Guna
I am ok. In Guna now, staying at another Sikh gurudwaar -- they always feed and shelter travellers. The floor is tiled, too, so it feels very nice and cool on my body. So hot here. So, so hot. Eating first meal of the day, at 5 p.m. Couldn't get anything before that except a couple of oranges. We wake up at 4 a.m. every day, in total darkness while people squat huddled around little fires, pack up our stuff and start walking under the stars. We usually walk at least 15-20 km by the time we stop, which is for the hottest part of the day, usually in some shell of some lone shell of a building in a field of nothingness or under some tree. Everyone takes naps on the ground, cooks food, and bathes. Bathing consists of pouring semi-dirty water from troughs all over ourselves in our underwear by the side of the road. Doing laundry means taking your clothes and rubbing them back and forth on a stretch of pavement with some soap. Going to the bathroom means squatting in the ditch, for whichever need. A lot of people have given up even trying to hide. The whole march just walks by as one of the group watches from the side a road, bare ass squatting and dropping whatever needs to be dropped. I am really, really, really hoping that I don't get diarrhea. That will be hard, though, because the sanitary conditions are quite a jump. Food is all prepared on the ground, right next to cow pies and everything. The cowpies, in fact, are actually used for cooking. You burn them -- they make good charcoal. Our bread is made by taking flour and water and throwing it directly on top of burning cowpies. Sometimes metal surfaces. This is served with a sort of stew of oil, water, spices, and vegetables. I am usually so hungry that every bite of anything at all tastes like heaven.
After the midday break, which usually lasts for three to four hours, we begin walking again for another 15-20 km, until we find a place to spend the night. We usually don't arrive wherever that is until it's dark. It is hard for me to take any photos of the spots we sleep in because we arrive and leave in total darkness.
This is a damn hard trip. I thought it might not be so difficult because of all the elderly and gas affected people. They are super hardcore, though. They just charge down the road with enough energy to spare for an attitude on top of it. It's incredible. For me, the whole drill feels like some mix between the activist I was back in NYC, while performing physically like some cross between a Marine and a saddhu. No comparison to the biking. This is bone crushing. About six or seven people just got sent back to Bhopal today because they couldn't handle things physically. I can't believe some of the people doing this. This would be enough to kill the average American. On top of the walking, I've gotta worry about finding and purifying my own water (they all drink whatever's there, but that would kill me), finding electricity connections to be able to continue working on these demand sheets which were difficult enough in the relatively posh environment I was at in Bhopal, protecting computer and photo equipment from both people and the extreme heat (sleeping with it in my arms, bathing with it next to me, etc.), and all the while taking as many photos as possible. On 4-5 hours of sleep per 24 hours. It's damn hard, but the rewards 100 fold. I am in parts of India that are simply off-limits to tourism, and might therefore never get to see again. The padyatra is an incredible thing to be part of, too, of course. I just don't even know where to begin describing it, it's just too damn wild.
We just passed through a dacoit bandit pocket of hills. I'm told to stay in a knot of people. Saw the first gunman on a motorcycle yesterday. Long, wooden rifle with beautiful swirling metal inlay design. About 20-30 km past Guna we will enter a very long dacoit territory, in which we will be seeking protection from local police goons. It's a solid swatch that stretches 150 km. through hilly terrain (that's what makes the wildness possible, I guess) -- the whole rest of Madhya Pradesh, through the tip of Rajasthan, and into Uttar Pradesh. This will be interrupted by Gwalior, which is one of the few places on this trip that is even mentioned in travel books about India. People gather around me and just stare. Usually while I'm typing, even now, people are just gathered around watching me type, even though they can't read what I'm writing. It's kind of hard to write like that, though. I'll be sitting in some village drinking a cup of chai and there will just be a whole circle of people of all ages, silently staring at me. Very strange experience. I asked Sathyu when he thought the last time they saw a foreigner pass through these places and he said "years." I must be true. It's very, very difficult to imagine how or why any American, for instance would be here. For one thing, there'd be no place to sleep -- no hotels -- unless they slept out in the open on the ground, which would be a really bad idea if you weren't in a caravan of natives like this one.
I'm loving sleeping under the stars. Tonight will be my first night indoors -- we're in a small city, so it's impossible to sleep on the street because it's just like one big sewer. The gurudwaar is nice.
Bush is in India, or about to arrive, I don't know. People are burning effigies here. Let me tell you... I know most of you reading this already know this quite thoroughly, but it's still makes quite an impression to be in the thick of it, with your own body feeling the heat the flames. America is really barrelling down a dark road. Party is over. Everyone, EVERYONE hates America. Even in countries like this, which are our "allies." If you could see it, you would see that it's not just the flavor of the month. The Bush arrival is relevant to Bhopal and there are huge protests going on there, too. One of the demands of this padyatra is that the Indian government cut off Dow Chemical's business access to India until or unless it cleans up Bhopal and pays for a bunch of other damage. It obviously doesn't make sense to start the same thing over again when Bhopal is they way it is, still. That is, of course, if it ever made sense in the first place. We are getting very good news from Delhi. There is a team of activists representing the padyatris and getting up in a lot of faces up there and there has been some very productive discussion so far, apparently.
I'm going to see if I can put up some photos later. Seems like the internet connectivity in Guna is good, and we're here for the night.
After the midday break, which usually lasts for three to four hours, we begin walking again for another 15-20 km, until we find a place to spend the night. We usually don't arrive wherever that is until it's dark. It is hard for me to take any photos of the spots we sleep in because we arrive and leave in total darkness.
This is a damn hard trip. I thought it might not be so difficult because of all the elderly and gas affected people. They are super hardcore, though. They just charge down the road with enough energy to spare for an attitude on top of it. It's incredible. For me, the whole drill feels like some mix between the activist I was back in NYC, while performing physically like some cross between a Marine and a saddhu. No comparison to the biking. This is bone crushing. About six or seven people just got sent back to Bhopal today because they couldn't handle things physically. I can't believe some of the people doing this. This would be enough to kill the average American. On top of the walking, I've gotta worry about finding and purifying my own water (they all drink whatever's there, but that would kill me), finding electricity connections to be able to continue working on these demand sheets which were difficult enough in the relatively posh environment I was at in Bhopal, protecting computer and photo equipment from both people and the extreme heat (sleeping with it in my arms, bathing with it next to me, etc.), and all the while taking as many photos as possible. On 4-5 hours of sleep per 24 hours. It's damn hard, but the rewards 100 fold. I am in parts of India that are simply off-limits to tourism, and might therefore never get to see again. The padyatra is an incredible thing to be part of, too, of course. I just don't even know where to begin describing it, it's just too damn wild.
We just passed through a dacoit bandit pocket of hills. I'm told to stay in a knot of people. Saw the first gunman on a motorcycle yesterday. Long, wooden rifle with beautiful swirling metal inlay design. About 20-30 km past Guna we will enter a very long dacoit territory, in which we will be seeking protection from local police goons. It's a solid swatch that stretches 150 km. through hilly terrain (that's what makes the wildness possible, I guess) -- the whole rest of Madhya Pradesh, through the tip of Rajasthan, and into Uttar Pradesh. This will be interrupted by Gwalior, which is one of the few places on this trip that is even mentioned in travel books about India. People gather around me and just stare. Usually while I'm typing, even now, people are just gathered around watching me type, even though they can't read what I'm writing. It's kind of hard to write like that, though. I'll be sitting in some village drinking a cup of chai and there will just be a whole circle of people of all ages, silently staring at me. Very strange experience. I asked Sathyu when he thought the last time they saw a foreigner pass through these places and he said "years." I must be true. It's very, very difficult to imagine how or why any American, for instance would be here. For one thing, there'd be no place to sleep -- no hotels -- unless they slept out in the open on the ground, which would be a really bad idea if you weren't in a caravan of natives like this one.
I'm loving sleeping under the stars. Tonight will be my first night indoors -- we're in a small city, so it's impossible to sleep on the street because it's just like one big sewer. The gurudwaar is nice.
Bush is in India, or about to arrive, I don't know. People are burning effigies here. Let me tell you... I know most of you reading this already know this quite thoroughly, but it's still makes quite an impression to be in the thick of it, with your own body feeling the heat the flames. America is really barrelling down a dark road. Party is over. Everyone, EVERYONE hates America. Even in countries like this, which are our "allies." If you could see it, you would see that it's not just the flavor of the month. The Bush arrival is relevant to Bhopal and there are huge protests going on there, too. One of the demands of this padyatra is that the Indian government cut off Dow Chemical's business access to India until or unless it cleans up Bhopal and pays for a bunch of other damage. It obviously doesn't make sense to start the same thing over again when Bhopal is they way it is, still. That is, of course, if it ever made sense in the first place. We are getting very good news from Delhi. There is a team of activists representing the padyatris and getting up in a lot of faces up there and there has been some very productive discussion so far, apparently.
I'm going to see if I can put up some photos later. Seems like the internet connectivity in Guna is good, and we're here for the night.
posted by Michael M. at 3:36 AM
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