Bats, health and pilgrimage

Today marks the half-way mark of my stay: I've been at VKV for 6 weeks and 2 days and I have 6 weeks and 2 days before I leave to fly back to Australia. It feels a long time and not a long time. In many ways this has become my reality and Australia is an exotic other place, yet I also miss loved ones. I could in fact imagine being here a year - there is so much to learn and I love the learning. I originally decided to come back to VKV because last time I was here for 5 weeks and I wanted a longer stay. 3 months seemed like a good amount of time, and it is, but also not long enough. I know for a fact that my mridangam teacher has expectations that I will make my arangetram (debut public performance) before I leave, but 6 more weeks doesn't seem long enough to me to be prepared for an hour and half concert. I love the idea of doing this but don't want to be a fool on stage. I'm already starting to think that I'd like to come back again - maybe make my arangetram next year. We'll see

At the back of the school house there are lots of tall trees and at sunset each night there are lots of huge bats which come flying and hanging around. For the last week there's been the sad sight of one of these bats hanging upside down from the electricty cable, dead, probably electrocuted. It must be stuck via rigor mortis and hangs there, rotting. It's kind of a spooky omen, hanging at the entrance to the school house. The other day during a tabla lesson I commented to my teacher about it, and I said "What do you think this means?" He didn't have the English to understand that I was having a joke about metaphorical or symbolic meanings, so I finally said "Maybe a dead bat is unlucky" Later during the class I was struggling with a tricky rhythm, my fingers were not going where I wanted them to go and I was getting very frustrated (and besides, it was late in the day, the power was off so there was no fan and it was very hot) I was grunting and making desparing sounds, when my teacher said "This rhythm is a dead bat" I didn't understand what he said at first and he kept looking at me with a big smile on his face. When I got what he said we both laughed, it was the funniest thing I've heard him say.

Yesterday I went to a doctor. He said "There is evidence of a chest infection" and prescribed antibiotics. I can't wait for them to kick in because I can't sleep at night and coughing a lot. In Kerala there is the choice of going either to an Aryurvedic doctor or a Western medicine doctor. Kerala is home of Ayurvedic medicine, and an introductory course on Ayurveda is taught at VKV by Doctor Hari. There is an Aryuvedic hospital in the next town (where Dr Hari is based) as well as a Western Medicine hospital. Often students from VKV go to the Ayurvedic hospital for treatments, and there's a bit of the hippie mentality amongst the students of mistrust of western medicine, so everyone kept asking me "Are you going to see Dr Hari?" In many cases I would give it a go but I was pretty sure I would need antibiotics so I chose Western medicine. Besides, I told everyone, I don't want to hear that I'm not allowed to eat spicy foods (In Ayurvedic medicine, everyone has a particular "Dosha" or constitution, and depending on your Dosha you are recommended by Aryurvedic practitioners to eat certain foods and avoid others. A number of students have been told that their dosha means that they can't eat spicy foods. I don't want to be told this, so I'd rather have western medicine)
So I went to Kozhenchery, the nearest town, to Muthoot Hospital with an appointment already made to see Dr Jolly V Matthew. It was an interesting experience to see how the system works in an Indian hospital. After registering at Reception, you are sent to sit on the verandah in front of the doctor's room. There are chairs set up in rows on the verandah outside each door. When I was called in, apart from Dr Jolly Matthew (a male, in case you're wondering) there were 3 nurses standing in the room. All three clearly needed to be there to pull the curtain across when I lay on the bed to be examined. The consultation cost 50 rupees (about Aus$1.40) During the time I was there I was asked by 3 different people where I was staying and when I said "Aranmula" each of them said "Vijnana Kala Vedi" - there has been a long history of years of VKV students going to that hospital. It seemed like a good and clean place.

Howard's demise has made the local Keralan newspapers - which usually have no international news except an article about Pakistan every now and then.

Now is the season of pilgrimage in Kerala, to Sabrimala (about 100kms from Aranmula) This is the temple site for the Hindu god, Ayyapan. The pilgrimage is huge and over the next month or so many thousands of pilgrims will go there. When I was here 3 years ago I saw something of this and discovered that not only were there pilgrims here from all over South India but also Malaysia and further afield. Men and children can go but women of childbearing age are not allowed. The pilgrims walk bare foot dressed in black and orange. Some of the staff here are going on Friday, and one of them invited me to go with them. So now 4 of us male students are going. This Friday night we leave at 8pm via taxi (not very pilgrim like) and travel to a place at the riverside, where we have to wash in the river before climbing the hill for several hours. I'm told that we have to hold above our head a coconut and rice wrapped in a banana leaf as we walk (bare footed) There will be hundreds if not thousands of pilgrims there. Puja at the temple on the hill happens from 4am to something like 8am, and then we will walk back down and return to Aranmula. This afternoon we have to buy beads to wear around our necks and go to the temple here in Aranmula to have them blessed by the priest. We have to wear the beads from then on until our "pilgrimage" is finished, and we cannot shave or cut any hair. That's about as much as I know about it at this stage, but it's sure to be an amazing experience.