Happy New Year

May all beings be happy. May all beings know peace. May all beings let go of fear. May all beings be true.

I am thrilled to be celebrating the close of 2008 and ringing in the infinite possibilities of 2009. I am hopeful about a new beginning.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Holi Festival

Holi Festival begins the first day after the first full moon in March lasting 2 days and signalling the beginning of Spring. It is the festival of color. Generally people go a little wild, throwing colored water and powder all over each other. Regular work shuts down and everyone celebrates the joy of new life and a new season with special foods and of course bright colors everywhere. When I was in Maliwada village at age 17 during Holi festival, I was advised to wear old clothing and go out and have a good time. I came back completely covered with powder and colored water all over my hair, face, arms and of course my clothing. I was all shades of pink, green, yellow, red, purple, orange, and every shade inbetween. I rode on the back of a motorcycle into the nearby city of Aurangabad and got fully pelted coming and going. Of course I loved it at the time, as did the smallest children whose aim was good. We'll see how I fare this time around.

Itinerary

January 23rd Friday: Fly from SFO at 8:00 am; arrive Newark, NJ at 4:20 pm; Fly to New Delhi at 8:20 pm.
January 24th Saturday: Arrive New Delhi at 9:30 pm. Hotel near airport.
January 25th Sunday: Fly to Katmandu at 10:00 am; visit Changu Village
January 26th Monday: Changu Village
January 27th Tuesday: Changu Village
January 28th Wednesday: Fly to Delhi; Travel to Haridwar
January 29th Thursday: Haridwar Orphanage and Ashram
January 30th Friday: Haridwar Orphange and Ashram
January 31st Saturday: Haridwar Orphange and Ashram
February 1st Sunday: Haridwar Orphange and Ashram
February 2nd Monday: Rishikesh Ashram
February 3rd Tuesday: Rishikesh Ashram
February 4th Wednesday: Travel to Delhi; Fly to Mumbai; Train to Miraj
February 5th Thursday: Wanless Hospital
February 6th Friday: Wanless Hospital
February 7th Saturday: Wanless Hospital
February 8th Sunday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 9th Monday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 10th Tuesday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 11th Wednesday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 12th Thursday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 13th Friday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 14th Saturday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 15th Sunday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 16th Monday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 17th Tuesday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 18th Wednesday: Timothy's Hospice Project in Sangli
February 19th Thursday: Train to Mumbai; Fly to Jaipur, Rajasthan then train to Puskar
February 20th Friday: Puskar
February 21st Saturday: Puskar
February 22nd Sunday: Train to Jaipur; Fly to Bangalore; visit stove factory
February 23rd Monday: To Arunchala
February 24th Tuesday: Ashram
February 25th Wednesday: Fly to Aurangabad
February 26th Thursday: Ajanta Caves
February 27th Friday: Ellora Caves
February 28th Saturday: Daulatabad Fort
March 1st Sunday: Maliwada Village
March 2nd Monday: Maliwada Village
March 3rd Tuesday: Maliwada Village
March 4th Wednesday: Maliwada Village
March 5th Thursday: Fly from Aurangabad to Mumbai; Train to Pune
March 6th Friday: Pune
March 7th Saturday: Pune
March 8th Sunday: Pune
March 9th Monday: Nashik
March 10th Tuesday: Nashik (Full Moon)
March 11th Wednesday: Nashik (Holi Festival)
March 12th Thursday: Nashik (Holi Festival)
March 13th Friday: Train to Mumbai
March 14th Saturday: Fly home at 10:00 pm
March 15th Sunday: Arrive SFO at 12:00 noon; Santa Cruz by 3:00 pm?

voices from the past

I am thrilled to have received responses to an e-mail I sent out to contacts in India I had made in 1989. One of my colleagues from the original ICA village project I worked on at age 17 in 1976 replied and is living in Pune! I will be happy to see her and her husband again, both of whom I remember quite well from our Maliwada days in '76.

Visit to Envirofit International

Late in February, my plan is to travel to Bangalore to visit an ashram and a contact from Santa Cruz. While there, my dad has asked me to visit a stove factory that originated in Fort Collins, Colorado that makes indoor cook stoves that are highly efficient, clean, cut down on indoor air pollution, burn anything and pay for themselves in fuel savings in less than a year. He wants to see if we can ship them to the Changu village project in Nepal, or even open a factory up there. I'm looking forward to this leg of my journey.

Maps

http://maps.mapmyindia.com/
Try this spot to see a map of India

OK, so having failed at transporting a map from the internet to this site, I drew one of my own. I'll be flying into New Delhi, arriving Saturday night in time for a good night sleep in a hotel near the airport, then a flight to Kathmandu and a visit to Changu village project there. Dad will fly to Bhopal. I'll take surface transport to Haridwar and Rishikesh.

After Nepal

On Wednesday of the first week, my dad will fly to Bhopal to meet up with an Indian heart surgeon he has worked with in the past. I'll be going to an area near the headwaters of the Ganges River to visit an orphanage and ashram near Haridwar and then to Rishikesh. One week later I'll meet up with my dad in Miraj where he will be working with a cardiothoracic surgery team at Wanless hospital, consulting. I will be volunteering in a nursing capacity as needed and learning more about what medications, supplies and services are available locally for hospice patients in preparation for my efforts to help start a hospice program in the nearby city of Sangli.