, usually a century old.

Wethen  shopped at several local stores for gifts, including a government co-op that provides space for local merchants, at which we bought kurtas, the stylized, Indian shirts, saris, the famous Indian dresses, and other items.

Kalee Haywood tries on a traditional Indian sari at a cooperative store in Jaipour. Local clothing makers sell their products through the co-op.

On our way back to the hotel, Mr. Gropal, hearing that we wanted to support local businesses, brought us to a local jeweler, Vishnu Jewelry, which provides a portion of its profits to help the many beggars and street people in the city.

Shenetta Payne, Kalee Haywood and Kate Zibluk look at jewelry at Vishnu Jewelry in Jaipour.

Kalee Haywod tries on amethyst earrings to go with an amethyst ring.

Sara E. McNeil shows off a diamond ring. Jewelry in Jaipour sells for a fraction of retail prices in the U.S. and Europe.

Baba Singh, manager of  Vishnu’s, said reminded us that mining and jewelry are among the top businesses in Rajastan and customers from throughout the world, notably Europe, come to buy jewels and jewelry at a fraction of its  retail costs. By buying jewelry in bulk, trips to Rajastan are actually a profit-making proposition to many jewelry suppliers worldwide.

Baba Singh, manager of Vishnu Jewelry, shows off a solid silver earring. Singh's company donates a portion of its profits to help beggars and street people in Jaipour. It also employs local artisans to design and make jewelry.

Singh also noted that he employs several young jewelry designers in Jaipour to train them and help them start their own businesses.

While members of our group said they spent a little more money than expected, Singh pointed out that the jewelry especially, will only appreciate in value and buyers had the option of re-selling the merchandise back home.

“It’s a real investment in the future, at least,” he said.

A tour of Jaipur, Rajastan

Carl Lindquist and Shanetta Payne Ride an elephant to Amber Fort in Jaipur, Rajastan India.

Jaipur, the capital of Rajastan, is a little cleaner, a little better developed and a little more cohesive than much of the rest of India. It’s a little cleaner and a little richer than Delhi, Agra and other Indian cities.

It’s a commercial center an educational center, with several good universities, a transportation center building its first subway, and a historical center. Since the city was only founded in the 1727, its history doesn’t way heavily upon it. A single line of rajas still holds forth from city palace.  Other royal families, who hold no formal political offices, but who still exert a great deal of influence and power, remain in Jodphur and elsewhere in Rajastan providing a certain stability and cohesion.

The view from Amber Fort, complete with elephants, shows its strategic importance.

The Fort is surrounded by parapets and other fortifications

Jaipur is called the Pink City because the walls of its center is made of pink sandstone, and that image was burnished when several pink sandstone gates and monoliths were erected for Prince Albert’s visit in 1857.

Nevertheless, it’s greatest monument is its Amber Fort, which is the color its name, a golden yellow. The fort was first built nearly a thousand years ago, built by royal Hindu families before the founding of the city.  It guards the western approaches to the city on a cleft in the mountains leading to it. Other forts, walls and parapets ring the area, making it defensible against armies far larger in number than defenders.

Kaylee Haywood explores Amber Fort.

We rode a popular elephant ride from the bottom of the valley beneath the fort up to the big monument. It was full of courtyards, smooth rice-paste-washed walls and man secret passages, which allowed rajahs to visit various wives and concubines without making other jealous, according to our guide, Saurav (Sam) Somani, a native of Jaipur.

After a tour of the fort, we explored the downtown area, which included Jantar Mantar,  a 10-acre complex of astrological calculators and sundials constructed by the first maharajah, Jai Singh, in the 1730s. Despite its age and function, the various calculators look like modern-art sculptures.

We also visited city palace, where the rajahs still live. The last one died just last month, and his 12-year-old grandson has been named his successor.

The arrow of sunlight on the brick floor of the celestial calculator at Jantar Mantar,  bottom left,  points to Taurus, letting observers know the current zodiac sign.

A guard watches over visitors at City Palace.

Despite its fairly recent history, or perhaps because of it, Jaipur on the edge of the Thar Desert, is becoming more of a tourist city, a taking-off point for tourists who wish to explore authentic Indian sights and culture while avoiding the squalor of other parts of the country.

It is also a center for shopping and touring. We spent the last part of our afternoon touring the city by rickshaw. And tomorrow we will being seeing more. You can see typical Indian traffic in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYqW-zxo96U

Shenetta Payne and Kalle Haywood enjoy a rickshaw ride.