Pre-Everest Base Camp

Hello from Kathmandu, Nepal! It was only about ten days ago that I left the peace and quiet of Dharamsala to travel back through the madness of Delhi to Varanasi, my last destination in India before coming to Nepal. A lot of the time since then has been somewhat uneventful, so I won't go into a lot of detail. It was basically a trip to Nepal with a few stops.

India can be quite chaotic and busy, and for a lot of that last week I just wanted to move on. The Nepali people have been very friendly and honest with me so far, and in India it felt like people were often just friendly, seeing me as a walking ATM machine. You can put up with it for a while, but eventually you just need a break, which meant getting on the road a few days early.

I arrived in Nepal four days ago and have been spending my time preparing for a trek which I will begin tomorrow. About a year ago, when we were planning for this trip, the India was to spend some time hiking the Himalayas, possibly doing one of the larger journeys that last a few weeks. Over the last few weeks, I've been debating over which trip to do, but the decision seemed to settle into the Everest Base Camp Trek.

For those of you who are a little confused, I'm not climbing Mt. Everest. The ultimate destinations will be the base camp (5350m), where climbing expeditions start from and to a nearby viewpoint of Mt. Everest (5545m). The trip should take three to four weeks of walking (round trip), taking most of the month of October. This is the best time of year to take the trek, as the monsoon rains have just finished, the fields are green, and the weather is cool but not freezing. The route climbs up and up into the heart of the Himalayas, through many small villages accessible only by foot and eventually into the Sagarmatha National Park, where Mt. Everest is located.

I've spent a most of the last four days doing research about conditions, supplies, etc, as well as doing some shopping for a few things that I needed. The tourist count is slightly down now in Nepal because of the Maoist situation, but I still expect to see a lot of people on the trail. A lot of people seem drawn to the highest mountain in the world, myself surely included. It will be interesting to meet the kind of people who make this sort of pilgrimage, one that I feel I can identify with in many ways.

So, It looks like I will be out of internet and email contact for the next month. If anyone needs to reach me, you just have to wait a little while...or get back to me in the next couple of hours.

After I get back, I'll spend a few more weeks in Nepal, and then travel back to India to Calcutta to catch a flight for Bangkok. After a few weeks in Thailand and Cambodia, it will be time to come home.

The Essence of India

"Please Ma'am." With a slight bow the Indian doorsman opens the door of the airconditioned jeep. Thanks to Annette's French friend, Danielle, who works as a tour operator in India, we just got an exclusive tour of a luxerious resort at Kovalam Beach in South India. With the words, "Ladies, please take my card" the vice president of sales gives each of us his business card. I'm supposed to act as Danielle's assistant and putting on a professional looking smile, I try to appear interested in the discussions about suite prices, personal servants and check-in at the airport. From the corner of my eye, I take a peek at the card I just received. It says: "The Leela, Kovalam Beach. The Essence of India."

I almost have to start out laughing aloud. Out of the stylish reception hall with a shiny parquet ground, I look through the gigantic open glass doors on a clear swimming pool, whose edge seems to fuse with the open sea beyond. Next to it, Annette, Eric and Arun sit at a table whose discreet decoration on the white table cloth is tastefully done in the same colors as the one in the entrance hall. Eric is looking a little puzzled as a waiter takes the white cloth napkin and puts it on his lap with an elegant swing. Everything here is very aesthetical, elegant, clean and organized.

That must be a joke, calling this -admittedly very tastful ambience- the "essence of India!" All that is within me rebels against this description. The being of India, that which is at the core of this country, is the exact opposite: chaotic, dirty, loud and colorful! At least that is the India that Eric and I have gotten to know and love. And suddenly I am incredibly happy that we travel on a low budget, despite its often being uncomfortable. That we are not brought from an airconditioned airport to an airconditioned hotel by an airconditioned resort cab, always sealed off from the "real India" ....real India with its permanently honking busses, temples with colorful lights and millions of begging untouchables. But that we persitantly bargain prices with rickshaw drivers...... get an often crazy ride to the train station, avoiding pot holes and cows on the way.... make our way through the masses of people sleeping on the station floor.... finally arrive at our reserved seats... and then the adventure may begin.

I just love riding trains in India! After shamelessly staring at us at in the beginning, people pretty fast open up, usually beginning the conversation by the familiar "What is your country, please?" question. And while we learn more about arranged marriages within the same caste (still valid for almost all social groups in India), Hindu gods and people's lives, the vendors from Indian Railways pass by. In an about three minutes' time we can hear in a crescendo and decrescendo: "CHAI COFFEE!" Their deep rasping voices (which seems to be the same all over India) always make me laugh! Their faces brighten to a smile when we accept to buy the sweet beverage in a plastic cup for 4 Rupees (8 cents). Unfortunately all these plastic cups and all the other garbage as well are thrown out of the window into the beautiful countryside. When we try to collect our garbage in a plastic bag we only get uncomprehensive looks from the Indians. What are you planning to do with it? And in some ways they are right.... I sometimes start to doubt whether the word "litter box" even exists in Hindi as the actual thing doesn't seem to exist!

On the 20th of September we will fly from Calcutta to Bangkok. I will be missing India. With all its contrasts and contradictions, "Incredible India" seems to be so full of life! I let my thoughts wonder back at a couple of episodes from this trip:

There are the things that make me laugh: when we buy our train tickets we have to queue up on the counter with the sign saying ?for blind, deaf, cancer, tourist and freedom fighters? (tourists really do have a special status in India, don't they...?) :)

Then there are the things that astonish me: How is it possible that such a chaotic society can have such a huge bureaucracy? Germany, which always seemed the worst to me, seems nothing compared to that! When we check in at a hostel, each of us must besides the passport-and visas data also indicate their fathers name and occupation. Nowhere verifiable and simply totally unnecessarily!!

Moreover there are the things that are hard to get used to: While couples don't display any sort of affection in public (except western oriented cities like Bombay), we can see everywhere men walking holding hands or standing around arm in arm. In India a socially accepted sign for friendship!

There are things that are shocking for me as a German: on the rickshaws, on the door of our hostels, at tempels... everywhere one can find a swastika. For Indians, this symbol apparently has a religious meaning (that I unfortunately have not found out yet...).

And naturally experiences that would shock everyone: On a busy business street in Delhi, on our second day in India, we passed a body lying on the sidewalk and surrounded by flies. In a safe distance stood two policemen recording another man that has literally died in the street overnight.

In the meanwhile, the sales manager has gone and Danielle and I have joined Eric and the others in the restaurant. I have just learned that the cheapest room in the resort cost $200 dollars per night. In my head I'm calculating.... wow, with that amount of money one can easily live for a whole month in India! The bill for the cocunut milk I had ordered amounts to only 2 dollars, but on the street I could get 18 coconuts or two whole meals for that money! Many questions arise, especially when seeing the richest and poorest living so close to each other. How do you deal with poverty? What are the roots of poverty? Is our western style of living partly responsible for this...?

When I process our experiences on the end of this part of the trip and try to come to terms with India, it seems the title of a book written by a BBC correspondent best describes my feelings: "NO FULL STOPS IN INDIA." India leaves behind more question marks than concrete answers. It unsettles the mind. But that's maybe what makes it such a fascinating country.

(His)stories: Religion and (Non)violence

India very well may be one of the most diverse countries in the world. It is the home to over one billion people, 1/6th of world, and second in population only to China. There are six major religious groups, 18 major languages, 1600 dialects, and 10 written scripts. Individual states within India are organized according to linguistic and religious boundaries, making the country a mosaic of religion and culture.

India's largest religion is Hinduism, having over 800 million followers and an estimated 333 million gods and goddesses, making the Hindu to god ratio approximately 2.4:1. Islam comes in second, containing 11% of the population, with Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism making up the remaining four. All of these religions have played a role in making India into the diverse state it is today, but not without their share of conflict and revolution.

Yesterday I was reading the newspaper over breakfast and found an article describing recent violence in the Kashmir region of India. A group of Pakistani militants had ambushed an Indian army convoy traveling south on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, killing 5 and injuring 4. The incident occurred in the morning, the same time I had traveled this route about two weeks ago.

Over the past year, this trip has journeyed through many "dangerous" regions of conflict in the world: Colombia, Israel/Palestine, the Balkans, and finally Kashmir. At the end of August, I traveled to Srinagar from Leh on a two day bus journey through the northern Indian Himalayas (literally "abode of snow") into Kashmir, the most conflicted area in India. The region has been relatively calm in the last few years, with occasional spurts of violence directed at military convoys like the one that happened this weekend. I was curious to see this place that is described as one of the most beautiful and volatile in the world, possessing a strong Persian flavor remaining from the days of spice and silk caravans, which had passed through this rich valley.

The city is situated on Dal Lake, and the place to stay while visiting is on a houseboat. Unfortunately, because of the instability of the area, there are way too many houseboats for the number of tourists, so houseboat owners consequently create more conflict trying to get people like me to stay on their boats. During the last two hours of the trip, our bus was bombarded with these middlemen, trying to convince us by any means possible to give them some business. When we finally arrived in Srinagar and got off the bus, we were frantically mobbed by a crowd of houseboat owners, only to be rescued by the local police and pulled into the station. One by one, the houseboat owners were allowed to enter, give their pitch, and then we could make our decision. After a lot of hassle, we finally made it to a houseboat owned by short and strange Ibrahim, tired and exhausted. This initial experience in Srinagar almost made me ready to leave, but after some time had passed, things started to improve.

One of the days in the city, I spent my time with a newfound German friend, Rene, exploring the local culture of the old city. We visited various mosques, talked to local people in their shops, and made a lot of friends. There is a huge Indian military presence in the city for prevention of continued violence, and although very friendly, they do not like having their photo taken... Almost everyone we met was very warm and inviting, reminding me often of the Muslim charm and hospitality that I had experienced in the Middle East. I took many photos this day, and I posted a lot of them in the photo gallery on this website.

It seems that areas of conflict usually have this strength of openness and hospitality, as a knowledge of what really matters develops through the struggle to live through ongoing violence. Culture also often seems to flourish in conflicted regions, as identities need to be defined to clarify vision and muster up the necessary energy to continue fighting. Although this isn't always the case, it has seemed to be a theme in many of these areas. It has also been interesting for me to see how religion plays a role in each of these conflicts.

The Kashmir conflict began when India was partitioned into religious lines, creating the Muslim nation of Pakistan from the predominantly Hindu India in 1947, when both countries gained their independence. A mass migration of Hindus and Muslims occurred after the partitioning, each trying to make it to their new religious homeland. During this process, over 500,000 people were killed in large scale religious mob-violence. Kashmir decided to stay with India, but Pakistan has been fighting to gain control over this predominantly Muslim region ever since, and the violence continues today.

During this migration, many Sikhs crossed from Pakistan into India, settling in the state of Punjab. The holiest site of Sikhism is the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a beautiful place that also has a history of violence. In 1984, armed Sikh militants seized the temple in hope to gain an independent nation for the Sikh religion, a fascinating mixture of Islam and Hinduism. Indira Gandhi, the current prime minister of India at the time, sent in the military to stop the uprising, resulting in a bloody four day battle that killed thousands of people at the holy temple. Not to long after this battle, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi.

The Golden Temple in Amritsar was a place I wanted to make sure to visit when I was near the area. So after leaving Srinagar, I boarded yet another bus to this city, arriving exhausted and disoriented at the Golden Temple around 2:00am. Contrary to what you might think, the place was alive and buzzing with orange Sikhs everywhere. At night, the temple is under lights and its brilliance is amazing, reflecting through the huge pool of water surrounding it. The music and chanting brought me back to the hike up to Hemkund Saheb about a month ago, when I visited another of the Sikhs' holiest sites. Stepping into the complex feels like entering another world, which I guess is what some of the Sikhs were fighting to attain back in 1984. I was exhausted from an 18 hour bus trip, so I made my way to the international pilgrim's sleeping area only to find all of the beds already taken. Feeling that just about anywhere would work at this point in the night; I laid on the concrete ground and soon fell asleep.

I woke up early in the morning to the same continually boisterous activity and made my way around the large pool surrounding the temple one more time, ate breakfast in the huge communal dining hall, and decided it was time to continue on the road. I grabbed my gear and got the next bus out to Dharamsala, where I currently have been living for nearly the last two weeks.

During the last year, I have not slept in the same bed in the same physical location for more than five consecutive days. Feeling the need for a little physical stability and time to process this journey, I decided to find a place in India to attempt to sit still and think for a little while. After talking to a lot of travelers, I decided to make that place Dharamsala.

I think I made a good choice. Dharamsala, and specifically the village of McLeod Ganj, are situated at the base of the Himalayas and have a fascinating mix of culture and activity. Many travelers make it out to this town, often staying for months or even longer to take classes or just relax for a while. McLeod Ganj is the center for the exiled Tibetan government and home to the Dalai Lama, attracting many who are interested in the Tibetan situation and Buddhism.

This is probably one of the best places in the world to study the plight of the Tibetans or their strain of Mahayana Buddhism. Numerous books, films, organizations and resources are available and eager to share about the situation. As is the case with any exiled or persecuted indigenous group, international awareness is always a helpful asset in working towards restoring justice.

In 1950, Communist China invaded Tibet, occupying the country and exploiting it's land and inhabitants for the expansion of the newly founded People's Republic of China and propagation of Communist ideals. Many buildings were destroyed and people murdered in this process, as deceit and lies were directed towards the Dalai Lama in attempt to gain his support and control. Much effort was made by the Chinese to extinguish Tibetan Buddhism, the cornerstone of a vibrant and peaceful culture and had independently existed for centuries in the mountains of the Himalayas. The Chinese believed that only by eliminating religion and its integrated nationalism could their totalitarian form of Communism survive, and that mortal force was a justifiable means to achieving this goal.

Tibetan Buddhism has a central focus on nonviolence, and the Tibetans existed without a functional military at the time of attack, resulting in the massacre of many Tibetans. Being a part of the army was considered a lowly position in society, as it was against the Buddhist religion to kill any living sentient being, human or animal. Buddhists believe strongly in the interconnectedness of all live and in the impermanence of all physical aspects of the world. By freeing your mind from a dependence on the materialism of this world, it is possible to develop compassion and personal humility throughout your actions. By living these principles, each person?s actions will ultimately bring about more joy and peace in the world and put an end to suffering and violence.

I recently read the autobiography of the 14th Dalai Lama (entitled "Freedom in Exile"), Tibet's spiritual and political leader, which describes his life growing up before the Chinese occupation and during the violence that has nearly destroyed the Tibetans. In 1959, he escaped into exile, finally settling in Dharamsala, India. During all of this time he has been striving to nonviolently regain Tibet for the Tibetans and promote peace throughout the world. It has difficult for Tibet to rally international support in the global community, and their struggle seems a desperate one. Current literature states that over 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed as a result of the Chinese presence in Tibet, and many violations of human rights continue in the region.

The Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt, "Seven Years in Tibet" is the story of an Austrian mountain climber who makes his way into Tibet during the beginning of the Chinese occupation, and gives a good introduction to the Tibetan story. There are a few low-budget movie theaters here in McLeod Ganj, and they often show movies like this and other documentaries about Tibet and other worldwide struggles for independence.

The Tibetan exiles in the Dharamsala have been a wonderful group of people. I have really valued talking to them and hearing their stories, whether funny of deeply painful. I remember one conversation with a bookstore owner in which he burst into tears after relaying his history of growing up in Tibet and the struggle throughout his life to work towards independence. It really blows me away how the Tibetans could have been a threat to the Chinese. Was it their mere existence in the wrong place at the wrong time, their religion, their attempt to personify the truth of nonviolence? This case seems similar to many other examples throughout this year, and I have been fascinated and curious to figure out the relationship between religion and violence, or nonviolence.

The one personal who has been most influential for me during this search is Mohandas K. Gandhi, possibly the worlds' most effective disciple of religious nonviolence in history. While Gandhi was working as a lawyer in South Africa around the turn of the 20th century, he became aware of injustices towards Indians living in the area, and commenced a lifelong effort to work for the independence and justice of the Indian race. His personal spiritual journey reinforced his native Hindu religion, but many other faiths had a strong influence on his philosophy, especially Christianity and Islam. Gandhi, was known to India as Mahatma, or the "Great Soul," and was ultimately the greatest factor in gaining free and independent rule from the British Empire.

This is what impresses me incredibly about Gandhi: By living a personal religious life centered and sustained by truth and nonviolence, you can become the prevention and the example that the world needs to live in peace and justice, as well as to be a positive force to combating the violence that arises from violent and oppressive power.

Gandhi's autobiography is entitled, "My Experiments with Truth." The concept of truth was central in his life, to the point of saying that Truth is God. By pursuing God through revealed truth, Gandhi's life became a series of experiments with nonviolence, extending it to each and everyday detail. By this gradual lifestyle refinement, Gandhi found a force that he believed was incredibly more powerful than the heavy-handed, greed-based violence that he saw manifested in the British Empire. Gandhi believed that only through the comprehensive application of a religion of nonviolence could injustice be overcome.

Through his personal example, Gandhi set the standard for a peaceable economy coming bottom up from the poor and seemingly helpless population of India. He promoted personal and national self-sufficiency, knowing that by each person consuming less, large amounts of power would not be necessary to maintain the population, which had traditionally involved violence. He also organized boycotts of British goods that stole work from the poorest of India, as well as many other forms of civil disobedience which countered the oppression and exploitation of India by British Colonialism. He authored a campaign named Satyagraha (translated from Hindi as soul-force or truth-force) that was based on the fact that a truly righteous cause based in nonviolence and justice would eventually prevail. Gandhi was constantly politically vocal and arrested numerous times, always happy to serve his sentence for a noble cause, as it was more honorable to obey God than oppressive laws. He spent a total of 2,338 days of his life in prison.

Gandhi also worked to break down barriers in his society, speaking out strongly against the stratified Hindu caste system and obtaining massive reforms as well as promoting religious cooperation, especially between Muslims and Hindus. He was heartbroken when Pakistan became a separate state apart from India. He was a friend to all, independent of their religion or creed, a constant humble learner that said if any of his writings contradicted themselves, the reader would be better off to believe the latter of the two. He was assassinated on his way to evening prayers in 1948, only 5 months after India achieved independence. His assassin was a Hindu extremist opposed to his civilized attempts to cooperate with Indian Muslims.

My wanderings through yesterday's edition of the Hindustan Times also brought me to many articles relating to September 11, commenting on it's effect on India and the broader world four years later. The front page posted an article reporting a survey of Indian Muslims from different parts of the country on these issues. Some interesting results state that 63% feel that the 9/11 attacks have made the Muslim community more vulnerable to hatred, 55% think America's War against terrorism is actually a war against Muslims, and 18% believe that America is winning its so-called War against terrorism. 22% believe that Islam is being practiced/followed in its true form, and 42% sympathizes with the 9/11 attackers.

While I was reading these articles, a traveler about my age from New York City came down and sat next to me. We got to talking and the conversation eventually led to 9/11 and his experiences during that fateful day in the city. His brother had worked in the World Trade Center, but fortunately wasn't there on the day of the attack. He told me some stories about his brother's friends, images that had haunted them for months after the event.

Since 9/11, large scale Islamic extremist terrorism has increased globally (Bali, New Delhi, Casablanca, Madrid, Ayodhya, London, Sharm-el Sheik...) and its consequent reactive retaliations (US instigated Afghanistan and Iraq Wars) have also taken thousands of lives as well as greatly stressed international relations within the world's superpowers.

As the surveys indicate, effects of 9/11, probably the most significant event in current world history, obviously live on. Although global opinion varies as to whether the "War on Terror" is a religious war or not, it definitely has religious implications. Another article discusses the raised emotions among religious Muslims worldwide and the increase in number of fundamentalist groups across the Middle East and Asia since 9/11. The world also observes the rise of conservatism and Christian fundamentalism in the USA. So if everyone is becoming more fervently religious, what is going on? What is religion's role in response to these events?

Quoted in the paper is lyricist Javed Akhtar, saying that it is wrong to state that the "War on Terror" is a war against Muslims. He says, "The US didn't go seeking Israel for squatting on Palestinian land though they did attack Iraq for aggression on Kuwait. This is because they do what suits them. You have to understand the politics of it all."

Since 9/11, one thing that has astounded me is the absence of the following question on national media: Why did this happen? As Akhtar stated, there are obviously politics involved here. It is completely ignorant to think that a religious group would attack the most powerful country in the world, demolishing two towers symbolizing wealth and dominance in the world's financial capitol for absolutely no reason. Why didn't we look at our politics that related to the Middle East and try to fix the root of the problem? Why didn't we have the humility to ask ourselves if we had made any mistakes, and then attempt to change them? The last four years have only shown that violence propagates more violence.

Indian author Yoginer Sikand states in the same article, "Everyone now knows there was no WMD in Iraq. It's US imperialism, plain and simple, which is being driven by Christian fundamentalism, the mirror image of Muslim fundamentalism."

Right before I left Srinagar, I stepped into a cafe to get a quick breakfast before catching my bus to Amritsar. A young Muslim guy was running the place and projecting a very friendly and loud atmosphere into the room. He eagerly asked me where I was from, and upon hearing my reply, a large-scale political discussion ensued, similar to many I have had in the Middle East. We talked about terrorism, fundamentalism, and the responses of our representative religions. Before I left, he said, "I'm sorry for what some people from my religion have done to America." And I replied, "I'm sorry too..."

It really makes you wonder about religion's role in violent conflict. It has often been a divisive factor as well as a bridge of love between diverse groups. What part of religion signifies this difference? How can we be religious and not live in a way that directly or indirectly creates violence in our world? Is it possible?

It seems to me that Gandhi has provided an excellent example for us. In an incredibly religiously diverse India that had been plagued with imperialist injustice and violent religious conflict, he encouraged the common, ordinary people (as well as political leaders) to become disciples of nonviolence and to change their lifestyles into ones that would promote a peaceable economy and political structure. He realized that the ultimate value of religion comes in the ability to change ourselves first. The only power that each of us ultimately has is to purify our own actions. From this foundation, compassion and active nonviolence will enable us to set an example for the world. Any religion devoid of nonviolence is a perversion, supported by fear and oppression through power.

Gandhi viewed religion as an integral part of politics, but only if religion was entirely expressed in nonviolence. The Dalai Lama of Tibet has also exemplified this point in his relations with China and the international community, believing that nonviolence is the only acceptable path to bringing about change, both personal and on a global scale.

In a few months I will return to America and will be put into a context where the popular mainstream lifestyle does not promote a peaceable global economy. I will have the opportunity each day to make decisions that I know will ultimately have violent or nonviolent effects on the world. As a citizen of the most powerful country in the world, I feel that the change has to happen in America first. We must stop the violence we are inflicting on the world by changing our personal lifestyles. If we truly live in a Democracy and our leaders reflect their constituents, these ideals should rise to a political level, changing our international politics. But if we keep consuming a grossly unjust and unnecessary proportion of the world's resources, the hurt will eventually come back to us. The decisions are ours; after all, with all of our power, we have the ability to "do whatever suits us." One thing I have definitely learned on this worldwide journey is that the best way to begin at making a positive change in the world is to first change yourself.

Spending the last few weeks reading and reflecting has been an incredibly valuable thing for me. The diversity and mystery of India have often blown me away and opened my eyes to many new examples of wisdom and hope that I am excited to take it back to the west. My personal goal is that I will be able to stay true what I have experienced here when I step into the fast-paced current that I left last October. Slowing down and being able to process some of this experience has helped to aid some of my apprehensions in returning, but I still expect it to be a difficult process.

In a few days, I'll travel to Varanasi via Delhi, and then into Nepal around the beginning of October. I expect to spend 6-7 weeks there, doing a lot of trekking. Afterwards, I will travel back into India to Calcutta, fly to Bangkok, and spent the remaining 3 weeks of the trip in Thailand and Cambodia. The plan is to be home by Christmas.

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[All quotations used can be found in the September 11, 2005 Hindustan Times, New Delhi. Other resources include: "The Gandhi Reader" - edited by Homer A. Jack and ?Freedom in Exile" - by the Dalai Lama of Tibet]

My 15 Seconds of Fame... (maybe!)

So everyone has heard of Hollywood, right? Multi-million dollar film budgets, red carpet celebrities, ritzy hillside estates... the picture is all too familiar. Increasingly popular around the globe, the Hollywood film industry (fairly or unfairly) represents US culture to the world. But what most people don't know is that nestled within the second most populous country on earth, a well-established competitor is picking up steam. Move over Hollywood, here comes Bollywood.

The Indian film industry, nicknamed "Bollywood" (because of being located primarily in Bombay), is by far the largest movie making industry in the world. It employs over 2.5 million people, and has produced nearly 35,000 feature films in the last 60 years. In other words, quantity over quality. But to millions of poor and jobless Indians around the country, a fourty-cent night at the movies provides the entertaining escape from reality that they are looking for, regardless of how far-fetched or overused the plot sequence might be. Nearly every small town has a musty old theatre, and the names of elite Bollywood stars are recognized by even the youngest of children. Of course, the most popular films are loaded with Western-style music and dance and are set in European or American locations. And as you can imagine, this creates a market within the film industry for light-skinned people such as ourselves. For the producers, the trick is knowing where to look.

After an exhausting 17 hour bus ride from Udaipur, in the western state of Rajasthan (check out the highlights here), Meike and I finally arrived in the bustling metropolis of Bombay. Given the state of India's roads, and the fact that we had the lucky fortune of getting seats in the very back of the bus that didn't recline, it was a journey that led us to the conclusion that for future overnight trips, the train will always be the preferred mode of transport. In somewhat of a daze, we wandered the streets of the downtown area, looking for a cheap place to crash for the next few nights. We finally settled for the rustic dormitory accomodations of the Salvation Army guesthouse. It is a huge, institutional-looking place that despite the guidebook's warnings of ocassional bedbug problems, has become quite popular among the budget backpacking crowd. For three dollars a night, you get a bed, breakfast, and seemingly unlimited smiles from the cordial staff. It is here, at the unassuming Salvation Army guesthouse, that Bollywood agents come to recruit their groups of amateur Western moviestars.

Meike and I had barely taken off our backpacks, when the receptionist informed us that in ten minutes a Bollywood rep would be showing up to recruit extras for the day. Dreadfully tired, although still ready for an adventure, we decided to check it out. Our man arrived a little late, decked out in jeans, sunglasses, and with the expected hint of an "I'm too cool" attitude. After carefully listening to the sales pitch, I decided his offer seemed reasonable. In exchange for 8 hours of our time on the set, we would be given lunch, dinner, an unlimited supply of chai and mineral water, transportation to the studios, and 500 rupees (about $12 USD). Not to mention being able to rub shoulders with our favorite Indian movie celebrities. So we said that we're in, and jumped in a taxi with several other travelers who also felt like doing something ridiculous for the day. In talking with another traveler in our cab, I found out this was her second day on the job. Some backpackers, desperate for fame, money, or maybe both, have been known to stay on for weeks at a time. I took this as a sign that the whole thing couldn't be too bad.

Our gang of Western wanna-be's arrived at the studios of Raj Dhairya Entertainment about an hour later. We walked through the main gate, and into a maze of beat-up production trailers, struggling power generators, and outdated electronic equipment thrown about. Not exactly the picture I had in my head of what a film studio complex would look like. But then again this is India, and I should have known by now that things are done differently here. Our recruiter slapped some high-fives with his buddies and led our group of a dozen back to a small room in the rear of the complex.

As we entered the room, there were some murmered discussions between a couple important-looking guys in the doorway, and all three simultaneously turned their heads in my direction. Pointing a decisive finger at me, one of them quickly pronounced "Policeman!" and then walked out. From a corner of the room, a costume designer lept into action and started fishing around in a big black crate that he had been sitting on. Out of the mess inside he somehow produced a pair of black pants, white shirt (a couple sizes too small), tie, boots, and even a British-style black police hat. Once I had successfully gotten into my costume, I was handed a clumsy belt, complete with plastic gun, baton, handcuffs and a pathetic plastic imitation of a walkie-talkie. I literally laughed out loud when I thought of the higher quality toy radios that I've seen in the past at WalMart...

Once in uniform, I was told to sit down and wait. In the meantime, the rest of the group was led off somewhere for lunch. As I had no other information to go on regarding my role, other than that I was to be a "policeman", my mind began to wander. Next to me a couple of muscular Indian guys (most likely famous stars, but I'll never know) were changing into cowboy chaps and I imagined being involved in some crazy shootout scene reminiscent of the old Wild West movies. The bad cop taking on the cowboy heros. Hmmm... this could be interesting. Hopefully they won't expect me to say anything in Hindi...

After about 30 minutes of sitting in the dressing room waiting for my opportunity to shine, the man who previously appointed me as policeman appeared once again. Instead of directing me to the set, however, he told me to change back into my normal clothes. Apparently they didn't need a policeman afterall. Or probably wisely decided that I didn't have quite the skill level they were looking for. Regardless of the reason, I obediently changed out of the phony police costume and rejoined the rest of the group for lunch. My feelings at that point where a strange mixture of disappointment, yet relief.

But of course the day wasn't over. The main shoot for the afternoon was of a London discotek, and so our Western faces were in high demand to make the place look authentic. While the Indian stars occupied the prime spots on stage and in front of the cameras, we filled in the background and around the edges of the stage. Our instructions were to simply look like we were having fun, and keep our hands in the air while dancing around. Of course for some people this was no problem, but those of you that know me well will recognize that dancing isn't exactly my thing... Fortunately the shots never lasted more than about 10 seconds, and in between there was plenty of time to relax and talk to fellow recruits while the stage was hastily rearranged for the next sequence. Sometimes it was entertaining enough to simply stand in a corner and watch the chaos unfold. From the producer yelling at the fog machine operator to back off a bit, to the actors and actresses running for a mirror and body spray every few minutes... the whole thing inspired more than a few chuckles and ocassional muffled rounds of laughter from our group of first-timers.

At around 10pm, the producer finally called it a wrap. Exhausted but feeling like I saw something truely unique that day, I stood in line with the rest of the group to receive our wad of freshly printed rupees in compensation. Even without the pay, I think it would have been an experience that was worth the time and effort. Although I will probably never choose to do it again. Rafta Rafta: The Speed... coming soon to a theatre probably not so close to you.

The next night in Bombay, Meike and I decided to further our education by seeing a finished Bollywood product at a local theatre. The movie for the night was entitled Mangal Pandey: The Uprising and was a surprisingly well-done historical movie about the Indian struggle for independence. I understand that the movie is experiencing incredible sucess both here and abroad, and if you get the chance to see it, check it out. It is done in a mixture of Hindi and English, and provides not only some authentic glimpses into Indian culture, but a solid perspective on the struggles against colonialism that have plagued this nation throughout history.

The cinema experience was also unique in itself. Upon arrival, handprinted signs throughout the theatre kindly reminded patrons that there is "No Spitting" allowed. Although this didn't seem to stop the crowd of rowdies that got seats behind us in the cheap section. Indian cinema is just as much about the group experience as it is the individual's personal enjoyment... and as such it is very common for loud discussions, catcalls, and all sorts of other random commentary to take place from various corners of the theatre. For this alone, it is worth the fourty cent entry fee. And as a word of advice: If you ever find yourself in an Indian theatre and wonder why everyone suddenly rises to their feet at the start of the movie, just join along in the fun. It's time for the national anthem!

Following a few short days in Bombay, Meike and I took an overnight train down to the beautiful beaches of Goa. A perfect place for relaxing and meeting other fellow travelers, the past week there slipped away surprisingly quickly. We are now in the southern city of Trivandrum, where we are staying with a friend of Meike's for the next few days. From there we will begin the long journey back to the north, this time riding the rails up the eastern coast to Calcutta.