Thursday 4 October 2007

Beauty - Unexpected, Unsought

In the land that is perhaps the most stereotypes in this country, we found beauty, serenity and a feast for the eyes (and the stomach!). Muraura, Nalanda, Rajgir, Gaya - across Bihar we went, much to the collective consternation of our parents. History - so much of it - met us at every step - all the way from 5th century BC.

An Overdose of Bricks and Moss ;)

Old construction and cyclonic rains ensured this. Red and green - beware you might slip if they were underneath your feet! They brought the beauty and the lushness alive - trees looked freshly laundered, so green and not a speck of dust. Vitality soothed the eyes and life brimmed with the sounds of our ecstasy and laughter as we frolicked like little children.

A Hot Water Bath

One of the highlights of our "rural" trip was the swim in the hot sulphur springs at Rajgir. With the place to ourselves (the police had cleared out the junta), the seven of us swam with abandon in the pool, the warm water lapping over us, undoing months of stiffness and stress. As we got out of the pool and changes the most wonderful floaty feeling, nothing would have bothered me that day and I wish I could feel that way everyday of my life - the most blissful, dreamless sleep that 2 hours were almost enough for an entire night. It awoke a new hunger (not just for food as sulphur water does) but for life and living and happiness and that bliss of completeness that was that night.

History Came Alive...

... at the Nalanda ruins as we walked through the ancient university. And yet again at Bodh Gaya. I really can't say much here except to wait a couple of days for the pictures for they really do speak a thousand words... far more eloquently than I can write at any rate!

Bihar

We know it for the the lawlessness and the corruption but now I will always remember it for the beauty and the week of absolute fun that we had there. Wish everyone could see what we saw, be where we were in those 6 days - In a Heaven of our own.

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