InSANAty In Motion

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 

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 

Dear Firangi,
(Firangi: Indian slang for a foreigner.)  

Hope this finds you well unless you are suffering from a serious case of Delhi belly or other stomach issues common while traveling in India. 

I am so glad you decided to come and travel in this incredible ,one of a kind country- and I am sure you have discovered how amazing it is, apart from discovering your amazing self as well. *wink wink*

When you had some free time from finding yourself and the peace within I am sure you went out to see the real India and meet some real Indians like me. I have been traveling around my beloved country for many years now and I have come across many of you amazing people! It has been such a pleasure. But many of you find me strange….not a “real” Indian…So I am going to try and clear your confusion and tell you there is not one real Indian…it is not the image you have conjured of a dhoti clad swami floating in mid air with a snake coiled around his neck, smoking a chillum.” SURPRISE SURPRISE”

So next time you meet me please don’t ask me if I am “REALLY” an Indian and try to fit me into a box full of labels of who you think a real Indian is.

-I am Indian, even if I speak English with my family and friends.

 -I am Indian, even though I don’t know all the yoga poses.

-I am Indian, even if I have never heard of Malana and Parvati valley.

- I am Indian even if I have not taken a dip in the holy Ganga.

-I am Indian even though I don’t wear a sari everyday.

-I am Indian even though I can’t make my own fire with cowdung and make perfect round chapatis.

-I am Indian even though I am not Hindu and don’t know much about Shiva and his chillum power.

- I am Indian, even though I don’t meditate everyday.

- I am Indian even if I dont wobble my  head around while speaking.

- I am Indian even if I eat at McDonalds or KFC.

- I am Indian even though I don’t know any shlokas/mantras by heart.

- I am Indian even if I speak to unknown men.

- I am Indian even if I can talk about sex, drugs and rock n roll openly.

- I am Indian even though I wasn’t taught the kamasutra at school.

- I am Indian even though I don’t speak Indian.

- I am Indian even if I don’t have an arranged marriage and actually fall in love and have a live in relationship.

- I am Indian even if I don’t work in the IT sector. 

- I am Indian even if I eat beef and am not vegetarian.

- I am still Indian even if I can’t eat raw green chilies and all the spice in the world.

- I am Indian even though I don’t pee on the street and throw trash around. 

- I am Indian even if I am still not used to the pollution and the garbage in my country.

- I am Indian even if I don’t think all cows are holy. 

 (this list is still under construction)

And please for the sake of the Holy Cow stop telling me about how hard the Indian tourist visa process has become. I don’t even want to start with what I  have to go through to get a European or American visa. If you with your dreadlocks, tattoos , piercings and non existent bank account can get a 3/6 month Indian visa- then that’s a pretty sweet easy deal. 

Love from the road,

Sana 

I never thought that I would ever stop being excited about travel and movement. But now I have come to a point when even thinking about taking a train to a new place, looking for a guest house, finding new places to eat is just so exhausting. I have no motivation to be anywhere or do anything. Yet at the same time I feel there is much to see, do, feel, experience. But do I need to be on the road to experience all these things? Maybe not.

When I quit my job in 2009,I decided to travel. It was the one thing I felt so passionate about and I thought that all the questions I was faced with i.e. who I am , what am I doing etc would. But I have realized that these questions don’t matter anymore as they will always exist and the answers will keep changing. So for me it’s not so important anymore to know who I am, where I am going, what I am doing as long as I am happy and feel at ease with myself.

So it is a bit of shock right now when I’m not feeling at ease with my travels. I thought travel was one thing that would set me free from my mundane life. Don’t get me wrong, it totally has the past years and also has given me the most happiness and person satisfaction. But I guess there is not just ONE thing that sets you free or helps you escape whatever it is you are trying to escape. This changes with time as well.

I feel like I had mentioned in my previous blog post that I THINK what would make me happy right now would be to set base. And it could possibly set me free from the current wave of confusion I am going through re. the travel not being exciting anymore.

But there is some strange fear as well. If I do set base would I be able to come back to the life I have now…I have always said that since I have nothing to go back to , no home, no job, no car, no bills or loans it makes movement so much more easier and do able. But once I settle down even if its for a bit will I be able to go back on to this road? Of course I could, I tell myself. I strongly believe that you can take all these little diversions but can always come back to the road you would like to be on. And the future is a strange illusion that I should not even think about and worry about what might or might not happen in the future.

Travel has given me the most joy and this amazing luxury of timeliness. I think it will continue to do so always. I probably am just tired now and the novelty had worn off since I have been at it for a while .I am extremely grateful to the journey but it might be time to hang up the travel shoes for a while and look for the next thing that makes me happy. This is the most important question at the moment: What will make me the most happy now?

Love from the road,
Sana 

Me, Cambodia 2010, Photo courtesy Aley Elagin.

Currently I have my very tired feet up in Delhi, India at my brothers. It’s nice to not have to worry about finding a place to stay, eating out etc etc. Its so nice to have a home with a kitchen and not have to think much about these things. Yet my mind is running constantly on where to go next and what is next for me.

I have been feeling tired the past few weeks of all the travel even though the pace has been very slow. I feel more and more like setting up a base for a bit and just having a more consistent life. It has also become very hard with all the amazing people I meet on the road as they just come in and out of my life. I wish they would all stay with me and we could do regular things together.It has become hard to say goodbye. I thought I was used to it but I don’t think I can ever get used to it.

I am also tired of not having my own base but I am so unsure of where I would like to set one up. I am making a list of the options that could be likely. I feel like I must set up shack and build and have some consistency in life. I feel this would be the best at the moment, but again it could be just a phase. All just feelings.

So lots of confusion and many questions like always , yet again I am so happy to have a home and be around my amazing family. I couldn’t ask for a better more comfortable environment to go through all these unsure feelings.

Love from the road,
Sana 

Tip 2:
Always keep dollars handy with you for visas obtained on arrival at borders or airports.  You can get the Cambodia visa on the border definitely when you are crossing via the Mekong from Vietnam. But they will require for you to pay the fees in dollars so have them ready. The same for a 30 day Indonesian visa which you can get on arrival when you fly into a country only. If you are coming via boat you will need to have the visa beforehand as an Indian (double check on this as rules keep changing)

Fill the comments with any other tips you might have for indian passport holders around the world. Thank you

ps: Desi is the slang term for an Indian.