The Sound of the Tarpha Horn Beckons...

Every holiday celebration or ritual here in the jungle of Nimboli is full of surprise and wonder for us foreigner city folk and last Diwali was just that. We were invited to the village next door, Dadoraipada, to witness their games and competions and inevitably, see a slice of Adivasi or Warli village life that is over 5000 years old. This is the same village life that is seen the famous Warli paintings, such as to the above. Seven ambitious young men of Dadoraipada wanted to inspire their village to celebrate Diwali in a way that would bring out the best of each person. So, they devised many games for both sexes, and all ages. They were emphatic that this what not a party! The implied meaning was that a party involved alcohol.

We were shocked and delighted to be asked to judge the cook off contest for the women. We felt very included in their fun. Lucky for us, the six dishes were very good and obvious examples of local Maharashtran food. We really had no idea what we were eating except to say it was chicken, vegetables or dessert. The judging was quite easy for there was an obvious winner in each class. We didn't know any of the participants, so we were a good choice for their judging.

The young boys played running games and the young girls dancing games. But when all the games were played and the prizes awarded, out came THE HORN, THE TARPHA HORN! Oh My, what a haunting sound. Mesmerizing! Enchanting! Intoxicating!

And then I see my dance partner! She is a village lady about my age who I met last year at a neighbor's wedding reception. We discovered each other on that dance floor and "shook our thing" together--maybe I overstepped what is proper for a foreigner, but I had a fabulous time "letting go" with her. Probably could not have done this even if it was my husband, but that it was with another woman, it seemed acceptable. I did hear a little gossip about it later, but it seemed pretty harmless in the long run.

There we are in the outdoors, surrounded by a whole village of people I don't know. What have I got to lose? I realize I have to seize the moment! My friend is out on the dance floor with all of her friends, wearing the traditional Adivasi saree, wrapped like a tight pants suit. Maybe you have seen the style that the older village women wear. She is happy to see me and I immediately convince her that she has to teach me how to dance and join them in the dancing. She is very enthusiastic about teaching me and off we go into the middle of the dance floor. Amidst hoots and laughs, I find my dancing feet!

Please click on this link to the little video we put together of this magical event. The rhythm of the dancing, the clapping of the dancers, and the sound of the horn will certainly make you want to get up and dance. Come to Nimboli and join us next time!

In this Warli painting you see the Tarpha horn, the lead dancer with the stick that keeps the rhythm, and the sprial of dancers. If you look close, you can see me!

AN ANGEL CAME TODAY

JMH: One of the great gifts of living here at Fire Mountain Retreat Center is being visited by the most wonderful people, living saints, who inhabit this world with us. I never know who will walk through our gates so I am learning to greet everyone with "pani" or water, and "chai" or tea and then, to take the time to sit down and have some conversation and interchange with our guests.

In my busy American life back home, I would have not taken the time to be so gracious at a moment's notice. Instead I would have tried to keep to my "to do list" and visited with people by appointment only. I have discovered that this is not done here in India, and that relationships are much more important than items on my "to do lists".

In India, there is a sentiment that any visitor is God visiting your home. Consequently, to have someone visit your home is the greatest honor. I have to admit it is still taking me time to learn this quality of being a Welcoming Presence to each and every person. But then someone walks in unexpectedly and changes all of that................


DH: AN ANGEL CAME TODAY

She came to our ashram as the sister of a friend. The first unusual thing I noticed about her is that she was a bit troubled by participating in the commonly agreed upon social interacting of guest and host and “normal “ conversation. She was more interested in some other activity. Our friend, her brother, eventually in the stream of conversing, mentioned that she was a very good meditator. She spoke no English and all conversations were translated through her tri-lingual brother. I asked her to come and sit closer so we could discuss this subject of interest to me.

She and her brother misunderstood my verbal statements, and instead of coming to sit in a chair nearer to us, she choose to sit in lotus position on the floor of the veranda. Immediately, she went smoothly, quietly, and blissfully into complete and quietly astounding unification with her Guru/God/Essence/ALL.

We fell into alignment with this darshan, and experienced the most subtle, beautiful, exquisite divine descending of the purest, sweetest, most diving love and ONE Presencing.

Her Guru speaks no words. She, in her darshan, spoke nor thought not. She transmitted the Essence of undivided Essence/ALL.

What a gift!!! We hold awareness of this gift now in our inner treasure house - - it has always been there and will always be here - - a note, a state, a home, an access to GOD-DESS/ALL.

JMH: Her name is Shree Laxmi and she lives in Andrah Pradesh. Her husband died after three years of marriage and then she found her way into an ashram inspired by Ramana Maharshi. Actually, one of the great saint's disciples maintains this ashram who lives in silence and obviously transmits a profound love and peace that is so tangible through this devotee of his. When Dewa asked her to describe her meditation practice, she took a lotus pose and went into a very deep state, opening inner doors for us to join her. This was all on the front porch of Fire Mountain with the usual life happening all around us. I felt my heart opening taking me deeply into the Formless Ocean of All. I am so grateful for this silent and blissful Presence, which is such a gift to us. How she magically appeared in our life is so precious. One thing the Guru had said when we took this positon as Fire Mountain managers, "you will meet the most incredible people." Again and again, he proves to be right.

Winter Perfection at Fire Mountain Retreat

Winter is about perfect in Nimboli/Ganeshpuri: everything is green, the air is cool and easy, the plants are at their peak with color and flowers and fruit. It is magical to see papaya and banana fruit growing abundantly on our own trees. And the taste is divine. It has taken some getting used to the tropical weather. Hot, humid, monsoon. But the winter is the big easy! What a joy! Our friends back home in New Mexico are talking the snow. We are so thankful for merely this bit of coolness in the air.

The red surrounding the Om symbol is actually red leaves, rather like coleus. Flowers aren't the only way to get gorgeous color.

We've taken to collecting hibiscus. They grow easily here in this climate and come in an array of colors: violet, pink, fushia with blood red centers, white, double white, red which we are told that Ganesh must have, double red, yellow, orange, a gorgeous peach-salmon. We have tried growing hybrid roses but the stock plant always wins out. Luckily, the stock is a wild rose that has the most exquisite fragrance, something they make into Gulken, rose jam, which is suppose to be good for you according to Ayurveda. But just the fragrance alone can send you into a sensual ecstasy.

Bouganvillia or Paper flower grows exceedingly well here. Gold, white, varigated purple, magenta. They are not utilized for puja ceremonies but we are happy to have them grow up our walls and display a big spash of color.

We were so excited by our first bunch of bananas on the property. Soon, we found we had five trees producing fruit. The birds have discovered the fruit and we have had to lay claim to them first. We wrap them up in burlap and bring them into the house to ripen.

The fountain next to the Guru's chowk has now been outfitted with a fountain and a Shree Nityananda Education Trust bio sand water filter. The water filter is an attempt to keep the pond water clean and also illustrate how the SNET water filter actually works. Our visitors like seeing one in action. Last week we added some gold fish to the pond. So far they are getting along with the local fish from the river and we aren't finding any floating on the top. Hooray!

Watching the play of the evening light on the landscape can be quite mesmerizing. Last week a visiting meditation teacher remarked at how green and quiet Fire Mountain Retreat is. Since we are off the vehicle roads, there is no road noise. We can hear the temple bells ringing at a distance and sometimes the Brahmins chanting for 4 a.m. abhisheka. (washing of the Nityananda Murti). The soft sounds of the Nimboli village act as a gentle reminder of earthly life but are not distracting from meditation and contemplation. Fire Mountain offers a clean, comfortable and quiet respit from the busy western world and the hectic Indian cities.

Fire Mountain in Nimboli is now offering free shuttle service to and from Ganeshpuri, Guru Siddha Peeth, Vajreshwari, and Alkloli as part of its lodging packages. We've added a "one meal a day" plan for those who want the flexibility to eat in town after aarti at the Bhagawan Nityananda Temple. We are currently developing some "sadhana and seva" programs for visitors to participate in the culture of our local Adivasi neighbors. Please keep informed on these possibilities by readng SNET's website: http://www.shreenityanandaeducationtrust.org/.

SNET FARMING PROJECT

What Women Can Do

What I have heard since arriving in India is "women can't do this, can't do that." That is pretty hard to take since I was instructed about Feminism at 21 years old by my mother-in-law, Gerry Monosoff, who was very active in breaking new ground for women in the 60's. American women would not be where they are today if it was not for women like Gerry standing up to those men who were telling women who, what and how they could be.

Here is Cuckoo (Vanita II) balancing grass that she has cut on the river bank as she climbs up our spiral staircase.

So, I do get all riled up when I hear things like "women can't do this, they can't do that." Like today, the men needed some help putting up some bamboo strips to make a shade arbor. "Women can't do that, they aren't strong enough."

Here is Vanita up there on the dome adjusting the curtain skirt next to the men.

"Excuse me. Weren't those women who were digging up those heavy rocks and moving them on their heads? And weren't those women digging up cement, digging up a leach field, digging up a compost pile? Moving rocks the size of a small child. Excuse me! Those women are strong and able and willing. So don't tell me they can't hold up a little piece of bamboo for a few minutes in the air while you men twist a little piece of wire around the bamboo."

I let those men know I could not agree with their decision not to let the women help them. I rattled off my upset even though I knew they would not understand a word I said. But I think they got my drift. Then, one of my colleagues told me the real reason why they didn't want women helping them. They didn't know how to talk to women. Men can't talk to women. Men have their own talk and women have theirs. Oh, Gerry, we have a long ways to go here in India.

Women Painting, OMG:

I feel I broke new ground today, when Vanita, my cook, said she wants to learn to paint. Oh my Goodness. "Women don't paint." But she has seen me mixing colors and painting walls, trim, whatever. And enjoying getting paint all over me in the process. And now she wants to paint. She was a little timid at first, but I said it was like putting on cake frosting. This is the same woman I am teaching to bake. Remember my Marathi is very limited, so I have to think of ways to explain things in words that I know. Anyway, she got the picture. "Ami soy-pak color." "We are cooking up paint." We both laughed and I loved seeing her try something new and breaking through those limited ideas of what she as a woman can and can't do. She got so inspired, she painted our kitchen. At first she had me mix the colors, but I had her make suggestions so that she could see how one figures out how to match colors. Before I knew it she took that paint and painted the entire kitchen with new paint. We were cooking paint today.

Jeera Biscuits (Cumin Pastries)

I am remembering last year when Dewa and I arrived in Nimboli and we were wondering how we would make food at Fire Mountain after the groups left and we were on our own with our cook, Vanita, who spoke no English, and we spoke no Marathi. How would we be able to buy food at the market ourselves. I guess we just cooked for ourselves those first few months, and bought food ourselves in Ganeshpuri and in Vasai, pointing to the things we wanted and allowing the vendors to take the money out of our hands appropriate to what they were asking.

Here I am with Vanita in the Fire Mountain Kithcen. ( I am always having a "bad hair day" so I have taken to wearing a scarf. "Look Ma, no hair!")

I began to study Indian food and vegetarian cooking, but sincerely wondered how we would get the nutrition we needed from only vegetables. I began to realize that the predominance of Indians are vegetarian. And the ones in our village are looking very trim and healthy.

Since we came back from our Ayurvedic treatment in Shivpuri last August, we began to embrace Indian food more easily. (See their website: http://www.healthayurveda.com/ and read Dewa's blog post titled "Akkalkot Adventures on October 18, 2009).

In fact, I started to really understand the power of eating mung beans and learned some interesting ways to cook mung, as well. Once I knew this, I could begin to ask Vanita to make these things, too.

Sunil was kind enough to let us borrow his oven, which his wife rarely used. So over the past few months I have baked a few Ayurvedic cakes and at Christmas time made some of my family's favorite Christmas cookies. Vanita told Sunil she wanted to learn to bake. So today I decided to bake Jeera biscuits with her, which is a little cookie without any sugar and flavored with cumin seeds. Really quite nice with the traditional Indian chai (tea with milk). Our Marathi teacher, Gita introduced us to Jeera biscuits, along with many other delicious Indian foods. She is an excellent cook and fortunately for me, can describe to me in English what ingredients she uses and how she combines them. Twice now, she has spent the day here at FM teaching me about four recipes all at once. What a whirl wind those events were.

Back to the Jeera biscuits: When baking with Vanita, I knew I was going to have to translate the recipe from English to Marathi. We could use the pointing out method. No problem. But I had not realized that we would then have to figure out how to write it in Marathi. Unfortunately, Vanita has had little schooling, and isn't fluent in writing Marathi. Dewa believes she is the type of student to be in the back of the classroom enjoying jokes with the little rascals. She is that kind of delightful. Dewa and I have spent five months learning the Marathi alphabet, which has 56 letters, and 412 conjugations. A little bit more complicated than English. Our learning has been slow. Fun at times when we are on the road and trying to figure out an advertisement, or a restaurant and trying to read a Marathi only menu.




Today we had to enlist some of the other workers to help us write the Marathi words. Since she said she wanted to learn to bake, I wanted her to have some record of how we bake the different items I envision us making in the future. So together, with my five Marathi primers spread out behind the cooking ingredients, we figured out how to write the Marathi word for each ingredient. We each wrote out our recipe in Marathi.
My Marathi teacher, Gita, will be proud of me. She has taught us well over the past five months, although we were not such good students, at times. Here is Gita's photo. You can see why we had a good time with her learning Marathi.













As Vanita and I actually made the recipe I had her refer back to her copy of the recipe so that she would read her own writing. What might have been a little cooking class turned out to include a mutual Marathi lesson: She taught me the Marathi words for ingredients, and then together we learned how to write it.

I can imagine that Vanita had to go to work early in life and didn't have time to study in school, which is how it is for most village women. Also, most women don't have access to bathrooms when they go to school, and so they eventually give up on school after being uncomfortable from either from "holding it" or walking into the woods to "do their business." This is a big problem all over rural India.

But here, under the auspices of Nityanandsa Education Trust, we are enjoying the companionship of one another and learning together. I imagine that this is what SNET is about: empowering women, one at a time if need be, to evolve, be more. What a sweet time we had.

Oh by the way, the Jeera Biscuits were tasty too. The recipe follows.

















Jeera Biscuits

Sift together:

1 cup all purpose flour. (next time I will use Nachini or chia seed flour)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder


In separate bowl, mix:
1/3 cup ghee
2-4 tsp buttermilk or yogurt thinned out
1/2 tsp sugar

Grind small:
5-6 curry leaves
1-2 fresh green chili

Mix all the above together slowly.
Add
1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
Make a soft dough that you can be rolled into balls.
Arrange on greased cookie sheet.
Using fork, flatten like a peanut butter cookie leaving fork
prong marks, or not.

Bake 350 deg. F for 15 mins.

Bio Sand Water Filters ARE Improving the Lives of 400 Families

A few weeks ago, I tagged along with Shri Nityananda Education Trust Field Manager, Pervaz Kazi, as he interviewed twenty families within Nimboli village who had received SNET Bio Sand Water-filters nearly a year ago. The overall response was extreme satisfaction with how the water filter not only improved the families’ health, but also improved the taste of their daily drinking water. See how happy these women are with their "best friend."

Prior to receiving the SNET water filter, they walked to the end of their street where there is a government installed well. Unfortunately, the engineers located it directly in the path of water drainage system. Hence, the water is most often dirty. Secondarily, the well water is hot because Nimboli is situated amidst geo thermal activity. Over and over, we heard the recipients of the SNET water filter say they “liked how the water was clean and cool.” Many of them commented that they now bring their own filtered water with them to work, to school, and on any outings away from the home. They don’t believe they can get such cool clean water anywhere else, except to pay for bottled water.

The major sentiment of the women interviewed was relief in seeing their families healthy. Many families reported an almost total disappearance of illnesses caused by water born organisms, such as diarrhea, cholera, skin infections. Common colds and flu had lessened, as well.

What was surprising was to learn how often the recipients cleaned their filter. Some followed their instructions and cleaned them monthly. But some householders could taste the difference in the water after being cleaned and so cleaned the filter more often. The majority cleaned about every week or every other week, but one lady literally cleaned hers daily because she could taste the difference. Others cleaned theirs every few days.

Almost all of the filters were situated in a prominent place in the family’s home, be it in the kitchen, or on the back porch. Most people were very emphatic about the rewards of the water filer and expressed their deep appreciation for the improvement in the quality of their lives.

Of the twenty families we visited, only one person believed the filter to be malfunctioning even thought she cleaned it. Another man said his fell over ten days prior, but the amount of plant growth that had grown up onto it showed that it was probably not being used for over a month. He said he was not strong enough to put the filter up right and would need SNET’s help to get it functioning again. Both of these families were reported to the installer for maintenance.

Every week I meet people on the streets of surrounding areas who yet don’t have their own SNET water filter. I feel sad to tell them that we don’t quite have enough money yet to deliver water filters to their village. They hear of neighbors who do have one, and wish to receive the life changing benefits for their own family. I wish we could provide all the families here in the Tansa Valley with their own water filter.

Some of the other villages rely on river water for their household supply. This is contaminated by human and animal excrement up stream and is extremely dangerous to their health. Now some of those families have the benefit of cleaning the water with SNET water filter.

Read more about SNET projects in rural India. http://www.tmaseva.com/

Your donations go directly to providing new water filters to village families in need of clean water. $25 covers the cost of building and installing a life time water filter.

Jeanetta Monosoff Haley

Santa-Ananda Finds Nimboli

Santa-Ananda found his way to Nimboli today. Most people in attendance at the annual Christmas party had no idea how lucky we were to have this red suited jolly man actually find Fire Mountain Retreat's address in rural India. As you can see in the photo, Santananda and Mrs. Claus were having a good time singing us a few Western style Christmas carols. (Mrs. Claus let us all know she prefers Mrs to Ms. since she is an old fashion type of girl!) The local English and Marathi teacher, Gita Lotanker, even joined in the singing, since she had learned Christmas songs as a child attending convent schools. Most of the children were not impressed by the Claus' singing but the adults in the audience were amused and entertained by their antics.










Sunil Anaokar is holding son of Ananda, our neighbor and Fire Mountain staff employee, while two other happy flower children look on.


Kazi brought us the flower face masks and hats from Thane. They were too cute!!!






Not turkey, cranberry sauce, sage nor rosemeary were anywhere to be found within hours of Nimboli. So, Christmas dinner was a Fusion Style dinner, as they say in the food industry, a blend of two cultures. A delicious Chicken Curry was made by Sunil. Jeanetta believes no Christmas dinner is complete without mashed potatoes and turkey stuffing even if there was no turkey. She had to improvise with the recipe substituting local Curry leaves for sage. She has become quite fond of Curry leaves since her move to India and believes curry leaves was an improvement on the original recipe. Probably no one in the crowd knew what stuffing was, but she was not worried. She hoped that there might be leftovers, since stuffing is a family favorite for her. Kazi said he went back for seconds after figuring out he liked it. Vanita made her wonderful cabbage, carrot, coconut vegetable dish.

Kazi after discovering he likes stuffing!

Unexpectedly, many more people came then anticipated, but there was more than enough food for everyone. Jeanetta has no experience in cooking dal for 35 people and had cooked enough for probably double that number. Food never goes to waste as the staff were happy to take home leftovers. Sunil expertly handled the dispersion of food and candy to the 30 children who descended upon the party from neighboring houses.

Cooking vegetarian cookies and cakes without eggs is always a challenge since most recipes require eggs. But when Jeanetta and Dewa attended the Ayurvedic clinic at Shivpuri last summer, she learned some recipes for both. Fortuantely, some of the classic favorites such as Russian Tea cakes and Shortbread have no eggs and the basic recipe can easily be adapted to local ingredients, such as cow's ghee. Her mother, Muriel Manning, used to tell her that when you use good ingredients, you will make good food. And making cookies and cakes with cow's ghee is a winner.

Gita said her favorite was butterscotch cake. Now, Jeanetta is a card carrying chocolate lover. She does not even know how to spell butterscotch let alone know how to make the butterscotch flavor. But fortunately the internet occasionally works in Nimboli, and she could download a few recipes. The cake turned out to be a Butterscotch Pudding cake which is a much better error than a dried out cardboard type of cake. You bakers out there must know what this means. The speed of which the cake disappeared from the table tells us that it was a success.
Presents were stacked on the dinner table after dinner for the children to see. All of the staff's children were told to pick one. Fortunately, when one little girl received a toy truck she found an equally bewildered and disappointed boy holding a see through sack containing a pink plastic tea set. The exchange happened before any explanation crossed an adult's lips.

The adults were made to engage in a pink elephant kind of exchange. Everyone picked a number. As the numbers were read out, the person with the number could pick a new unwrapped present, or "steal" one from someone who had already opened a present. The person losing their present then had permission to "steal" someone else's present or pick a new one. There were lots of screams and laughter, especially as one young women was "not going to allow anyone to steal her present" and she didn't. What fun!!! What laughter!!!

Even Mrs. Claus was happy to be holding her present after it was "stolen" from her three times.

Santa and Mrs. Claus slipped away into the dark of night when no one was looking. We hope they come back again next year.

Speaking Marathi.....
We are beginning to break through the language barrier a little each day here in Maharashtra as we finish our fifth week of Marathi classes. Three times a week we meet for two hours with Gita, a Elementary Teacher who was trained in English-speaking Convent schools for her entire education. Marathi is not her first language, but she had to learn it when she married Pravin 22 yrs ago. She says it took her 12 years to master the language, but since it is not her first language she has an idea of what it takes to learn it as an adult. She primarily teaches English to children, so she is interested in languages and how best to teach languages.

We are her first Westerners, and maybe adults as well, so she is having to adjust to our desires and needs. Dewa (Dahvee) does not want to sit on the floor as it hurts his knees. I like sitting on the floor for it made of tile and offers some refreshing coolness in the heat of the day. She is most comfortable sitting on the floor as are most Indian people we have met. Chairs are uncommon. This has impacted our instruction in that Dewa is higher than the teacher. Also he is an older male, and women have to reduce their contact with men, although they would tell you this is not so. It is just in the culture. So we have had to take this into consideration when participating in the instruction. Dewa can be left out if we don’t make a point to include him. Things one takes for granted can become a challenge to overcome.

We started with learning to hear, pronounce, write, and read the 12 vowels. With each letter, she assigns about five words to memorize. Now we have begun to learn the 24 consonants. Last weekend went to the beach for two nights. Along the way we were able to read the mileage signs and the name of our destination. Made us feel we are learning something. On the way home, we played a game with our two drivers. We spoke the Marathi words we knew, hoping that we could pronounce them correctly and they would recognize them. Their challenge was to interpret it correctly into English. The four of us got the pleasure of practicing our language skills with each other. I think we probably pronounced 80% of the words correctly.

Yesterday a woman came up to me saying “Aunti, Aunti.” I turned around to meet a woman I had seen the night before in the Nityananda Temple. I asked her for her name in my limited Marathi, but I must have gotten it right, for she told me her name. It always feels exhilarating when somebody speaks back to you. They light up to realize that you just spoke to them in Marathi. Of course, then they go on to speak so rapidly you don’t stand a chance to answer. This is when I have to pull out the standard phrase, “Me Marathi bolto nay,” which means I don’t speak Marathi. This too usually gets a laugh out of everyone. One person told us it will take us 4 years to learn Marathi. Neither Dewa nor I ever became fluent in Spanish and only speak like children, but it has always opened doors for us that we can do that much. Maybe in the next six months we will be able to have some little conversations with our neighbours.
India is a land of many languages and so it is very common that everyone speaks two to four languages. Here in Maharashtra, Marathi, Hindi and English are most common. A lot of the Indian people we meet are from a different state, and that means their first language is from their home state, and Hindi, Marathi and English are added on later. Actually, I feel a lot of admiration for these people who can speak four languages and it inspires me to make the effort to learn Marathi as well.
We learned the other day that Marathi is a derivative of Sanskrit. Here is what Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia had to say:
Marathi (मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of south western India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide.[2] Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India[6] and the 15th most spoken language in the world.[3] Marathi is the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about AD 1000.[7]
Marathi is estimated to be more than 1300 years old, evolving from Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. Its grammar and syntax derive from Pali[citation needed] and Prakrit. In ancient times, Marathi was called Maharashtri, Marhatti, Mahratti etc.

Marathi
मराठी Marāṭhī
Marathi written in Devanāgarī and Modi

Pronunciation
[məˈɾaʈʰi]
Spoken in
India , Israel and Mauritius[1]
Marathi speaking population is found in United States, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Canada, UAE, South Africa, Israel, Pakistan Singapore, Germany, UK, Australia & New Zealand
Region
Maharashtra, Goa, parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Sindh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
Total speakers
Total 90 million speakers[2]70 million native, 20 million second language
Ranking
15[3] (native)15[2] (combined)
Language family
Indo-European
· Indo-Iranian
o Indo-Aryan
§ Southern Indo-Aryan
§ Marathi
Writing system
Devanagari script, Modi script (traditional)
Official status
Official language in
India (State of Maharashtra, Union territories of Daman-Diu)[4] and Dadra Nagar Haveli[5]
Regulated by
Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad & various other institutions
Language codes

Marathi is spoken in India, Mauritius and Israel. Marathi is also spoken by emigrant Maharashtrians worldwide, especially in the U.S. and Europe.

Visa Regulations Require Trip to Thailand. Oh, Too Bad

May 18, 2009

It has been a month since either of us wrote in our blog. Our time has been packed with various wonder-filled activities in and around Nimboli. . Both of us have written about our Indian experiences, but neither of us have polished them for this blog. By the photos you might wonder where we have gone. Palm Springs, California? China? Japan? They don't allow you to wear bathing suits like this in India!

Right now we are in Chaing Mai, Thailand. We wanted to escape the worst of the heat in Nimboli which was expected to get up to 120 degrees F. And now we are in northern Thailand experiencing monsoon weather. We do find it refreshing after so many weeks of dry heat. We also had to leave the country every six months to renew our tourist visa. Some people have student visas when staying in an ashram and we will have to explore this. But for the time being, it is to our advantage to “have to leave” the country every six months. We probably would not have left if it was not required.

Dahvee found a four star hotel online, the Green Lake Resort, with two fabulous swimming pools, gorgeous and elegant simplicity in its architecture, and more than just a comfortable place for us to stay.

The tourism trade has suffered 50% here in Thailand due to swine flu scare, political upheaval and economic downturn. Of course this works in our favor by everyone offering special discounts. Our hotel is just a short drive outside the city of Chaing Mai and charges $ 26 a night which includes breakfast and air conditioned room. They shuttle guests to and from the main city for free three times a day. We are very happy with our arrangements. The gardens are abloom with exotic flowers: many varieties of orchids, birds of paradise, Champa, and unknown flowers. It is heavenly. We are surprised that there are not more bugs..

Sunday night is the principal weekly street fair which attracts locals and tourists. We were looking forward to attending. But as soon as we jumped out of the shuttle, the clouds released torrents of rain. We looked around for a dry place to wait out the storm, and there was our salvation: “Starbucks”. We had tried the Indian equivalent in Mumbai: Costa Coffee and Café Coffee Day. Each time we were disappointed. But here in Chaing Mai, you would not know the difference from this Starbucks and the one in your neighborhood in the states, except of course, the Thai translations. We were not disappointed.

We spent our first day napping by the pool, swimming in the delightful water and reading. Impulsively I bought a copy of Louis Fletcher’s “The life of Mahatma Gandhi” at the Mumbai airport. (In five months I have found only one adequate bookstore in Mumbai. I know there must be hundreds, but when we go to Mumbai we usually have a list of things to do that always exceeds the time we have available.) This book is perfect for it is answering many of the historical questions that have arisen in our minds since arriving in India: When and how did the caste system get started? When did the British arrive and for how long did they rule? What did India look like before the British? And what exactly did Gandhi do for India. I am not going to answer those questions for you, but this book has been a fabulous resource for me. I have been a fan of Gandhi’s since I saw the movie of his life probably over 20 yrs ago. And now I am learning more about what influenced his decisions and his actions. I do believe this will make a difference in the way I adapt to the amazing country of India.

Every night our hotel has a spa special which allows us to partake in some kind of massage or spa treatment. Right now we are waiting for our notification that our evening massage for $9 will be ready. The other night, Dahvee had two and half hours of body work and he looked so relaxed when he got back to our room. Chiang Mai has become a mecca for massage and health treatments. Of course, we all have heard of the plethora of sexual massage parlors here, but also, there are many legitimate massage clinics. Even at the open air market, there were rows of lounge chairs, the kind you watch TV from, where massage therapists awaited the chance to give a client a foot or back massage. By the end of the evening all the chairs were filled, and there were many hands at work on exposed feet, backs, legs, arms and heads. I personally like to receive my back rub in private. Dahvee has been trying for weeks to receive a massage in Nimboli. Two times he has found a massage therapist, both times men, and was given 10 minute massages. Not quite what he had in mind. So we are looking into taking a 5 or 10 day Thai massage class here in Chaing Mai so that we can at least be of benefit to each other once back in Nimboli.

Our second day here we walked around inside the old walled city of Chaing Mai. We are immediately struck at how clean and organized the streets are. I wondered why is it the concrete streets of India crumble making for such rough streets? Dahvee explained that the politicians and city officials are known for siphoning money off the top leaving very little for infrastructure. It is a shame.

Here in Chiang Mai it seems that every street has a beautiful Buddhist temple and gold laden stupa. Inside, we found monks in orange robes performing various rituals, eating lunch or meditating. The energy in each of the temples was beautiful and strong and we found it very easy to meditate. Some of the temples are over 500 years old, so one can imagine that many prayers and devotions have been performed in each. Dahvee caught some great shots of the gorgeous architecture of the temples with their adornments of dragons, gold, and Buddha figures. Here is his friend the dragon.

More to come………………….
Jeanette

Adjusting to New Life in Nimboli

This is a quick status report:

It is hard to believe, but today the phone line men came again, and now we have internet service at 1500 speed, not 50. Wow!!! it is fast.

We finally can begin to download podcasts again. Hooray for Kazi!!

Our third letter has now been delivered to Nimboli via post office. It arrives hand delivered by motorcycle. Amazing!!

Had our third puja in Dome today, a little yagna with paduka abesheka; very lovely. This brahman, Govinda, includes us and explains some things in English.

Air conditioner is working well.
Kazi having success with his work for NET.

Swami G came and went. He is looking forward to seeing his Australian friends and Swami Shankarananda in Melbourne.

Dahvee had to get a replacement bike since first one broke twice. He is very happy with his replacement.

Our doctor next door invited us in for tea today. dear man and devoted to Swami Pornananda, of Rak Hadi Baba lineage next door. Lovely neighbors we have here in Nimboli.

The river is drying up quickly. Just heard that we can count on the water table rising for several days in August above the porch.

Doctor told us that the only dangerous things are scorpions and snake bites. He has anti venom for both. Seen three scorpions so far. I think I will get off the floor now that I think about it. We did get a darling little cat for catching crawling things. He said the lizards and chirogs not dangerous.

Off to bed,
Love,
Jeanette

Goddess Visits During Yagna

Dahvee and I are doing our best here in this hot weather of 105 to 110 degrees. It is suppose to get even hotter in May, up to 120 degrees. Our visas require that we have to leave the country every six months, so we will probably leave in late May to go to the highlands of Nepal, or such. In June the monsoon season starts, and everything gets more humid, but cooler. Some people like the monsoon, some don't. We will see.

Fortunately we are in the process of having an air conditioner installed today. Dahvee has broken out in a fungal rash across his chest and back, kind of scary. We have been in communication with our new hormone doctor in Mumbai about it, and have already received one prescription for the infection. We feel glad we have that connection with a doctor who speaks English. Can you imagine, when we had our first appointment with him, he spent three hours talking to us. When was the last time you got more than an half hour in the states? And we were able to both get our Bio identical hormones here in Mumbai. Hooray!! Dahvee probably got the infection when we went swimming in the local river, which has now almost dried up. When we were swimming, we all felt like scratching ourselves, but we were so hot, that we just ignored this discomfort. Since our bodies are so hot, this fungus is having a great time. I won't scare you with photos. Hopefully we can report soon it is completely healed.

We haven't gone to many places but many amazing synchronistic events happen here in our home. The other day Dahvee, Maheshwari and I sponsored a puja with a Brahman for one of our staff who painfully wants to have a child. She and her husband have been married for eight years, and here in India not having a child is a problem. She earns about $ 2 a day, so putting on her own puja (at $ 30) would be out of her budget. I remember how painful it was for me to want a child and not be able to conceive. Fortunately for me, those times are long gone; and instead we can all pray for them.

This local Brahman, Govinda, came over and did the most elaborate Puja for them in our Dome at Fire Mountain. Here they appeal to the Goddess and Krishna for getting pregnant. So I bought a little brass figure of Krishna and a photo of Shiva, Parvati and their child Ganesh for Juanita to use in the puja and then take back to her home altar.

In the middle of the the three hour puja, we were all startled by the appearance of the most beautiful cow who broke through our fence and ran through the yard. She visited us exactly when the Brahman was doing the prayers to the Mother/Goddess. She was so elegant, holding her head up high. And then when she wanted to leave our fenced compound, she faced our newly built bamboo gate, looked closely for the weakest link, crouched down on her back legs, as if the Mother herself was bending down and gathering up her dress so she could escape thru the gate. Here in India, Krishna is associated with the Cow Goddess. You can find the most touching icons of Krishna suckling directly on the udders of cows. So, when this wondrous cow ran through our yard, we all felt so blessed by this visitation of the Goddess. We all knew this puja would be a successful prayer.

At one point in the puja, they pour ghee onto a plate, and we all look into it to see what the face of the child will be. The photo above is me seeing an image of Krishna crawling baby style, like the other little statues I had seen in the store. Juanita saw it too. We all believe a special child is to come through this couple