JankyBob 0 #26 September 28, 2006 Hey Bryan. Good to hear from you! I just put a bunch of stuff in storage and came across a bunch of Jank shirts. Send me a PM with your address and size and I'll send one out to you (and assume that my Rats shirt is in the mail). Peace! Bob QuoteHey Bob, The Gravityrats are with you heart and soul. Email has been sent. And where's my damn shirt? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACMESkydiver 0 #27 October 1, 2006 Many safe returns on your travles, Bob. We'll be eagerly anticipating your pics and words. ~Jaye Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
warpedskydiver 0 #28 October 1, 2006 Good job Bob, you know someone is watching your every move don't ya? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swedishcelt 0 #29 October 1, 2006 Be well and safe and at peace. Have a great trip. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JankyBob 0 #30 October 11, 2006 Hey everyone. Thought I'd bump this up in case anyone missed it the firat time. I am leaving for India tomorrow and I will try to send an email out to the newsgroup before I leave. I hope you all have a great winter! Lots of Love! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelel01 1 #31 October 11, 2006 Enjoy your trip, Bob. We'll all be thinking about you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Rebecca 0 #32 October 11, 2006 Lots of Love back atcha! Via con Shannon, via con Dios. you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites turtlespeed 220 #33 October 11, 2006 QuoteHey everyone. Thought I'd bump this up in case anyone missed it the firat time. I am leaving for India tomorrow and I will try to send an email out to the newsgroup before I leave. I hope you all have a great winter! Lots of Love! Bob Take care Bob - I hope you find something there - whatever it might be . . .I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites ladyskydiver 0 #34 October 11, 2006 Have a safe trip. Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites chaoskitty 0 #35 October 11, 2006 Have a great trip Bob.. I look forward to keeping up with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skinnyshrek 0 #36 October 11, 2006 bob, stay away from da vindaloo while your there. Take plenty of icey toilet paperhttp://www.skydivethefarm.com do you realize that when you critisize people you dont know over the internet, you become part of a growing society of twats? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites guppie01 0 #37 October 11, 2006 I was thinking about you on the way to the Chinese consulate this morning - went to pick up our Visa's for China. Cherish and enjoy your time. Safe travels Bob! Love, g"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Amazon 7 #38 October 28, 2006 Bumping thisthread up and adding in Bob's e- mail from India. Apparently he cant get to DIZZIE DOT COM in India. Hi everyone. Internet access has been sporadic at best, but I have finally made it to a place that I think we are going to chill out at for a while, so hopefully I will have a better chance to keep you updated. Its been a strange, crazy, beautiful trip already. I ended up staying in Dehli for seven days. We were waiting for a friend to arrive and things got delayed. We were in Dehli for the Indian holiday of Duvali. Not the place you want to be when everyone celebrates by throwing these huge firecrackers (they call them bombs) around. Our hotel was in this market area called Puhar Ganj. It was loud and crowded, but it was a great experience that I won't soon forget. I know that some of you may already know some of the details of why I am here and what made me come to India, but I thought I'd give a little insight to those that don't know the whole story. Some of this may sound pretty strange, but those of you that know me know that I am a pretty practical, level-headed person. This is what has happened to me: I had a friend, Bryan, who was spending some time in India and then came to stay with Shannon and I when he came back to America. He brought Shannon and I necklaces that had been blessed by this saint and a picture of a man called Baba Neeb Karoli, better known as Maharaji. He also showed us some incredible footage from this temple in the Himalayas. Immediately, Shannon said that we should go there to get married and I agreed. We bought tickets for last March and plannd to stay for a month. At the beginning of this year, it looked like we were going to sell our company in March, so we decided to postpone our trip until after the sale was completed. One night while I was lying in bed with Shannon, I felt this weird buzz going through my body. I could feel it from my head to my toe. As I was trying to figure out what was happening, a voice came into my head and said the following two things; "This is a solo journey" and "there will be clues along the way". Even as I write this it sounds so strange, but there is no denying that it happened. I woke up Shannon to make sure I wasn't dreaming, we talked about it and then just forgot about it. Two days after Shannon died, when I was in the worst shape possible, a box arrived on my doorstep. It was addressed to me but it didn't say who it wasfrom. It smelled like it had been on a boat for about a year. I opened the box and it was filled with all kinds of books, but sitting on the top was a book called "The Miracle of Love" and it was a book of stories about Baba Neeb Karoli (Maharaji). I grabbed that book and read it cover-to-cover. It was like my bible and I carried it everywhere. The fact that that book arrived when it did was a miracle unto itself. I can't begin to express how much it helped me. Anyway, the first stop on our trip was to a town called Nainital, which is about seven hours by train from Delhi. It is on a lake surrounded by mountains and is very beautiful. It still has the sounds of India (cars honking, etc.), but it definitely a step in the right direction from Delhi. There is an ashram (temple complex) near there that used to be one of the places that Maharashi stayed while he was on this earth (he left his body in 1973). We stayed in the Evelyn Hotel in Nainital, which is run by three brothers you were close to Maharaji while he was alive. I had the opportunity to tell them Shannon's story and the reason I was there and they were all so warm and wonderful. They were truly touched by the story. They arranged for me to meet a man called "KK", who was basically Maharaji's right-hand man and spent most of his life dedicated to him. He is also one of the people that compiled all the stories in "Miracle of Love". They took me to this old part of town and I climbed up these rickety old stairs to KK's apartment. All I can say is that it was one of the most significant meetings of my life. He was such a warm and loving man and we talked for a couple of hours about everything that had happened to me. What a trip it was to be sitting with this man in this little apartment on the other side of the world talking about Shannon. I showed him a number of pictures and he said that he could feel her energy and the love that we shared. There are many more details to our visit to this place, but I only have time for a few. We did visit the ashram and had a great day there. After five days in Nainital, we have now made our way up to a small village near the Himalayas called Kasar Devi. This place is absolute heaven! The view of the Himalayas from here is absolutely breathtaking. I am staying with this old woman who charge $2 per night for the most basic of accomadations (a square brick room with no running water). I shower out of a bucket and eat whatever food becomes available. It is quite the experience. I am definitely finding some peace here. I have to run for now, but I will write again soon since I am planning on staying here for a while. It will get cold soon and then we will probably head for Rishikesh. The family from the Evelyn hotel invited me there to share in what will be a very special celebration that I will tell you about later. Please feel free to post any of this on dropzone.com because for some reason I can't access dz.com from anywhere in India. Also, if someone has Brad Style's email address, let me know. I have met a friend of his on this journey. I hope all is well back home. It is amazing the effect Shannon has had on these people that live so far away. I can definitely feel her with me every step of the way! Lots of love! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites lisamariewillbe 1 #39 November 12, 2006 Below is the latest message from Bob. It came in my email box the morning I woke up with tears for Shannon. Damn I miss her. Heres his message Hi everybody. We have made our way to Rishikesh and have been here a few days now. Thought I would update everyone on what has transpired since my last update. There are a couple of things I didn't really mention in my last email because thier significance did not come clear until after I sent the last message. When I planned on coming to India, I really wanted to have an open agenda and just move about as I was inspired to do so. But, I needed a place to start. The only plan I had was to go to Nainital and visit the temple in Kanchi, which was Majarashi's main ashram (an ashram is a temple complex where people can stay and worship and Maharaji is the name most people use when talking about Baba Neeb Karoli, who I mentioned last email). There is a woman they call Sri Siddhi Ma (or, just Ma for short), who has been a devotee for about 40 years. Maharaji referred to her as the reincarnation of the goddess Durga and she is truly a saint. Not only did she live side-by-side with Maharaji for many years, but she is the one that took over the duties of giving puja (blesings) at the Kanchi ashram after Maharaji left is body. She has been doing this for many years and people come from all over the country (and world!) to receive her darsham. Anyway, before I left for India I decided that I wanted to try and see her, receive her blessing, and ask her about spreading Shannon's ashes. I figured that this meeting would determine my next stop. When I arrived in Nainital and met the brothers at the hotel and KK, they all wanted me to meet Ma and tell her my story. They even arranged an interpreter to go with us and translate the story into Hindi. But finding Ma can be a frustrating experience sometimes. If she just stayed in Kanchi and gave darsham, it would be non-stop everyday. It seems you just have to be at the right place at the right time. When we arrived in Kanchi that day to find out she was not there, I was a little disappointed, but I was just going with the flow and letting things happen as they do. After my meeting with KK (and in my heart, I knew this before), I was aware that where I spread Shannon's ashes was less significant than the spirit in which I did it. The mission of spreading her ashes was the spark I needed to go on this journey, and it is what got me here, but now that I am here the true purpose is kind of revealing itself. Not that the spreading of Shannon's ashes is insignificant in any way, and as a matter of fact it is taking on even greater meaning to me, but in a different way. It is a symbolic gesture, but it will also be a gesture of love. Its more for my benefit (and those back home) than for the benefit of Shannon. Anyway, I mentioned all this because it plays a part in what has gone on the past two weeks. When Bryan and I were in Nainital, we met up with a friend of his named Cass who was also travelling through India. She is a wonderful person and travelled with us to Kasar Devi near the Himalayas. Talk about a small world, she also knows Brad style from her days at Hartwood. The day after the three of us arrived in Kasar Devi, I met a guy named Maruti who is from the mountains of Switzerland. He is the former Swiss Champion in the 400 and 800 meters in track, but he now lives his life as a saddhu, wandering through India. You don't see many Western sadhus, but this guy is the real deal. The past six years he has spent a lot of time living in the mountains of India, mostly in caves. It has been fascinating getting to know him and we have become good friends. Sometimes I think maybe he has seen too much, because he sometimes has a hard time dealing with life out of the mountains. He has been telling me a lot of what he has learned, and I , in turn, have been teaching him to play poker. So, we have spent a number of days playing poker and talking about strategy and then discussing what lies on the other side of intense meditation. Its hard to really get into it in this kind of forum, but what I have learned is significant. About a week after we got to Kasar Devi, I got giardia. The irony of the fact I worked in the water industry for so long was not lost on me. I basically could not hold anything in my system for seven days and I lost all my energy. I was still in good spirits, but couldn't really walk a quarter mile without getting ill. I met lots of incredible people from all over the world while I was in Kesar Devi and when I was sick I got all kinds of suggestions on how to get better. I was sitting with a couple of Indian "babas" and they gave me some opium and told me to eat just a little piece and it would help my system recover. I trusted these guys a lot, so I really didn't hesitate. It was by no means a "miracle" cure, but it definitely helped me down the road to recovery. I feel much better now. I also became friends with an Italian artist named Jevon. He has a classic Italian painting style, but his inspiration comes from other places. He lives in a one-room guesthouse with his expecant wife and right outside his doorstep is an incredible view of the Himalayas and the surrounding valleys. He is an incredible painter and I plan on having a couple of his pieces sent to me in America. I will post some pictures later if I can. So after two weeks in Kesar Devi, Bryan, Maruti and I decided to go to Rishikesh. Our original plan was to go through the mountains to Rishikesh because there were a couple of temples we wanted to check out along the way. We hired a taxi for the nine-hour drive, but he wanted to go the other way (down the valley and through the jungle) because it was shorter. Reluctantly we agreed, but Bryan told the driver there was this small temple he wanted to stop at because he had been there before and wanted to show it too us. He says its one of his favorite spots in India. The temple was about 20 minutes outside of Kasar Devi and its right on this river and quite beautiful. Very simple, but it just felt "holy". We get out of the cab and walk down to the temple. When we arrived I was surprised to see a familiar face there; it was the temple manager from Kanchi. There were only 2 or 3 people there, and one of them, lying on the ground in all white, was Siddhi Ma! We were floored that the events of that day transpired the way they did and we ended up meeting with her. We sat with her for a while, she blessed us and gave us prassad. Prassad is food that has been blessed. Meeting Ma, at this temple in the middle of no where, with no one else around, was an incredible experience. One thing Ma said to us before we left was to tell the taxi driver to take it slow. You have to take this kind of thing seriously here because of all the strange things that happen. But we had no idea how slow this driver was going to take it. After about an hour more of driving, we realised that the driver really had no idea how to get to Rishikesh. He said he was there about ten years ago and thought he knew the way. The other thing we failed to realize until about half way through the ride was that this guy not only didn't speak English, he couldn't read English OR Hindi, and had no idea how to read road signs. First of all, there are very few road signs anywhere in India, and almost none of them are in English. Additionally, when we did go through a village and asked directions, we found that most of these people had heard of Risjhikesh and Haridwar (a town near Rishikesh) they had never really left there general area and had no idea how to get there. We got lost so many times! We finally made it to the main road to Haridwar and it was late at night and we were driving through the jungle. All of the sudden we see this huge head appear from the jungle and I got my first glimpse of an elephant in the wild. It was a trip! It had huge tusks and was incredibly beautiful. The rest of the trip to Rishikesh was uneventful. It was the taxi drive from hell that was bookended by two truly magical experiences. So now I am staying at a little $3 guesthouse right on the bank of the Ganges River, one of the hoiest rivers in the world. Rishikesh is the first town the river runs through as it comes out of the Himalayas (aside from a few villages), so the water here is quite clean and very beautiful. I am feeling a lot better and I think this is going to be a great place to stay for a while. I am also pretty sure that this is where I will be spreading Shannon's Ashes, but I will be waiting a few days to see how it feels. I hope you are all doing well! I will send another update in a week or so. Lots of Love! BobSudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Amazon 7 #40 November 23, 2006 Latest Email from Bob on the Ganges River. First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Since I have been too lazy (and busy) to keep a journal while I am here, I thought I would kind of use this forum as my journal so I can go back and read these emails when I get back from the trip. Its really hard to describe in detail all the things that have happened on this trip, so I am using this as a reminder to myself of some of the things going on so I can elaborate on them in the future. So, you will probably be getting a lot of info that is not necessarily related to the spreading of Shannon's ashes, but more about India and some of the things that I have discovered while I have been here. First of all, India is a remarkable place. It is unlike any other place in the world. But its not really a place I would come for vacation, unless I had a great deal of time. It takes at least a month to really get on your feet here. Travelling here can be very difficult and if you came to India with the wrong attitude, this place would eat you alive. I have been very fortunate that as soon as I landed, an overwhelming sense of calm and acceptance came over me. You can't fight this place and you really have to let all your preconceptions go when you arrive. If you do that, and let the world happen around you, this can be a magical place. On being a minority: For the first time in my life, I am in a place where I am definitely a minority. In places like Rishikesh and other tourist spots, you will definitely find other Westerners, but in many places in the country it has been years since they have seen a white person. While driving through or stopping in villages, it is not uncommon to have our car surrounded by Indians trying to get a glimpse of the white people. At first, it can be a little bit disconcerning, but if you just smile at them and try to communicate, they are some of the warmest people you could ever meet. I have been invited into strangers' homes for dinner and they would stuff me until I was sick. I know there is a percertion that Indians are under-fed, but my experience has been, while there is a lot of poverty here, the people here eat ok. Trash: There is trash everywhere. Its one of the first things you have to let go of when you arrive. But somehow it just makes sense here. The trash serves a vital service in that it is the main source of food for many of this country's creatures. At night, the cows rule the city and they roam through the streets eating trash. And monkeys and stray dogs also get most of thier food from the streets as well. Most of the dogs are mangey and dirty, but they are so loving and I have made many a canine friend here. I will truly miss the dogs here when I leave. So, my attitude on trash has changed for sure. There are just too many people in this country and they get about 1000 immigrants a day that come to India from places that are in worse shape than here. The infrastructure is just not set up to accomadate this growth, but somehow the people survive. But when western businesses introduced plastic to India 10-20 years ago, it changed everything. Plastic sucks! You can't burn it without it being toxic and it doesn't breakdown, so basically it just sits there, poluting the environment. It is definitely one of the biggest problems in India, but I'm sure there have been hefty profits made since its arrival. Travellers: You meet a lot of travellers from all over the world here. The most prevelant, by far, are the Israelis. Most of them are very young and come here after they have done thier military service. They travel in packs, and it is said that 10% of Israel's population is travelling in India at any given time. I found that to be remarkable. Most are here to get away from things, rather than looking for something here, so the dynamic is different from most of the travellers here. There are many, however, that come here and find it very difficult to go back to life in Israel. My favorite group of travellers are the Italians. Most of the Italians I have met are a little bit older (30's-40's), and I have made a number of Italian friends. I have met people from all over the world here and its one of the great things about travelling in India. I figured that there would be a large anti-American sentiment amongst the travellers here, but that hasn't really been the case. For the most part, the world seems very confused by our actions and can't really understand how we can support all the killing we do. You really get a much clearer picture of the world when you talk to people from Europe and Asia and you see how our policies effect them. In most of the world, George Bush is seen as being on par with Hitler and other infamous leaders. The message I tell people is that, as scary as it seems right now, there is hope because people are seeing that this "with us or against us" mentality will not solve anything in the long run. I mean, we can't just go around killing everybody that thinks differently than we do, can we? Life in Rishikesh: As i stated in my last email, I have a room that is right on the banks of the Ganges. The Ganges is an incredible river and I grow more attached to it each day. It can be a pretty dirty and nasty river as it heads into the heart of India, but here, near the source, it is clean and beautiful. I usually wake up around 8:00 and do a little yoga before heading upstairs for some coffee. The coffee here pretty much blows, so Bryan and I had brought six pounds of Starbucks and Peet's coffee from The US for our morning coffee ritual. Unfortunately, we have already gone through four pounds and the other two pounds are sitting in our bags in storage in Dehli and we won't get to them until we pass through Dehli in a few weeks. After coffee we usually stroll over to a restaurant for breakfast. I usually will get an omlette so I can get some protein in my body, and they also have great fresh fruit. I sometimes get weird looks when I eat toast with jam with my breakfast. It is just not a natural combination for them; eating toast and jam with my eggs. After breakfast we will usually either go to the beach or to a temple, but a majority of my time lately has been spent making a drum. There is a place in Rishikesh owned by an Indian man named Mokesh where you can go and make your own drum or digeridoo from wood he has gotten from the jungle. You have to walk to the other side of town and then catch an auto-rickshaw to get there and its kind of cool spending time in this part of town, which is almost 100% Indian. So, I decided I wanted to make a nice jambaa drum and I have been working on it for about ten days. We started with just a tree trunk about 18 inches wide, and we have now got it shaped and hollowed and I am going to start sanding soon. It should be done in another week or so. It is really going to be a beautiful drum. After working all day on that (I am freakin sore!), I usually come back to my neighborhood for dinner with friends and then most nights we will sit by the river at a place called the Freedom Cafe, have some chai and listen to music. I love walking home at night when it is quiet. There are a lot of cows and stray dogs roaming the street at that time and its just very quiet and peaceful. I am going to be here for another week probably, and then we will be heading to Dehli for a day and we will probably head for the desert of Rhajastan. It will be quite the change from the mountains, but I am looking forward to it. I am reading a great book right now called "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. If you have an interest in the "real" India, this would be a great book to pick up. Its the true story about a guy who escapes from an Australian prison and "finds himself" in India. Very hard to stop reading. One short story: The other day there were about seven of us that spent the day about ten miles up the river at a really beautiful secluded beach. While we were there, this baba comes walking up to us and signals that he wants us to sing Bajan, which is devotional Indian music where you basically sing the names of certain gods. I have grown to love bajan since I have been here. Anyway, Bryan picks up his guitar and starts singing a song to Shiva (one of the three major gods, along with Brahma and Vishnu), and the group of us started to sing along. I know this must seem like hippy-crap to most of you, but when you are here, its just different. So, the seven of us sang bajan with the baba. There are a lot of babas that live along the Ganges, in caves mostly, or in the nearby mountains. It was really a great experience to be singing on the banks of the Ganges with this guy and the energy level was through the roof. Anyway, after the singing was over we packed up and headed back into town. The next day, the very same baba showed up in Rishikesh. We had some chai with him and then he came back with us to our hotel. He came down to my room and saw the little Shannon "alter" i set up wherever I go. I told him the whole story and he was moved to tears by it. He took Shannon's ashes and held them for a long time and blessed them. He then sat down and started to talk to me about "god". He was old and frail, but very strong in some ways. He pinched his skin and told me in broken English he was not this skin. Then, he pointed to his head and said he was not this mind. Then, he rolled his eyes back into his head and it felt like he was gone for a moment, then he came back, smiled hugely, pointed at the spot between his eyes and indicated that was his true self. When his eyes rolled back into his head, a sudden rush of energy came over me. It was a trip! We then walked through town with the baba, and I noticed that everyone was smiling at him and treating him with much respect. I couldn't understand what they were saying really, but I later learned why there was so much commotion regarding this baba on this day. Apparently, he has not spoken in many years, and on this day he broke his silence to speak with us. We met many people that day who had never heard him speak before, even though they had known him for years. He later told me that Bryan and I were the first westerners he had spoken to. There is much more to this meeting than I can clearly express in words, but hopefully someday I will be able to fully understand this experience. Anyway, I gotta run. I keep trying to put some pictures up, but I have yet to be succesful. I will keep trying though. I hope you are all well and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks. Lots of love! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites orribolollie 0 #41 November 23, 2006 Drink the bottled water. Looking forward to the tales. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Peej 0 #42 November 23, 2006 Bob, that sounds like an incredible journey, may Jah guide you on your way and bring you back safely As an aside, you should look into reading a book called Shantaram when you get back. Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites VanillaSkyGirl 6 #43 November 24, 2006 We love you so much Bob. This is the perfect weekend to read this and to be thankful to have had Shannon (and now you, too!) in our lives. I feel such love and peace whenever I read your writings from India. I can even hear your quiet, warm voice and "feel" Shannon's loving presence. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites marcandalysse 0 #44 November 25, 2006 Bob, all the best in your travels! I just finished reading Shantaram a few weeks ago, it really does bring back walking through Bombay. It sure is a huge book (1000 pages) to carry along in a backpack! While I was in Delhi I read a very good book about it, called City of Djinns, by William Dalrymple. Highly recommended. Sounds like you are traveling well....meeting people and allowing the 'coincidences' to guide you. I look forward to reading more of your emails. Marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 2 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. 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Rebecca 0 #32 October 11, 2006 Lots of Love back atcha! Via con Shannon, via con Dios. you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 220 #33 October 11, 2006 QuoteHey everyone. Thought I'd bump this up in case anyone missed it the firat time. I am leaving for India tomorrow and I will try to send an email out to the newsgroup before I leave. I hope you all have a great winter! Lots of Love! Bob Take care Bob - I hope you find something there - whatever it might be . . .I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladyskydiver 0 #34 October 11, 2006 Have a safe trip. Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chaoskitty 0 #35 October 11, 2006 Have a great trip Bob.. I look forward to keeping up with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skinnyshrek 0 #36 October 11, 2006 bob, stay away from da vindaloo while your there. Take plenty of icey toilet paperhttp://www.skydivethefarm.com do you realize that when you critisize people you dont know over the internet, you become part of a growing society of twats? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites guppie01 0 #37 October 11, 2006 I was thinking about you on the way to the Chinese consulate this morning - went to pick up our Visa's for China. Cherish and enjoy your time. Safe travels Bob! Love, g"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Amazon 7 #38 October 28, 2006 Bumping thisthread up and adding in Bob's e- mail from India. Apparently he cant get to DIZZIE DOT COM in India. Hi everyone. Internet access has been sporadic at best, but I have finally made it to a place that I think we are going to chill out at for a while, so hopefully I will have a better chance to keep you updated. Its been a strange, crazy, beautiful trip already. I ended up staying in Dehli for seven days. We were waiting for a friend to arrive and things got delayed. We were in Dehli for the Indian holiday of Duvali. Not the place you want to be when everyone celebrates by throwing these huge firecrackers (they call them bombs) around. Our hotel was in this market area called Puhar Ganj. It was loud and crowded, but it was a great experience that I won't soon forget. I know that some of you may already know some of the details of why I am here and what made me come to India, but I thought I'd give a little insight to those that don't know the whole story. Some of this may sound pretty strange, but those of you that know me know that I am a pretty practical, level-headed person. This is what has happened to me: I had a friend, Bryan, who was spending some time in India and then came to stay with Shannon and I when he came back to America. He brought Shannon and I necklaces that had been blessed by this saint and a picture of a man called Baba Neeb Karoli, better known as Maharaji. He also showed us some incredible footage from this temple in the Himalayas. Immediately, Shannon said that we should go there to get married and I agreed. We bought tickets for last March and plannd to stay for a month. At the beginning of this year, it looked like we were going to sell our company in March, so we decided to postpone our trip until after the sale was completed. One night while I was lying in bed with Shannon, I felt this weird buzz going through my body. I could feel it from my head to my toe. As I was trying to figure out what was happening, a voice came into my head and said the following two things; "This is a solo journey" and "there will be clues along the way". Even as I write this it sounds so strange, but there is no denying that it happened. I woke up Shannon to make sure I wasn't dreaming, we talked about it and then just forgot about it. Two days after Shannon died, when I was in the worst shape possible, a box arrived on my doorstep. It was addressed to me but it didn't say who it wasfrom. It smelled like it had been on a boat for about a year. I opened the box and it was filled with all kinds of books, but sitting on the top was a book called "The Miracle of Love" and it was a book of stories about Baba Neeb Karoli (Maharaji). I grabbed that book and read it cover-to-cover. It was like my bible and I carried it everywhere. The fact that that book arrived when it did was a miracle unto itself. I can't begin to express how much it helped me. Anyway, the first stop on our trip was to a town called Nainital, which is about seven hours by train from Delhi. It is on a lake surrounded by mountains and is very beautiful. It still has the sounds of India (cars honking, etc.), but it definitely a step in the right direction from Delhi. There is an ashram (temple complex) near there that used to be one of the places that Maharashi stayed while he was on this earth (he left his body in 1973). We stayed in the Evelyn Hotel in Nainital, which is run by three brothers you were close to Maharaji while he was alive. I had the opportunity to tell them Shannon's story and the reason I was there and they were all so warm and wonderful. They were truly touched by the story. They arranged for me to meet a man called "KK", who was basically Maharaji's right-hand man and spent most of his life dedicated to him. He is also one of the people that compiled all the stories in "Miracle of Love". They took me to this old part of town and I climbed up these rickety old stairs to KK's apartment. All I can say is that it was one of the most significant meetings of my life. He was such a warm and loving man and we talked for a couple of hours about everything that had happened to me. What a trip it was to be sitting with this man in this little apartment on the other side of the world talking about Shannon. I showed him a number of pictures and he said that he could feel her energy and the love that we shared. There are many more details to our visit to this place, but I only have time for a few. We did visit the ashram and had a great day there. After five days in Nainital, we have now made our way up to a small village near the Himalayas called Kasar Devi. This place is absolute heaven! The view of the Himalayas from here is absolutely breathtaking. I am staying with this old woman who charge $2 per night for the most basic of accomadations (a square brick room with no running water). I shower out of a bucket and eat whatever food becomes available. It is quite the experience. I am definitely finding some peace here. I have to run for now, but I will write again soon since I am planning on staying here for a while. It will get cold soon and then we will probably head for Rishikesh. The family from the Evelyn hotel invited me there to share in what will be a very special celebration that I will tell you about later. Please feel free to post any of this on dropzone.com because for some reason I can't access dz.com from anywhere in India. Also, if someone has Brad Style's email address, let me know. I have met a friend of his on this journey. I hope all is well back home. It is amazing the effect Shannon has had on these people that live so far away. I can definitely feel her with me every step of the way! Lots of love! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites lisamariewillbe 1 #39 November 12, 2006 Below is the latest message from Bob. It came in my email box the morning I woke up with tears for Shannon. Damn I miss her. Heres his message Hi everybody. We have made our way to Rishikesh and have been here a few days now. Thought I would update everyone on what has transpired since my last update. There are a couple of things I didn't really mention in my last email because thier significance did not come clear until after I sent the last message. When I planned on coming to India, I really wanted to have an open agenda and just move about as I was inspired to do so. But, I needed a place to start. The only plan I had was to go to Nainital and visit the temple in Kanchi, which was Majarashi's main ashram (an ashram is a temple complex where people can stay and worship and Maharaji is the name most people use when talking about Baba Neeb Karoli, who I mentioned last email). There is a woman they call Sri Siddhi Ma (or, just Ma for short), who has been a devotee for about 40 years. Maharaji referred to her as the reincarnation of the goddess Durga and she is truly a saint. Not only did she live side-by-side with Maharaji for many years, but she is the one that took over the duties of giving puja (blesings) at the Kanchi ashram after Maharaji left is body. She has been doing this for many years and people come from all over the country (and world!) to receive her darsham. Anyway, before I left for India I decided that I wanted to try and see her, receive her blessing, and ask her about spreading Shannon's ashes. I figured that this meeting would determine my next stop. When I arrived in Nainital and met the brothers at the hotel and KK, they all wanted me to meet Ma and tell her my story. They even arranged an interpreter to go with us and translate the story into Hindi. But finding Ma can be a frustrating experience sometimes. If she just stayed in Kanchi and gave darsham, it would be non-stop everyday. It seems you just have to be at the right place at the right time. When we arrived in Kanchi that day to find out she was not there, I was a little disappointed, but I was just going with the flow and letting things happen as they do. After my meeting with KK (and in my heart, I knew this before), I was aware that where I spread Shannon's ashes was less significant than the spirit in which I did it. The mission of spreading her ashes was the spark I needed to go on this journey, and it is what got me here, but now that I am here the true purpose is kind of revealing itself. Not that the spreading of Shannon's ashes is insignificant in any way, and as a matter of fact it is taking on even greater meaning to me, but in a different way. It is a symbolic gesture, but it will also be a gesture of love. Its more for my benefit (and those back home) than for the benefit of Shannon. Anyway, I mentioned all this because it plays a part in what has gone on the past two weeks. When Bryan and I were in Nainital, we met up with a friend of his named Cass who was also travelling through India. She is a wonderful person and travelled with us to Kasar Devi near the Himalayas. Talk about a small world, she also knows Brad style from her days at Hartwood. The day after the three of us arrived in Kasar Devi, I met a guy named Maruti who is from the mountains of Switzerland. He is the former Swiss Champion in the 400 and 800 meters in track, but he now lives his life as a saddhu, wandering through India. You don't see many Western sadhus, but this guy is the real deal. The past six years he has spent a lot of time living in the mountains of India, mostly in caves. It has been fascinating getting to know him and we have become good friends. Sometimes I think maybe he has seen too much, because he sometimes has a hard time dealing with life out of the mountains. He has been telling me a lot of what he has learned, and I , in turn, have been teaching him to play poker. So, we have spent a number of days playing poker and talking about strategy and then discussing what lies on the other side of intense meditation. Its hard to really get into it in this kind of forum, but what I have learned is significant. About a week after we got to Kasar Devi, I got giardia. The irony of the fact I worked in the water industry for so long was not lost on me. I basically could not hold anything in my system for seven days and I lost all my energy. I was still in good spirits, but couldn't really walk a quarter mile without getting ill. I met lots of incredible people from all over the world while I was in Kesar Devi and when I was sick I got all kinds of suggestions on how to get better. I was sitting with a couple of Indian "babas" and they gave me some opium and told me to eat just a little piece and it would help my system recover. I trusted these guys a lot, so I really didn't hesitate. It was by no means a "miracle" cure, but it definitely helped me down the road to recovery. I feel much better now. I also became friends with an Italian artist named Jevon. He has a classic Italian painting style, but his inspiration comes from other places. He lives in a one-room guesthouse with his expecant wife and right outside his doorstep is an incredible view of the Himalayas and the surrounding valleys. He is an incredible painter and I plan on having a couple of his pieces sent to me in America. I will post some pictures later if I can. So after two weeks in Kesar Devi, Bryan, Maruti and I decided to go to Rishikesh. Our original plan was to go through the mountains to Rishikesh because there were a couple of temples we wanted to check out along the way. We hired a taxi for the nine-hour drive, but he wanted to go the other way (down the valley and through the jungle) because it was shorter. Reluctantly we agreed, but Bryan told the driver there was this small temple he wanted to stop at because he had been there before and wanted to show it too us. He says its one of his favorite spots in India. The temple was about 20 minutes outside of Kasar Devi and its right on this river and quite beautiful. Very simple, but it just felt "holy". We get out of the cab and walk down to the temple. When we arrived I was surprised to see a familiar face there; it was the temple manager from Kanchi. There were only 2 or 3 people there, and one of them, lying on the ground in all white, was Siddhi Ma! We were floored that the events of that day transpired the way they did and we ended up meeting with her. We sat with her for a while, she blessed us and gave us prassad. Prassad is food that has been blessed. Meeting Ma, at this temple in the middle of no where, with no one else around, was an incredible experience. One thing Ma said to us before we left was to tell the taxi driver to take it slow. You have to take this kind of thing seriously here because of all the strange things that happen. But we had no idea how slow this driver was going to take it. After about an hour more of driving, we realised that the driver really had no idea how to get to Rishikesh. He said he was there about ten years ago and thought he knew the way. The other thing we failed to realize until about half way through the ride was that this guy not only didn't speak English, he couldn't read English OR Hindi, and had no idea how to read road signs. First of all, there are very few road signs anywhere in India, and almost none of them are in English. Additionally, when we did go through a village and asked directions, we found that most of these people had heard of Risjhikesh and Haridwar (a town near Rishikesh) they had never really left there general area and had no idea how to get there. We got lost so many times! We finally made it to the main road to Haridwar and it was late at night and we were driving through the jungle. All of the sudden we see this huge head appear from the jungle and I got my first glimpse of an elephant in the wild. It was a trip! It had huge tusks and was incredibly beautiful. The rest of the trip to Rishikesh was uneventful. It was the taxi drive from hell that was bookended by two truly magical experiences. So now I am staying at a little $3 guesthouse right on the bank of the Ganges River, one of the hoiest rivers in the world. Rishikesh is the first town the river runs through as it comes out of the Himalayas (aside from a few villages), so the water here is quite clean and very beautiful. I am feeling a lot better and I think this is going to be a great place to stay for a while. I am also pretty sure that this is where I will be spreading Shannon's Ashes, but I will be waiting a few days to see how it feels. I hope you are all doing well! I will send another update in a week or so. Lots of Love! BobSudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Amazon 7 #40 November 23, 2006 Latest Email from Bob on the Ganges River. First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Since I have been too lazy (and busy) to keep a journal while I am here, I thought I would kind of use this forum as my journal so I can go back and read these emails when I get back from the trip. Its really hard to describe in detail all the things that have happened on this trip, so I am using this as a reminder to myself of some of the things going on so I can elaborate on them in the future. So, you will probably be getting a lot of info that is not necessarily related to the spreading of Shannon's ashes, but more about India and some of the things that I have discovered while I have been here. First of all, India is a remarkable place. It is unlike any other place in the world. But its not really a place I would come for vacation, unless I had a great deal of time. It takes at least a month to really get on your feet here. Travelling here can be very difficult and if you came to India with the wrong attitude, this place would eat you alive. I have been very fortunate that as soon as I landed, an overwhelming sense of calm and acceptance came over me. You can't fight this place and you really have to let all your preconceptions go when you arrive. If you do that, and let the world happen around you, this can be a magical place. On being a minority: For the first time in my life, I am in a place where I am definitely a minority. In places like Rishikesh and other tourist spots, you will definitely find other Westerners, but in many places in the country it has been years since they have seen a white person. While driving through or stopping in villages, it is not uncommon to have our car surrounded by Indians trying to get a glimpse of the white people. At first, it can be a little bit disconcerning, but if you just smile at them and try to communicate, they are some of the warmest people you could ever meet. I have been invited into strangers' homes for dinner and they would stuff me until I was sick. I know there is a percertion that Indians are under-fed, but my experience has been, while there is a lot of poverty here, the people here eat ok. Trash: There is trash everywhere. Its one of the first things you have to let go of when you arrive. But somehow it just makes sense here. The trash serves a vital service in that it is the main source of food for many of this country's creatures. At night, the cows rule the city and they roam through the streets eating trash. And monkeys and stray dogs also get most of thier food from the streets as well. Most of the dogs are mangey and dirty, but they are so loving and I have made many a canine friend here. I will truly miss the dogs here when I leave. So, my attitude on trash has changed for sure. There are just too many people in this country and they get about 1000 immigrants a day that come to India from places that are in worse shape than here. The infrastructure is just not set up to accomadate this growth, but somehow the people survive. But when western businesses introduced plastic to India 10-20 years ago, it changed everything. Plastic sucks! You can't burn it without it being toxic and it doesn't breakdown, so basically it just sits there, poluting the environment. It is definitely one of the biggest problems in India, but I'm sure there have been hefty profits made since its arrival. Travellers: You meet a lot of travellers from all over the world here. The most prevelant, by far, are the Israelis. Most of them are very young and come here after they have done thier military service. They travel in packs, and it is said that 10% of Israel's population is travelling in India at any given time. I found that to be remarkable. Most are here to get away from things, rather than looking for something here, so the dynamic is different from most of the travellers here. There are many, however, that come here and find it very difficult to go back to life in Israel. My favorite group of travellers are the Italians. Most of the Italians I have met are a little bit older (30's-40's), and I have made a number of Italian friends. I have met people from all over the world here and its one of the great things about travelling in India. I figured that there would be a large anti-American sentiment amongst the travellers here, but that hasn't really been the case. For the most part, the world seems very confused by our actions and can't really understand how we can support all the killing we do. You really get a much clearer picture of the world when you talk to people from Europe and Asia and you see how our policies effect them. In most of the world, George Bush is seen as being on par with Hitler and other infamous leaders. The message I tell people is that, as scary as it seems right now, there is hope because people are seeing that this "with us or against us" mentality will not solve anything in the long run. I mean, we can't just go around killing everybody that thinks differently than we do, can we? Life in Rishikesh: As i stated in my last email, I have a room that is right on the banks of the Ganges. The Ganges is an incredible river and I grow more attached to it each day. It can be a pretty dirty and nasty river as it heads into the heart of India, but here, near the source, it is clean and beautiful. I usually wake up around 8:00 and do a little yoga before heading upstairs for some coffee. The coffee here pretty much blows, so Bryan and I had brought six pounds of Starbucks and Peet's coffee from The US for our morning coffee ritual. Unfortunately, we have already gone through four pounds and the other two pounds are sitting in our bags in storage in Dehli and we won't get to them until we pass through Dehli in a few weeks. After coffee we usually stroll over to a restaurant for breakfast. I usually will get an omlette so I can get some protein in my body, and they also have great fresh fruit. I sometimes get weird looks when I eat toast with jam with my breakfast. It is just not a natural combination for them; eating toast and jam with my eggs. After breakfast we will usually either go to the beach or to a temple, but a majority of my time lately has been spent making a drum. There is a place in Rishikesh owned by an Indian man named Mokesh where you can go and make your own drum or digeridoo from wood he has gotten from the jungle. You have to walk to the other side of town and then catch an auto-rickshaw to get there and its kind of cool spending time in this part of town, which is almost 100% Indian. So, I decided I wanted to make a nice jambaa drum and I have been working on it for about ten days. We started with just a tree trunk about 18 inches wide, and we have now got it shaped and hollowed and I am going to start sanding soon. It should be done in another week or so. It is really going to be a beautiful drum. After working all day on that (I am freakin sore!), I usually come back to my neighborhood for dinner with friends and then most nights we will sit by the river at a place called the Freedom Cafe, have some chai and listen to music. I love walking home at night when it is quiet. There are a lot of cows and stray dogs roaming the street at that time and its just very quiet and peaceful. I am going to be here for another week probably, and then we will be heading to Dehli for a day and we will probably head for the desert of Rhajastan. It will be quite the change from the mountains, but I am looking forward to it. I am reading a great book right now called "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. If you have an interest in the "real" India, this would be a great book to pick up. Its the true story about a guy who escapes from an Australian prison and "finds himself" in India. Very hard to stop reading. One short story: The other day there were about seven of us that spent the day about ten miles up the river at a really beautiful secluded beach. While we were there, this baba comes walking up to us and signals that he wants us to sing Bajan, which is devotional Indian music where you basically sing the names of certain gods. I have grown to love bajan since I have been here. Anyway, Bryan picks up his guitar and starts singing a song to Shiva (one of the three major gods, along with Brahma and Vishnu), and the group of us started to sing along. I know this must seem like hippy-crap to most of you, but when you are here, its just different. So, the seven of us sang bajan with the baba. There are a lot of babas that live along the Ganges, in caves mostly, or in the nearby mountains. It was really a great experience to be singing on the banks of the Ganges with this guy and the energy level was through the roof. Anyway, after the singing was over we packed up and headed back into town. The next day, the very same baba showed up in Rishikesh. We had some chai with him and then he came back with us to our hotel. He came down to my room and saw the little Shannon "alter" i set up wherever I go. I told him the whole story and he was moved to tears by it. He took Shannon's ashes and held them for a long time and blessed them. He then sat down and started to talk to me about "god". He was old and frail, but very strong in some ways. He pinched his skin and told me in broken English he was not this skin. Then, he pointed to his head and said he was not this mind. Then, he rolled his eyes back into his head and it felt like he was gone for a moment, then he came back, smiled hugely, pointed at the spot between his eyes and indicated that was his true self. When his eyes rolled back into his head, a sudden rush of energy came over me. It was a trip! We then walked through town with the baba, and I noticed that everyone was smiling at him and treating him with much respect. I couldn't understand what they were saying really, but I later learned why there was so much commotion regarding this baba on this day. Apparently, he has not spoken in many years, and on this day he broke his silence to speak with us. We met many people that day who had never heard him speak before, even though they had known him for years. He later told me that Bryan and I were the first westerners he had spoken to. There is much more to this meeting than I can clearly express in words, but hopefully someday I will be able to fully understand this experience. Anyway, I gotta run. I keep trying to put some pictures up, but I have yet to be succesful. I will keep trying though. I hope you are all well and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks. Lots of love! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites orribolollie 0 #41 November 23, 2006 Drink the bottled water. Looking forward to the tales. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Peej 0 #42 November 23, 2006 Bob, that sounds like an incredible journey, may Jah guide you on your way and bring you back safely As an aside, you should look into reading a book called Shantaram when you get back. Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites VanillaSkyGirl 6 #43 November 24, 2006 We love you so much Bob. This is the perfect weekend to read this and to be thankful to have had Shannon (and now you, too!) in our lives. I feel such love and peace whenever I read your writings from India. I can even hear your quiet, warm voice and "feel" Shannon's loving presence. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites marcandalysse 0 #44 November 25, 2006 Bob, all the best in your travels! I just finished reading Shantaram a few weeks ago, it really does bring back walking through Bombay. It sure is a huge book (1000 pages) to carry along in a backpack! While I was in Delhi I read a very good book about it, called City of Djinns, by William Dalrymple. Highly recommended. Sounds like you are traveling well....meeting people and allowing the 'coincidences' to guide you. I look forward to reading more of your emails. Marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 2 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
skinnyshrek 0 #36 October 11, 2006 bob, stay away from da vindaloo while your there. Take plenty of icey toilet paperhttp://www.skydivethefarm.com do you realize that when you critisize people you dont know over the internet, you become part of a growing society of twats? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guppie01 0 #37 October 11, 2006 I was thinking about you on the way to the Chinese consulate this morning - went to pick up our Visa's for China. Cherish and enjoy your time. Safe travels Bob! Love, g"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #38 October 28, 2006 Bumping thisthread up and adding in Bob's e- mail from India. Apparently he cant get to DIZZIE DOT COM in India. Hi everyone. Internet access has been sporadic at best, but I have finally made it to a place that I think we are going to chill out at for a while, so hopefully I will have a better chance to keep you updated. Its been a strange, crazy, beautiful trip already. I ended up staying in Dehli for seven days. We were waiting for a friend to arrive and things got delayed. We were in Dehli for the Indian holiday of Duvali. Not the place you want to be when everyone celebrates by throwing these huge firecrackers (they call them bombs) around. Our hotel was in this market area called Puhar Ganj. It was loud and crowded, but it was a great experience that I won't soon forget. I know that some of you may already know some of the details of why I am here and what made me come to India, but I thought I'd give a little insight to those that don't know the whole story. Some of this may sound pretty strange, but those of you that know me know that I am a pretty practical, level-headed person. This is what has happened to me: I had a friend, Bryan, who was spending some time in India and then came to stay with Shannon and I when he came back to America. He brought Shannon and I necklaces that had been blessed by this saint and a picture of a man called Baba Neeb Karoli, better known as Maharaji. He also showed us some incredible footage from this temple in the Himalayas. Immediately, Shannon said that we should go there to get married and I agreed. We bought tickets for last March and plannd to stay for a month. At the beginning of this year, it looked like we were going to sell our company in March, so we decided to postpone our trip until after the sale was completed. One night while I was lying in bed with Shannon, I felt this weird buzz going through my body. I could feel it from my head to my toe. As I was trying to figure out what was happening, a voice came into my head and said the following two things; "This is a solo journey" and "there will be clues along the way". Even as I write this it sounds so strange, but there is no denying that it happened. I woke up Shannon to make sure I wasn't dreaming, we talked about it and then just forgot about it. Two days after Shannon died, when I was in the worst shape possible, a box arrived on my doorstep. It was addressed to me but it didn't say who it wasfrom. It smelled like it had been on a boat for about a year. I opened the box and it was filled with all kinds of books, but sitting on the top was a book called "The Miracle of Love" and it was a book of stories about Baba Neeb Karoli (Maharaji). I grabbed that book and read it cover-to-cover. It was like my bible and I carried it everywhere. The fact that that book arrived when it did was a miracle unto itself. I can't begin to express how much it helped me. Anyway, the first stop on our trip was to a town called Nainital, which is about seven hours by train from Delhi. It is on a lake surrounded by mountains and is very beautiful. It still has the sounds of India (cars honking, etc.), but it definitely a step in the right direction from Delhi. There is an ashram (temple complex) near there that used to be one of the places that Maharashi stayed while he was on this earth (he left his body in 1973). We stayed in the Evelyn Hotel in Nainital, which is run by three brothers you were close to Maharaji while he was alive. I had the opportunity to tell them Shannon's story and the reason I was there and they were all so warm and wonderful. They were truly touched by the story. They arranged for me to meet a man called "KK", who was basically Maharaji's right-hand man and spent most of his life dedicated to him. He is also one of the people that compiled all the stories in "Miracle of Love". They took me to this old part of town and I climbed up these rickety old stairs to KK's apartment. All I can say is that it was one of the most significant meetings of my life. He was such a warm and loving man and we talked for a couple of hours about everything that had happened to me. What a trip it was to be sitting with this man in this little apartment on the other side of the world talking about Shannon. I showed him a number of pictures and he said that he could feel her energy and the love that we shared. There are many more details to our visit to this place, but I only have time for a few. We did visit the ashram and had a great day there. After five days in Nainital, we have now made our way up to a small village near the Himalayas called Kasar Devi. This place is absolute heaven! The view of the Himalayas from here is absolutely breathtaking. I am staying with this old woman who charge $2 per night for the most basic of accomadations (a square brick room with no running water). I shower out of a bucket and eat whatever food becomes available. It is quite the experience. I am definitely finding some peace here. I have to run for now, but I will write again soon since I am planning on staying here for a while. It will get cold soon and then we will probably head for Rishikesh. The family from the Evelyn hotel invited me there to share in what will be a very special celebration that I will tell you about later. Please feel free to post any of this on dropzone.com because for some reason I can't access dz.com from anywhere in India. Also, if someone has Brad Style's email address, let me know. I have met a friend of his on this journey. I hope all is well back home. It is amazing the effect Shannon has had on these people that live so far away. I can definitely feel her with me every step of the way! Lots of love! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lisamariewillbe 1 #39 November 12, 2006 Below is the latest message from Bob. It came in my email box the morning I woke up with tears for Shannon. Damn I miss her. Heres his message Hi everybody. We have made our way to Rishikesh and have been here a few days now. Thought I would update everyone on what has transpired since my last update. There are a couple of things I didn't really mention in my last email because thier significance did not come clear until after I sent the last message. When I planned on coming to India, I really wanted to have an open agenda and just move about as I was inspired to do so. But, I needed a place to start. The only plan I had was to go to Nainital and visit the temple in Kanchi, which was Majarashi's main ashram (an ashram is a temple complex where people can stay and worship and Maharaji is the name most people use when talking about Baba Neeb Karoli, who I mentioned last email). There is a woman they call Sri Siddhi Ma (or, just Ma for short), who has been a devotee for about 40 years. Maharaji referred to her as the reincarnation of the goddess Durga and she is truly a saint. Not only did she live side-by-side with Maharaji for many years, but she is the one that took over the duties of giving puja (blesings) at the Kanchi ashram after Maharaji left is body. She has been doing this for many years and people come from all over the country (and world!) to receive her darsham. Anyway, before I left for India I decided that I wanted to try and see her, receive her blessing, and ask her about spreading Shannon's ashes. I figured that this meeting would determine my next stop. When I arrived in Nainital and met the brothers at the hotel and KK, they all wanted me to meet Ma and tell her my story. They even arranged an interpreter to go with us and translate the story into Hindi. But finding Ma can be a frustrating experience sometimes. If she just stayed in Kanchi and gave darsham, it would be non-stop everyday. It seems you just have to be at the right place at the right time. When we arrived in Kanchi that day to find out she was not there, I was a little disappointed, but I was just going with the flow and letting things happen as they do. After my meeting with KK (and in my heart, I knew this before), I was aware that where I spread Shannon's ashes was less significant than the spirit in which I did it. The mission of spreading her ashes was the spark I needed to go on this journey, and it is what got me here, but now that I am here the true purpose is kind of revealing itself. Not that the spreading of Shannon's ashes is insignificant in any way, and as a matter of fact it is taking on even greater meaning to me, but in a different way. It is a symbolic gesture, but it will also be a gesture of love. Its more for my benefit (and those back home) than for the benefit of Shannon. Anyway, I mentioned all this because it plays a part in what has gone on the past two weeks. When Bryan and I were in Nainital, we met up with a friend of his named Cass who was also travelling through India. She is a wonderful person and travelled with us to Kasar Devi near the Himalayas. Talk about a small world, she also knows Brad style from her days at Hartwood. The day after the three of us arrived in Kasar Devi, I met a guy named Maruti who is from the mountains of Switzerland. He is the former Swiss Champion in the 400 and 800 meters in track, but he now lives his life as a saddhu, wandering through India. You don't see many Western sadhus, but this guy is the real deal. The past six years he has spent a lot of time living in the mountains of India, mostly in caves. It has been fascinating getting to know him and we have become good friends. Sometimes I think maybe he has seen too much, because he sometimes has a hard time dealing with life out of the mountains. He has been telling me a lot of what he has learned, and I , in turn, have been teaching him to play poker. So, we have spent a number of days playing poker and talking about strategy and then discussing what lies on the other side of intense meditation. Its hard to really get into it in this kind of forum, but what I have learned is significant. About a week after we got to Kasar Devi, I got giardia. The irony of the fact I worked in the water industry for so long was not lost on me. I basically could not hold anything in my system for seven days and I lost all my energy. I was still in good spirits, but couldn't really walk a quarter mile without getting ill. I met lots of incredible people from all over the world while I was in Kesar Devi and when I was sick I got all kinds of suggestions on how to get better. I was sitting with a couple of Indian "babas" and they gave me some opium and told me to eat just a little piece and it would help my system recover. I trusted these guys a lot, so I really didn't hesitate. It was by no means a "miracle" cure, but it definitely helped me down the road to recovery. I feel much better now. I also became friends with an Italian artist named Jevon. He has a classic Italian painting style, but his inspiration comes from other places. He lives in a one-room guesthouse with his expecant wife and right outside his doorstep is an incredible view of the Himalayas and the surrounding valleys. He is an incredible painter and I plan on having a couple of his pieces sent to me in America. I will post some pictures later if I can. So after two weeks in Kesar Devi, Bryan, Maruti and I decided to go to Rishikesh. Our original plan was to go through the mountains to Rishikesh because there were a couple of temples we wanted to check out along the way. We hired a taxi for the nine-hour drive, but he wanted to go the other way (down the valley and through the jungle) because it was shorter. Reluctantly we agreed, but Bryan told the driver there was this small temple he wanted to stop at because he had been there before and wanted to show it too us. He says its one of his favorite spots in India. The temple was about 20 minutes outside of Kasar Devi and its right on this river and quite beautiful. Very simple, but it just felt "holy". We get out of the cab and walk down to the temple. When we arrived I was surprised to see a familiar face there; it was the temple manager from Kanchi. There were only 2 or 3 people there, and one of them, lying on the ground in all white, was Siddhi Ma! We were floored that the events of that day transpired the way they did and we ended up meeting with her. We sat with her for a while, she blessed us and gave us prassad. Prassad is food that has been blessed. Meeting Ma, at this temple in the middle of no where, with no one else around, was an incredible experience. One thing Ma said to us before we left was to tell the taxi driver to take it slow. You have to take this kind of thing seriously here because of all the strange things that happen. But we had no idea how slow this driver was going to take it. After about an hour more of driving, we realised that the driver really had no idea how to get to Rishikesh. He said he was there about ten years ago and thought he knew the way. The other thing we failed to realize until about half way through the ride was that this guy not only didn't speak English, he couldn't read English OR Hindi, and had no idea how to read road signs. First of all, there are very few road signs anywhere in India, and almost none of them are in English. Additionally, when we did go through a village and asked directions, we found that most of these people had heard of Risjhikesh and Haridwar (a town near Rishikesh) they had never really left there general area and had no idea how to get there. We got lost so many times! We finally made it to the main road to Haridwar and it was late at night and we were driving through the jungle. All of the sudden we see this huge head appear from the jungle and I got my first glimpse of an elephant in the wild. It was a trip! It had huge tusks and was incredibly beautiful. The rest of the trip to Rishikesh was uneventful. It was the taxi drive from hell that was bookended by two truly magical experiences. So now I am staying at a little $3 guesthouse right on the bank of the Ganges River, one of the hoiest rivers in the world. Rishikesh is the first town the river runs through as it comes out of the Himalayas (aside from a few villages), so the water here is quite clean and very beautiful. I am feeling a lot better and I think this is going to be a great place to stay for a while. I am also pretty sure that this is where I will be spreading Shannon's Ashes, but I will be waiting a few days to see how it feels. I hope you are all doing well! I will send another update in a week or so. Lots of Love! BobSudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #40 November 23, 2006 Latest Email from Bob on the Ganges River. First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Since I have been too lazy (and busy) to keep a journal while I am here, I thought I would kind of use this forum as my journal so I can go back and read these emails when I get back from the trip. Its really hard to describe in detail all the things that have happened on this trip, so I am using this as a reminder to myself of some of the things going on so I can elaborate on them in the future. So, you will probably be getting a lot of info that is not necessarily related to the spreading of Shannon's ashes, but more about India and some of the things that I have discovered while I have been here. First of all, India is a remarkable place. It is unlike any other place in the world. But its not really a place I would come for vacation, unless I had a great deal of time. It takes at least a month to really get on your feet here. Travelling here can be very difficult and if you came to India with the wrong attitude, this place would eat you alive. I have been very fortunate that as soon as I landed, an overwhelming sense of calm and acceptance came over me. You can't fight this place and you really have to let all your preconceptions go when you arrive. If you do that, and let the world happen around you, this can be a magical place. On being a minority: For the first time in my life, I am in a place where I am definitely a minority. In places like Rishikesh and other tourist spots, you will definitely find other Westerners, but in many places in the country it has been years since they have seen a white person. While driving through or stopping in villages, it is not uncommon to have our car surrounded by Indians trying to get a glimpse of the white people. At first, it can be a little bit disconcerning, but if you just smile at them and try to communicate, they are some of the warmest people you could ever meet. I have been invited into strangers' homes for dinner and they would stuff me until I was sick. I know there is a percertion that Indians are under-fed, but my experience has been, while there is a lot of poverty here, the people here eat ok. Trash: There is trash everywhere. Its one of the first things you have to let go of when you arrive. But somehow it just makes sense here. The trash serves a vital service in that it is the main source of food for many of this country's creatures. At night, the cows rule the city and they roam through the streets eating trash. And monkeys and stray dogs also get most of thier food from the streets as well. Most of the dogs are mangey and dirty, but they are so loving and I have made many a canine friend here. I will truly miss the dogs here when I leave. So, my attitude on trash has changed for sure. There are just too many people in this country and they get about 1000 immigrants a day that come to India from places that are in worse shape than here. The infrastructure is just not set up to accomadate this growth, but somehow the people survive. But when western businesses introduced plastic to India 10-20 years ago, it changed everything. Plastic sucks! You can't burn it without it being toxic and it doesn't breakdown, so basically it just sits there, poluting the environment. It is definitely one of the biggest problems in India, but I'm sure there have been hefty profits made since its arrival. Travellers: You meet a lot of travellers from all over the world here. The most prevelant, by far, are the Israelis. Most of them are very young and come here after they have done thier military service. They travel in packs, and it is said that 10% of Israel's population is travelling in India at any given time. I found that to be remarkable. Most are here to get away from things, rather than looking for something here, so the dynamic is different from most of the travellers here. There are many, however, that come here and find it very difficult to go back to life in Israel. My favorite group of travellers are the Italians. Most of the Italians I have met are a little bit older (30's-40's), and I have made a number of Italian friends. I have met people from all over the world here and its one of the great things about travelling in India. I figured that there would be a large anti-American sentiment amongst the travellers here, but that hasn't really been the case. For the most part, the world seems very confused by our actions and can't really understand how we can support all the killing we do. You really get a much clearer picture of the world when you talk to people from Europe and Asia and you see how our policies effect them. In most of the world, George Bush is seen as being on par with Hitler and other infamous leaders. The message I tell people is that, as scary as it seems right now, there is hope because people are seeing that this "with us or against us" mentality will not solve anything in the long run. I mean, we can't just go around killing everybody that thinks differently than we do, can we? Life in Rishikesh: As i stated in my last email, I have a room that is right on the banks of the Ganges. The Ganges is an incredible river and I grow more attached to it each day. It can be a pretty dirty and nasty river as it heads into the heart of India, but here, near the source, it is clean and beautiful. I usually wake up around 8:00 and do a little yoga before heading upstairs for some coffee. The coffee here pretty much blows, so Bryan and I had brought six pounds of Starbucks and Peet's coffee from The US for our morning coffee ritual. Unfortunately, we have already gone through four pounds and the other two pounds are sitting in our bags in storage in Dehli and we won't get to them until we pass through Dehli in a few weeks. After coffee we usually stroll over to a restaurant for breakfast. I usually will get an omlette so I can get some protein in my body, and they also have great fresh fruit. I sometimes get weird looks when I eat toast with jam with my breakfast. It is just not a natural combination for them; eating toast and jam with my eggs. After breakfast we will usually either go to the beach or to a temple, but a majority of my time lately has been spent making a drum. There is a place in Rishikesh owned by an Indian man named Mokesh where you can go and make your own drum or digeridoo from wood he has gotten from the jungle. You have to walk to the other side of town and then catch an auto-rickshaw to get there and its kind of cool spending time in this part of town, which is almost 100% Indian. So, I decided I wanted to make a nice jambaa drum and I have been working on it for about ten days. We started with just a tree trunk about 18 inches wide, and we have now got it shaped and hollowed and I am going to start sanding soon. It should be done in another week or so. It is really going to be a beautiful drum. After working all day on that (I am freakin sore!), I usually come back to my neighborhood for dinner with friends and then most nights we will sit by the river at a place called the Freedom Cafe, have some chai and listen to music. I love walking home at night when it is quiet. There are a lot of cows and stray dogs roaming the street at that time and its just very quiet and peaceful. I am going to be here for another week probably, and then we will be heading to Dehli for a day and we will probably head for the desert of Rhajastan. It will be quite the change from the mountains, but I am looking forward to it. I am reading a great book right now called "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. If you have an interest in the "real" India, this would be a great book to pick up. Its the true story about a guy who escapes from an Australian prison and "finds himself" in India. Very hard to stop reading. One short story: The other day there were about seven of us that spent the day about ten miles up the river at a really beautiful secluded beach. While we were there, this baba comes walking up to us and signals that he wants us to sing Bajan, which is devotional Indian music where you basically sing the names of certain gods. I have grown to love bajan since I have been here. Anyway, Bryan picks up his guitar and starts singing a song to Shiva (one of the three major gods, along with Brahma and Vishnu), and the group of us started to sing along. I know this must seem like hippy-crap to most of you, but when you are here, its just different. So, the seven of us sang bajan with the baba. There are a lot of babas that live along the Ganges, in caves mostly, or in the nearby mountains. It was really a great experience to be singing on the banks of the Ganges with this guy and the energy level was through the roof. Anyway, after the singing was over we packed up and headed back into town. The next day, the very same baba showed up in Rishikesh. We had some chai with him and then he came back with us to our hotel. He came down to my room and saw the little Shannon "alter" i set up wherever I go. I told him the whole story and he was moved to tears by it. He took Shannon's ashes and held them for a long time and blessed them. He then sat down and started to talk to me about "god". He was old and frail, but very strong in some ways. He pinched his skin and told me in broken English he was not this skin. Then, he pointed to his head and said he was not this mind. Then, he rolled his eyes back into his head and it felt like he was gone for a moment, then he came back, smiled hugely, pointed at the spot between his eyes and indicated that was his true self. When his eyes rolled back into his head, a sudden rush of energy came over me. It was a trip! We then walked through town with the baba, and I noticed that everyone was smiling at him and treating him with much respect. I couldn't understand what they were saying really, but I later learned why there was so much commotion regarding this baba on this day. Apparently, he has not spoken in many years, and on this day he broke his silence to speak with us. We met many people that day who had never heard him speak before, even though they had known him for years. He later told me that Bryan and I were the first westerners he had spoken to. There is much more to this meeting than I can clearly express in words, but hopefully someday I will be able to fully understand this experience. Anyway, I gotta run. I keep trying to put some pictures up, but I have yet to be succesful. I will keep trying though. I hope you are all well and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks. Lots of love! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orribolollie 0 #41 November 23, 2006 Drink the bottled water. Looking forward to the tales. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #42 November 23, 2006 Bob, that sounds like an incredible journey, may Jah guide you on your way and bring you back safely As an aside, you should look into reading a book called Shantaram when you get back. Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VanillaSkyGirl 6 #43 November 24, 2006 We love you so much Bob. This is the perfect weekend to read this and to be thankful to have had Shannon (and now you, too!) in our lives. I feel such love and peace whenever I read your writings from India. I can even hear your quiet, warm voice and "feel" Shannon's loving presence. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcandalysse 0 #44 November 25, 2006 Bob, all the best in your travels! I just finished reading Shantaram a few weeks ago, it really does bring back walking through Bombay. It sure is a huge book (1000 pages) to carry along in a backpack! While I was in Delhi I read a very good book about it, called City of Djinns, by William Dalrymple. Highly recommended. Sounds like you are traveling well....meeting people and allowing the 'coincidences' to guide you. I look forward to reading more of your emails. Marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
