"Did you change your plans, or did India change your plans?" - Varanasi, Kathmandu...and Delhi, March 21
"O Lord of the curved tusk, immense being,
blazing with brilliance
of a million suns, please help remove all
obstacles to this undertaking."
Prayer offered to Ganapati, Hinduism's elephant-headed lord of obstacles.
My delicious dinner last night has played havoc with my stomach.
Is there such a thing as Varanasi Belly?
Yes, yes there is.
And I'm quick to medicate to relieve myself from it.
The flight today was delayed due to rain and storms in Nepal. The turbulence as we attempted to land in Kathmandu was some of the most jarring and scary I've ever experienced. At one point, the pilot was turning the plane hard to the right, and we started bouncing and jerking as we turned, and I thought, "We are going to flip." Someone started crying in the row in front of me. We returned to Varanasi. People who had window seats reported that they had never seen clouds like the ones hovering over Kathmandu.
At Varanasi, we sat for about an hour on the ground, then the pilot came on and said that the weather had "slightly improved," and he was going to try again. This caused a mixed reaction. Seem people were very happy, some were very scared.
Scared won out. Some passengers spoke to the pilot and told him the they didn't want to risk their lives just to get to Kathmandu. So we deplaned and waited some more. They don't do night flights into Kathmandu, and the storm was not letting up anyway. In an effort to get a better chance at getting us there, we ended up on a flight to Delhi. More hotels, more flights. But on the bus to the hotel, Madan seemed to be prepping us for disappointment.
So I'm not confident that I'll be making it to Nepal anytime soon.
Since our group was the last to get on the Delhi flight, we were scattered about the plane, mostly in middle seats. I was seated between two Indian gentlemen who kept staring at me while I settled in. I figured it was going to be an interesting flight.
And it was.
The gent on my left was a professor of statistics. He had a wife, a daughter and a son. The gent on my right (with a very stylish white fedora) was a businessman with a German wife who was eleven years older than him. We got through the preliminaries: country of origin, married or not, kids, professions, reason for traveling, how do you like India, what are the best things about India, etc.
Then the Professor said, "Did you change your plans, or did India change your plans?" I told him that Kathmandu changed my plans. He nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that can happen."
Fedora Businessman prayed as we took off, which after my last flight, seemed like kind of a good idea.
Once I said that I didn't have children, they both had a lot of advice about babies, and how to bring good energy into my life. It was such an odd experience. Usually on flights, people don't talk much, or if they do, it is all superficial. The three of us had never met before, and after the surface information was exchanged, they cut loose with a ton of spiritual talk, charkas, gurus, advice, numerology and God.
At one point, the Professor said, "You might think you are trapped here with two very strange people," but I was enjoying myself immensely. That kind of thing just doesn't happen on domestic flights. Or if it does, you are really stuck between two cuckoos. This felt different.
Near the end of the the flight, the professor told me I must remember the four things of importance that he had told me:
First, he told me that when I am pregnant, I must read books that have good characters in them because this will influence the character of the child. He was quite adamant about that.
Second, he said I had to read Abraham Lincoln's "A Father's Letter to His Son's Teacher." Very important.
Third, I had to explore Pranic Healing techniques. Both he and Fedora Businessman agreed that it worked, and that the guru involved is a great man. Fedora Businessman had pictures of the guru on his phone, and the Professor said that he had healed his son.
Fourth, that I must plan my next trip to India to coincide with The Holi Holiday. This is the holiday where people throw or decorate each other with vivid colored powder. It is a colorful holiday, intended to remind humans to brings nature's color into their life and the lives of others. It starts here two days after I leave. Next time.
We also did some reflexology and numerology together. Horoscopes are very important here, and so Fedora Businessman did my numbers and consulted with Professor of Statistics. They said my birthdate revealed my number as 5 - which is my favorite number. They said that that means I'm a leader and a planner and very sincere. They also revealed some other information about why I might be having such a difficult time right now. Oh, and apparently my best day is Wednesday. It was a ton of fun, and they were quite serious about everything.
They said that to bring good energy into my life, I needed to sit near an old tree, open my palms and breathe in and out for seven seconds, seven times. Seriously, they both gave this as their best advice for me. Now I hadn't revealed that I'm at a difficult point in my life or anything. This just seemed to be general advice that they would have given anyone.
Also, clapping helps. All the points in the hands meet each other and are pressed in rapid succession, thus bringing in good feelings.
Fedora Businessman said life is like the sky, sometimes there are clouds, but they are temporary.
Let's hope so.
blazing with brilliance
of a million suns, please help remove all
obstacles to this undertaking."
Prayer offered to Ganapati, Hinduism's elephant-headed lord of obstacles.
My delicious dinner last night has played havoc with my stomach.
Is there such a thing as Varanasi Belly?
Yes, yes there is.
And I'm quick to medicate to relieve myself from it.
The flight today was delayed due to rain and storms in Nepal. The turbulence as we attempted to land in Kathmandu was some of the most jarring and scary I've ever experienced. At one point, the pilot was turning the plane hard to the right, and we started bouncing and jerking as we turned, and I thought, "We are going to flip." Someone started crying in the row in front of me. We returned to Varanasi. People who had window seats reported that they had never seen clouds like the ones hovering over Kathmandu.
At Varanasi, we sat for about an hour on the ground, then the pilot came on and said that the weather had "slightly improved," and he was going to try again. This caused a mixed reaction. Seem people were very happy, some were very scared.
Scared won out. Some passengers spoke to the pilot and told him the they didn't want to risk their lives just to get to Kathmandu. So we deplaned and waited some more. They don't do night flights into Kathmandu, and the storm was not letting up anyway. In an effort to get a better chance at getting us there, we ended up on a flight to Delhi. More hotels, more flights. But on the bus to the hotel, Madan seemed to be prepping us for disappointment.
So I'm not confident that I'll be making it to Nepal anytime soon.
Since our group was the last to get on the Delhi flight, we were scattered about the plane, mostly in middle seats. I was seated between two Indian gentlemen who kept staring at me while I settled in. I figured it was going to be an interesting flight.
And it was.
The gent on my left was a professor of statistics. He had a wife, a daughter and a son. The gent on my right (with a very stylish white fedora) was a businessman with a German wife who was eleven years older than him. We got through the preliminaries: country of origin, married or not, kids, professions, reason for traveling, how do you like India, what are the best things about India, etc.
Then the Professor said, "Did you change your plans, or did India change your plans?" I told him that Kathmandu changed my plans. He nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that can happen."
Fedora Businessman prayed as we took off, which after my last flight, seemed like kind of a good idea.
Once I said that I didn't have children, they both had a lot of advice about babies, and how to bring good energy into my life. It was such an odd experience. Usually on flights, people don't talk much, or if they do, it is all superficial. The three of us had never met before, and after the surface information was exchanged, they cut loose with a ton of spiritual talk, charkas, gurus, advice, numerology and God.
At one point, the Professor said, "You might think you are trapped here with two very strange people," but I was enjoying myself immensely. That kind of thing just doesn't happen on domestic flights. Or if it does, you are really stuck between two cuckoos. This felt different.
Near the end of the the flight, the professor told me I must remember the four things of importance that he had told me:
First, he told me that when I am pregnant, I must read books that have good characters in them because this will influence the character of the child. He was quite adamant about that.
Second, he said I had to read Abraham Lincoln's "A Father's Letter to His Son's Teacher." Very important.
Third, I had to explore Pranic Healing techniques. Both he and Fedora Businessman agreed that it worked, and that the guru involved is a great man. Fedora Businessman had pictures of the guru on his phone, and the Professor said that he had healed his son.
Fourth, that I must plan my next trip to India to coincide with The Holi Holiday. This is the holiday where people throw or decorate each other with vivid colored powder. It is a colorful holiday, intended to remind humans to brings nature's color into their life and the lives of others. It starts here two days after I leave. Next time.
We also did some reflexology and numerology together. Horoscopes are very important here, and so Fedora Businessman did my numbers and consulted with Professor of Statistics. They said my birthdate revealed my number as 5 - which is my favorite number. They said that that means I'm a leader and a planner and very sincere. They also revealed some other information about why I might be having such a difficult time right now. Oh, and apparently my best day is Wednesday. It was a ton of fun, and they were quite serious about everything.
They said that to bring good energy into my life, I needed to sit near an old tree, open my palms and breathe in and out for seven seconds, seven times. Seriously, they both gave this as their best advice for me. Now I hadn't revealed that I'm at a difficult point in my life or anything. This just seemed to be general advice that they would have given anyone.
Also, clapping helps. All the points in the hands meet each other and are pressed in rapid succession, thus bringing in good feelings.
Fedora Businessman said life is like the sky, sometimes there are clouds, but they are temporary.
Let's hope so.
Varanasi to Delhi flights are a convenient and efficient way to travel between these two important cities in India. With multiple airlines offering daily flights, it's easy to find a flight that suits your schedule and budget.
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