In and around Bangalore-- before Trivandrum

In this post I describe what happened in the week that passed between my food poisoning and catching the train to Sivananda Ashram. In other words, this all takes place before the previous entry.
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When I got sick, I was on my way to Bangalore to meet Chris Chapple at an ashram of sorts just outside called Fireflies. Chris is the father of my dear friend Dylan, with whom I attended school from sixth grade onwards. He is a professor of theological studies at LMU, specializing in Indian religions (is this accurate, Chris?), and has spent a lot of time over here. So when I was planning my trip here I made sure to visit him to find out what suggestions he might have. Besides providing me with lots of useful info and helping me make a general plan of how I might spend my time, he mentioned that he would be in the vicinity of Bangalore in early December. The way things worked out, I was fortunate enough to be able to meet up with Chris during this time, while he was paying a visit to Fireflies.

Fireflies is an interesting place/institution. Rather different from most places that assume the label "ashram". As they describe themselves on the website (http://www.fire-flies.net/), "Fireflies is an inclusive secular Ashram open to all spiritual traditions concerned with personal growth, social engagement and environmental action." They continue, "We consider it important to integrate modern secular thinking with those intuitive insights that give deeper meaning to our daily lives. The sacred and the secular have to converge and fuse if we are to solve the grim personal, social and environmental problems facing humanity today." I think this is good stuff . . . . Anyhow, as far as how it functions, Fireflies tends to be occupied by, and is set up for, various NGOs of a generally environmental bent from India as well as abroad who wish to host workshops, retreats, etc. Though very close to Bangalore, its location is in fact quite rural, just outside a tiny village, and it is a delightfully quiet and clean place. (Note that these are not words commonly used when describing places in India.)

Anyhow, the long and the short is that I had a really pleasant, enjoyable stay here. Catching up and talking with Chris was great-- besides being a generally wonderful person to talk to, he has incredible insight into the various religious and spiritual practices of India and beyond, and so I very much appreciated the chance to hear his thoughts on these matters. Talking to him also helped me realize that there are countless opportunities to pursue such practices in the US. (More and more I'm seeing that this is so-- indeed, every ashram or meditation center, etc. that I've looked into here seems to have a major branch of sorts operating in southern California.) Being at Fireflies with Chris (not that I would have been there without him) also allowed me the opportunity to get to know people who run it a bit, and get a sense for all the wonderful things they do in the surrounding community. I'll limit myself to saying that, as someone who has felt increasingly disillusioned with the nature of many, if not most, charitable organizations (promoting so-called "economic imperialism", acting more in interest of preserving their existence than serving their supposed missions, etc), I found their particular model of action in their local community inspiring.

My stay was about 24 hours; then it was back to Bangalore proper to try to meet up with Christoph (German guy, met in Mumbai), who had just flown in from Katmandu the night before. This was logistically challenging, given that I don't have a cell phone and we didn't have a clear place to meet, but after a few hours and misunderstood emails we worked it out.

That evening we walked about Bangalore's famous MG road area, which was without a doubt one of the greatest cultural shocks of my life. A few unavoidable differences aside, it was just like the urban areas of what we like to flatter ourselves by calling the developed world. Bright lights, things that looked new; Western chain stores (Diesel, Levis) and big, shiny advertisements for fancy Western goods (Sony); restaurants serving Western food (not to mention Dominos); Indians conversing with one another in perfect (if still distinctly Indian) English. And, most of all, malls-- escalators, trendy teenagers, food courts!&$%!! We wandered into one hat turned out to be one massive (seven story) department store; it's hard to describe how bizarre this felt after being in such different environments for what was at the time the better part of the previous two months. With its expansive, white linoleum floors, neatly arranged merchandise, and fully Western style supermarket on the top floor, I'm tempted to say that it was at least as overwhelming and, well . . . shocking . . . as arriving in Damascus or Mumbai. (Though this may have something to do with the fact that it was unexpected . . . and to be fair, my airport pick-up in Damascus was pretty shocking.)

The next day we took a three hour bus trip to the nearby hill station (of sorts) called Nandi Hills. This place was distinct in my experiences in India thus far in that it was overseen by a single entity-- the Dept. of Horticulture or some such thing. It gave the place a resort-like feel, but I don't mean that in a bad way (as I probably would generally). Though I maintain that most places in India are neither clean nor quiet, Nandi Hills also possessed both of these attributes. Set on top of a big hill, it also had some excellent views, when the place wasn't socked in by clouds (which were cool too-- mystical feeling). And there were tons of wild monkeys . . .

Though it was a pleasant place to visit, there wasn't all that much to it, so the next day we headed back into Bangalore, with the intent of making our way to Sivananda. After booking our train tickets (with the requisite bureaucratic hoop-jumping), we had a few hours before departure, and so we were able to join Chris briefly at the beautiful home of a former student of his in Bangalore, which was another really enjoyable encounter. Christoph, who is doing the German equivalent of majoring in religion, was thrilled to meet and talk with Chris, and I was really glad to see him again, and we both appreciated the chance to meet Sanjeev (the former student) and his wife (who's name escapes me, as names tend to do) and children-- as well as their hospitality and the excellent food they served us. But, as we had a train to catch, we weren't able to stay long. And then we were on our way south . . .