Mother to the rescue

I am entering on Claire's blog because I now have entered into her amazing adventure- and I emphasize "adventure." As her mother I can offer a fresh perspective on her path to prosperity. I joined Claire on her journey in India. When I got through customs in Delhi in my perky little Coldwater Creek outfit at 10 at night, Claire was nowhere to be found and I had no way of reaching her. The Delhi airport was full of taxi driver type Hindu, Muslim, Sik, and other men - very few women - no English spoken here and no little helpful information booth. I acted confidently, as I strode around the airport, with not a clue as to what to do. This scenario was not part of the joyful reunion I had imagined and I struggled to control my inner panic. Finally, among about 100 men holding signs I found my guy. He was holding a sign- bern a d ette moo rree. Close enough. I whisked out of the airport with a complete stranger and sped - and I emphasize sped- to the domestic airport, hopefully to pick up Claire. When we got to the "other airport" the driver pulled into the no parking zone and told me to sit behind the wheel while he went to search for Claire. I obeyed. As the police came striding up behind the car. Claire miraculously emerged from the cloud of dust which is the domestic airport and reached the car before the police. Claire, as always, looked incredibly happy and healthy and I, bedraggled and haggard, but it was a joyful reunion and the start of our Delhi adventure.

Mission: Amma Tappa

The goal for our weekend trip from Hyderabad was to get to the spiritual 'fortune teller,' Amma Tappa, in the Tibetan settlement of Bylakuppe and back within 72 hours. including 36 hours of travel. 1st stop: Bangalore.

On the non-AC overnight train to from Hyderabad to Bangalore, Cate was overheating, and I was dying of thirst, with no water in sight. Luckily I think that train was on time. Once we arrived in Bangalore, we treated ourselves to a luxurious hotel. Cate worked her magic and got the price reduced and buffet breakfast included. After check-in, there was really no need to leave the room, except to see KFC and go bowling. Feeling guilty about not seeing any sights during my 24 hours in Bangalore, we hired a rickshaw to show us 1 temple, 1 mosque and 1 church. We hit them all at a good time; there were prayers going on at each.

Next stop: Mysore. We took the train to Mysore where I received a huge, loud lecture from a railway employee on how I should respect authority in India. I had to politely tell him that if I stopped every time an Indian man said hi to me, I'd never get anywhere. Ooohhh, he was so mad.

Next stop: Bylakuppe. After leaving the train station in Mysore, everything went extremely smoothly. We got to the bus station just as the bus to Bylakuppe was pulling out. When we got to Bylakuppe, everyone knew how to get to Amma Tappa's house. When we got to her house, not just 1, but 4 translators appeared.

Amma Tappa inherited spiritual powers from her father. He thought the powers would be lost once he left Tibet, but Amma Tappa realized she had them at age 13. She looks into 3 special mirrors and can answer any yes/no question. The most common question is "will I get a US visa." I asked if God already had a plan for me? I think something might have gotten lost in translation, but she told me that I would be very successful. Not this year but maybe next; just be happy and success will come. It was a really wonderful experience. Amma Tappa is in her 80's now and has a beautiful face full of wrinkles. She blessed some plastic beads for us and told us to wear them always. Then Amma Tappa sent us on to the nunnery to be prayed for, gave us a Tibetan mantra and set us up with a place to stay. Mission accomplished.

Hyderabad- Part Duex

I decided to spend the next 3 weeks until my mom arrives at Cate's school in Hyderabad. It's a beautiful campus with a pretty sweet schedule: yoga every morning and 2.5 hours of classes starting at 10:30, including a tea break. I participated in the Art and Peace Building Workshop that was going on at the time. We each painted t-shirts with something having to do with peace. The instructor was an amazing artist and dedicated facilitator. He got really into the idea of a fashion show to show off our shirts. We decorated, rehersed, and filmed it. Unfortunately only 2 people came to watch. As things sometimes do, it turned into a dance party. Cate's been showing off her Hindi dance moves, which people really appreciate. And I think Suhail should try out for 'So you think you can dance.' He'd take the universe by storm.

When we weren't in class, Cate and I were hanging out with a family living on campus. They have 4 kids. We watched Bollywood movies, danced, did hair and ate the spiciest food of our lives. One day we had planned to take the kids to the pool but after the mom told us that the kids got skin diseases last year, we opted for the zoo. The zoo was quite impressive and best of all the sprinklers were on. It's so hot!

Rishikesh...Ashram central

After a fight with the management at our 1st hotel because our door wouldn't lock and a cow having diarrhea just barely missing my foot, Cate and I needed a little Parmarth Niketan Ashram. It was like a resort, a calm oasis from the fly infested, shit covered streets. We had a gorgeous, bright room with Anthro-like bedspreads and a view of the Ganges. In the 5 days we were there, I never made it to the yoga classes at 7 am but I did my own yoga routine and went to the later chanting session. And it was tough but every night, I had to tear myself away from our room for the atari (fire ceremony) on the Ganges. I think the only other time I left the room was to eat. Since my veg days are over, Cate and I searched everywhere for some meat. But being a holy Hindu city, it took 2 nights to find some. Everyone we asked looked at us like we were crazy. We finally hit the jack pot at a cute Swiss Hotel up in the hills with excellent views. And bravely I tried the chicken sizzler. Luckily it was plain, simple and delish. Our trip wouldn't be compete without a dip in the Ganges, fully clothed (as I haven't seen an Indian woman in a bathing suit). The Ganges was surprisingly clean at this point, though cold as ice.