The Appointed Time

Monday 7th June 2010

9.10pm

IGI Airport Terminal 2. Blue chair, the left one of a set of three near to the visitors lounge.

India

So I am 16 hours early for my flight. I can't enter the visitors lounge until 8 hours prior to departure. But this terminal does seem very nice. My waiting seat is in a covered area, bright lights and polished floor etc, but to my left is the drop off point for cars so although it looks like I am indoors I am not. It's like a huge pane of glass was removed and the window is now gone. 

The airport is busy. 5 minutes ago I saw all the Americans from the monastery in McLeod Ganj dashing to get their flight. Small World! 

Today I arrived in Delhi at 6am at the the Kashmiri Gate ISBT. Put my bag in storage. My bag with all its straps and buckles means a padlock is useless with it, however to please the cloakroom assistant I put one on. 

The ISBT is a decrepit 1950s or perhaps 60s era building that in timely Indian style has become a rotting neglected shell. Concrete is covered in dust, paint is flaking and faded. People sleeping everywhere. And a feeling nothing has been changed, updated or repaired since day one. 

After getting the airport bus info and drinking a couple of teas I took a wrong turning and went two subway stops in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. So I turned around and munched some biscuits as I went. 

I saw the actual Kashmiri Gate, what there is, and wondered down to Chandi Chowk which is a big central shopping street with many unremarkable stores. At one end of this street is the red fort which happens to be closed on Mondays. I went to the biggest Mosque in India, the Jamir Masjid, but despite having no intention of using my camera I was still asked for 200 rupees to go in. I declined and went back to trying to shake off rickshaw wallahs. 

A tea or two later and I was back at the ISBT, and it was then around 1pm. On my way back I bought my last Indian meal, a pile of chapatis, with some dahl and onions.

I ate it with a Pepsi up on the secluded second floor where some people were sleeping on cardboard. A precious commodity for those sleeping rough here. I joined them myself for 5 or 6 hours of broken snoozing.
Light rain fell sporadically.

I read yesterday's TOI and did pretty well at the crossword. Today's edition in Delhi has no crossword in it.

By 7pm I was bored of waiting around and fancied my chances of going to the airport so took the 50 rupee bus here. Getting around Delhi isn't easy. It took an hour or so. It was nice to see some of modern Delhi, Connaught Place and several big hotels from the bus window.

The Red Fort I saw earlier is in Old Delhi, not New Delhi.

The bus from McLeod Ganj took 12 hours. Before it left I bumped into the guy who runs the tea shop on the way to the library, he saw me and we talked for a few minutes. That was nice.

I was sat by a monk on the bus. He was 23 years old and had been in McLeod for the Dalai Lama's teachings. He was heading to Karnataka, a place in the south which is a 38 hour train ride from Delhi. I'll be back in England when he is still travelling on the train, which is hard to believe with all the waiting around I've been doing!

There's a nice cooling breeze in the air right now. The weather in Delhi was cloudy for the most part so not as scorching as I feared. The monk told me, after I asked him, that his biggest temptation is seeing his friends who are not monks because they are always doing things and going to many places which he can't.

I didn't sleep much on the bus, it was a tough bumpy ride.

I'm dirty and smelly bus who cares.
I've been sweating, lying on floors and haven't washed.
Though I plan to change that before take off if at all possible.

It seems hard to believe that tonight is the climax of nearly 3 years abroad. But it is the climax. It's here and it's arrived and has crept up on me, and what comes next who knows. There are many options, worries and exciting things that have and will continue to run through my head.

Seeing old friends, watching the world cup, being back in the UK with my family will be a joy.

I hope I can make the most of the past 3 years and even the past 4 months in every sense when I get home. Financially I want to be prudent, emotionally I want to be more transparent, more compassionate and more benevolent. Calmer and clearer.

There are often several routes to any peak and sometimes there is more than one peak. Though sometimes it's nice just to sit on the mountain side, forget about reaching the peak, and enjoy the view.

I've made some opinions about Indians, disregard them if you wish.
They seem to have no restraint (more like suppression due to caste) and great spiritual freedom, little mutual respect, and little compassion or flexibility toward their fellow man. They are greedy and unhealthy.
Anyway. They live by instinct, a fearsome instinct that is somewhat fascinating and somewhat revolting.
They study like mad.

I am blessed to have been touched by Buddhism, it has made an indelible impact on me. I'm sure it'll influence me and I'll use its principles to help me cultivate myself.

You are bright like the sun, covering us all in your warmth, but don't let the clouds of ignorance get in the way and stop you shinning.
I guess now I've to sit here for the next...7 hours and mull things over before a nice 9 hour flight. Time for enough not just for reflection on the past 3 years, but also to enthusiastically and gratefully think about the next 3 years.

We all pick up small sticks until we make up our own big one to help us guide ourselves with, each small stick is slightly different from the last. Picking up sticks is inevitable. Sometimes we take the bits of one stick and sometimes bits of others. 

It doesn't just feel like a flight I'm taking, physically of course I am, but it symbolizes a marker in my life and is also a big step, the first on a new path. So in that context it is more than just a flight.

Nurse and Patient

Sunday 6th June 2010

3pm

My bed at the Dip Tse Chokling Monastery

So my bags are packed. All that is left to do here is wait, eat a few chaptis and biscuits, shower, then march up the hill to the bus stand.

The bus leaves at 6.30pm. Seat 8.

I just paid for my room. 26 nights at 150Rs a night. 3900Rs.

At the same time I picked up a leaflet about the monastery here which was a good history lesson.

This morning I rose a little later than usual. The guy in the in the paper shop wouldn't accept my 10Rs. It was like speaking to a brick wall.

Picked up 2 papers.

Met Liz from the room next door and we had something to eat. I had Tsampa and she had some veg. chop suey with an egg on top.

2 milk teas.

It was good to get to know her and have a chat.

Her son is half Chinese and she is from Brisbane.

She has a degree in Chinese.

She paid for the meal which was very kind of her.

Perhaps I see her in Oz if I make it there one day soon enough.

After eating we parted.

Liz does Yoga twice a day.

I went to Lhamo's French Cafe and sat on their rooftop with a pot of Darjeeling tea and read Vanity Fair, browsed over the newspaper headlines and stopped from both activities from time to time admire the scenery.

I took a walk out of McLeod for 30 minutes and enjoyed one last time the quiet hillside roads and paths weaving through banks of richly green and deeply brown trees.

Yesterday after descending the hill I bought two small bugs and some postcards for people back home. Also went online for 20 minutes and drank tea on the rooftop of Lhamo's French Cafe (though I don't what exactly it French about it)

Dinner was two takeaway paranthas, curd and biscuits. 

Today is sunny but windy with plenty of cloud around. 

...I have reached the end of a road. 

Tomorrow in Delhi I may look for a cheap place to crash for one night so I can sleep and wash properly. Or, depending on the airport bus and bus terminal's left luggage facilities I may wonder around Delhi until the evening, then head to the airport and crash on the floor there instead. 

The bad news is that the Red Fort and Ghandi Museum will be closed because it'll be a Monday. 

The Jamir Masjid will be open though, while walking along Chandi Chowk and seeing Raj Ghat promises to be nice in between cups of tea. I could wonder south to Connaught Place. Frankly speaking I am not expecting or desiring to really see much of Delhi, although the city does interest me after reading The Last Mughal. However properly seeing this city is for another day. 

This time in India has not necessarily been about see the sights, more of a trip to experience learning new things. 

I look forward to waiting and people watching at the airport and a nice 9 hour flight, which will take me to an all together different world.  

Esther's Narrative

Saturday 5th June 2010

12:00pm 

Up on my usual flagged rocky mountain side, McLeod Ganj 

Last night there was a large storm that knocked out the electric just as I was doing the SudoKu. The pwoer cut lasted all night and wasn't back on when I left this morning. 

Ate momos, curd, banana, honey. Had some Tsampa porridge during the day. 

Spent yesterday morning in the library, then used the internet. Got sidetracked by an e-mail from a friend. She seems very stressed by not being able to find work in the UK. My reply was just a reply, a sit tight reply. There is not much I can do from here. I guess I feel a bit helpless and there is nothing to say that hasn't already been said and repeating myself would only be patronizing to her. 

Finished reading yesterdays papers up here on the mountain side. Ate a few sweats and some momos left over from last night. 

Need to use the internet again in any case later, e-mail dad and check my bank balance. 

While eating porridge yesterday a Tibetan guy sat with me. He came from Tibet to India 6 years ago. At first it was hard to understand his accent but after a few minutes it became easier. We talked about Tibet, the Dalai Lama, English classics and of course the world cup. I can't wait for the world cup and I am really enjoying reading about it in the TOI. 

The Tsampa porridge was lovely and the other day I read Tin Tin in Tibet in which they specifically mention it and eat it. It's a lot like Ready brek. 

My mind is more and more preoccupied with Tuesday now. 

The rest of Thursday I stayed in the library. 

The Miss Tibet 2010 competition was in the newspaper today. 

There's a book fair going on in town at the minute so would be nice to check that out. 

I should get a few small gifts before I leave. 

Saw the French girl I met in the tea stall, Sye, yesterday and browsed through 29-year-old copies of News Week with her. 

My bus leaves at 6:30pm tomorrow. 

I can't think of much else to add. In Delhi on Monday some major attractions will be shut. But I may try to get to one or two sites depending on this or that. 

Today is bright and sunny and hot. But there is a breeze. My arms and legs are so brown, at least in relation to my torso. 

I fancy a nice cup of tea.

I bought a new pen yesterday. 

The Young Man

Thursday 3rd June 2010

1.15pm

Sat on the steps of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (next to the library)

McLeod Ganj

India

This diary entry almost never happened. Yesterday, after 2 hours here at the library I left my notebook in the toilet and of course only realised this when I got back to the monastery.

I came across a copy of Tin Tin in Tibet which I'll read this afternoon.

Joy of joys when I arrived at the library there was a man selling newspapers. So I got an Economic Times with a crossword from the Daily Mail that stumped me and an Indian Express that had a crossword and Sudoku.

The library itself had a copy of the Time of India from which I copied out the Sudoku from into this notebook but due to leaving the notebook at the library proved futile. I did it this morning after finding my notebook in the same toilet cubicle I'd left it in.

Had 2 curds, 1 banana, some honey, a packet of plain biscuits and a few eclairs last night.

Sat on the steps here I've a lovely view of some steep green hills and behind them high rocky snow covered mountains. The tops tipped with white cloud.

This morning there was a really heavy storm. I got soaked through on the way to the library, but by wearing sports shorts, packing a spare top in my bag and by wearing a water proof jacket managed to at least wear items that would dry quickly or give the impression of protection from the rain!

I did some washing this morning. The brown dye from my cotton Indian top I bought in Varanasi ran into my blue McKenzie t-shirt so that is a cause for a second wash. I'm semi-confident I can get the brown out...

Everything bar one t-shirt is drying in my room due to the rain, though the rain has now stopped. Oh well, at least the one t-shirt left outside will dry quickly.

I stopped for a tea on my way down here earlier.

Only 4 days until I go back to the UK. Wow.

After leaving the library yesterday I stopped for a tea and bumped into a girl I met in Lumbini and a couple of her Korean friends. There are some nice rooftop cafes in McLeod.

Tin Tin in Tibet is the highest selling book abut Tibet.

Read some good stuff on Buddhism in an encyclopedia this morning .

Over half way through Vanity Fair now.

I want to buy some books before I go but I know that it's not really a good idea, I've enough to carry as it is.

Momos tonight...hmmm. I think it's possible.

The Iron Master

Wednesday 2nd June 

12:55pm 

Tenyang Coffee House, Temple Road, McLeod Ganj

So yesterday after leaving this same cafe I went down to the hill toward the library and got to parathas for dinner from the tea shop/hut/cafe on the way. I got half way to the library then turned around and spent a couple of hours on the internet. 

I met a guy called James in the tea hut who was getting his bike fixed next door. We talked for 20 minutes about Buddhism and our experiences in India. 

Managed to do Monday's Sudoku in the Tribune yesterday after drawing out the grid in my notebook. Read several stories from Monday's papers I'd previously missed. 

Spoke to Liz, the woman in the dormitory room next to me at the monastery about the Dalai Lama's teachings. 

This morning, day two of the teachings, couldn't have gone any better. Despite rumours of ill health the Dalai Lama was there and stuck around until midday. The translation into English was being broadcast from the start. 

Some really good stuff was discussed and some great analogies used to help listeners comprehend things. I took my camera and got some great photographs - I hope. 

Saw a German woman I'd met the day before and also bumped into some girls I had previously met in Lumbini and at the Dalai Lama's residence on Buddha's birthday. It was nice sharing the teachings with them. 

Today I think I'll make it to the library, maybe photocopy the crosswords and/or copy the sudoku. Then I'll have to face the other quandary of what to have for dinner. I'm thinking momos to accompany my curd, or bananas. A little chocolate might not go a miss either. 

Feel really great after having attended the Dalai Lama's teachings and picked up some positive things. During the teaching I found a quiet spot and scribbled some notes while eating slices of brown bread. 

More Old Soldiers than One

Tuesday 1st June 2010

12.45pm

Tenyang Coffee House

So I woke up by 5.30am and by 6.30am I was on my way up the steps to head to his holinesses teachings. It meant I got no newspapers today in the morning and they were all gone when I returned after 12.

I was at the TCV very early. I meandered in the school grounds for an hour watching the general calamity as hundreds of school children gathered outside the main hall waiting to go inside to where the Dalai Lama would talk.

Around 8.30am me and some other travellers tried to enter the main hall but to no avail as expected. Before we headed to the basketball court area, which had a TV and a large canopy to protect people from the sun, we saw the Dalai Lama arrive. His motorcade sped up to the main building coming towards us along one side of the wide sandy playground.

As he walked from the door of his car to the entrance to the main hall he made some kind of traditional offering that seemed to involve throwing some rice of some kind. He had a chirpy face and on either side of him security guards watched, another person held up a large yellow umbrella to protect him from the sun while behind him a few monks or aides followed.

Lining the way into the building were two lines of school girls each with long black hair and all wearing the same as the other, a long green traditional dress with rainbow coloured apron. When the first car of the motorcade arrived they all in unison began to sing and continued for 10 minutes or so until the Dalai Lama was all the way inside the hall and duly followed him in singing as they went.

When he left I watched him from my birds eye view as he ambled back to his car. He took questions on human rights for Tibetan women and the ordination process, perception, dependent origination and emptiness. Also the teaching of the Tibetan language in China and India and the preservation of culture. 

I am thoroughly looking forward to tomorrow! 

On getting back to the town after a slow walk, I found all the papers were gone. So bought some candy and my bus ticket to Delhi. I leave Sunday evening at 6.30ish (be at the bus terminal by 6). Tonight I'll have another bash at the Sudoku that beat me yesterday and the crossword. Why not. 

Between now and then more tea and the internet. 

I hope the translation works of begins from the start tomorrow. Hmmm I may go to the library for an hour. The radio was a good investment, it'll come in useful during the world cup. I love radios. 

Perhaps I'll write a little more tonight. 

It was nice that a lot of what I heard at the teaching was mostly a lot of stuff I've read about during my time at the library. That was pleasing. I felt I could connect with what was being discussed. 

Sharpshooters

Monday 31st May 2010
10:30pm
My bed at the Dip Tse Chokling Monastery

So I've got my FM radio, water and my bread and am all set to go to the 1st day of a 3 day teaching by the Dalai Lama tomorrow. Spent 190 rupees on the radio, worth it I think. 9am TCV.

Went to the library this afternoon half-heartedly but did some worthwhile reading. I've was excited heading back to the monastery after I picked up the radio.

Got 2 parathas for dinner which, coming from a different hole in the wall cafe tasted a little different but good. Ate curd, raisins and biscuits. One Diet Pepsi.

This morning I bumped into Tensing. It was good to see him and we talked over a chai. He has a special pass for tomorrow as the teaching will be aimed at Tibetan Students. Many of them Tensing tells me have travelled from far away parts of India for the chance to hear him talk.

Had an urgent need to shit in the woods earlier. No idea why.

After acquiring some official information on the teachings after seeing Tensing I bought a loaf of brown bread, visited a local temple that had no toilet and read Vanity Fair for an hour on a hillside after relieving myself in a secluded wooded area.

I read some interesting stuff about colonialism and Buddhism.

Did the TOI sudoku, stuffed up the Tribune one. Both crosswords were tough though my mind was a little distracted this evening in anticipation of tomorrows teachings.

Saw a jar of mango chutney, 73 rupees.

Today the skies were blue and the sun hot.

Today I withdrew cash for the first time since I was in Kathmandu one month ago.

Will try and get online tomorrow and also book my coach ticket to Delhi.

Need to wash some clothes soon too.

Recently bought a small pot of honey for 25 rupees that I should use.

I'm hoping for a good day tomorrow

The FM radio is needed to listen to the translation of what the Dalai Lama says, without it would almost not be worth going at all.

Around me everyone leaned in close to get a good view. Everyone snapping away except me. One rule about attending a teaching is no cameras.

I befriended a Swiss guy who I gave me e-mail address and he said he'd send his pictures in a few weeks. I hope he comes good. Basically the only tight security was at the entrance to the main hall and around the Dalai Lama himself. You could easily come and go from the school with a camera or a gun and no one would know.

My radio came good. Easily tuned into the FM frequency. But no translation but it seemed many people were downhearted. I was sat under a canopy in the basketball court watching the TV pictures from inside the hall. Everything was in Tibetan. Many foreigners after 30 minutes seemed to slope away. Some stayed. Generally there was plenty of room for everyone.

The broadcast could be picked up where ever you roamed in the grounds.

On the verge of leaving I tired the radio one more time, while I was heading to the gate with only a freely distributed book in Tibetan to show.

Fantastically the translation had begun. The teaching had started at 9am with the translation kicking in around 10.15am. So I sat on some steps overlooking the main hall and the motorcade on the edge of the large sand playground and listened to my hearts content. I was fully revived and fulfilled until the end of the proceedings around 11.20am.

At which point the Dalai Lama said he'd return tomorrow if his health prevailed. I hope it does. I'll take my camera.

Mrs. Snagsby Sees It All

Sunday 30th May 2010

11:20am

Up a mountain with a great view, all alone, McLeod Ganj

India

The Dalai Lama will teach here at the Tibetan Children's Village at 9am on Tuesday morning. I really really really want to be there. Someone at the monastery told me he'd do a teaching in the next week and I found out the details on his official website the details. As a precaution I'll go to his branch security office in advance just in case I need to register. 

Just before beginning to write this I cracked, at the second time of asking, the latest really really hard Sudoku from the Tribune. I sketched out the grid again in this notebook and sat on this rock for 45-60 minutes doing it. 

Much of the past two days I've spent in the library hiding in part from the vicious rain storms. On Friday night and Saturday morning there were long heavy downpours. 

Got my head shaved. Number 2 all over. I asked for a number 3 but the guy didn't have the clip. He gave me a head and should massage for an extra 10Rs (40Rs in total). I feel much refreshed at having the cut. 

E-mailed a girl I met in Kathmandu by chance, who I had previously met in Darjeeling, turns out she is here in McLeod too. But we just haven't bumped in to each other yet.

From my regular tea stall from between McLeod Ganj and the library I yesterday bought two big parathas, which are like giant nan breads and quite doughy and soft. Lovely texture. I had some chilli which came with them but chucked it away, too hot! Meanwhile the mango pickle I bought out of curiosity was putrid. There is no good mango chutney here.

I saw Syv, the French girl doing Japanese dance on Friday morning at the tea stall near the library. She's shaved her head again, even shorter than before.

Doing lots of library reading but not enough from my own books. Might get something new and a few small gifts next week. Used the internet today.

Am feeling quite excited about the week ahead. My last abroad before returning to the motherland after 3 years. Would like to visit the British Museum on the day I have in London, and go for a stroll in one of the parks.

I never, last Friday, went back to Bhagsu about the 'Jewels', it's all gone and forgotten. Enjoying reading about the build-up to the world cup online and in the papers here.

Today is bright and sunny and reflects how I feel.

Haven't bumped into Tensing yet, not for a while.

Feeling a little guilty about all the biscuits I've been eating lately, might opt for some plain crackers instead.

Some new people have moved to the monastery, Americans. I can here them talking at night through the walls. Perhaps staying in a hotel might be better for them to follow their habits as they seem to be smoking and drinking a lot and it's not cigarettes they are smoking either.  They do however have great musical bowls which are popular here. You hit the of them and a ringing sound reverberates around and around for ages.

Did contemplate a few days in Delhi but happy enough here and when I think of Delhi I just think of a big smelly chaotic city 40+.

An Appeal Case

Thursday 27th May 2010
22:58
My bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery
India

I'm struggling to keep up this diary. But feel I must go on.
I saw the Dalai Lama today, he returned from his trip abroad. Today was also Buddha's birthday.
I got a good view of him driving past and hopefully a good view too!

Many Tibetans, Indians and tourists lined the streets waiting. His entourage passed first in their cars. Then he himself arrived and past by in an instant. He had one head, two eyes, a mouth, a nose, he looked completely human! Seriously it was great to see him.

I bumped into some old travel friends from Lumbini at the main temple and had brunch with them.
A nice Tsampa porridge.

I eventually conquered a tough Sudoku in the Tribune and stupidly lost concentration doing the 'easy' Sudoku in the TOI later. I've taken to buying two newspapers now. .

I had a cup of Darjeeling in between wondering McLeod's backstreets and waiting for his holiness today, but in the busy cafe I became very self conscious for some reason. I think I felt unsettled because a monk and his two friends plonked themselves at my table not acknowledging me at all and it really put me off my Sudoku with which I was struggling. I sweated profusely and then left.

Used the internet for 2 hours and saw a great new Nike football advert.

Rain and thunder outside.

Yesterday I was in the library all day.
To coincide with his holiness arriving and Buddha's birthday many Indian beggars and pilgrims appeared in McLeod these past few days.

Went to Bhagsu and met a guy 'Levi'?, we discussed in detail the deal of me taking jewels one way or another, back to the UK. I was still dubious despite his almost convincing openness. However I just read about this kind of scam on the Agra page of the lonely planet. So it's a no.

Really hammering down outside.

The whole process seemed so elaborate, take me to a hotel, meet a man from Mumbai, post the jewels, meet a man on the UK. The scam being I make 'a payment of good faith' beforehand, which hasn't been mentioned yet but my inclinations from our discussions so far, and from what I have read on the internet, make me think this will happen.

I'm supposed to go back tomorrow morning with a yes or no answer. Word has it the Dalai Lama will be doing some teachings next week at the TCV. May try and go if I am still here.

Added honey to my curd tonight. Yum.

Starting to hanker for a beer.

I really want to adopt some Buddhist practices to life back in the UK, but think there is going to be an initial letting off of steam.
Want to get more reading done.

Definitely a storm outside.

Last night I painted a big picture in my mind about a good life back home. It included living in London, playing Sunday football in goal, working part-time in a cinema and as a policeman at the Sherlock Holmes museum while fitting in some study. Perhaps share it all with someone nice.

What will the future bring...?

Off to sleep now before I think of something else that'll keep me up late. 

Esther's Narrative

Tuesday 25th May 2010

10.45am

Shaded area under a tree on the hillside, 100m or so past St. John's

McLeod Ganj

India

I met a girl from France called Syv today who is here doing a course in Butoh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butoh) which is a form of traditional Japanese dance. She has dark hair cut very short like a man's, is slim and doesn't sound French at all. 

As it turned out she has lived in SE Asia for 8 years. I met her yesterday morning in a small tea shop/roadside cafe which I have been visiting every time I go to the Tibetan library. It's half way there and the guy running it, an Indian man is so well mannered. I had seen Syv - pronounced 'sieve' - a couple of times before as she seems to go to the cafe in the mornings for breakfast before she goes to her classes. 

Spent the day in the library. By taking a short cut through the governmemt compound past residential buildings to a more convenient entrance/exit I now get harangued by a pack of dogs if they see me. I go past a building site, up some steps and past one final block of flats where they reside. Each dog is a different breed and there are 5 or 6 who yap away. One dog just watches impassively not really caring, but his smaller friends, who come up no higher than me knee take great offence to my passing through their territory. 

Most dogs here are so quiet though, especially in the day times when they are hit by the heat and so just lie in the shade. 

Last night, curd, raisins, banana, biscuits, Pepsi, bread.

Completed the Sudoku and made a good stab at the crossword. 

Usually between 6pm and 7pm I sit on the communal balcony at the monastery and read.  At around 7pm I hear a bugle sound in the distance, it rings out from a not too distant army base. It sounds as the sunsets behind the hills on my right. 

Also regularly every evening, around 7.30pm I think, all the monks at the monastery do their regular purja, when this begins they all in unison, begin reciting aloud verses from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Some of them sit, some move around. They all own a copy of the book.

They seem to read for an hour or so and I can hear them as I sit in my room eating my curd. It's nice to listen to. Funnily enough though with all the monks being so young it sometimes sounds like they are racing each other as they do read very quickly. When it's time to stop a bell rings.

Occasionally, every other night or so they have music practice, where they all blast away on a musical instrument including a loud horn that when blown sounds like a large deep battle cry.

If I'd bothered to ask anyone for the details of what, why, and how all this happens etc I could give you much more information. However I pretty much don't speak to anyone at the monastery.

All the hill walking here is definitely doing my legs a lot of good. While my arms and legs have certainly gone a darker shade of white due to constant exposure to the sun.

Well done South Korea! who beat Japan 2-0 in Japan!

I read it in the Tribune this morning. There was no copy of the TOI available. The Hindustani Times has no puzzles cartoons or games, but I checked the Tribune and that does.

Had a nice cup of Darjeeling Tea today in a nicer coffee shop with a pastry, as not heading to the library.

Will use the internet later, it's been nice to get up to date more regularly recently. May well, finally, check out the monastery library at long last when I get a chance this afternoon.

Tuesday 25th May 2010
9.55pm
My bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj
India

Some general internet problem is affecting the whole area so I was unable to get online for more than 30 minutes today.

It is Buddha's birthday on Thursday so hoping to see a few nice things around town. Perhaps the Dalai Lama will be around.

Due to bad internet connections I drank a pot of tea at my favourite roof top cafe.

Bought a loaf of brown bread, Pepsi, biscuits.

Completely stumped by the Tribune Sudoku, did okay on the crossword.

Started to delve into Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Very interesting.

Thoughts about the jewel thing have crossed my mind again. I may tomorrow seek further information from Dev and go up to Bhagsu after lunch.

Managed to rescue the curd that came open in my bag and used it for dinner.
Overate on biscuits out of annoyance over the unfathomable Sudoku. 

Mr Bucket

Sunday 22nd May 2010

10.15pm

My bed at the Dip Tse Chokling Monastery, McLeod Ganj

India 

So after the rain died down disappointingly soon for my liking I had another rooftop tea,  a small pot of Assam. I read some of Vanity Fair. I used the internet too and did some productive bit and pieces, set-up job e-mail alerts with prospects.co.uk (do I have any???) the guardian and thisisbristol.co.uk. Blackpool have made it to the Premier League, well done Ollie!

Bought raisins, curd, biscuits, washing powder on the way home.  Found a good new store. Looked in an up until now unexplored bookshop and found an expensive internet cafe that I walked out of upon hearing the price (30rps an hour, whereas my regular place is 20rps and even close to the monastery 25. 

Tomorrow back to the library. 

There are some things I haven't seen or done yet but they are not in the local vicinity nor are they within my slowly declining price range. I say declining because the nearer and more real the prospect of home (where ever and what ever that may be!?) becomes the more I start to be a little more cautious with my funds. 

Did good with the crossword. 

One more thing. Yesterday when I was up in the mountain, sat on a ground of dirt and dry grass with my back against a large rock, a large butterfly came and landed on my foot at the end of my outstretched and perfectly still leg. 

It stayed perched there for over 30 seconds. I could see its feeleres work over my trainers. It was brown. Brown wings, browns of various tints, tinges, colours and shades.  A dark spot or swirl surrounded my a light tone like a black hole with debris orbiting around it. Its wings, which were initially partially closed slowly opened a full 180 degrees and fluttered crisply in the breeze. Then suddenly it flew off to intercept, so it seemed, a passing bug that flew too close. There are many beautiful butterflies in India, in our big built up cities we seldom notice them these days. 

Mr Chadbond 'improving' a tough subject

Sunday 23rd May 2010

11.20am

On a hillside behind the Dalai Lama's residence, sat on a piece of cardboard, McLeod Ganj

India

I wonder how long I can sit here before the heavens open.

It's sunny but spots of rain are in the air.

I didn't see the Champions League Final,  least of all even know the score.

Yesterday I got back from the mountain around 3.30pm and went into...got dragged into...a conversation with a shoe fixer from Rajasthan.

They are all from Rajasthan.

Inevitably after becoming your friend after 5 minutes they ask you to buy some food for them, or some milk or flour.

They do actually fix shoes sometimes though, and pretty well.

Then I used the internet in two different places as the connection was hopeless at my usual haunt.

In between I picked up my daily food.

I hope Blackpool won the Championship Playoff Final, I still like to see Ian Holloway do well.

During my web research I looked up various courses and MAs beginning after I get back.

I saw a job at the Sherlock Holmes Museum as Sherlock Holmes.

If I do any course I want to do it because it is what I want to do or is something that'll improve me and contribute towards helping others and me. Otherwise it'll be better to just enjoy being rather than doing.

Although I wasn't consumed by the jewelry thing I naturally out of curiosity researched it and to be honest over the past 24 hours it hasn't entered my mind at all.

There are warnings on the internet about several scams involving jewels.

...thunder

So my inclination is to walk away. I have £26000. If I had £16000 I'd only think about getting up to £26,000. The fact is life goes on and I am lucky enough to have what I have.

I ate my usual food last night but had extra biscuits. As a bonus I nabbed the last copy of the TOI when I got back from the hills.

Finished Siddhartha, it's a very good book and makes some great points. My translated copy wasn't so good though. There were only minor errors but it seemed like a copy and past job using a word spellchecker...

...more thunder...

...I can see rain falling in the distance as I look across the valley here, cascading down. The sun has gone to now.

Lightening...

...luckily I have my rain jacket in my bag.

There was no bad spelling in the book, just some dodgy grammar and misplaced words.

If instead of it or is, the kind of thing that wouldn't be picked up by a spellchecker.

Now I've started a book that Tensing gave me on meditation. Meditation becomes more intriguing to me as the day goes by. Learning about the simplicity of it and how to let yourself go and do it.

There is such a strong belief that you need a teacher and that special techniques must be followed to enter higher states of being, but they are all fallacies it seems.

Meditation can be done anytime anywhere and in many positions.

Last night I did 80-90% of the crossword and completed the HTW Sudoku. But made a silly error with the TOI one.

Last night I felt pretty tired . More so than in previous days.

Rain today but the land is so dry here that there are small forest fires.

There was one I could see last night burning on a hill in the blackness of the night, it was gone this morning but it was just one of several isolated woodland fires I've seen.

The land is very dry.

Windy...time to go...

(15 minutes later)

...so it's raining now.

Thunder is rippling, there is total cloud cover. As I walked up the main road from the Dalai Lama's house to the main square all the street stall owners began covering their goods with plastic sheets. Umbrellas began to open up along the street like quick blossoming flowers while the beggars, also anticipating an on coming storm, outstretched their hands for one last rupee before they them themselves ran for cover.

I've stopped under a circular bench lined shelter halfway up to the main square.

It's not pissing down but it's coming I think.

I've completed my circumambulation of the Dalai Lama's home though. Along with dozens of other Tibetans and monks who walk along each with their rosary in hand.

I decided today I wont roam so far, it's Sunday and I want to relax, drink a lot of tea in different cafes. This morning I had a nice cup of Darjeeling with milk.

I ate a small pastry in the cafe as I read and ate a few sweets as I looked over this diary.

Study rain now.

This shelter is standing room only now, almost.

I'll find another cafe later, and use the internet again.

The pastry was sweetish and had a nice feeling and not too dry.

I'm satisfied more when I overly concern myself with the future less. The future I want to face in a more matter of fact way, than with mere speculation. Too much speculation, doesn't seem good. Considering things, thinking real things through, that's different from speculating.

I'm not sure if that'll make sense to anyone else, but it makes sense in my mind.

A model of parental deportment

Saturday 22nd May 2010

11.20am 

Halfway up a mountain sat on a rock in the shade

I didn't let the jewel thing distract me yesterday. I concentrated well on reading in the library, on reading the paper, on reading Siddhartha, and on reading Vanity Fair which I dived back into. I've finished my Buddhist Ethics book. 

Of course I did think about the jewel situation a little, I've decided I'll research it all on the internet and come to a firm decision on Monday. I undecided about whether to tell anyone, such as my dad. I was pleased that when the desirous thoughts of obtaining £10,000 crossed my mind I was able to see both the good and bad sides of the situation, and how destructive a desire for money can be. 

Freeze them. See the feelings growing like an approaching train, and in a sense put them out of your mind, waving to the train as it disappears from sound and view. 

Rather than let the issue take over me today I have slotted it in for practical rational deliberation when I am not busy educating myself. The feelings to indulge in the grimiest elements of it rose and fell. 

I went to the library yesterday and helped 3 people newly arrived find the way there. I met Tensing in the street at lunch as I was on my way to meet him at a coffee shop. He had mistakenly thought we'd see each other on Thursday so had to make other plans, so I didn't teach him and instead marched back down the hill to the library for another hour and a half until 3.30pm. Then I marched back up the hill again to McLeod. Isn't this up and down hills lark just like an old nursery rhyme?

Spent some time at a rooftop cafe, where I found a book on sociolinguistics which was interesting. 

Concerning the jewel thing there is no way I'll go near it if drugs are concerned.And even then I'll want the guys involved to give me all their details; copies of their passports. Which is something they said they'd want from me. 

I finished, at the library, a book called The Way It Is by an American guy who became a monk, then I started on a Dalai Lama book, a commentary on the 37 practices of the a Bodhisattva. 

No eclairs last night but I bought some this morning, it's the weekend. 

The Champions League Final is tonight, the last real game of football before the world cup. 

It'll cost 70rps to watch it, so I doubt I'll bother. 

I met a woman from Brisbane, Liz, who is staying in the room next to me for a while. We shared some brief conversation as I shaved and she brushed her teeth by the communal sink. 

The rules for Indian tourist visas are often being changed to restrict abuse of them, but I've never known what that abuse was. Maybe it's related to the jewel thing. Getting a little ahead of myself, or just putting 2 and 2 together, I remember a Dutch guy I met in Calcutta dropping hints about things you could find up in Darjeeling if you hung around there for a while. So I wonder what he may have been alluding to. 

It's funny, this morning the only English newspaper around was the Himachal This Week as the others hadn't arrived. Inside two of the first articles I came across was a 'Greed is sometimes good' piece about the sequel to the film Wall Street, and how doing business in India is tightly regulated. While there was also a double page spread on how to enter the jewelry business in India...

Last night I ate curd, banana, a small amount of biscuits, Diet-Pepsi, and a piece of Tibetan bread. 

Washed my clothes by hand this morning.

Right now I am just going to sit here on this hillside and read for a few hours. Finnish Siddhartha.

In the distance I can hear the children at the Tibetan Children's Village. 

Where I am sat it is deadly silent. Prayer flags are tied to the trees, red, white, yellow, blue and green. 

The town of McLeod is to my right while I can see some snow capped rocky mountains behind the town; their peaks perching up high above the tree covered hills. There is a gentle breeze. 

2 weeks, 3 days until I go home. 

There is a temptation to go and see some other places in India, but I'm enjoying the simplicity of life here. Plus anywhere south of here is too hot. 30 degree here everyday is good enough for me. 

The Smallweed Family

Thursday 20th May 2010

22:35

My bed, Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj

India

Today I was offered $10,000 to transport 'Jewels' from India to London.

I met the same Indian guy I'd drank tea with the day before, I talked him out of dinner, so he took me to the village of Bagsu for another tea where, lo-and-behold, we met the two guys who I had previously failed to turn up to meet for dinner the week before. 

I apologised and there was a passive acceptance. 

I guess they didn't really care, as they were just trying to soften me up to use me as their mule. 

In a business meeting-like atmosphere the whole thing was explained; how the whole deal was all a loop hole for getting around some tax laws. 

What a complication. 

I told them I'd think about it, though of course I was just placating them. My obvious inclination is to stay clear of it, may it is legit though. It's a little pathetic though.

I went to the library in the morning. 

Bought a new toothbrush which I am just about to use, used the internet, bought my Dad a book. 

I booked a hostel in London. 

And sent a book proposal to an agent. 

The whole jewel thing feels weird, taking a false interest in travellers, serving them tea and so on, is such a waste of time. Cut to the chase, crappy talks about each others families and what not, I don't care and they don't care. 

6 momos, banana and curd, Diet Pepsi. One place for the momos, another for the fruit and another shop for the curd and biscuits. I quite like it really. 

Sometimes, as an Englishman here, well anywhere that isn't England, I feel like a banana tree being attacked by monkeys, there's no escape and I'm surrounded by people trying to get my English. 

I can't run or go anywhere. Sometimes it feels like a burden to be white. I am going to let it go though, to drop these feelings of annoyance. But they do naturally rise up from time to time, before dying away. 

I'm sure there are better simile I could use though. 

I like the routine of getting a good nights sleep here, waking around the same time each day, naturally. It's good. 

70rps to watch the champions league final.  

A New Lodger

Wednesday 19th May 2010

10pm 

My bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery

Read a great article in the Times of India tonight. Everyday the column named 'The Speaking Tree' is printed and has a different writer who will give some kind of spiritual or enlightening advice. Tonight's column focused on Buddhism and the frame of mind we should adopt to life. 

Made a mistake on the Sudoku. Didn't do well on the crossword. 

Ate curd with banana for dinner. 4 momos (veg) one piece of Tibetan bread. Drank some Diet Pepsi and ate a packet of biscuits. Felt good to eat some fruit. 

Read a lot of Siddhartha by Hesse. As I read the story I could identify many of the main characteristics of the story and how they related to some specific Buddhist principles. It felt strangely reassuring. Finished a small book/pamphlet Tibetan poetry in, there were also a couple of thought provoking essays by Tibetans and there views on the future of their existence in the shadow of China. 

Walked to St. John's Church with Tensing and tutored him there. He was in good spirits. I remained behind after he left and read. 

Had to take a dump in the woods. 

I bought a rosary today, a Buddhist one of course. I'd like to give meditation another go once I've learned more. Meditation comes in many forms though. 

I cut out the Speaking Tree article. I e-mailed the writer and thanked him. 

I'm apprehensive about the lifestyle I'll have when I return to England. There are many options to consider and I'm sure many people to see. However simply I lay things out in my mind a return to a more worldly environment will I think complicate my life. I'll know once I return. 

I met the Indian guy I mentioned yesterday, we had a coffee, he wanted to have dinner tomorrow but I like eating alone in the evenings here in my room, slowly and in silence, occasionally glancing at the newspaper. I take my time,  appreciate the food before me and enjoy it. It's nice to meet people, but my space is important, I don't want to get to pally with people here because I want to develop my understanding of Buddhism to the limit. Of course meeting people is a good way to practice. I just need to find the right balance. 

Got my left shoe fixed. 

Gary Neville didn't make the world cup squad. Not surprised he really, he's been injured so much in the past 3 or 4 years. He was great in his day though. 

I feel more part of the gang now I have my rosary. 

Tomorrow, library in the AM, meet the Indian guy in the PM. Use the internet. Do all the other routine things I do in there calming simplicity. 

If I can think of anything else worthwhile to add here I will. 

Enjoyed a pot of Darjeeling Tea this afternoon on a rooftop. 

Lovely view of the mountains. 

Must buy new toothbrush. 

Moving On

Tuesday 18th May 2010

9.45pm

My bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj

India

Today. Woke up around 7am. Bought paper, previously angry seller was back to his more affable self. Bought 6 eclairs and one piece of bread. Rain in the air. 

Had a tea on the way to the library, I found a quiet tea shop half way down the hill.

I read until lunchtime, 1pm, then marched half way back up the hill to the tea shop for another tea. The library closes for one hour at lunchtime everyday so we're all chucked out then. The tea shop, which is on a road side next to a motorbike garage and basically a small hut does basic food. 

After lunch I marched back down the hill to the library again, along the winding roads spiraling and weaving downward and stayed at the library until 3.30pm. 

As I was walking back down the hill out of the blue I bumped into an Indian man who I had randomly got talking to a week before up in the main square. To be honest I tried to put him off me with my general apathy, but for what it is worth I'll meet him for a drink tomorrow afternoon. I'm not sure why he really wants to, but I'm sure I'll find out. I confess I forgotten his name. 

Ate 2 samosas, 2 chapatis, a packet of biscuits, some curd, a few eclairs and a bottle of Pepsi for dinner. Again did the Sudoku and made a pretty passable effort at the crossword. It's amazing when you realise that everything is interconnected in a crossword so much more pops out at you, a little concentration and time is all you need. This reminds me of the Buddhist teaching on dependent origination and right mindfulness. 

(edit: here is a link Dependent Origination - Cause and effect)

 I read some good stuff in the library today and made lots of notes. I don't know why I wrote so many notes, it feels good to write them, I can lay down things in a way I can more easily and comfortable interpret. They give me a clearer understanding. 

On the front page of the paper today was the news that some men involved in the gang rape of a Japanese  tourist in Bodhgaya earlier this year have been sentenced to life in prison. 

The resonates with me because I was in Bodhgaya on the day it happened and 2 store owners told me all about it, so to see it reported in the newspaper and justice served is interesting. 

It has rained on and off for the past few days, tonight though it has rained heavily and it was monsoon-like. Storm clouds of all shades of grey and black linger in the air from the left of the valley that my monastery sits in and are above the Dalai Lama's residence; they stretch all the way across the sky and horizon to the right where among the trees I can see St. John's Church. 

In the UK the thunder and lightning we get is tame compared to here and the far east. 

I used the internet today. I prepared some grammar tips for Tensing and organised one or two things ahead of going home. Also I proofread some more of Tensings poems. 

For some reason tonight there was not a momo seller insight in the town and I looked in all the usual places. 

I finished reading The Wisdom of Forgiveness today, a really great book. In fact I've been lucky to here to read several great books while living at my own pace in my own environment. I hope it's something I can maintain back home.

I do like curd. I'm going to buy lots of it from now on. Only 10Rps for 200g.

A job in a cinema, bookstore or cafe, that sounds nice. A CELTA along the way. That'll do between between getting home and the new year.

I'll probably have different ideas tomorrow, but the above, at its heart, would I hope with right living environment help me to keep and maintain the relative peace which I have here.

Where will I settle, I don't know.

I'm going to do some more reading now and then sleep.
It's very quiet here aside from the occasional person opening and closing their doors.

In India there are guys in the street who fix shoes.
They spend all day looking at peoples feet to try and pick out potential customers.
One of my shoes needed a little stitching, so a young guy carrying his thread and insoles approached me today. It was a little painful.

My mind was on dinner not my shoes. I didn't get them fixed, but engaged in the small talk that the guy initiated, he seemed fidgety, he wanted me to buy him food and promise him I'd meet him the next day so he could fix my shoe. Maybe...

It's funny, I've read and learn't a lot of things about Buddhism over the past few months that resonated deeply with me.

There are thoughts, actions, ideas and inclinations I've had in the past which I look at now that fit into Buddhism and its teachings, they click with it. I can recognise now that in many ways my natural feelings were leading me, albeit loosely towards Buddhism. After being exposed to Buddhism more directly I feel those original feelings being being harnessed and cultivated in a more concentrated way.

Mindfulness, self-view, compassion, wisdom, suffering, dependent origination, emptiness...all are very interesting things, which after taking some time to let sink in and truly acknowledge now feel to me like they make a lot of sense.

I can hear the rain falling outside and thunder roaring, it will  be a wet night.

If I feel I need to get away next year then maybe I'll back to India or Nepal.

There are many avenues open and options to choose between, perhaps one choice is to choose none of them. 

Lady Dedlock

Monday 17th May 2010

10.40pm 

My bed, Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj

India

I still haven't really looked around this temple complex fully or taken a good look in the library. I must change that. 

I don't mind squat toilets in the slightest, however western ones are great for thinking on and reading on. At least squat style toilets stop you wasting any time. 

As usual today I walked up the steps, got the paper, a different guy was there, bought some bread and drank a cheap tea while reading the headlines. Then I spent the morning down at the Tibetan Government library which felt very productive. 

At lunch I drank a Tibetan tea, that seemed to come with some kind of cream on top and I swear the water used was a little oily, not good. In future I'll stick to the Milk Tea. 

Who should magically appear after lunch but Tensing who came to the reading room to read. He had overslept and missed out meeting. Around 3.30pm we went to a cafe, next to his extended family's home and went through all his poems. 

He gave me  a book on meditation. 

His voice seemed strained and he said he had done a lot of talking the night before, but I wondered if he was being open or not. Perhaps he'd had an argument with his relations. Perhaps hiding things is something we both have in common. 

I felt a little comfortable as we sat on his porch drinking tea, his family inside the house staying out of the way. 

I tried to help him out as best I could. His grammar needs work, but it wont improve while his focus is on his own poetry where the grammar rules can go out the window.

Sure I could give him lots of examples, but I think he needs to focus on some essay writing to step things up or get study books, especially as he has aspirations of getting a scholarship that may require and IELTS score. 

Will see him again Wednesday. He was going to walk back up the hill with me, but revealed he had to spend some time with his relatives. 

After coming back to the town I got 8 momos, a diet Pepsi, a handful of eclairs, and a small packet of mango biscuits. 

Completed the sudoku again, though the paper rated today's sudoku challenge as easy. Initially made a shoddy attempt at the crossword but went back to it later and got 50% of it done. 

England won the Twenty20 world cup. I look forward to reading about it in the newspapers. 

Last night, after midnight, it seemed a large cat was prowling around outside within the temple premises or at least very near. One of the guys in another room twice called out to his friends startled as he heard the same deep growl outside that I did. The first growl didn't seem conclusive to me, it couldn't possibly have really been what it sounded like, but the second growl cleared things up. From my window I saw nothing, Surely not a tiger? Who knows, but it was definitely no dog. 

To get to Delhi from here takes 12 to 13 hours by bus. 

Esther's Narrative

Sunday 16th May 2010

10.45pm 

My bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj 

India

So the lesson of today is don't let your emotions, more specifically anger, get the better of you. 

Today when getting the newspaper the newspaper seller, who arranged to hold back a copy of the Times of India for me and who had been gone in place of his boss for the last few days let rip at me for not collecting the copies which specifically had my name on. 

I really couldn't understand his anger. He claimed I hadn't turned up at all, obviously I said that I had, but had just not been given the copies with my name on. 

I was surprised as previously he'd been generally affable. I didn't get angry back, just tried to diffuse things. It must have been on his mind that morning because he didn't even wait for the other customers to leave or finish serving them before dishing out flippantly that he had in his possession a total of two newspapers with my name on. 

Remember...patience...compassion. Don't judge. It was his choice to be angry and let those feelings control him. 

They'll be no more copies with my name on, but I'll still go in to the mornings to get a copy on the chance they'll have one.

It's strange how Indian people, for what reason I'm not sure, have a fixation and impatience about making money. There is an element of addiction and obsession with it that exists and I can feel it often. It is unhealthy. The Tibetan community emit completely different signals. It is an interesting contrast between the two.

I guess it is a trend or characteristic of Indian society, though I don't know if it something that may relate to Hinduism specifically. I wouldn't expect it to of course, Tibetans are equally spiritual but have a different view.

It's an interesting area to look at. Fora country renowned for it's spirituality I find little of it in the majority of Hindus I've met (probably just the those in the tourism business trying to make money really) than the Sikhs and Tibetans I've come across, who I suppose I've met in different circumstances so far. Certainly when it comes to openness, kindness, understanding, empathy and attitudes towards finance it seems the Buddhists are street ahead, it perhaps a little less enterprising.

After the newspaper incident I went to meet Tensing, but after 30 minutes he was nowhere to be seen. I'll go back to our small cafe meeting point tomorrow in case we've got our wires crossed.  

Until we meet I've got all his poems on me. I'm sure we'll bump into each other soon enough. 

So I wandered down to St. John's Church and with the backdrop of singing from the Sunday service sat in the graveyard overlooking the Kangra Valley and read from my Buddhist ethics book, only one chapter remaining now. 

I used the internet for a couple of hours which is always useful. 

For a time today I felt a little bit at a loss. I could have stayed online longer, but 2 hours at once is enough. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and pursue more literary agents.

I've visited several bookstores and eventually settled on Siddhartha by Hesse, which is half classic and half Buddhist. 

I want to try and get something covering compassion, mindlessness and the workings of karma as well as some kind of all encompassing glossary. There are also a couple of Buddhist Sutras I'd like to see English versions of. 

I researched MAs in Buddhist Studies, but they don't seem viable with my academic background. And what might I do after? 

Is their and MA in Religious Literature? Further research required. 

Drank some tea at a new cafe. The one I went to yesterday was better though. Today's cafe was full of monks, great, but the downside was just that, that it was overcrowded. 

I ate 8 momos instead of 12. The momo woman who always welcomes me with a smile told me tomorrow is her day off, so I'll have to find an alternative. 

Tomorrow, library. 

No cinema or cooking or Tai Chi. 

Just reading, internet and drinking tea, and more reading. 

I completed the Sudoku in the newspaper again today with a fair amount of competence. But nose dived with the crossword. Am enjoying the mental workout.    

Tom-all-alone's

Saturday 15th of May 2010

11pm

Bed, Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj

India

So what of today?

Today was refreshingly peaceful and straight forward.

I walked down to the library picked out The Way It Is, which is a book by a western monk which I am ploughing through and getting a lot or practical and useful information from.

Also I've started reading The Wisdom of Forgiveness, a wonderfully light hearted book concerning the Dalai Lama that contains several interviews with the author.

Finally on the table I had a copy of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, that I haven't started yet but will do soon.

There are still some gaps in my historical understanding of Buddhism and some recent history that I want to grasp. But finding the right books isn't so easy.

I stayed at the library from around 10am to 4.30pm before starting the blood pumping walk back up the hill. I found the local cinema, 150Rs for a ticket, which is basically a basement with a few rooms with large TVs in with comfy sofas and bean bags. 

I corrected Tensings poems. I found a nice cafe with a rooftop terrace at around 5pm that was pretty quiet.

The view overlooked one side of the town, it was nice and I got a small pot of Darjeeling Tea. 

Apart from that I did nothing out of the ordinary apart from successfully complete today's Sudoku in the Times of India. I had a good stab at the crossword too. 

I bought some good momos, a few biscuits and a Pepsi and came back to the monastery, before eating the momos I did some reading out in the communal bench area offering a view of the valley. I was joined for a few minutes by a young monk, he must have been 6 or 7; I couldn't hold his attention for long. 

I found out I can use the small library here at the monastery I am staying in, all I have to do is ask for the key. 

I'm living calmly and happily within my own means and it's nice to give time to myself here, to contemplate and be aware. 

After a long dinner in my room I read some of my Buddhist ethics book and a chapter of Vanity Fair.

Tomorrow I'll meet Tensing. 

I wonder what I'll do next week...reading for sure. 

The library chairs are very comfortable. 

Actually my bed here at the monastery is very cosy. 

I've 3 thick woollen rugs to cover me. 

I haven't arranged to try and do Tai Chi yet. 

I may use the internet tomorrow. 

Maybe I'll purchase one or two books, we'll see. 

I want to practise patience, and develop more patience. 

Hmm cooking classes...I'll give them some thought, but then again why complicate my simple and peaceful routine? 

Bell Yard

Saturday 15th May 2010

7.45am

In bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj

India

I find it amusing how many shopkeepers get so paranoid about bank notes here, if the condition of them isn't pristine they wet their pants and refuse to accept them.

Yesterday when I paid for a cup of tea, that cost 15Rs, I used a frazzled 50Rs note. The cashier didn't like it though so he chose to accept a crisp 10Rs note instead. His choice.

First thing this morning and last things last night I have been correcting Tensing's English poems and trying to decipher his hand writing. I'm trying to use some creative judgement and to just try and correct the grammar and punctuation as much as possible with poetry.

Last night I finish The Last Mughal.

I bought momos from a different vendor and they were inferior to the ones sold by the usual lady I go to. These others did not have the same good fresh filling while the texture of the momos was weaker and they didn't hold together well.

I thought about getting a Kit-Kat Chunky, they cost 40Rs (A packet of chocolate biscuits is 20Rs) but they don't know how (or have the means) to look after chocolate here, nothing is protected from the heat. The chocolate sits half melted and squashed in the counters and on the shelves and no one seems to buy it.

Yesterday I went to the opening of a Tibetan art and poetry exhibition, I'll give the details of it to Tensing. Some of the oil paintings were really great and all related to Tibet or Buddha. I got a small book of poems.

I had a tea in the cafe upstairs. Earl Grey.

Before that I used the internet for two hours but despite the time I spent online I inevitably forgot to check one or two things. Though I did correct some writing an old student from South Korea sent to me.

Across the road from the internet cafe was the Gu-Chu-Sum Movement (Gu-Cha-Sum - 9-10-3) which is named so because in September and October 1987 and March 1988 there were big protests in Tibet that were punished by the Chinese.

(Upon typing up this diary I've come across their website http://9103.org/)

Anyway, they had a very graphic photography exhibition of the suppression enforced by the Chinese. The exhibition didn't shy away from showing the gruesome treatment of the monks and the dead bodies of Tibetans killed by the Chinese. Pictures of dead bodies lying blood stained either in hospital beds or in some local street somewhere surrounded by people.

The earlier half of the day was taken up by helping and speaking to Tensing, who has taken to buying all my cups of tea. 

We went to Dal Lake, past his old school and sat for a couple of hours outside a small Hindu temple. It turns out both his parents are dead, but he has a couple of aunts and an uncle an one step-sister. Though I am not sure how much of what he tells me is true. He went to school here in McLeod Ganj at the TCV - Tibetan Children's Village and naturally had some problems growing up without a stable family. 

He told me he has had meaningful contact with just one of his maternal aunts who made an impression on him and knocked some sense into him; he talks fondly of her.  

He mentioned his academic past to me too which had been a struggle for one reason or another, he moved to a school in Dehdradun  and past an important exam there. A highly reputed school is there in that town and many Tibetans live there. 

At one of our first meetings he told me he wanted to be a writer; he seems creative; he mentioned how he had enjoyed drama classes in the past; bunked off school to smoke; wrote songs and compositions that he wanted to record and had other such ideas about things he wanted to do. He's a quiet person though. He seems slightly aloof from the world, which is reflected in his body language and demeanour, which I perhaps comes from some his childhood experiences.

His distant relatives (as I suppose they are) he wants to get away from and he would like to obtain a scholarship, for which being published would help his application. A wave of apprehension sweeps over him when other young Tibetans come near him.
It was interesting to hear his story, from being bullied for wetting the bed to his previous experiences of visiting Delhi and Bangalore, which as a member of an ethnic minority, were indeed a struggle.
We'll meet again tomorrow.

....

Today is FA Cup Final day.
I'll get a Times of India later and head to the library and read all day.
Yesterday I failed miserably with the Sudoko, and lost patience with it.
The crossword was tough too.
Plus the answers to the other puzzles were printed on the same page so I couldn't help but notice them inadvertently, never mind.
I'll try again today.

Also, I found a local cinema, so may watch a film tomorrow.

Rovers have stuck 15 on the transfer list; can't believe that!