Calm in chaos: only in India part 2

Christians Muslims and Hindus...What a whirlwind... I am sitting in an air conditioned mini bus with 10+ Americans returning from KMI near guruvayur. The three days there are a blur. We arrived after hours of driving into the night; I slept the entire time. We couldn't even eat dinner: crashed. We finally allowed ourselves to feel the outset of jet lag and took the day to do as little as possible, which included a Kerala style massage. It began with a vigorous head massage. Naked minus a loin clothe, on a tilting wooden table, I felt myself let go under her fast moving hands following energetic lines up and down, across and around my body. In moments, I would consciously let go somewhere: release a little bit more. The breath deepened into what felt like a very stimulating and healing flow of touch. I started a mantra of healing thyself healing thy world. During the shirodhara (forehead oil treatment), the afternoon prayer sound/horn signaled the Muslim population to pray and the chanting/hymns began. I could have wept. Instead I let the vibration far off in the town wash over me and rhythmically I went deep into prayer, into the spirit world. I felt unified with these people, whoever they were, offering their voices and their faith to their god. There has been an amazing amount of eating (not enough pooping) and a lot of getting to know yous between the group of brides maids who traveled from all over the world to celebrate Emily and Suresh, the bride and groom.

Yesterday, we traveled to a Krishna temple. Another tearful witness to the expression of the human spirit in their devotion. A man laid completely upon the floor; a woman wept; people paid homage to the lord Krishna and we westerners could not go in the temple but captured a couple of contraband photos. Being a tourist is and isn't interesting.

The raw smell of the open sewer is real. The insane traffic and honking is real. The staring from locals is real. As is the generosity and curiosity... The calm in the chaos is tangible. One can easily exclaim at any turn, you're in India. So time warps and space is negotiated on the highways in the temples in the shops and with some form of precision and a whatever goes kind of attitude, things get done the way things get done in India.