“We build the road as we travel” – Roy Morrison
Helsinki, 15.12.2008
I took the train from Mikkeli to Helsinki and then the tram No.6 from central station to Anshy's apartment in Arabiankatu ("katu" is the Finnish word for "street"). Anshy is one of my best friends in Finland. We worked together at the same lab in Mikkeli. In 2007, she got married and then moved to Helsinki in 2008. We were so happy to see each other after a long time. Sara, her daughter, had obviously grown up. I remembered when I last saw her, she was still a small new-born baby.
I took the train from Mikkeli to Helsinki and then the tram No.6 from central station to Anshy's apartment in Arabiankatu ("katu" is the Finnish word for "street"). Anshy is one of my best friends in Finland. We worked together at the same lab in Mikkeli. In 2007, she got married and then moved to Helsinki in 2008. We were so happy to see each other after a long time. Sara, her daughter, had obviously grown up. I remembered when I last saw her, she was still a small new-born baby.
Anshy made me a cup of milk tea or "Chai", a traditional Indian drink. She was a little bit worried for me as I would travel alone to a complicated land. But I felt excited about the exotic trip ahead and tried to assure her. I knew that it was such a great blessing for me to make this dream journey to Buddha's Land come true.
In the evening, Hans, Anshy's husband came back home from work. I took photos for the whole family. Then we had dinner which consisted of Basmati rice with Dalh (a traditional Indian lentil soup), cauliflower with ginger, eggs with paprika and green beans with potato. Oh, I like Indian food, (and for one of the reasons), especially because most of them are vegetarian (as majority of Indians are vegetarian).
Anshy is from Kerala, "the green paradise" in the Southern part of India. How I wish to go there someday! Most of the Holy Sites I would visit were in the Northern part of India, where she said everything was quite so different in terms of cultures and languages. Though Hindi is the official language, not all people in Kerala know it, they speak Malayalam instead.
I checked email and received a message from Master Huyền Diệu (his Buddhist name, Huyền Diệu, means "Miracle"), the Guru who would guide us through this pilgrimage. He was in America for his lectures (on Asian history and International relations) and would be back to New Delhi in late night of December 17th. He told me not to worry much and always be equable.
I really felt warm and at home here. Before going to bed, Anshy gave me a cup of hot milk.
16.12.2008
The alarm clock woke me up at 3:30 am as I had to leave early in the morning to the airport. Anshy made me another hot Chai. Then we called taxi and went downstairs. I gave my beloved Anshy a big hug the last time before leaving Finland, not knowing when we would meet each other again...
The flight from Helsinki to Brussels departed much later than scheduled. Sitting nearby me was an old Finnish man, working for the United Nations on peace making in Africa. When we arrived in Brussels, he directed me to the right terminal, otherwise I could have been lost in that big and complex airport. I had only a short time for transit to my next flight and could not catch it. As it was their fault for my delay, the airline gave me new tickets, but I had to go back to Helsinki and there would be a direct flight to New Delhi at 8pm! Then, from Belgium I was back to Helsinki again!
In the evening, Hans, Anshy's husband came back home from work. I took photos for the whole family. Then we had dinner which consisted of Basmati rice with Dalh (a traditional Indian lentil soup), cauliflower with ginger, eggs with paprika and green beans with potato. Oh, I like Indian food, (and for one of the reasons), especially because most of them are vegetarian (as majority of Indians are vegetarian).
Anshy is from Kerala, "the green paradise" in the Southern part of India. How I wish to go there someday! Most of the Holy Sites I would visit were in the Northern part of India, where she said everything was quite so different in terms of cultures and languages. Though Hindi is the official language, not all people in Kerala know it, they speak Malayalam instead.
I checked email and received a message from Master Huyền Diệu (his Buddhist name, Huyền Diệu, means "Miracle"), the Guru who would guide us through this pilgrimage. He was in America for his lectures (on Asian history and International relations) and would be back to New Delhi in late night of December 17th. He told me not to worry much and always be equable.
I really felt warm and at home here. Before going to bed, Anshy gave me a cup of hot milk.
16.12.2008
The alarm clock woke me up at 3:30 am as I had to leave early in the morning to the airport. Anshy made me another hot Chai. Then we called taxi and went downstairs. I gave my beloved Anshy a big hug the last time before leaving Finland, not knowing when we would meet each other again...
The flight from Helsinki to Brussels departed much later than scheduled. Sitting nearby me was an old Finnish man, working for the United Nations on peace making in Africa. When we arrived in Brussels, he directed me to the right terminal, otherwise I could have been lost in that big and complex airport. I had only a short time for transit to my next flight and could not catch it. As it was their fault for my delay, the airline gave me new tickets, but I had to go back to Helsinki and there would be a direct flight to New Delhi at 8pm! Then, from Belgium I was back to Helsinki again!
I was waiting at the gate. At 7 pm, there were Santa Claus and a little girl wearing red clothes coming to the sledge on the stage decorated with green pine trees and white snow background. Children were particularly excited to be there, taking photos and picking free chocolates from the big basket. There was an Indian couple also waiting near me. Both are IT engineers living in London and are now going to homeland in India to visit their parents for the new year. I talked to the girl and took one photo for her. Her name is Arpita, which means “devoted” in her language. They are Jains*.
Surprised! By coincidence, the numbers of our seats were the same 58, nearly in the last row in the airplane. Again, we sat near each other and had more chance to talk during the long flight from Helsinki to New Delhi. Arpita told me about her pretty impressive wedding last year. It was really a big event in the village that lasted for few days with thousand of guests! The party was served as a buffet with many diverse kinds of food, all of which were vegetarian!
It was interesting for me to know about arranged marriage through her own story. At first, their parents introduced them to each other. (Before that they had matched the birthdays of the couple for compatibility; ideal case is with 36 compatible points, normally over 18 points is okay. In her own case, Arpita and her husband have 24 points). Then the two families met and left the young couple alone for them to ask each other everything. And after only their 2-3 hour "interview", they had to decide whether or not to go further with the match. Maybe people from different cultural background could feel it was strange and difficult to understand how marriage could come first and then love, she said, but she felt ok in her own case.
*: Jainism is a religion in India whose philosophy embraces a deep compassion for all forms of life. First and foremost, it is a religion of the heart: the golden rule is Ahimsa or nonviolence in all parts of a person - mental, verbal, and physical. (Reference)
*****
And the journey began…
And the journey began…
(Photo by Kim Anderson)
"A flower on hat
At the mouth a song
A joyful and sincere heart
And that's all it takes
For we young girls and boys
To go to the end of the earth.”
- From the song "Une fleur au chapeau"
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