India - Coimbatore

 Three days after returning from my one month trip in the U.S., Senthil got news that his father had passed away. So I hop back on an airplane heading for Coimbatore, which is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu. Coming from the U.S. to India is quite a culture shock, no matter the amount of traveling in between. I don’t think you can get two further extremes, with Taiwan falling somewhere in the middle of the two. With that being said, India is such an incredible place. It's vibrant environment, the unpredictability, and the constant exploring is what makes this place so addictive for me. This time around I finally got the chance to meet my future in-laws. However, it’s unfortunate that we met under such sad circumstances, and that I never had the honor to meet his father.

The picture and offering area for his father inside his families home
(which remained there for the duration of our 6 week stay - the amount and kind of food changed)
Every morning someone lit a candle

All of his family are wonderful people and I feel so blessed to be part of such a beautiful family. The families in India are super close and they could pass a whole day just sitting and talking with each other.  Aside from the fact that they are so warm, welcoming and close, the Indian culture is one of the most interesting I’ve come across.  It is so rich that things like funerals last over a course of a few days, or even weeks. We spent our first week in India partaking in different ceremonies and rituals to honor the life of his father. First off during this week, we weren’t allowed to do anything ‘fun.’ The TV in the living room was removed and replaced by a big picture of his father surrounded with incense, candles, flowers and offerings (which could be anything from cookies, coconuts, beans, sweets, etc.). After a person dies, the family takes the body to have it cremated within 4 hours.

This is after the final day of the ceremonies for his father's death. The red spot on my forehead is from the ash that you apply after praying. My time here I have been spoiled so much by his family constantly feeding me dosas, idli, sambar, chutney, and other yummy South Indian dishes. Here I am with his nieces eating rice and sambar off a banana leaf with our right hand. In India, people eat with their right hand because the left hand is used for cleaning something else... :P

  The following day the family takes the ashes from the cremated body and throws them into the river. This ceremony is only for the men. During the week, people came in and out of the house to pay their condolences. On certain nights we participated in a group prayer. Each individual does a prayer which consists of taking the candle and moving it in a circular motion three times towards the picture of his father, sprinkling coconut water on the offerings and taking both hands from the fire towards your face. To finish you take the ash from the fire and put it on your forehead.  After everyone prays we all go outside the room while the soul comes and eats the food.  After 10 minutes, everyone comes back in the room to find any changes in the food. At last, we all eat the mix of things that each person has contributed to the offerings. Mmmm yum, ain’t nothing like banana, beans, crackers, and rice balls mixed together.

The street where Senthil's family lives

Six days after the death, the whole family goes to the river bank to do a ceremony which is led by the priest. I didn’t understand most of it; but it was super interesting to watch; from the family dipping the cow’s tail into the water and then feeding the cow (In India the cow is highly respected as they believe there to be a lot of godliness in this animal. Each part of the cow represents a different Hindu God.). The priest (or temple God) sang mantras and then put ash on each of our foreheads. It's safe to say that our first week here was an interesting one for sure.

A street side vendor selling coconut water on our way out of the city

 India is the most exotic, fascinating, exciting, disorderly, interesting, and chaotic place that I’ve ever been.  All you can do is embrace the chaos and become part of the flow.  It’s a place full of highs and lows. You just have to expect the unexpected and ride the rollercoaster of emotions you will go through. It’s all worth the while though, and I feel so lucky to be able to call India my second home. The people are stunning and I can’t help staring at them as much as they stare at me - The beautiful women in their colorful saris pierced in gold jewelry, which is a nice contrast against their dark skin. The men with their cloth turban wrapped around their heads and dhotis (traditional dress – cloth wrapped around looking like a skirt). You often see the men squatting (in a position impossible for most people) alongside the road chatting and drinking chai communicating with their heads. This is the infamous head bobble. I remember getting so frustrated the first few days of seeing this while traveling to India a few years back. I'd ask, “Is this the bus to Delhi?”and the man responded with a smile and a head bobble. It's amazing how much the head bobble covers. “Does this dish have meat in it?” *head bobble*. “How does my outfit look?” *head bobble*

Women in their colorful saris at a local waterfall

 I never realized the amount and variety of beeping there could be. There is literally beeping going on every second of the day here. Just for fun, I kept track how often one beeps while driving with his nephew.  The results = once every seven seconds. While driving with Senthil in the countryside, he beeped at a plastic bag floating in the air. I said to him, “a plastic bag? Really?” He laughed and said he hadn’t beeped in awhile and felt the urge to beep. If you could drive in India, you can drive anywhere.

A street side vendor selling sugar cane juice

The roads are filled with dogs, cows, donkeys, goats, monkeys, fruit carts, motorcycles, tuk tuks, and cars (often times coming directly at you in the passing lane) – It’s surprising there aren’t more accidents. Shortly after journaling this we had a small accident of our own; a monkey ran out in road in front of us and...well...RIP monkey. There will be a traffic jam – 20 or so cars at a standstill, only to find a cow has been the one holding up all the traffic while munching on a piece of  food in the road. Click here for my pictures from the streets of Coimbatore.

A rickshaw driver

Now that the ceremonies for his father's death are over, we will be doing some traveling for the next month through the backwaters of Kerala, the tea plantations of Ooty, and the deserts of Rajasthan.