In the home of the gods

After an incredibly active past two weeks we've arrived safe and sound in Bangaluru, aka Bangalore, the tech-capital of India. Think Seattle during the tech boom of the 1990s. We're visiting Linga & Vijay, the parents of Laura's girlhood pen-pal (who now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana). Laura is learning how to make chapati with Vijay right now, the two of them laughing and chatting in the kitchen while I write and Linga catches up with the TV. We have all the comforts of home -- nice bathroom, home-cooked meals, but most importantly warm and welcoming hosts as only India could provide.

Or my grandparents.

Fittingly, they have the names of the god Shiva (Lingaiah, from "lingam," the pedestal representing Shiva) and his wife Lakshmi (Vijaylakshmi), so you could say that we are in the care of the gods for the next few days. Why fittingly? It occurs to me that I haven't discussed my new-found reverence for Shiva. Very early in the trip, around the time Mumbai was exploding, something was pressing me to establish a shrine. A centerpiece to solidify my travels, sort of, but also this general sense instilled in me from traveller's tales and the panoply of divinity that a focal point was necessary to stay grounded and to help make sense of it all. I read and read and quizzed locals I chatted with about various gods and temples. Ganesh -- son of Shiva and also god of luck & wealth -- is predominant currently, but he didn't ring true to me. Perhaps it was the focus on money, perhaps it was the elephant head. I was looking for something else. Krishna came to mind as a possibility. Musician, chaser of milkmaids. Also plays the role of advisor to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. But I'm not really the milkmaid-chasing musician anymore.

Then there's Hanuman, the monkey-god. Strong, reknowned for knowledge and serving Rama. Or I could follow the footsteps of countless westerners before me and follow the Buddha or the Dhali Lama, both of which are easily accessible here. But while Buddhism still resonates with me, I've learned how entwined it is with Hinduism -- it was originally a rebellion against the caste system some 2,000+ yrs. ago. Ok, then, how about the Jesus? He's kind of a big deal here, whether you're new-born or you've been into his movement since his apostles landed here some 1,900 yrs. ago. (Seriously, folks, India has got it all and has had it longer than we know! Watching "authentic tribal dance" in the Sunderban Tiger Reserve Laura and I were both amazed to find African rhythms and movements than must have migrated here some 40,000 yrs. ago, to take an uneducated guess.)

Things somehow came to a head for me in Varanasi, the most holy city along the most holy Ganga, where the (dharmic) wheel of life begins and ends. Quite literally ends with the dead at the Burning Ghats, burning on pyres while their ash is sucked back into the mud of the Holy Mother (anyone heard that deitic phrase before, "Holy Mother"?). Varanasi, the oldest continuously-inhabited city on earth, where I was able to fulfill part of my pre-figured mental search via consultation with an aryuvedic medical authority at the university hospital there and where India finally came together emotionally for me, where things began to make sense despite (or perhaps because of) the heavy mist upon the Ganga that engulfed us every night; Varanasi is the city of Shiva: god of virility (fitting for a honeymoon, no?), compassion, wisdom. You would be shocked (or would you?) to see some portraits of him: peeling apart his chest to expose his bleeding heart (are you familiar with Catholic iconography?); the sacrificial lamb who gave up his life to end Kali's blood-lust and save humanity (do I need to spell this one out?). And more, not all Jesus related (he's not only the god upon the Ganga, he's also the god of ganja -- heh, heh, heh).

Needless to say, Shiva resonated. I searched fruitlessly for Shiva idols for a month until, tucked away in a Tibetan store in Fort Cochin (aka, 2 days ago), I found the perfect one. And for 50 rupees, no less! How fitting, then, that we've come for a stay at Shiva and Lakshmi's home before we return to Mumbai to fly home.

India is full of synchronicity.

I'm being called off to dinner ... more blogging (from at least one of us) later tonight.