Tigers and Pilgrimages

This week we visited Ranthambore National Park, the only park in Rajasthan with tigers. We rumbled around on muddy paths in a safari bus but unfortunately did not see any tigers. But the park was gorgeous and it felt great to pass through meadows, forests, and by a peaceful lakeside. We talked with Tiger Watch, an organization that works with the Moghiya community (a group that lives outside the park) to stop poaching, enable young boys to go to a good school, and provide employment opportunities for the women. Another NGO works with artificial insemination of cows that produce more milk and bio-gas systems that run on cow dung to decrease the pressures of overgrazing and fuel needs. When we returned, three of us led a synthesis session in which we debated the economic and social sustainability of ecotourism, how development struggles to address deeply embedded social and cultural norms, and how animal and human rights interact and if one can take precedence over the other or serve as a vehicle to uphold the other. We had a lot to think about.

Yesterday a group of us traveled on our own to see two sacred pilgrimage sites: one Hindu and Muslim. It was so interesting and I still haven't been able to fully process all of it. We spent most of the day in Pushkar, a town about three hours away from Jaipur that is also famous for its upcoming Camel Fair. Pushkar's beautiful lake was almost all dried up and muddy as a result of the drought, but some of the sacred bathing ghats still had water, including "Gandhi's ghat," where some of his ashes were sprinkled. Sky blue architecture surrounds the lake, which has wide steps leading down to it. We saw the famous Brahma temple, which was painted blue and orange and had all sorts of niches with shrines for different gods. Also in Pushkar I had a delicious lassi, the sweet yogurt drink that I order just about every time we eat out. It was a Makhania Lassi, with rose water, saffron, cardamon, and sprinkled on top: cashews, pomegranate, pistachio bits, and shaved coconut. Yum. We stopped in Ajmer on the way back to see the famous pilgrimage dargah for Muslims, which houses the tomb of a Sufi saint. Walking with the flowing crowd up to the dargah, we realized that all the men had caps and all the women had scarves and we needed something to cover our heads. We bought some white handkerchiefs and tied them up, laughing at each other because we looked like milkmaids. We took off our shoes and walked in. As we stood out so much, everyone stared at us. I felt so uncomfortable because perhaps we had intruded upon their sacred space. The mosque was green and white, and in the first courtyard there were two huge iron cauldrons with fires burning underneath them. Apparently donations can be made to fill them with porridge to feed the poor. Inside the next gate was the tomb itself, and hundreds of people were sitting, praying, and making offerings. Both experiences made me realize how little I know about their religions, and how much I want to learn.

As in this Internet cafe there are little kids watching cartoons in which the monsters seems to be fighting and making all sorts of terrible and truly laughable groans, I must leave. Pictures will come soon.

Oh! And my mom is coming to India at the end of October!! I am excited for her to meet my host family and see Jaipur before she heads south to stay longer.