india@60 km

Coming home from an invigorating journey, many write of their dazzling adventures. How we love to read their saga as we visualize ourselves in their shoes. Well, my solo venture, or more clearly stated, my "daring consciousness journey" May of 2004, to India took on a slightly different angle. Instead of reading about my vast array of impelling experiences, I will share more of what the essence of my trip felt like. Hence, the title, "India@60km." I moved, but India stayed still. Most of the images shown in the slide presentation were taken from a moving vehicle, be it a jeep, a taxi, a houseboat or an elephant.

Let me clarify, I certainly didn't travel to India to shoot from a moving object. It just happened, as my travels took me to places far distances apart, and I needed to go through one city to get to another, to make my plane, to get to the next city, and to the next, etc, etc. If photography is in your blood, then you shoot where you are and what you can get. This certainly was not an adventure for the unhealthy in mind and body; it was no relaxing "vacation" in the sun!

Of course there are challenges to shooting images while moving, along with equal frustration. That perfect shot you see, or more clearly phrased, "saw" out the window, the most amazing combination of light, composition and subject matter, disappears before you can grab your camera, let alone click the shutter (and in the case of digital, well, let's not go there). But the bottom line is, you only get that one chance. Lest we not forget the dirty windows and its reflection, the window frame within the perfect shot, or more obviously, those blurred "non-artsy" images. For what you see with your eye is not always what you get while moving. But then again, there are those wonderfully rare times when you are pleasantly surprised. Using a Canon digital, 100 ASA, a fast shutter speed, and an aperture fully opened, I was actually able to take some surprisingly good moving images - AND FROM A DIRTY WINDOW!

The first thing one needs to establish when choosing to travel and shoot in this manner is to hire a great driver of a vehicle with clean windows; especially a driver who can understand what this crazy American tourist is doing. Remember, his goal is to get you from point A to point B in the shortest quickest time possible. I had this experience with 3 of them. No matter how many times I explained (they all understood English) what I was doing, repeating again and again, "Please drive slowly through a village," they never got it. I might be assuming this, but it's probable that drivers get paid more if they make record time while avoiding oncoming tuk tuk's (3-wheeled taxis), cars, trucks, scooters and buses, besides people - chickens - cows - goats - donkeys - buffaloes - camels - bears - elephant and monkey crossings. But actually, I did get lucky with one driver, Negi, who took me around India's famous "triangle." Negi got it! He would remember to slow down to a crawl when approaching a small village, and few times would even stop for me to get out and shoot. He also made it his mission to be on the lookout for that "perfect" shot. But then again, he was a rare gem!

The second thing is to bring a lot of rupees! The begging (was recommended not to give to beggars, especially children, as it promotes more begging and less education) and the tipping, well, they're both equally out of control.

A few words about some extraordinary places I visited.
My trip took me through Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Dharamsala, Kerala (Alleppy, Kettuvalam, Cochin) and Chennai (Swamamalai). I traveled the North, the Southwest and the Southeast of India, with a quick trip to the Taj Mahal.

Dharamsala is situated in Northern India on the lower Himalayas. In McLeod Gunj, known as upper Dharamsala and "Little Tibet," is where His Holiness The Dalai Lama lives, and yes, I saw him ever so briefly for .8 seconds, as his car passed into his residence. This community is based on Buddhist principals of non-violence, tolerance, compassion and respect for all living things. It is also here where I worked with a group of children in a photo club from the Tibetan Children's Village who participate with photographer, Phil Borges and BRIDGES TO UNDERSTANDING. Their photographic eye surpassed what I imagined, and also as technical geniuses receiving Adobe Photoshop as a gift was both a dream and a challenge. We assisted these students in putting together a digital storytelling of an interesting part of their lives with the narration from one child in each group (you can view our project, From Freedom to Dreams ). Our narrator was a 16 yr old boy, who 10 years prior (without his parents, who are still in Tibet), trekked the 45 day journey to freedom from Lhasa to Nepal. To read more about BRIDGES and our Dharamsala trip, please view the June BRIDGES Newsletter.

Seeing the Taj Mahal up close was magical, with tears in my eyes, and a smile on my face. You see its beauty, but you "feel" its power, which cannot be described, except to say, it is breathtakingly feminine. It took 21 years to build, and is certainly one grand ode to a special woman. Imagine a tall spotless (cleaned only by rain) 30 story white marble structure inlaid with sparkling precious stones.

Jaipur in Rajasthan, known as the "pink city" (buildings are painted pink to mimic red sandstone) is definitely worthy of a visit. The entrance alone is spectacular; "the palace of winds" wall is as grand as the Coliseum in Rome. It was here that all my senses experienced the true India I had known from books. Wherever you gazed, it was filled with colors and smells, from the people to the clothes to the fortresses to the palaces to the food. It is also here where you see true artisans at work producing those great pieces we treasure. My bumpy elephant ride at the Amber Fort swayed side to side uncomfortably with each step, but when the handler dropped his metal whip, the elephant scooped it up and handed it right back to him.

Kerala in the South (the Hawaii of India) is where I finally got to relax, coconut palms, cashew nut plantations, tropical weather and a slower pace. I especially enjoyed the food, veggies and fruits freshly picked, and the local fish. With my daily Ayurvedic massages and healthy food, I was in ecstasy. I visited an Ayurvedic manufacturing pharmacy with a doctor guide, where we viewed the fascinating steps from picking herbs to the final product in how these natural medicines are produced. The doctor replied when I asked what in particular he eats, "I take medicine like a patient, but I eat like a man."

With most adventures, there usually comes one frightening incident. It was 3AM and outside a raging thunder and lightening storm progressed. I was startled awake from my one bedroom bamboo houseboat (visualize an upside down looking basket). The boat rocked excessively, and from the safety under the covers of my netted bed, I heard outside the boat staff shouting, along with loud sounds of cracking, smashing, bumping and banging. The violent storm lasted the rest of the night. Mostly, I prayed our single rope tied around a 6" circumphrance palm tree would hold out, which it did, and with surprisingly little damage; but another houseboat nearby was not as fortunate.

Women in the countryside of India certainly have a knack for carrying heavy loads on their heads, be it brass pots, concrete blocks, loads of hay, or cow dung (pressed like pancakes, used for fuel in the winter and piled high in pyramid formation next to their thatched huts, and oh what a stench!).

Can you imagine that someone in India keeps a record of our past, present and future? This is called Nadi Astrology written by enlightened masters called Siddhas. These Siddhas may have known us in a past lifetime when we lived in India. How lucky for me that at the end of my journey, and with just my thumbprint, they "found" my specific leaf written in Sanskrit. The leaf contained my destiny, previous incarnations, and ways to remove negative karma. I was then sent out to 6 assorted Hindu temples, outside Chennai, in the Southeast. Performing very specific remedies at each temple (at the right time, by the right priest, with the right herbs for the deities) was my mission for 3 long days of bumpy dirt roads, mimicking prayers with appropriate hand usage with nearly naked priests, in the hot humid sun. Besides ridding me (and others I chose) of any bad karma, performing these remedies would evolve my soul, alter the course of my destiny, or more accurately described as "lessening the impact of the challenges that await me." For example, I had to walk around a temple nine times to represent the nine planets. Do I feel better, lighter? Maybe too soon to tell, but I do know, I sweated a lot and lost weight. Like they said, as with many things in life, if you believe, it will be come to pass. But please ask me again next year!

Being careful with the tap water and what you eat and step on in India are major concerns and awarenesses. There seems to be no regulations for farm work done in the middle of a busy highway, broken street pavements, open sewers, or pipes protruding in the oddest places. I also had my share of sleeplessness, stomach issues, eye infection and dizziness (going from a boat to a jeep to a plane in one day). But all this just seems to vanish, and you do cope, as it is all part of the mesmerizing India experience.

India visually looks feminine, with the vast array of brightly colored saris, but there's no mistaking it, it's a "man's" country. As I was told while walking the Taj, "the women are the slate, and the men write the women's lives on it."

But the people I encountered everywhere were smiling, generously warmhearted and gracious. I felt safe in all places. And that unforgettably hypnotizing earthy smell of oil in the air still remains on my clothes. For in India, again I say, all your senses are inescapably put to good use.

I truly felt honored by all the wonderful people I befriended along the way, especially those who were kind and patient to allow me to photograph them (when I wasn't moving), along with the continued correspondences I am still having with many.

So then, let the truth be told.....India moved me.
Namaste.


please click here for my (8 minute) slide presentation of india@60km to music. And please be patient, 2+ minutes for it to download (with a fast modem).

judith@farber.com
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