- New Delhi Sunday June 22, 2008
Synchronicity would have it that I ran into Cary Peterson, her sister Martha, and nephew Thomas at Newark Airport in line for the same flight to Delhi. We also were staying at the same guest house in Majnu Ka Tilla, the Tibetan Refugee Colony, so were
able to share a van. I had met Cary and her mom Meg Noble Peterson last year here in Majnu Ka Tilla. We all sat together at the Dalai Lama teachings in Dharamsala. Meg & I have been in contact ever since. 
Also Cary visited with Nyima, whose education I am sponsoring, in Lhasa, Tibet and subsequently carried Nyima’s mom’s yak cheese on her travels for months to give to Khen Rinpoche & I. It was a lot of yak cheese so I am very grateful for her diligence trucking it around AND not devouring it all.
Continental made it very easy for me to travel from Portland Maine to Delhi. They checked in my luggage all the way to Delhi and the domestic flight landed in the International section of the airport so I didn’t need to take my shoes off again, go through security, etc. India, in all her glory, is another matter. I find it humorous, but trying, that lines aren’t labeled and no one seems to know where to go or what’s happening. Lines are slow moving and locals cut and then their family slowly starts creeping in line with them. Usually the wife cuts in then granny appears and a bunch of children – once positioned the men show up. Then after all the pushing & shoving you find out you are not in the correct line but no one knows which line you should go to.
The flight was long, the India veggie food excellent, the individual entertainment systems fabulous with over 250 movies to select from, and the seats comfortable but very narrow and little foot room. The flight was so smooth you couldn’t really tell you were in an aircraft. Kudos Continental!
Although Delhi is hot it is less so than the last time I was here. I arrived at my room around 11:30 PM Saturday night (remember I crossed the date line), showered, moved my bed under the ceiling fan, and went to sleep. I’m back to rock hard beds & pillows but they feel good to the tired back. My curious roach friends follow me around the bathroom and there are a few mosquitoes. Rinpoche says that karma plays a part in whether the mosquito carries disease, so having little control over the situation, I will respect their space.
Here’s what I have learned from watching TV today. The Indian economy is experiencing similar problems to us based largely on crude oil, lubricants, and power prices. Here’s what they are saying:
· the stock market is jittery
· inflation burden on India is 11.09 %
· inflation is having a disastrous effect on living standards
· petrol prices contributed to 94% of rising inflation
· value buying opportunities in banking & realty
· China’s rising prices for fuel & commodities is also fueling India’s inflation
I picked up a book at the airport and have read half of it already:
Meredith, Robyn (2008). The elephant and the dragon; The rise of India and China and what it means for all of us. W.W. Norton & Company.
It’s an interesting book especially for those who, seeing the interdependence of all things, are trying to understand our economy and how it plays out in the world market. Or best stated, via history and analysis, how the exponential transformations going on in China & India are a force to be reckoned with.
I brought over a hundred pounds of books for the schools which I will be happy to unload in Leh. Will have to figure out a better system for getting books into Ladakh as it is difficult for me to handle that much weight plus my own personal effects. I also want to order more books while I’m here in Delhi. I’ve booked a flight out for 5:45 AM on Tuesday to Leh. I can pay 80 Rs a kilo overweight to bring my books with me.
Tomorrow I will go into Delhi to have a good cup of coffee, visit a few bookstores, and time willing visit my favorite Hindu Temple Laxmi Narajan which I first visited 33 years ago and revisited again last year. It’s one of those places I have a love affair with both architecturally and content wise. There are many quotes & parables carved on marble slates hanging in the various rooms which I would like to write down. No cameras allowed inside.
Oh if Amber Dostie is tuning in – first thing this morning the ear cleaner man approached :-) I’ll have to have a picture from last year printed out for him.
