The Sensual Paradise of India
"Perhaps it's Joe Fafard, but I am terribly struck by the beauty of the cows. They are like living sculptures." - Chris Tyrell
It all started when I saw a film in the early 1970's called Siddhartha. I learned that it was filmed in Sri Lanka and the dazzling scenery made me want to go wherever it had been filmed. I decided to go to Sri Lanka and on the way I would visit India. Then I chickened out. I was too afraid of what I would see on the streets — poverty, lepers, crippled people and animals in sorry condition. But twenty years later and after a personal crisis, I resolved to go. That was eleven years ago.
I had the best learning vacation of my life on that trip, but it took me ten years to go back. From January to the end of March 2006, I returned to many of the places I had seen before and to some new cities. (India is a vast and extremely diverse country with a land mass larger than that of continental Europe.) This second trip was so exhilarating and rewarding that in January 2007 I returned and I am writing this editorial in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) in late March. I still have another month to go here and I will not waste a second — this trip has proven as wonderful as the previous two.
This visit is almost entirely devoted to places that I have been before — except for Jaisalmer and Nepal (where I will be in May), so a primary objective for this trip is to answer the question so many people ask me: "What is it about India that you like so much?" I now know the answer. Hence this editorial. As artists, I am sure that you will be interested, especially if you have never considered visiting India or never been to "Incredible India."
What I love about this country is that it is a sensate nation and I, like many artists, am fully engaged with my senses and emotions. More than anything else, it is my sense of sight that is stimulated — colour astounds my eyes all day, every day. There is even a festival here about colour each February called Holi. The women in their saris are, as a friend said to me, human jewels. The saris, often adorned with rhinestones or mirrors, sparkle brilliantly in the sun, and they are everywhere — on women working on road construction, in the streets, in the fields and especially on ceremonial occasions and in the temples. Saris of every colour are everywhere. I am constantly agog at the beauty of the women, their jewelry, their make up and their clothes. (The men, by contrast, are the world's worst dressers for the most part.)
After sight, the other sense that fills my days with delight is taste. One of the things I like best about traveling is seeing and eating local foods. In India, there is an amazing diversity of choice and there are many specialties of each state: there are vastly more than the curry dishes for which India is best known. The choice in vegetarian dishes alone is enough to paralyze one when faced with the decision of what to have for dinner. And everything tastes delicious. Thali, my favourite dish, is the best choice for single travelers like me — you get up to seven or eight delicious small servings of food with rice and bread. Wash it all down with a lassi, chai or kashmiri tea, and heaven's gates open.
Besides the saris, however, your eyes are constantly seduced by the display of fruits, spices and vegetables. The vendors of hammocks, clothing, cloth, fabric arts, bangles and pigments are all artists, judging by the way they display their wares. To all this, add the architectural beauty of the temples and monuments. Everyone knows about the Taj Mahal, and so they should. It is the biggest beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life and its majesty is overpowering, as is its story. But fewer visitors know about the Itmad-Ud-Daulah, also in Agra, or about the Jain temple in Ranakpur. Here in Jaisalmer, I believe I am in the most beautiful city in the world. The architectural features of the havelis (mansions), palaces and all the houses of those of sufficient means just stupefy. And the Jain temples are beyond description in their beauty. They still build the buildings of Jaisalmer in the styles created by craftsmen from Kabul and Kandahar hundreds of years ago. I have never seen anything like this city.
Then there are the flowers. I believe we in BC live in the most beautiful part of the world for flowers, but there are flowers here that astound with their perfume or blossoms. Tuberoses are everywhere, so are plumeria. Each one is a feast for the nose. And there are trees that, as with plumeria, bloom without foliage. I do not know what they are called but they are covered in bright orange or red blossoms and these trees just shout out at you from the gardens and boulevards. And there is bougainvillea everywhere. It grows like a weed here creating multi-coloured hedges running for miles along the highways. And add to all this the brightly-coloured turbans on the Rajasthani men and the sculptural beauty of the cows that fill the streets and you can get an idea of how stimulated this colour maniac is every day and all day.
As for smell, there is everything from the smell of sewage to the heavenly fragrances of essential oils, perfumes and incense. The incense fills the streets and temples, vying for attention with the scents of spices and cooking food.
And finally, there are the people. Of course there are the hassles of "touts" (con men, hustlers and merchants who will do anything to get you into their shops), but it is the kind people, the warm and friendly people of India whose interactions thrill me and give me unforgettable moments. And perhaps it is the Indians who make me want to return. They are a physically and spiritually beautiful people. It is hard as a tourist to meet "average" people, but I have been lucky enough to meet a few. And it is they, plus the gracious strangers who have helped me choose food, find amenities, get a taxi or understand a celebration or event, who call me back. Will I come back again soon? I am not sure, but I hope I have opened a door of consideration for other artists who love idyllic sensations.
ctyrell@shaw.ca
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