Buddha, Tofu and a man called Om
on Jane in India (India), 19/Apr/2011 16:45, 34 days ago
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At the end of March I had a 2-day VSO conference - the Programme Area Review for all the partner NGOs and volunteers working under VSO's Disability programme. It was held in Ranchi, Jharkhand. My impression of Ranchi was eh...grim. But 3 nights in a nice AC hotel made up for that. I got sick the first night so was careful the next few days and followed strict ordersfrom my Indian colleagues to drink nimbu pani (lemon water) and swallow tea leaves (I think it worked!). On the last day the Disability Commissioner of Jharkhand was in town at an Accessibility workshop. I went along to do a demo of a software aaina (my organisation) has developed. It's a database for keeping official records of disabled people and their entitlements, something which isn't currently being registered. It is being rolled out in certain districts of Orissa and hopefully to other states, such as Jharkhand.So after the PAR I took a week off to do a bit of travel. First stop Bodhgaya - where Buddha attained enlightenment.The Great Buddha Statue, BodhgayaHighlights:- The BODHI TREE at Mahabodhi Temple, under which Buddha attained ENLIGHTENMENT. It was a really peaceful place to visit, walk around in bare feet watching the buddhist pilgrims chanting, monks in orange robes and people sitting meditating.- EATING great food in an unassuming restaurant called TOFU, across the road from Deep Guesthouse where we stayed. The menu was unbelievably varied for such a tiny place, and everything we ordered tasted great, really cheap, and a very cute, very old man working there was the icing on the cake.- Wandering into a Tibetan monastery, being instructed by an ancient (and seemingly deaf) old Tibetan monk to turn the WHEEL OF TIME.- A MASSAGE from a strange little yoga guru called Om. Although it was quite painful at parts, the massage was great, my back was cracked& stretched, and he said all my CHAKRAS were in good shape, apart from my MERIDIAN (top of my chest) which he says gets blocked from drinking or smoking (oh dear). After the massage Om started showing me how high he could jump by leaping into the sky and what weird shapes he could twist into..quite a surreal afternoon that was.the Bodhi Tree& buddhist pilgrims, Mahabodhi temple, Bodhgayame& Ceci under the Bodhi Tree...omthe market square, Bodhgaya