A Pain in the Butt

Leigh with a foaming friend

I have a big pain in my butt.  I literally think my tailbone is bruised.  Let me tell you, riding on a half trotting, half walking swaying camel in the scrub land desert of Rajasthan is really not comfortable.  I think everyone on the trip left with a couple pains here and there.  However, that aside, the camel safari that I participated in over the weekend was pretty neat.  We were led out into what they try to advertise as the desert, but was really picture-esque African-like scrub land (still pretty cool).  Besides the awesome experience of riding on a camel and in front of a foaming camel in heat, I also got to see a lot of unique wildlife and add a few more species of birds to my life list.  However, I am not sure that I enjoyed it as much as some of the other girls.  What really bothered me was how the camels were treated. 

Maybe its just my inner animal rights activist coming out, but I feel as bad for the animals here (sans most cows) as I do for the beggar children.  There are stray dogs everywhere, and I have seen dozens of puppies too skinny to survive much longer.  The dogs are seen as such a nuisance that they are often kicked out the way, so they literally run away from any human.  Domesticated animals are generally treated much better.  The lucky purebred dogs that have homes are usually pampered - one of my instructors says his dog has his own bed and has to be pet for 30 minutes every night before falling asleep.  I have seen thousands of goats wearing sweaters that make me jealous (because 40 degrees is considered freezing).  Yet the camels and elephants that I have seen have not been treated well.  Some had sores on them, while all the camels had nose piercings all the way through the cartilage to tie reins on and better control the animal.  Out of ten camels, I would say that two or three were treated nicely by their drivers.  I was lucky enough to snag a camel with a kind driver, so I didn't have to subject mine to too much abuse.

Spit Bubble!

To answer any other questions about the camel safari, no I did not get spit on and yes my fascination with camels is very high.

To turn to a more positive note, I also got to experience a part of Rajasthan where a lot of organic farming takes place.  The larger farm we visited has been certified Indian organic (absolutely no unnatural products go in or around any plants) for over seven years.  The farm was bigger than any organic farm that I have ever been on, and EVERYTHING was beautiful.  There were mangoes, papayas, pomegranates, wood apples, tons of different beans, cauliflower, radishes, carrots, Indian berries, a wide variety of animals and two green houses filled with roses.  Seeing how well everything operates almost makes me want to become a farmer in the future!  We also got a chance to see a large scale vermicomposting research site and see how one of the NGOs can impact so many people in one area.  It was amazing to see the successful part that sometimes gets buried beneath the failures.

Sabeji!  (Veggies!)

Today was a holiday for the Lord Siva so we were lucky enough to have school off.  After a very chilly sleeper train back last night, my roommate and I decided to brave the crowd to try and get to Moti Dungri, the temple on the hill about a block away from our home that is only open once a year.  We waited in line for over an hour, and after we were sure we were not going to get it, moved to the front of the line (Indian style) and try to squeeze our way in.  Lucky for us, we were able to follow a mother and daughter who had a relative in the police force.  With the beautifully dressed mother leading the way and waiting for us to catch up, we made it past thousands in line to the top of the temple and quickly back down.  

Beautiful organic yellow rose

I am very happy to say that, in the past several weeks, the people who treat me nicely and sometimes go above and beyond nice are starting to balance out all of those men and women who disrespect me.  I am so grateful for anyone who does me the smallest favor.  I don't know why, but it has me paying a little bit more attention to karma.  I know that I should try and act as Indian as possible, stop saying please and thank you on the streets or to shopkeepers and pretty much ignore everyone in the streets, but it feels so much better to pick up the blanket that fell off a man's cart or thank the shopkeeper for getting me chai.  It feels wrong to just accept that people are obliged to treat me well because so many treat me poorly.  Though I will try and immerse myself into the culture as much as possible, I refuse to stop my pleases and thank yous...because when I say them, I mean them!


Thanks for reading today :)