Delhi, INDIA
Staring out of a bus window complacently, an unidentifiable animal with grey fur suddenly rounds the corner barreling at full speed down the street with a vicious dog on the chase. It swings a fist at the dog -

(A fist? What?)

and with a heavy grace, it grabs a branch and heaves itself into a tree – growling loudly. My jaw drops. It’s a baboon, in the middle of the city.

Furiously looking out of the window for the next two hours makes me realize monkeys of more than one sort are common here in Delhi. So are cows, which are considered sacred and hold up to 85 gods. Left to their own devices in the city streets, they chew on what is available to eat: trash. Their big dark eyes stare at me as I walk past; I imagine staring into the eyes of divine beings, so I stare back.

“Hello?” (Those gods must be crowded in there.) “Hey, I’m Isabelle, nice to meet you…Hi?”

The cow and I have locked eyes together for what I thought was a special moment, but, fat and unbothered, it waddles over to a pile of street garbage and starts to munch. The irony (sacred cow eating plastic wrappers) doesn’t escape me but I am too polite to ask if the contradiction strikes anyone else – perhaps there is no free lunch even for the gods.

Speaking of Gods, there are more than 330 million gods in the Hindu religion. Holy cow! Literally! I’m starting to learn more about Hinduism and its vast differences from the other two major religions I’ve been exposed to (Christianity, Judaism). Suddenly all those Krishna chanters in the city streets of Ann Arbor, Washington D.C., New York, and countless other cities I’ve been to are put into context. I actually know who Krishna is now (a divine being representing love/a charmer/a playboy/don juan/Casanova) and I know why they worship him (something about how he represents love, the purpose of life). I’ve been offered a book detailing Krishna’s philosophies, so I plan to convert in the near future. My days are numbered, soon I’ll be shaving my curls – they are up for grabs, OBO. No, but in all seriousness, I look forward to reading more about him, and I am glad to have finally enquired more into a group I have always considered a cult. This is what travel is supposed to do – debunk stereotypes and let you get to know a culture intimately.

Heading out of Delhi, I visited some temples representing a few of these gods (including Krishna) in the forgotten town of Khajuraho, India. After an economic downturn, it lay fallow to the world for 1000 years, until a British explorer stumbled upon its 27 extremely “unique” temples. I wish I could have seen the expression on his face. Temples upon temples graced with figurines practicing the kama sutra abound. Positions requiring an unprecedented agility modern man has certainly lost are set in stone, 1000 years strong. The eroticism in the sculptures is acclaimed, yet I doubt that was the effect they were going for 1000 years ago. Full bodied men and women gaze out of stone, symbols of ultimate beauty in both acts of love and daily life. It is said they were meant to remind worshippers to leave their desires outside – so to enter the temple desireless. Only in this way could they be open to truth and enlightenment.

I hear tourists snickering behind me that this is 1000 year old porn. Instead, I find the temples refreshing – why impose our puritanical views to every corner and time period of this world? Rejoice that at least one culture was able to openly incorporate something into their daily act of worship that is normally on the verge of being taboo. There is something so human about these sculptures, an accidental documentation of love, sex, and sensuality. Though some features are exaggerated (the eyes, the breasts), the proportions of the body are correct. Even the slight curve of the stomach, the calves, the biceps are well represented. And that we are still up to the same kind of thing 1000 years ago gives me perspective that we are all just human after all, and 1000 years from now, if we haven’t blown ourselves up, and asteroids have charted their courses out of our way, we will be up to the same, exact… activities.

Love,
Isabelle