I am ok! (I think)

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  Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India
Thursday, November 27, 2008

So, first of all, thanks to everyone for reaching out to me. As some of you have heard (and I just learned this only an hour ago after stepping off the train from Varanassi), there were massive terrorist attacks in the Colaba region of Mumbai, where I stayed barely two weeks ago. The Taj hotel, Mumbai's largest luxury hotel and a place I had lunch on my first day, was one of the places under seige and as many as 15 foreign hostages were held by gunmen. Again, I am fine, and there are no signs of civil unrest on the other side of the country where I am now. That said, I am ready to leave India as soon as this evening, but now there is also a situation in Bangkok, where the PAD has taken over the international airport, so it looks like I will be delayed here, unless I choose or am able to somehow fly someplace completely differnt. We'll what happens when I get the airport tonight as I have not received an email from Thai airways yet.

That all said, I am still having a great time here in India. Last I updated the blog, I train-tripped through the continent, making stops at some amazing places like the Jain/Hindu/Buddhist caves of Ellora and Ajanta, then a stop at Bagdavargh National Park where I witnessed the elusive Indian tiger feed on its latest kill, a 500 lbs. samba, and last stop has been India's holiest Hindu city of Varanassi, built on the Ganges river, which is believed to be a living god in the Hindu religion. Last night, I took a night train to Kolkata for my flight this evening to Bangkok (again, tentative now). But I will spend the day checking out the metropolis and planning my next steps.

You may have noticed that my attitude about India has changed a lot. I think in many ways, I have really learned to move through this country and understand the culture more than when I came. As someone once told me, India is "full on," and its easy to feel lost in the crowd that is this continent. But outside of the cities, there are some really beautiful places that are truly India, and having found these, I feel more at peace with the country. Though I am happy to leave and move on, there are several places which I never got to reach, so maybe one day I will go to those places.

Lastly, I am going to miss the energy of this country. The same raw forces that once made me feel depleted now appear to have invigorated me and made me feel alive. The Indians are a powerful people, and this is often the frightening part to a vanilla Westerner. But once you reach their level, once you leave your inhibitions at the door, you start to consume their energy, and this is deeply empowering. This may be the real beauty of India, not just the sights and pleasant exchanges. Because after coming to this place, Im pretty confident I can go anywhere in the world.

Pictures from India to come when I reach a good internet connection. I will try to be in touch as much as possible, also, about the developing situation here.

Peace out.

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