Keralatour🚌

So dear ones, as promised I would like to share with you some of my impressions from my tour through Kerala 😊

For info: :)

A friend from the ashram in Amritapuri asked me if I would be interested in traveling to Kerala with AMMA (an Indian guru with a 'seat' in Amritapuri) and about 3oo (!) people of different nationalities for their festival in two cities.

I didn't have to hesitate and immediately registered for it. You don't get such opportunities easily there. The tours through India with this said guru happen only about 1-2 times a year. And on top of that, I get to know a bit more about South India before my volunteer work in June. 😋😋 Not bad either :)

Equipped with a travel bag and a thin yoga mat, we started on Monday morning at 4:30 am after a round of chai (Indian spice tea - I LOVE it!).

I was so lucky to be sitting in a bus with small fans on each row 😁

The journey to Calicut took a total of 8.5 hours, but it felt even longer to me.

You must know that in India, there are hardly any binding traffic rules. Everyone just starts driving and somehow makes their way to the destination. It's one big traffic chaos, accompanied by 1000 honks per second 🤣.

In addition, through the open windows, we are constantly exposed to peculiar smells every few meters. I really had no idea that we could perceive so many different smells in such a short time.

Luckily, we were given paper masks and the problem was solved during the journey 🤪.

The accommodations in Calicut and later in Trissur were both schools, where we slept in a classroom on thin straw mats, 20 people per room.

You can imagine how my initial enthusiasm gradually faded away. 😶🤣 (But we were already mentally prepared for it)

During the four festival days, I registered as a helper for the recycling management. In the morning from 8-10:30 and then again in the blazing sun from 2 pm to 4 pm. 👌

Our task was to set up empty rice sacks and corresponding laminated signs with pictograms (there is a high illiteracy rate in India!) for organic/unorganic waste on the festival grounds and later collect the full sacks. The Indians preferred the 'throw-on-the-ground' method.

I must say that hardly any recycling is practiced in India as a whole. The knowledge of waste separation and consequently the environmental awareness is in no way comparable to the Western one.

Most of the garbage is simply thrown into nature, or garbage mountains are collected and then burned. This creates really unpleasant smells, along with the extreme heat.

Despite the great festival atmosphere between our shifts, it was sometimes very exhausting to work in the extreme heat (already over 30 degrees Celsius at 8 am) and to realize that our recycling system was not fully accepted by the Indian festival visitors.

During both festival programs in Calicut and Trissur, I experienced the Indian visitors as very different:

Some make eye contact and give a small smile, while others tend to avoid contact with other cultures. They keep more to themselves, which is perfectly fine. The sight of us white people is unfamiliar to many. But there are also differences here: Some Indians absolutely want to take a selfie with me and be my Facebook friend 😊😊☺, while others do not seek any contact.

An important lesson I learned: Forget about your own set structures or expectations. Everything happens there eventually, and it always turns out different than planned. Time is also not that important 🤣 It's best not to ask impatient questions, just go with the flow. I find this attitude somehow admirable...

PATIENCE . . . . . . . . .

I have a lot of it - those who know me, know that. 😋😋😋 It's amazing how some of the people living in the ashram have already gotten used to this way of life and the different rhythm.

Conclusion: Overall, it was a very intense week with great and not so great, but overall rewarding experiences. 😊

Now I'm glad to be back, to have a mirror and a comfortable mattress 🙃

I'll stop here, otherwise I'll take up too much of your time :)) and now it's time for my sleep 😴.

See you soon, your Tine 🤗😘