Happy Holi!

Tomorrow is the Holi Festival and already young boys are running around with pre-game excitement, waterballoons and jugs of paint, silver nylon pants, and hands and faces covered in purple, blue, green, red. I am told I should not go outside tomorrow before 2 pm when the crowd will all take to the ghats for a mass bath, washing their colors into the big holy sewer - mother ganga...

Tonight was a full moon, and the evening before holi is an evening of ceremonial fires - in the alleyways, piles of garbage are being offered up to the heavens.

Tonight I finally took Ravi up on his offer to show me real Indian Thali - full meal involving salad, sabjee (veggies), chapati, rice, daal, curd, pickles, etc. He asked me to join him a few days ago, but as I have had some kind of stomach bug (all my other complaints were just little aches, this was the first real deal) I was not able to take him up. Yesterday he took me to a doctor and paid for my 25 cent consultation, during which I given the prognosis of "Fine, but should eat more curd". The doctor was right!

So today I said I am coming over for sure. I arrived at seven at the music school, which is one of the rooms in his home where he lives with his mother, younger sister, and sometimes older brother who is now touring - he is a renowned tabla player. The Baba School of Music, which is just a room in the place, is part of a small castle-like complex that is comprised mostly of the Ganapati Guest House - a bit over my budget, but I will likely move in later this week for convenience sake. For a little while we jam - i play some bhajans on the harmonium, he on the tabla, then I join the rhythm on the djembe. He does some amazing western improvisation on the tabla with a djembe under his arm... hiphop beats with indian style. I find out that he is just improvising! very cool. So we go over to the guest house side that has a view overlooking the ganges and I ask about life in Varanasi and such things...

Ravi has lived here his whole life. Some background info - he is 22, brahmin, senior at Benaras Hindu University, tabla major. As a child he used to swim the ganga every day. He would get sick, but he tells me that if you put that water in a bottle, 1 year later it will not have spoiled. (this is actually scientific fact - the ganges has proven purifying qualities that are beyond science's comprehension).

I ask why he likes Varanasi, and he tells me a few of the fable, some of the kings who lived here, the musicians, how Hanuman's energy is here, etc. This building is overlooking Meer Ghat and he tells me that it is named after Mirabai - the princess who left her home and devoted her life to singing bhajans for Krishna. I have heard of her - she has goddess status, and I didn't realize she was a real person, but this very building is where she lived, legend says. She built it herself. All the castles overlooking the ghats belonged to kings, says Ravi. I say it is very auspicious to have a music school in the home of Mirabai!

Later we go back and his mother has prepared the most delicious indian meal I have had yet in india - by far... we put ghee in the daal and it tastes like butter. She makes indian excuses about having made it quickly and all that, and I just say "Mataji, bahut bahut badiyaaa! Danyavad!" (respected mother, very very excellent! Thank you!)

Am I "Fraternizin' with the locals"? Anyway, he is a very nice friend. And I have to run - potty emergency. more later.