Changes coming

Stay long enough in any one place, and you begin to get a sense of the everyday. Even, apparently, in India. And then, as is life’s habit, things change. Tomorrow Ambika is going away. Her son will be back from boarding school at Mt Abu, and she will join her husband at Chittor where he works for a big cement manufacturer. I’m hoping we can steal away one afternoon to visit them there. It’s about 2 hours from Udaipur and has an ancient Kali temple.

Kali. The goddess of death that made a deep impression on my young life thirty years ago. It was a time when the only religious belief and iconography I was familiar with, was a Jewish god who was on my side because I had the good fortune to belong to his chosen people, and a Christian god who died on the cross and who saved sinful souls. Kali was a whole new concept to me then. Destruction – death – rebirth – renewal. I still like the idea of her. But I digress...

Almost as soon as Ambika’s left, Paul and Shannon will arrive. I’ve kept the more touristy things to do for when they get here, and when we have time. There’s also a big huge gigantic Indian wedding coming to Udaipur. All the feasts and ceremonies that will take place over three days are being held here, at the City Palace Complex. So they are moving me to another hotel to make room for the guests. I will be packing up tomorrow and shipping out to the Garden Hotel, a couple of kilometers away. That’s where Paul and Shannon will join me. A new stage begins.

And as if to herald this change in pace, a group of about 12 monkeys unexpectedly escaped the guards’ knobkerries, and sneaked into the grounds. Perhaps they took advantage of the rain, which incidentally, has cooled things down a good 10 degrees. I spent ages watching them interact. Mothers looking after babies. They are so human, it’s not surprising that Hindus have Hanuman, the monkey god, who bravely helped Lord Rama in his battle against the demons.