Well, I have made it to India and am still getting adjusted to this crazy place. I managed to survive a day in Delhi and a 17 hour Bollywood-filled bus ride into the northern city of Vashisht, outside of Manali. It is a beautiful place located in the Kullu Valley completely surrounded by the Himalayas. There are more hippies here than one can imagine, and the lifestyle consists of two things: getting stoned and hanging out. Since I have been working 6 days a week in both Korea and Vietnam, I find it hard to just sit all day smoking chillums. But when in Rome I guess....
So last night I indulged in some serious hanging out and chillum smoking. I met a Indian spiritual leader called a "Ba-Ba." Skinny, turban on his head, long beard, the whole works. When we questioned his holiness he pulled out a "Ba-Ba" certificate verifying that he was the real deal. He spoke very little English and my friends and I figured we could hold a conversation without him understanding most of it. In our "Indian haze" we started laughing and talking about Internet videos where Indian "Ba-Bas" lift large amounts of weight with their "holy members." We were laughing and acknowledging that we have all seen those videos on the Internet when the "Ba-Ba" speaks up.
"I can do."
"What? You can do what?"
"50 kgs my friend, I can do. I can pull Jeep too."
Oh my Shiva!!! No way did this guy just tell us that he can lift 50 kilograms and pull a Jeep with his Vishnu. Everyone just stood there not knowing what to say and awkwardly looking at each other but we all knew the only logical response for such situations.
"I'd pay to see you do it."
"Yes friend, we go now?"
"Uh, OK."
We follow the Ba-Ba out of the restaurant we were at and crossed the street to his temple. I am so giddy and nervous that I can't help but just laugh uncontrollably. Am I really going to witness this? My friends had to calm me down a bit and remind me that we were in a holy place and to get my shit together. I tried to calm down by chewing on my jacket sleeve like a 5 year old while whispering "Oh my god, oh my god" over and over.
Sure enough the Ba-Ba rolls out a huge boulder from the garden, strips down and wraps his skirt around the boulder. (Now, it should be said that this "lifting heavy things with your wiener" technique is used as a sort of meditation, or yoga, or something that is completely over my head.) The Ba-Ba does what looks like a Bowstring knot, takes a deep breath and lifts. I must say that I was fully impressed. I could barely even lift the boulder with my hands and this guy is lifting it with, well ya know. Thank heavens that he was cool with me taking pictures because many at home would not believe me. It's true ladies and gentlemen, it's true.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a spare Jeep lying around so we never got to see that part but thats cool, one can imagine. Oh yeah, this was last night on my third day in India. I have three more months to go. I'll be practicing so get your Jeeps ready!
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