FEB 23, 13 .. PONDICHERRY .. INDIA .. SATURDAY
It sure feels GREAT to be ‘settling in’ for awhile! I was getting pretty tired and worn out ! Was? I AM pretty tired and worn out present tense! I have paid for my room here in ‘Pondi’ through March 7th .. so I am good-to-go here for two weeks!
I must be getting old!
I have been .. more or less .. constantly on-the-go .. since flying out of Detroit, Michigan, Monday the 28th of January for Chicago, Illinois and then immediately onward to Hong Kong ! After a week in Hong Kong I was off to New Delhi .. then South to Agra Cantt .. and back to New Delhi .. and South to Chennai and on down to ‘Pondi’ ..
Even though I stayed a week in Hong Kong .. and a week or so in Agra Cantt .. basically I have been on-the-go ! I KNEW fairly closely that at each stop I was going to be leaving on a certain date at a certain time of day .. so I could NOT ‘settle’ !
I love the below saying / philosophy ..
We in the West read Forty Books one time each ..
Those in the East read one book forty times! ..
The Point Captain?
In the world-traveler-scene .. I encounter many travelers .. seemingly hell-bent on seeing all that they can possibly see in as short a time as is possible! Reading at a speed-reading pace as many books (places being visited) as humanly possible! Of course I understand financial constraints contribute to their frenetic pace!
A famous travel quote goes thusly:
It is Thursday! We must be in Belgium !
I myself prefer to settle .. get grounded .. and to really see what it is I am seeing . As a for-instance .. here in Pondicherry I have a ritual of going to the Bay of Bengal on the East Coast of India and East side of ‘Pondi’ .. getting to the Bay around 5:30PM and sitting .. in one place .. NO NOT precisely in the exact identical place ! .. with the number of tourists here it would be impossible to sit in the exact same precise location because other people are also watching the end-of-the-day ‘show’ .. but basically sitting in the same general area and daily reinforcing the experience! So when I am not here .. I can ‘bring back with fairly clear ‘recall’ the wind in my face and the smell of the salt air .. the roar of the breakers crashing onto the rocks and feeling on my face their salty-spray .. being with and watching the people like myself who also are sitting and enjoying this scene .. then in-the-dark walking slowly back to my room. Savoring (attempting to!) each moment!
Last year I stayed in Goa .. in the same room .. for seven weeks! And to this moment-in-time .. those days and experiences are ‘etched’ into my memory. As are scenes and memories from my weeks here in Pondicherry!
OH BOY ! Last night .. for the first time since leaving Detroit .. I MEAN I WAS GETTING ‘RANK’ ! .. I bathed from the top of my head down to the soles of my feet .. at least one half-an-hour en-process ! I used the surgical cleanser Hibiclens to REALLY GET myself CLEAN in certain (under arms) places ..
I also (Phew! All were terrible!) washed my tee-shirt .. my dress shirt .. and my underwear bottoms .. and socks .. I soaked them for an hour-or-so .. then used a hand brush with more soap on collars and wrists etc .. all came out AMAZINGLY CLEAN AND FRESH !
IT is my personal opinion and experience that if you can’t do-this major world travel scene while you are at the same time dirty and sweaty and just grimy and basically un-kempt .. then you do NOT have what-it-takes to do this! When you are on-the-fly you sleep and rest and do NOT take time to do the washing thing(s) self or clothes ! Rest is far more important than cleanliness! My opinion of course! Thank goodness that I have my hair one-eighth of an inch short! THAT I do keep pretty clean! When I wash my face I wash my scalp too!
Goodness I DO FEEL MUCH BETTER!
Well I think that this-will-be-it for now!
With Joy .. Cap ..