Gokarna

Aino kirjottaa...
Ollaan siis nyt paikassa nimelta Gokarna. Saatiin vinkki tasta paikasta ashramissa yhdelta hollantilaistytolta. Mietittiin jossain vaiheessa, etta oltais loppumatka vaan taalla Gokarnalla ja skipattais...GOA(!). Varkala oli niin turistimesta, etta ajatus Goasta ei tuntunut sillon hyvalta, siellahan niita turisteja ja kaupustelijoita vasta onkin. Paatettiin kuitenkin tsekata molemmat paikat, eli Gokarna ja Goa, vahan nopeampaan tahtiin.
Gokarna on hindujen pyha kaupunki. Taalla pitaa pukeutua ja kayttaytya saadyllisesti. Tama kuitenkin patee vain kylan puolella, silla Gokarnalla on lisaksi useita rantoja, jossa saa olla bikineissa, eika edes intialaiset miehet tuu hairitsemaan ja ottamaan kuvia! Ollaan opittu taalla arvostamaan pieniakin asioita...
Ollaan oltu taalla nyt kolme paivaa. Tama on aika pieni paikka, ollaan syoty, shoppailtu, vahan patikoitu, veneilty ja tietenkin hankitty paniikkirusketusta. Taisinpa jopa tanaan vahan palaa, oon ite vahan huolimaton aurinkovoiteen levittaja ja se sitten kostautui. Me ollaan viela oikeesti aika vaaleita, vaikka ollaan oltu melkeen kuusi viikkoa INTIASSA! Mutta ollaan sentaan tehty muutaki ku maattu biitsilla.
Eilen mentiin Om beachille, ja oltiin just asetuttu mukavasti ottamaan aurinkoa. Siella rannalla kulki ympariinsa epailyttavan nakoinen sinisarvinen lehma. Lehma lahestyi meita, ja noustiin pyyhkeiden paalta valmiiksi pakenemaan. Meilla on vielakin vahan lehmakammo siita edellisesta hyokkayksesta Diulla. Lahdettiin ite pois alta kun aateltiin etta se vaan kavelee ohi. Mutta tama lehma kaveli maaratietoisesti Saaran pyyhkeen paalta Saaran kassin luo. Lehma kaiveli laukun sisaltoa, loysi sipsipussin...ja soi sen, muoveineen. Sitten se jatkoi tyynesti matkaa. Intialaiset lehmat syo ihan kaikkea, koska ne huolehtii taalla jatehuollosta. Niille kelpaa muovi, pahvi, paperi.. Naureskeltiin, etta olis ollu aika karu kohtalo jos lehma olis loytany laukusta vaikka passin tai luottokortin ja pistellyt poskeensa.
Ollaan koitettu luoda taalla sosiaalisia verkostoja. Siina ei olla oikein onnistuttu. Ensinnakin majoitusvinkin meille antoi hieman epailyttavan oloinen "Tom", jonka mukaan saadaan guesthouse "Shangri lasta" halvalla majoitus kun sanotaan vaan "Tomilta terveisia". No, mentiin sinne paikkaan ja kerrottiin tietenkin toiveikkaina silmaa iskien "Tomilta terveiset." Guesthousen tyyppi vaan katto meita, eika tosiaankaan tuntenu ketaan "Tomia". No, saatiin kuitenkin sielta huone, ja ihan hyva on. Aliisa sai lattiapaikan, maa ja saara nukutaan n.120 levyisessa sangyssa. Yritettiin viela myohemmin liittaytya taalla oleskeleviin travellaajiin. Tultiin syomasta illalla, kun huomattiin, etta rannalla on porukkaa ja musiikkia -> Jee, BILEET! Kaveltiin sinne ja istuttiin rinkiin. Pian tajuttiin, etta kukaan ei ees huomannu etta me tultiin! Ei kylla loppuen lopuksi tunnettu mitaan suurta yhteenkuuluvuutta niiden kanssa, talla rannalla taitaa olla pelkastaan tuota huumeporukkaa, eika niilla valttamatta kiinnosta tai ole tapana tutustua muihin..jos niille riittaa se, mita niilla on. No, onneksi meilla on toisemme.
Kivaa ja rentoa on kuitenkin ollu, paitsi etta maha(ni) on jatkanut jalleen temppuilua. Aika janna juttu, etta aiti Amman luona mina ja maha oltiin ihan valeissa, mutta nyt se on taas alkanut kiusata muun muassa herattamalla keskella yota ja pakottamalla nousemaan sangysta vessaan. No, toivotaan etta taa ei ainakaan enaa Suomessa jatku...
Eipa talla kertaa enempaa, paivien countdown on jo periaatteessa alkanut...

Next destination: GOA

Alright then.. where do I even begin! We apologize for not updating the blog earlier. There's just been so much going on during the past week, and I think the fast approaching departure (from India) is also keeping us off the Internet. We also tend to go online in the late evenings and sometimes the Internet cafe closes up even before we begin writing. But enough about excuses, let's get all of you back to today.
We are now in Gokarna, a town just a stone's throw away from Goa. We're staying at Kudle beach which is picture perfect: sandy beaches, flourishing nature, gorgeous hills.. if you climb up, the view is practically breathtaking. The sad sidenote I must inform you about is that we have hardly any pics from this beautiful place. This clumsy media design student broke the (my mum's) camera yesterday.. :( I think we now figured out how to snap some shots with it, but taking photos is no longer as freeing an experience as before. Trying to get back to the good stuff here, regardless of my cockups.
After enjoying a few relaxing days in the touristic beach resort of Varkala we headed towards Kollam, and to be specific, to mother Amma's ashram in Amritapuri. As most of you might already know, mother Amma is said to portray "God's love in human form", and she spreads that love by embracing people regardless of their backgrounds. Although we had all heard something about Amma, we could have never anticipated the impact the ashram would have on us and what we would get to experience in the days to follow.
We arrived in Kollam sometime in the afternoon and headed straight to the post office, because Saara had a lot of extra weight in her backpack which needed to be sent home immediately. The parcel posting process ended up taking an exhausting few hours and while Saara was busy filling annoying forms, Aino and I used the time to finally write some post cards. At the post office we also realized it was the Finnish national day! Our thoughts turned completely blue and white. After dinner, when the day was already anticipating its end we began to wonder if we would even be able to stay at the ashram having no reservation what so ever, and not knowing if we would be able to reach it before dark. Although we had some doubts, we were only an hour's rickshaw drive away from Amritapuri and we made it before sunset. From the outside, the ashram looked like a resort, the sight truly knocked out any expectations we may have had: tall, baby pink apartment buildings, a massive bridge joining the ashram to mainland instead of something modest and petite we had obviously assumed we would see. When the rickshaw pulled up to the front of the bridge, we were immediately aided by some ashram residents. They told us not to worry about accommodation - everyone was welcome and would have a roof over their heads. Needless to say we felt like were in good hands.
Once we arrived, we were asked our nationality. When told, they brought us information hand-outs printed in Finnish!! The hand-our guided us into the rules regarding life in the ashram. Along with strict guidelines on what not to wear, we were suggested to attend daily seva - volunteer work for the ashram's community. On the first day of our arrival, we met a French guy called Tsibo. He had lived in the ashram for five days and hadn't attended seva even once. He seemed to be really laid-back, perhaps looking for some new perspectives and viewpoints regarding his own life - just like us. Sometime during that same day we also heard of Mother Amma's long awaited arrival. We couldn't believe our luck. Mother Amma spends most of her year abroad, embracing people around the world. Lucky for us, she decided to come home for a quick visit before setting off to a long tour around India.
The following days taught us many things about the ashram way of life. People lived under a schedule consisting of meal times, curfews, prayer and meditation timetables, etc. Discipline and self-control are two words which pop out quite strongly in my mind when thinking of the people residing at the ashram. Nothing would work smoothly if it weren't for control. We were surprised by the amount of Finnish people populating the place. Since it seemed like the Finns were a major portion of the mass, we almost felt like our home country (on its own) couldn't offer many options for those misguided regarding their faith.
So.. mother Amma. In the afternoon following our arrival, she arrived. People cried, hugged each other, smiled openly where as others ran frantically following the car of their religious leader, creating some level of panic. Amma's arrival will stick in my mind as the realization regarding the level of impact one person can truly have on an entire community. On the next day, we were hugged by Amma. The experience is something I still can't quite put into words without offending anyone. All I can say is that she truly affects lives, and stands as an example to all of us. Less fighting, more loving.
From the ashram we took a river boat that took us through the Keralan backwaters to Alleppey. From there we continued through Cochin towards Mangalore. I was quite upset (with myself), because I hadn't contacted my old ISSH friend, Megan earlier. That same Megan from grade 6 (Obrhai), lives currently in Mangalore. Therefore missed what could have been a rather memorable reunion. Well, yet another thing to look forward to when visiting India again.
Getting to Gokarna (from the ashram) took 2 days of long train rides in uncomfortable conditions. We were literally unable to fit into the general class car (of one of the over-night train rides) so we had to bribe the ticket man in order to get sleeper beds for us. The same sort of bribing would never work in Finland. On the other hand, the same sort of situation (where you wouldn't physically get in through a train door) would also never happen in Finland. Once in Gokarna, we found it extremely hard to find accommodation. Everything was fully-booked, but thanks to a hint given to us by a random drug addict named Tom, we found shelter in Shargrila, an idyllic and affordable guest house on Kudle beach.
I woke up to the sound of cows mooing on the field surrounding the guest house area. For a second there, I could have sworn I was in Provence or Tuscany. Sitting on the porch with the sun kissing my face, I felt happy. Our final week in India was to be a good one, I just had a hunch. Once the girls woke up, they began making me rastas. I thought nothing was to come of the project, but currently I'm kind of liking this mess clouding my head.
Okay, once again I have to go and leave the ending of this reportage for later. Perhaps next time from Goa. Take care everyone!

-Aliisa