Life Goes On . . .

One of the most amazing things about death (and I've been lucky to have had relatively limited experience so far) is that for the rest of us, life goes on.  I feel like there should be angelic hosts trumpeting gospel spirituals (even here in India) along the streets and golden streams of light in the sky heralding the passing on of our Judy from amazing earthly being to graceful, peaceful, beautiful, free spirit whose flight is felt as a breeze on our faces like that of flapping majestic wings.  She deserves all that fanfare of course, but it's a quiet passing - felt more than seen.  A tender hearted woman who leaves behind loved ones and friends who are themselves more tender hearted for having known her.  Happy Trails, Judy.  May we meet again.




Well life does go on and we've established a routine of sorts here in our rather small world of clinic, the streets of Pune, hotel room, restaurant.  Ironic to be in such a fascinating place and spending the majority of time here in the hotel room under strict orders to remain calm and resting at all times.  Dr. Pendse is concerned that we have no setbacks by getting sick or worn out because we have a ticket to fly on August 2nd.


We are rather lethargic feeling so it's not really that frustrating at this point ( although it was for me at first).  My feet are still acting up and it's important that I don't walk much since walking brings on the burning feeling still.  At least it's gone if I'm just sitting around now.  So we're not even going on our half a block walk after lunch.  We might spice it up today by watching more of the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings.  Whoo hoo!


Cloud gets up around 6:00am and I'm usually already awake so the light goes on.  He gets ready to go and then goes off to his morning at the clinic.  I'm happy to be able to stay in bed and either read a book, read stuff on the computer, or fall back to sleep.


Awhile later I'll get up and shower and wash the thin towels (and a few clothes items) we need each day to bring to the clinic - used for wiping off the oils and especially the herbal rice milk during the last phase of treatments.  I have a bucket for soaking and washing, but as the monsoons really set in, they can take so long to dry - sometimes 2 days or more(!) even though the bathroom window is open at all times and the fan is going too.  If I don't get all of the oil and milk out of the towels they begin to get really smelly by the second day and I wash them again with twice as much soap.  Lately I've begun using the laundry service offered here at the hotel more.  Clothes smell so much better after they wash them.  There are very few driers here so what most people do is use the iron to finish the drying job - that makes sense - and explains why our clothes look so smooth as well as clean.


At this point it's time to take my morning herbal pills and VIR liquid.  I have yet to find out the exact purpose of each pill. (They have to be taken 3 times/day.)   I also take two powdered herbs - one dose each - each night (one of those is for helping with sleep) and this has been the fourth day of taking another powdered herb to help with the burning feeling every two hours or so.  So far - no negative side effects have been noticed by either of us from any of the herbs.  Cloud takes a similar regimen, but not exactly the same.

We both take 2 or 4 of all of these pills 3X/day.  I'm still taking the VIR - used to rid toxins
 from the body through the unrinary system.

Each dose of powdered herb is individually wrapped in paper.  In order to get it down,  I mix it with honey and swallow.

The Housekeeping Dept will send someone up for the laundry at about 9:00am and I hand it to them in a large brown paper bag that they provide.  It comes back around 9:00pm.  Everyone here at the hotel calls me "Ma'am," but their pronunciation does not rhyme with "ham" - it rhymes with "mum."  Sounds really nice.


Cloud comes back from the clinic and rests.  He'll eat some dates and nuts and usually falls asleep for an hour or so at about noon.  I either go down to the restaurant for breakfast of fresh papaya, pineapple, banana and rice or other amazing grain or pancake type food each with a different filling - or stay in the room and also have dates, almonds, fruit juice.  Our large meal of the day comes at lunch, which is always incredibly delicious, and we eat very little if at all around 8:00 or 9:00 for dinner.  That is the way of meals here for most - or traditionally speaking.  I think most businesses close for the lunch hours.  I see a lot of school kids heading home at 4:30 when I head to the clinic.  Not sure when they begin.


Schools are free for anyone up until the 10th grade. There are government schools provided free of charge and then there are many private schools as well.  Books and any fees are provided free to girls (I assume this is in the gov't schools) in order to encourage parents to send their girls to school.  Anjali says there are enough schools for everyone in the cities, but not in the rural areas.  I have read articles in the newspaper here explaining that there is quite a desperate shortage of schools in the outlying areas. 


 After 10th grade, you enter 2 years of college - a type of jr. college.  Your grades and exam scores determine whether you can get into the very best schools or not.  It has become increasingly competitive here to get into the finest schools. Otherwise you can get into others, though they may not be your choice.  There are private and government colleges.  The Ayurvedic college where she and Dr. Pendse teach is a government college. It costs 10,000 rupees this year but is going up to R 12,000 next year (about $5,000.00).  That's out of reach for the poor - but not for the middle class, I guess.  


Dr. Pendse's daughter just finished 10th grade and will get into a good school but not the one she wanted to get into even though her grades are in the low 90% ile.  She will be in a college of the sciences because she wants to be an Ayurvedic doctor as well.  Anjali says she is a brilliant student and she'll do well.  


After lunch we hang out reading or writing and then I get ready for my adventure into the streets and traffic jams of Pune.  It will be great when during our last few days we can venture out into the city a bit.  There is this amazing, intricately detailed temple to Ganesha that the taxi driver passed only one time (he has several routes) that I really want to go into.  Anjali says it truly is worth seeing and told me a bit about Ganesha.  (She is not a devotee of Ganesha - but acknowledges and values his importance in the pantheon.)  Ganesha is the god we see represented most commonly here in pictures and statues.  One of the largest temples of all to Ganesha is here somewhere in Pune.


Ganesha is who you pray to for the removal of obstacles in your life.  It's not too hard to see why he would be so popular here.  He's also the god of intellect, wisdom, learning, and good positive thinking - caring for others.  That is my limited understanding from talks around the oil tray.  Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati - the god that has an elephant head and a man's body.  He has a huge belly.  One of the stories is that Ganesha's head was cut off with a sword and his mother Parvati saved his life by placing a young elephant's head upon his neck.  This technique worked well because it seems he lived a long life and became very famous.  Here's a link to some rudimentary info about Ganesha.   http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordganesha/a/ganesha.htm


There are gods for many entities - even the monsoon, and I previously shared a photo of the god for doctors and patients, just to name two.  All of these gods serve the one god.  Who is the one god you may ask?  It is the creator, Brahma - the maintainer, Vishnu - and the destroyer, Shiva.  They are three gods but somehow they are one as well.   They can't watch over everything, so the other gods are like emissaries for the gods.  People petition the more individualized or "localized" gods who are in communication with the one god and can also help people on their own.  Hinduism seems to be practiced in many different ways  - an extremely complex religion/philosophy.  Just reading a little about it makes it clear that you could spend a lifetime trying to understand the many facets and still not learn it all.  


My treatments are the same.  The warm oil that is poured on our feet is really amazing.  It's a maroon color and it's the consistency of syrup.  It has been cooked for 5 hours with an herbal infusion of water until all of the water is boiled out.  I asked for the name of the oil and she said it doesn't have a name because it is a combination of three different oils - a recipe Dr. Pendse ordered  to treat our ailment.  The same bowl of oil is used for four days and then tossed out.  The oil for our massages and bustis are new each time.


After my feet have soaked in it and it's been poured over for about 15 min, I notice that my left foot (the one that is most ailing) feels very warm and swollen.  I think the foot tissues are taking it up - and then later on at night or in the morning, my foot is less swollen I've seen it in years.   The oil's purpose is to take out the swelling.  The night before last my foot burned so much I couldn't sleep.  Last night I slept well and my foot is not burning if I stay off of it. I'm really hoping this incredible oil is going to take the disease as well as the swelling out of my foot. 




Cloud's and my "dis-ease" is so similar that we share the same recipe and much of the same treatments - although many of our herbal powders and our busti herbs are different.  


When I return to the room I often have to run to the bathroom although last night I "held the oil" for another hour or so.  Perhaps I am worthy of Mike's name for me.  How gratifying.




More taxi ride photos:  

I love passing these stands because the fragrance is to die for - and the beauty - yes!  These strands are for god statues and temples and not sure what else.  Sometimes women wear small ones in their braids.

Bananas for Sale

Woman Sitting on Bricks

One of the many vegetable sellers literally on the street.  She has an umbrella for the returning rain.