From Sarnath I took the Vinishawatha Express back to Delhi, an overnight journey of 12 hours. Luckily I had some interesting cabinmates to pass the time. Jacques was Frenchman from outside Grenoble who had moved to Himalayan India to become a Buddhist monk.
Jacques had just come from Sarnath to see the Dalai Lama. He had some great stories about Dharamsala where the teenagers join the monasteries in hopes of moving to the US or Europe. Apparently there's a real drug problem with the next wave of Tibetan and Nepalese monks, and they're more concerned with learning English than Buddhism. "But what will they teach when they move the to the US?" asks Jacques rhetorically in his think French accent. "English?"
To deal with problem, the monasteries are just accepting more monks - communities are expected to double from the hundreds into the thousands this year. "If there are 3 or 4 very good monks in a monastery of 3 or 400, then it is very good." Yikes -- talk about quality control. Also, a lot of the inductees are from the West like Jacques. So Westerners and the Tibetan/Nepalese are using the religion to switch places, hmm....
My other cabinmate was Mareka, a thirty-something lady from Finland who was disenchanted with her life as a corporate marketer and traveling the world. She's going to Holland after travels to visit a friend, a florist, she met on the road. I laid down a good plug for the Cass School and the profession, odds are now like 20 to 1 she restarts work arranging Leather Leaf and Baby's Breath bouquets. Also, and this was so eery, she had been in Ithaca last year and is cousins with the lady who runs Pangaea, a restaurant in town I've been trying to get to. Now I've traveled to India for the perfect excuse.
My last cabinmate, and probably the most interesting to me anyway, was an Indian girl, unfortunately I didn't catch her name, who was pursuing an MBA in India. She was a first year and it was great to hear about the industries and fields she had to choose from. There's some overlap with the US, but she decided not to pursue a degree in the US because it was too expensive. Interestingly, her family was top of mind in the job search. She wants to move near Delhi so her mother can come stay with her before she gets married.
When Mareka asked about the (now outlawed) Caste system's impact on current marriage arrangements, our Indian cabinmate believed it was still very prevalent. Parents call the shots, even if it's not an arranged deal, literally a deal given the dowry and wedding expenses. Yahoo! personals appeal to women in search of husbands, not dates. "What if you want to marry someone else? Or get a job on your own?" Mareka asked. "Why disobey? She cared for me, she brought me up."
Hi Alex,
Your adventure in Delhi reminded your Uncle and I of our middle of the night arrival in Yerevan. We had the same experience with cabbies trying to rip us off. Fortunately we had Edward with us to keep us from getting bamboozeled (sp?). It is much more difficult when you are traveling alone... especially when you're tired.
I particularly like this last post about the 3 cabin mates. It is so interesting to meet people of varied backgrounds. It gives such a different perspective than all we are used to.
Stay safe and enjoy the rest of your adventures.
Love you.
Auntie Joan
Posted by: Joan | December 29, 2006 at 09:06 AM