of rice and other rice based dishes

Hyderabad. A place that has been ruled by the Muslim for ages. Amazing palaces and mosques. Shapes are sexier here and architecture gives your mind room for thinking. Yesterday I visited the Golconda Fort. It used to be an amazing citadel protected by three sets of walls. The first requisite to become a soldier was to be able to lift a 120kg weight with one arm. There were 27000 soldiers. People from Delhi sieged the fort in vain for 8 months. A commander betrayed his king and his people and opened the gates at night. Can honesty be measured in kg? I dont know. I could see the king resting in his rooms at the top of the hill, relaxing on his swinging bed overlooking the land, at sunset. A sentinel on the watch could clap and be heard for 5 miles. I could see the queen and the royal ladies protected by a core of eunuchs getting ready for the 7pm's daily theatre show. I could hear people whispering in the darkness of the secret rooms. I could see the engineers working to construct the amazing system of water storage and delivery. It was an amazing citadel and a corrupted soul gave it away. But this is part of human nature after all. I sat in the shade of the portico surrounding a funeral dome of one the 7 kings who ruled the fort. There's an area plenty of domes and granite tombs. It is amazing. Couples of lovers hide behind the columns, shelter inside the forsaken mosques, sit on the dark tomb slabs. It came to rain and I waited there for an hour or two. In the past amazing things were done. Sometimes when I think about the present days I cannot find comparison. How many things can a man realize in that brief span of time which is given to him? How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man? I dont know. You look at old pictures and people's eyes seem to say, dude, dont even thinkabboutit, just do it. But it is hard, for fuck's sake. I went on a short boat trip to the giant Buddha statue in the middle of the lake. It was dark and the statue was lit. Relaxing music was softly playing and kids were there with their families. I felt protected and at ease. I came back after a while and a dad was surprised of how an engineer like me could still be unmarried. We both laughed.

Favole a cura di Gios

Fairy tales by Gios (read Jos). When I was a kid you could call this special service on the telephone and then choose among a hundred fairy tales to be selected by dialling a number from 1 to 100. One was entitled: "The yellow bus". Here it is for you. There is super deluxe night bus bound from Ooty to Bangalore. Super Deluxe means you pay a bit more for your extra confort, like a personal fan at just 10cm from your head, a tv set with a frame in fake "radica", but most of all much more room for your legs and the possibility to recline your seat to an almost horizontal position. All this to enjoy the 8 hours of journey in between the two cities. While boarding the guests are welcomed with a cheerful Indian music on the speakers. Wooow. The journey begins. There is only one foreigner on board. Before falling asleep people might want to let their thoughts running for a while, perhaps enjoying the rumble of the engine or their own music in their personal headphones. But the cheerful music is always there, with shit loads of drums and other instruments. No worries, the controller, who is in a separate cabin (together with the driver) from the rest of the passengers is gonna surely turn it down or off anytime soon, on this luxurious super deluxe yellow bus. The road is downhill since the bus is descending from a mountain area and it is very bumpy. The driver almost doesnt brake while turning down the hairpin bends. Passengers are squeezed to one side and to the other alternatively. After one hour the music is still fucking going as laud as before. It starts to become very annoying but nobody shows signs of distress. Indian people seem to sleep with the lights out but with the music playing. The foreigner goes and talk to the controller. How rude! the music goes off. The foreigner is relieved but feels guilty to use freely his reclining seat because the muslim guy behind him likes to sleep either leaning with his head again his seat or with his legs pointed against it. Fuck! In the menwhile someone is heard to feel sick in the back. It is dark and the foreigner cant figure out what is actually happening. Probably just a hoax. First stop, in the middle of the night. The controller comes in calling the stop and switches the light on. He has a look and starts to speak even faster than usual and more angrily. There is sick all over the aisle with streams of liquid running up to front and a pair of woman slippers amidst. The controller goes nuts and blocks everything in order to inquire and find the guilty being. Everyone negates and no name is made. Even those who are right besided the puddle of sick negate with a look of surprise at being accused. It is disgusting. The yellow super deluxe bus sets off again and the music goes suddenly on for the second time. Ah, maybe the controller wants to punish the people for what has just happened and keep them awake. IS THIS A FUCKING JOKE OR WHAT?!?! NOBODY EVEN FUCKING COMPLAINS! the foreigner, in shock and amazement, takes care of the matter for the second time. The journey goes on for hours with the smell of sick hovering in the air. Thank you Gios for this amazing fairy tale. Looking forward to tomorrow's!!!
Got to Bangalore at 5am. Just early enough to see people waking up, cleaning their nest on the asphalt and tranforming it into their personal shop, cows munching among heaps of rubbish and battered dogs continuing sleeping. Being a dog in India is probably the worst thing it could ever happen to you in your circle of reincarnation. I visited the mosque and appreciated the big empty spaces apt to praying. The market was coming to life (did it ever go to sleep?). If I were an Indian woman Id like to wear a necklace of fresh flowers everyday. Every woman in the world would need one to celebrate her own beauty.

Planning

Yes, I'm gonna be a star. Baby, you can drive my car. And maybe I love you. Beep beep, beep beep yeah! I made it. The steam locomotive made my day. I got a place by the window (left side) in the last row of seats of the last car. The beast was just behind me, pushing, whistling and steaming. I could hear the sound and the smell. It took us 5 hours to get up the mountains (46km). The landscape was so beautiful. Misty mountains covered in jungle, brooks and small waterfalls, bridges and little stations inhabited by monkeys. Short tunnels. Men with moustaches in working clothes with giant monkey wrenches. I and the otehr kids in the compartment were probably equally excited. If my friend Pipps were with me he would have had a boner. Lemon guaranteed. I didnt get that far but it was awesome. Had a long stroll around this small village. It reminded me of different parts of the world: northern Italy, Africa and even Torshavn. As well as India. I kicked back by the lake. Tenths of girls in uniform where having fun in the amusement park. I was missing a buddy to go on a rowing boat with. So I put some good music in my headphones. This evening Im catching a bus to Bangalore and on Friday morning I'll be in Hyderabad. And suddenly the road opens up and who has enough steam be free.

you haven't earned it yet, baby

I apologize for publishing a post after such a long time. These last days have been as dense as Nutella. As sweet as Nutella. I felt in love. If I tell you the girl is thirteen you'd think I am a pedophile. You should have seen her. Simple and intriguing as the coconut milk and ashes mix she uses as an eyeliner. A holy woman hugged me and this was not a trivial thing, although I was one in more than 26 million people. We estabilished an eternal relation with each other and I hope to live up to it. I saw a body burning away on the beach. Wooow. I had to take a shower and change my clothes loaded with negative energy afterwards. I reached the southern most point of India and I looked towards Antarctica. Everybody wants it. I spent the afternoon with Sanjib (a guy of my same age) and I understood my principles deserve to be revised. That was an intense afternoon. I dined with Giammarco who told me about his experience as a volunteer in Mother Theresa's mission in Kolkata. I was stuck in a train for 8 hours to cover 300 km. A fucking joke. I spent two lovely days with Siobhan, a crazy photographer from Holland and we went ring shopping together. We also went to the movies for a Bollywood experience. Now I am bogged down in a tropical south that doesnt want to let me go. I am a bit tired of being on the road. I need healthy food and more food. I need to breathe. I'll wake up at 5 am tomorrow to try to get a ticket for the four coach train bound to Ooty. I'll be able to see awesome places in the mountains, so they say.
There is one God. Call him as you want, it doesnt matter anymore. So far India has been an awesome example of religious tolerance and integration. Jesus came this far, it is amazing. But he is one out of many amazing people. Hugging people is amazing. Somebody has doveted her life to it. You might not like the thosands of people dressed in white around her. The smiling faces, the perfect meditation positions, the spiritual names. I didnt like most of it too. But the centre around which the community lives is amazing. All the answers are whitin ourselves. But it is a hard job, mostly down to will power. A matter of priorities in the end. I felt stuck and alone, a stupid renegade. Just because my mind is not ready yet and my heart is shy. It took hard days of trying to understand, just to see the light for a wink. And now I am feeling all the weariness on me. Im fed up with this continuos noise, with the pushing, with the shit all around me. Things are settling within me and I need to take it easy. It is like running a marathon while digesting a Xmas meal.
If you feel confused by this post don't worry, I am feeling confused and tired right right now. And I dont feel like writing anymore. But let's make a promise all together. Let's never stop learning, let's never settle on our personal and cultural pillars. The essence of man is so delightfully complicated and it requires constant effort and curiosity, good predisposition towards our own selves and the others. Flexiblility is a virtue and so is humility. I sat on the pier and was watching the sea. There is something awesome about reaching a cape and feeling the continent breathing behind you. There is a massive stone statue looking over India from down there. I was waiting for a 20m high surge of water to create out of nothing and hit me and my weakness but it didnt come. Thank God it didnt. Thank God it didnt. I have a chance to countinue my journey and change for the better.

jagged little pill

Back on the east coast. It is so humid, I am sweating like in a dream. I had forgotten how humid it can get. Tomorrow there is a snake boat race which is apparently a big event. They will show some dancing and live performances along with the competition. Sonija Ghandi is invited to the party as well. She is Italian and she is a minister. Awesome! People seem to love her here. My hotel bedroom is a cell with a bed and a metal desk. Toilets are shared. Im hoping to find somebody to share a house boat for Sunday night to sail through the canal system and sleep under the stars (the price is quite high) and on Monday I wanna go to Amma's ashram. Amma is a lady guru famous for hugging her devotees. Apparently she can hug more than a thoudand every blessing session. Im quite close to the tip of the continent. I'll head there soon to watch the sun rising on the Bengal sea and set on the Arabian sea while Indian is watching. So far so good. Roger.

Pure oil to take over your world, and a bit further

Mysore. Almost plane moon. Rose milk in my body and no signs of detoxification so far. But all the roads lead to meditation. Ive signed up for a 10 day vipassana course in Jaipur in September. Who made who? I dont have a fucking clue. Is that the real question though? No, I don't even want the answer to that. Today I saw the Eastern Palace. I entered it. I was explained. I cannot imagine anything more beautiful and more fresh and rewarding than that. But I left with the feeling that the Eastern Palace is not an actual building, it is an inner place, it is a state of freedom, of inner majesty. How to reach that state is my real adventure and its rooms and golden doors are what I am looking for. I have been there few times in my life, moments, instants, Ive been unveiled beauties and splendour and calm and happiness. Therefore I know my objective is achievable somehow. I try to be logical but I am just groping in the dark. I can't repress this need of mine though. An honest life of failure can be better than a dull life of perfection. And besides all the bullshit, this is my story, take it or leave it. These were yesterday evening's thoughts of mine. Some of them, come on!
Today I went to the zoo. They keep tigers in cages smaller than my fucking hotel bedroom. It is a fucking shame. They are beautiful animals and they have the power in theirs bodies. You can smell it, even at the zoo. Elephants are funny beasts. When they eat grass, they throw part of it on their backs. In less than two hours I will go to the slickest spa resort in town to get an hour ayurvedic massage over the whole body. Wowaweewow! NICE!