Date: Mon Nov 27, 2000
Subject: Winter approaches

Hi Folks,

It's been quite a while since my last message - for various reasons (not least my own procrastination) I've been putting it off, but here I am once more.

Actually I've lately been down with a case of hepatitis A which has been a major spanner in the works. For a couple of weeks I had no energy and seeing the colour of my urine and stool was quite a strange feeling. But now, after a couple of weeks of a pure fruit, green vegetable and rice diet (no oil or spice), complete rest and my guru-ji's ayurvedic medicine (he's not only a tabla master but a very respected doctor) I'm making an excellent recovery. In fact I now feel back to full health but I've been instructed to continue the treatment for some more weeks in order to allow my liver a full recovery. Obviously I've had to take a break from tabla practice which has been a bit depressing as things were going so well. Oh well - such is life...

Since my last message, there have been a few interesting events around town and country. My Japanese djembe-gang friends left town on their continuing travels which certainly left a few unhappy faces around here. We all had quite a fun time together, after which us long-term stayers (music students and such) jokingly vowed not to make friends with any more tourists - farewells can be so sad...

Shortly after that the U.P. Government held their annual "Ganga Mahotsav" ('Great Festival of the Ganges'). The ghats in the centre of town were cleaned up and decorated with garlands of marigolds and for 5 days there were various cultural programmes including light and classical music and dance and dance drama. The highlights for me were the opening performance with local tabla master Kishen Maharaj (a guru-brother of my guru) accompanying a sarod player, Ronu Majumdar giving a bansuri (flute) performance and Mata Prasad Mishra and his brother Ravi Shankar (NOT the famous sitar player) Mishra giving the most dynamic and interesting Kathak dance performance I've ever seen. Interestingly, this was happening about the same time that you Brisbane folks were lucky enough to have the great Hariprasad Chaurasia (India's top bansuriya) in town. You lucky people! Anyway, the Ganga Mahotsav culminated in a special Dev Deepavali event in which most of the ghats in the city were decorated with many thousands of small oil candles as well as many thousands more being floated down the river - quite a beautiful spectacle.

Around this time there was a Rainbow Gathering just outside Varanasi. For those of you who don't know, Rainbow Gatherings are regular events around the world in which the 'Rainbow Tribe' gather for upwards of 2 weeks in peaceful outdoor locations. They stay away from roads, houses, electricity etc. and share food, skills and love in a very open way which can be quite challenging for us city-folk, but if one can join in the culture it is quite a refreshing and heart-warming experience. They really have their own tribally influenced culture happening, with communal songs reflecting their activities and so on. Unfortunately for me, the two days I spent there were the time that I started to feel the symptoms of hepatitis and all I could do was sleep and fast.

From one extreme to the other, the third vaguely interesting event that has recently happened was the local government elections, which happened throughout the state of Uttar Pradesh. For the week beforehand, almost every house and shop was displaying a flag to show their allegiances and electoral posters were everywhere. On election day (a Monday) 98% of shops were closed for most of the day. Voters were marked with an indelible ink on their left index finger. Counting is now almost complete. Now this is the interesting bit - in the city of Gorakhpur, near Nepal, the leader in the running for mayor is eunuch Asha Devi who ran on a platform of being against political parties. Before the polls, the local officials were having trouble with her application as they weren't sure what sex to put on her application form. And while other candidates from major parties spent lakhs of rupees on posters and how-to-vote I.D. slips, she has succeeded by calling on voters to vote for her on the I.D. slips issued by the major parties! Go Asha!

Enough for now...

Love to all,
Shen
Aum Mani Padme Hum