The burning ghats of Gokarna didn't happen sadly - but not to worry, I'll be heading to Varanasi in a couple of months which, I'm told, is where all the burning action happens (yes, I do have a slightly morbid fascination with dead bodies & am looking forward to beholding the sight of an Indian cremation). Instead, I enjoyed a nice little stroll through this thoroughly chilled little town. Gokarna was a truly lovely experience. The trek to the surrounding beaches of Cudlee was absolutely divine. The path took us up into the cliff face, and through small patches of forest along the coastline. It was a truly spectacular walk - huge rocks jutting out into the sea that swirled with shades of red, copper, black & brown. As we walked over the rocks I imagined it to be a massive dinosaur graveyard with huge pieces of massacred dinosaurs under my feet. Some of the black rock faces had been chipped away to reveal beautiful crystals - quartz. So we were literally walking on what were massive boulders of quartz.
We visited Om & Half Moon beaches firstly - which were absolutely wonderful, very quiet - a few shacks scattered here & there, and a small sprinkling of hippies. The waters were wonderfully calm & I luxuriated in the ocean on my lilo for a good few hours in the lazy afternoon sun. The last beach we visited was Paradise Beach - which has sadly had all of its shacks torn down in an effort to preserve it...but...after the shacks had been torn down, the rubble had been left behind. The beach was still very beautiful - and the rubble piles did lend it a sense of kitch industrial-meets-nature-with-a-loud-bang vibe. It had a strange air of sadness about it, while at the same time also being indifferently cool - if that makes sense?
On my last day in lovely Gokarna, I thought I'd treat myself to a nice massage. And nice it certainly was...I was covered in oil, massaged by 2 lovely Indian ladies - one on each side of me - and I was totally naked. It was superb - I not only felt completely relaxed (and slightly turned on), but also felt like the Queen Of Sheba - pampered to the max. Definitely need to put more massages of this ilk on my travelling menu!
Next, a 12 hour train journey back down south to Kerela, to meet with Sophie. Just before leaving London, Sophie & I were told by a mutual friend that we'd be in India at the same time. After having a chat over dinner, we came to realise that we wanted to explore the same parts of India at the same time...so we thought "why not do it together?!" Sitting on the train, admiring the astonishingly beautiful countryside of the Indian west coast, I was almost drawn to tears. I feel so full of gratitude to be able to do what I'm doing. Even after only 6 weeks in this extraordinary country I feel I have learned so much - about myself and about other people. Mother India certainly has a plethora of wonderful life lessons to offer - if you're open to learning from her. I feel like huge pieces of the puzzle that is life have fallen into place. I've astonished myself with the amount of growing I've done in such a short space of time - it's amazing how profoundly adopting a different mindset changes how you interpret life. When you say "no thank you" to judgement and adopt an attitude of tolerance & acceptance, the world becomes a deeply beautiful place, and every challenge becomes an opportunity to grow. Being able to put these theories into practice is what I've learnt since being in India.
I arrived in Trivandrum, where I was to meet Sophie, at around 5am...and didn't really get any sleep on the train. Despite my body feeling totally exhausted, my spirits were high and I was ready for the next phase of the great adventure. A friend of Sophie's had recommended we go see a guru while we were in town...so armed only with his name, Swami Isalayam, we headed for the auto rickshaws. Miraculously, we made it there and were welcomed inside. It was a random - and interesting experience - we both sat down & had a deep & meaningful chat with him - about life, the universe & everything - and by the end of it, Sophie & I both found ourselves being offered work. Swami would like me to write some music for him, to express in musical terms a scientific theory he has been working on that explains the interconnectedness of all life. It's an extremely interesting proposal...let's see what happens with it. Our meeting with Swami Isalayam was cut slightly short as we had to catch the train that would take us down to Kanyakumari - the southern most tip of India. Sophie & I pondered our random little encounter along our journey, theorizing about the strange & wonderful experiences that can take place when you just go with the flow.
Despite Kanyakumari being a tiny bit like an Indian version of Brighton, Sophie & I had a beautifully profound time there. Sure, the streets are lined with stalls selling laughably ridiculous souvenirs of varying tackiness to the reams of Indian pilgrims that flock here, but Kanyakumari is steeped in spirituality & does have a beautifully mystical air about it. There is a legend that says the goddess Kumari single handedly conquered the demons here, thus securing freedom for the world. Kumari is a virgin incarnation of the divine goddess Devi - and the Hindu word for virgin is Kanya - hence the name of the town.
The one thing I promised myself I'd do whilst in Kanyakumari was watch the sun rising from, and setting into the sea, where 3 oceans meet. It was a serious struggle, but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 5:30am to watch the rising sun. When we reached the seafront we were surprised to see crowds & crowds of Indian pilgrims who all had the same idea. It was wonderful chatting to them - we met a group of men who were preparing for their Sabarimala pilgrimage, which lasts for 41 days - during which they are to refrain from tobacco, alcohol, sex, using foul language, hair cuts & shaving. They are also expected to bath twice a day, and visit the local temples regularly - and are permitted to wear only plain black, blue or saffron coloured traditional clothing. We saw men in such a preparatory state all over the town - it was wonderful to gain an understanding of what they were doing. As the sun appeared, the crowd erupted in cheers and whoops - it was such a pleasure to share the moment with so many locals.
After watching the sun rise, Sophie & I headed to the temple which is dedicated to the Kanya Kumari. Inside it is small and intimate - and visitors are rather hurriedly ushered through due to the sheer number of people. It was a long-shot, but Sophie & I asked if we could sit and meditate inside the temple for a while. To our surprise, we were given permission, and our foreheads were painted with red tikka powder. Upon leaving the temple, a little old lady anointed our foreheads with the ash from votive candles lit in offering to the goddess Kumari. Just as she did this, I had a rush of energy that shot up my spine & acros my shoulder blades - and Sophie spontaneously burst into tears. The experience left us in a seriously elated mood! We decided to take a short ferry ride to the Vivekandanda memorial which is built on a large rock about 500 meters from the mainland. The view from here was absolutely astounding. Gazing out over the 3 oceans was truly immense - never before have I seen such a vast and expansive horizon. It is a sight I will remember forever.
In Kanyakumari there is also a memorial, built to commemorate Gandhi. Of course we had to go and pay our respects to this great and wonderful historical figure, so we ventured out to find it. We were told by our lovely guide that the architecture was a melding of Hindu, Islamic & Catholic cultures...but to Sophie & I it very closely resembled a giant pink cake. We watched the setting sun from its roof and contemplated our little visit to the end of India as we once again gazed out to the horizon.
Being practically the only two white people in the town, we had slightly celebrity status: we were stared at constantly, but I'm very happy to say that the initially somewhat intimidating stares were quickly transmuted into smiles with friendly nod of the head and a polite "hello", which then paved the way for many interesting (and sometimes slightly bizarre) conversations. We had constant requests for photos - and a group of children on a school trip from Kerela became totally enamoured with the both of us - every single student insisted on giving us high 5's as they passed, and several of them came to us asking various questions about where we were from, what we did, what our names were. It was an experience that left us with definite smiles on our faces.
