InSANAty In Motion

Round and round through little back lanes and more narrow lanes I was taken to Yazdani Bakery in the Fort Area of Mumbai, by a dear friend.  As soon as you enter this little Iranian cafe your nose is filled with the smells of ginger biscuits,  fresh bread and apple pie. I felt like I went back in time for a bit , sitting on old wooden stools in a big wooden house like structure. Its like a breath of fresh air in a city where everything moves at the speed of light.

Everday around 3pm fresh apple pie is baked in this ancient  little cafe and its delicious! I also tried the brun muska ; a small freshly baked bun with oodles of butter slapped on to it and it is meant to be dunked into hot chai and eaten. Delicious but a bit too much of  butter.  An afternoon here sipping on tea and eating delicious baked goodies is a must if you are in the area also known as Kala Ghoda. The bakery lane is home to a ton of stationary, paper stores as well as Mahesh Lunch Home which is a delicious sea food restaurant. The neighborhood also houses a ton of art galleries including the national gallery of modern art and Jehangir art gallery, museums, beautiful old heritage buildings, boutique shops (check out Filter albeit a little expensive) and the Kala Ghoda cafe.

PS: Camera has died unfortunately and need to buy new one. Thank you to Tan for the photo from the bakery!

This time last year I was living in a tipi with wonderful friends and dogs in Hampi. It was such a different start for a new year in 2012 than this year which was spent alone with a dog none the less, in an apartment in Mumbai. 

I look back fondly at a year which has been intense to say the least. It was another 10 months of the road spanning from India to Europe and back to the UAE.  It has been a year full of lessons some harder than the others. And so many new adventures and forging many exciting relationships. A year of deep hard introspection and of many tears.  A year where I have realized that the road is beautiful but the journey can get tiring and stability is a the call of the hour.
I am excited for 2013 and to practice each day to stay calm and centered. I read this book called Untethered Soul by Michael Singer and has shaken me up a bit but in a good way.
I feel this to be a year of many new different adventures including possibly finding a home to stay put and focusing on myself and those important to me.  
So no more wishing for a good year its going to be an awesome one! 

I wish you all balance and clarity in the new year and most of all freedom!
Good luck

Love from the road
Sana 

So you know when you are traveling for too long when the highlight of your trip becomes to house sit someones apartment. I am staying in my friend’s lovely place on top of a hill in south mumbai a very nice part of town…and I have been cleaning my friends apartment frantically while she is away and enjoying being in a home and having a kitchen and an attached bathroom. The stuff you take for granted normally.

I am still camera less but not missing it too much. I walked past Mukesh Ambani’s obscene 27 story house  (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4894416195977&set=t.829915225&type=3&theater) which is the most expensive homes in the world and right after I walked past road side dwellings where people live with no privacy at all. The irony of it all in Mumbai is so glaring. The disparity is so overwhelming. Yet Mumbai is so much more casual and easy going compared to the North. People on the street somehow seem friendlier and I was so happy yesterday to see a bunch of girlfriends in shorts and tshirt, take public transportation which would not be possible in Delhi. I probably was the only one who was staring at them but only because I was so relieved that it was OK in India.

So that’s a bit of the Mumbai news…onwards to Goa for a friends wedding in a week and hopefully by then will have my camera which is being repaired. Fingers crossed.

Love from the road
Sana 

• Getting cheated by the plethora of so called Holy Men on the ghats. They will push flowers into your hand and try to get you to perform a ceremony at the holy lake all for the sake of swindling a few thousand rupees off you.  Unlike what they all tell you about bad karma for life, you will be better of staying away from these goons.
• The “special” lassis of Pushkar unless you have a hard core tummy. Many friends have drunk one and felt zonked for days plus complained about upset tummies.
• Going off for desert parties or visiting traditional homes of strange local Pushkar men. There will be a ton of guys who will say they will give you the real Rajasthan experience blah blah. Don’t listen to them and listen to your gut.
• Desert Safaris : There is not much of a real desert in Pushkar …it will just be a few hours on a poor old camel, some music and then trying to get as much money out of you.

There is a whole bunch of amazing fun stuff to do and see in Pushkar and one can have a really good stay in this pretty little town but since it has a become a busy busy touristic center , please be careful of getting ripped off…an unfortunate side effect of mass tourism
Enjoy your stay and there are enough local people out there who are genuinely very nice even if far and few in between.

Love from the road
Sana 

I have been living in Pushkar, Rajasthan for the past three weeks. If you have read my prior posts about this place (http://nomadbuzz.tumblr.com/post/18379759798/pushkar-mania)…..its one place I love to hate and yet keep coming back to it. This is my forth time in Pushkar and I have been observing so much of the madness that happens in a so called Holy Tourist town in India.

Pushkar is a sacred Hindu town with a lake in the center and many temples around the periphery of the lake. Pilgrims from all over come to bathe in the lake and pray. The caste system is highly prevalent in the state of Rajasthan and the Brahmin caste who are the priests or known as pandits is on top of the caste heirarchy. The temples and ghats are managed by this caste.

But what the pandits are doing in the name of religion is shocking. Every year I notice the business of religion becoming worse and worse. I currently stay on the ghats in a Brahmin traditional house converted into a guesthouse. I have a window facing the lake and every morning at 6am sharp I have been listening to one of the pandits at this ghat yell the choicest of obscenities to people who forget to take their shoes off 40meters from the lake. There are instructions all over the places to do so but lets say you forget or even are 40meters away from the lake but the priest is in a bad mood which is almost everyday, you have had it. The past weeks I have heard this man yell and yell and say the nastiest of things to pilgrims and tourists alike and his favorite curse seems to be ‘You effin·$%/$(&%$ Muslim’ because I guess for a Hindu in India to be called a Muslim is worse than being called a motherfucker or bastard.  This goes on till about 5pm in the evening. A few days ago, after being fed up of listening to this so called holy man rant and yell and say terrible things I decided to go have a little chat with him. I told him that my window was right above where he sat and yelled everyday and its very disturbing for me to listen to what he says to people especially him being a man of God. He immediately asked me what my caste was and when I said I didn´t belong to any he said to me you must be an effin Muslim and thats why you dont think its important that I tell people to take off their shoes. I said to him that he could tell people politely especially for a man with his stature and that yes I was an effin Muslim. He was so shell shocked that a Muslim girl had dared to talk to Brahmin Pandit that way that ofcourse the only thing this uneducated man could tell me is that I should go back to Pakistan which is where we all belong!

I could go on ranting about Pushkar and how ugly this place has become but i will just end by saying the biggest businessmen in this town are the holymen. Be careful.

Happy travels
Hugs from the road
Sana 

This is one of the most useful gadgets to have ,while travelling in India. Initially I used to just make tea and coffee  but now I have gone on to making rice and soups. It takes time to cook but when you are traveling for a long time and are sick of eating out everyday this useful gadget helps you start a kitchen of your own. I also travel with a deep cooking bowl in stainless steel, a spoon, plate and glass. All can be easily found in India.

Today I made a delicious vegetable soup by putting a bit of rice, carrots, spinach leaves,peas, white raddish, tomato and a mix of spices together in my deep dish and covering with water. Once the water starts to boil you will have to stop heating it and cover the dish to let the steam to take over otherwise the water will overflow. Must be patient and do this a couple of times to enjoy a hot bowl of veggie soup with rice. Can also use noodles or lentils instead of rice or for a lighter soup just put vegetables. Looking for coconut milk to make it all more interesting.

I have also made my own muesli with a bag of oats, dried fruit, wheat bran. Every morning I go to the local market to buy yoghurt and mix the muesli with it and some fresh fruit. Works out much cheaper and healthier in the long run then eating out.

Hugs from the road
Sana 

I am on the road for the past month almost and this time without a camera…..my camera is kaput and I haven´t been able to fix it or make the decision to buy a new one.

its strange to be without a camera but I seem to be taking note of things alot more than before . there have been many times when I have reached into my bag wanting to pull out my camera and capture a moment and I cant. So I have decided instead to be fully present in the moment and try to enjoy it with all my senses and make a photo of it in my mind..its not always easy but I am trying.

Sorry about this guys..but until I sort of out my camera, I will have to keep taking these memory photos.

Big hugs from India
Sana 

• There is hot water coming out of the cold water tap
• You’re glasses fog up every time you walk out of a building
• There is a shopping mall every one meter
• There are more SUVS than people
• You come out of a club/bar smelling like an ashtray
• People have to wear gloves before they touch their steering wheels
• Recycling doesn’t exist
• 90% of the buildings are made with glass
• You might see a camel on the freeway
• There is the world’s only 7 star hotel : Emirates Palace
•  You can get any thing in the world delivered to your doorstep-including milk at 2 am ( via http://sehartakesuae.tumblr.com/)
• You see a girl in teeny shorts walking next to one whose completely veiled ( via http://sehartakesuae.tumblr.com/)

Please feel free to add to this list….will continue to update from my end!