Now for the written part...

"Do not forget - all of you who are here - that we want to realize something which does not yet exist upon earth; so it is absurd to seek elsewhere for an example of what we want to do." 

Mirra Alfassa

"If you cannot think positive, don't think. If you cannot speak positively, don't speak. If you cannot act positively, don't act." 

Swami Brahmdev

Me and Navdanya intern Parmod on a trip outside Dehradun

One month after my arrival and two weeks before I'm leaving again we finally obtained an internet device ;) . However, it takes ages to upload pictures so it will indeed only be a written entry. I've made myself comfortable in our dormitory with some "chai" and wonder where to start. In fact, Sarah just came back from her trip north (being asked a common question here by everyone - "how was the ashram?" :)) and told me a story which is absolutely representative of how I experience India myself all the time. She'd left the farm last wednesday to meet her former yoga teacher but got stuck shortly before reaching her destination since buses weren't running there on Diwali. So she cursed that nothing planned ever works out in this country, but then she called her yoga teacher and he arranged for her to stay with friends of his who celebrated Diwali traditionally and hosted her the most welcoming way imaginable. As I said, this is how I myself keep experiencing this country. I'm having the choice between insisting on carrying out my plans (and ending up VERY frustrated!) or just relaxing and opening myself for everything life wants to give me without me being able to know it beforehand. Accordingly, I also surprisingly came by a wonderful trip with our Navdanya intern (and deputy Hindi translator ;) ) Parmod and his friend - thanks so much again!
I read another quote which puts this principle into words quite well:

"We need to realise that we alone are not doing all that we think we are. Many forces are at play. Sometimes we need to stop action. We need to give the other forces in the world, which are also working for us, a chance." - Swami Brahmdev

At the same time, as I mentioned in my last entry, the lack of organisation here also encourages to make things work oneself. That is at the same time another principle I'm discovering here: There is never "one" rule for anything. One has to evaluate every situation itself, and constantly be aware of one's thoughts and wonder if one could think differently as well. One example are the begging children everywhere on the streets. Some people say that one should never give money to them for various reasons, but I personally think that's just making things easy for onself. Same thing with bargaining - it is of course true that Westerners shouldn't have themselves be "exploited", but then, arguing about 10 Rupees (14 Eurocents) seems pretty ridiculous to me.

Anyway, in spite of all these insights, I regularly find myself going mad. The strangest thing is the fact that there are rules people don't follow at all, and then there are others they follow stricltly even though they seem completely superfluous. For example, I had gone to the post office the other day to send a parcel at 5.05 pm and was told that international parcels could only be received until 5 pm. It was absolutely fruitless to try to convince the post office employee to at least take the parcel and send it the following day.

I have been visiting an ashram for a few days myself which - as you will see from the pictures - was a paradise for a "quote lover" like me. ;) I seem to have chosen a really good time for that since when I came back to the farm, I learnt that five people had fallen seriously sick in the meantime, three of whom even had to be sent to the hospital. (By now all of them have recovered, but only after taking in heaps of chemicals.) I myself haven't had an infection yet, 'only' a food poisoning after coming here since I was smart enough to actually eat the food served on the train... Negi, who had been on the same train with me and the Kenyan group, later occasionally mentioned "I always have to vomit when I eat the food on the trains" and I was just like "Aaargh! You were sitting right next to me! Why didn't you tell me??" Maybe the answer is what I keep hearing here whenever my mind tries desperately (but very vainly) to find an explanation for people's behaviour here: "This is India." So, this was my personal "Delhi belly" experience, as it is called here.

What else is India? India is single toilet paper rolls to be bought (whereas people look at you with astonishment if you want to buy a single apple ;)), an incredible love for food (now I understand why fasting has such a political significance here!) and a strange mix between diversity and one-sidedness. That is to say, there are huge differences between the different regions, but at the same time, within one region the variety (e.g. in terms of food, to use this example again) is actually quite limited.

India is also the most emotional people I've ever met. In a way, it's funny to encounter so many persons who are so similar to myself in this regard - and it makes me feel less "different" from the majority than in Europe. Also, I have never been to a country where it is that easy to make friends. Partly it has surely to do with the Indians' great love for foreigners (and anything associated with them - due to this, also Hitler has quite a few fans here and I sometimes felt like a Harry Potter character desperately trying to convince others not to mention "Him-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" ;)), but that's definitely not the only reason. The idea that "building a friendship" could need many years is absolutely beyond anybody's imagination here - one hour is by far enough to miss each other unbearably after parting. ;)

Considering all the cultural differences between “western people” and the people here which I have been finding so far, I am also starting to view the spirituality which has developed in this country so strongly from a different perspective. Obviously, it must have developed out of different reasons than the reasons why it appeals so much to some people in the West. At the same time, the fact that there are so many different levels of happiness to be found in this country is giving me many insights into how people are responsible for their happiness themselves, which is at the same time an important part of the “yogic” philosophy.

An interesting experience was also meeting Hijras on a trip to Dehradun - they are the Indian version of transvestites and have a long tradition in South Asia. On this occasion, Sarah also taught me quite a few English words I hadn't known before (such as “camp” which means “tuntenhaft” :)). The farm is definitely a fantastic place to pracise languages and also to compare different kinds of English. The same must apply for French speakers when they come across our "French speaking section" with members from France, Switzerland, Belgium and Quebec.

By the way, I came across a very interesting thought by Paulo Coelho in his latest book which I had bought in Delhi, in which he draws a connection between the patriarchy, our obsession with the mind and agriculture. "There was a time when the world was a woman, and her energy was very beautiful. People believed in miracles, the present moment was all there was and so time did not exist. Then a change occured. The battle for survival, the need to know when to plant crops so that they could be harvested. That was when time as we know it now became part of our history. We became slaves of our memory." This connects my field of studies in an interesting way with my other "research areas".

I was absolutely thrilled to hear about a Permaculture course being held in Darjeeling in the end of November. I've always wanted to take part in such a course, but normally they are way beyond my budget. I'm going with a few people from the farm and we've already booked the trains which can easiliy take you a whole day here. ;) If it was only understanding the differences between the eight (!) different classes...

At the same time, I'm really sad to think that I'll have to leave the farm in less than two weeks! I love being here so much - meeting new people from all over the world every other day, living an outdoors life, taking showers (well, rather buckets ;) ) with cold water in the morning (there's also a solar tap but I don't mind some refreshment), doing yoga together and living a dormitory life with like-minded people.

But as the saying goes: "One should leave off with an appetite"... ;)