We spent most of yesterday, surprise, surprise, waiting in vain for people to come help us move. It never happened, and we had our afternoon rest very late because no one wanted to sleep in case someone showed up. No one slept for long because when we finally did lie down the power went out and the heat was unbearable. I sat in Kumari’s room and we discussed the problems ahead, specifically how the next month and a half will work with the family living separately from the children. I think I have already explained this, but we only have the top floor of the new house because the bottom floor has refused to move. In order to keep the house we have to pay for the top floor until we get the bottom floor. The children, though, really need more room, so Kumari wanted to move out of this house to open up the other two rooms for the kids. The plan before was that Xavier would spend the night with the children here, but now he is too sick to travel back and forth between the old and new houses. Kumari, though, needs to get Prince ready for school, and needs to cook him a lunch in the morning because his school is the only one that doesn’t provide lunch. There are so many things to do, and Xavier is very limited in the amount he can help.
I took a bath, and afterwards when I went outside I found all the children sitting quietly and listening to Kumari. She was going through the rules with them, and telling what was good and bad about the week. Every week she does this, and for the rest of the day and half of the next day they will be very well behaved and then go back to their usual ways. After she finished, each child stood up and gave their complaints. The complaints were all very funny and usually was them tattling on each other. Kumari listened to each one very seriously, though a lot of the time she had to look away and laugh about how serious they were being about such petty problems. The children and I ate dinner, and then Kumari needed to tend to Xavier, so I went outside with the kids by myself. They started to talk about different Indian movies, and to my surprise and pleasure they turned the raised part of the front porch into a stage. The boys preformed first. I could not believe the way these kids had picked up song and dance routines from watching a movie. It was incredible. Plus, of course, it was hilarious watching a group of young boys sing and dance and act all macho, and then yell at each other when they messed up the moves. After the boys, a group of girls sang and danced, led by Maha. The moves were much more complicated, and Maha was like a pro; I could not take my eyes off her. Her dancing was perfect, from the point of her toes, to her twisting fingers, to her bouncing hips, and even her ever changing facial expressions. Then they did a group routine which was loud and fun. I’m hoping to get them to do it again so I can record it, it really was amazing.
Near the end of all this hustle and bustle Mukesh pointed out Sangeetha to me. She was sitting with her fingers curled strangely. She was wobbling her head and banging her fists spastically on the ground. I ran and got Kumari. Kumari had told me about this; Sangeetha has something wrong in her brain and she will go into fits pulling her ears and rapping her knuckles against her teeth or other things like that. Then she will go completely limp and be passed out for over an hour. When she wakes up she doesn’t remember a thing. She is being treated for it and since being on the treatment she hasn’t had any episodes, until now. She didn’t end up passing out, but she was really out of it for the rest of the night. Kumari made her lie in a special position, and she stayed that way twitching for the rest of the night.
This morning I woke up bright and early at five, ready to climb the mountain. Normally I wake up around seven, but I may have to change my sleeping schedule; the early morning here is beautiful and dare I say even a little chilly. One of Priya’s friends came, and he, Priya, Pown, Kartic, and I took two motor bikes to the ashram. The only main path up the mountain starts in the ashram, and since you have to leave your shoes at the door, the climb was made barefoot. It wasn’t too bad to start; the path was clean and made of large stones cut out of the mountain, so it didn’t hurt your feet if you chose your steps carefully. I also think my feet are finally starting to toughen up from always being barefoot. The path was pretty steep, probably as steep as climbing up a huge flight of stairs. On the way up we saw many people meditating on large rocks that jutted out like tiny cliffs. The views were amazing, and the early morning haze blocked all but a hint of the far off mountains. Tiru is even bigger than I realized, and from so high up it looked so lifeless and peaceful, neither of which I would normally use to describe the busy town. On the way up we saw several men carving intricate figurines out of stone. About an hour later we reached the end of the main path. We were maybe two thirds of the way up, and at the end of it was a mini ashram full of potted tropical plant and a small wood hut for meditation. We asked if we could go any further and we were pointed to a solid wall of stone with an arrow pointing up painted on it. We looked further up the wall, and there was another arrow, tiny in the distance, also pointing up. Before I knew it Kartic started climbing like a monkey up the rock. I’m talking real rock climbing. Priya said that I wasn’t allowed to go because Kumari would get mad at her if I did, but when Pown and Priya’s friend also started to climb, I had to go. The only word I have to describe those next twenty minutes is intense. Never have I been so exhausted. I was actually happy to be barefoot because my feet could grab at the tiny cracks and bumps in the smooth rock, and the sweat on my feet gave good traction even if there was nothing for them to hold on to. It got to the point where it was a little easier to climb, but we knew that if we went any farther we would never be able to make it down. We rested and came down the rock cliff in a not so graceful controlled fall. When we finally got back to Priya and the normal path, my legs were shaking uncontrollably from the climb.
We took a different path down so we could see the cave that a holy man spent over sixteen years of his life in. The cave was painted white and beautifully decorated with a small shrine inside. We prayed, put the red and white chalk on our foreheads, and left. The path we took down the mountain was a lot shorter, but also a lot steeper, than the one we took up the mountain. It ended randomly in a tiny neighborhood. The road was very narrow, and little channels on the sides were used for trash, drainage, and sewer. We trekked barefoot through town back to the ashram.
When we got home we came in on a huge commotion. Finally the movers had come. I was tired, sore, and still hadn’t had breakfast, but I helped lug everything onto the big cart nonetheless. Getting everything out of this house wasn’t a problem, but getting it onto the second floor of the new one was. The stairs were way to narrow, so we had to stand on the cart with the fridge and other items raised above our heads while people on the second floor terrace hoisted it over the terrace ledge. Finally, after being up for over six hours, I had breakfast. And now, I think I will sleep.
Peace, Robby
A good view of Tiruvannamalai. The temple is huge!
The crew, looking adventury while taking a rest.
Another view of the temple while coming down the mountain.
you climbed a mountain... barefoot... in India.
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