one man two years one country five journeys eighteen states hundreds of places thousands of subjects millions of curious people
I got to Syndicate blip.tv and you can, too ! Made in India is now available for anyone to Share under licensingfrom Creative Commons
click to enlarge Yes, you too can get Made in India displayed right on your own Web site. It's free, easy and requires about as much brain power as I have left at my age....not much ! Just configure a Show Player and then grab the copy & paste code at the bottom of this page and toss it into your ownsite. Voila !
Just remember to give full credit where credit is due for this act of 'Net generosity.......
Once this was virtually impossible....it couldn't be snowing in San Pedro, California while the sun was shining on me, wearing short sleeves and a Santa hat. But now.....if you can dream, anything is virtually possible.
Sounds motivational and inspiring ? Great !
An inspired and delightful time to all my Virtual Poona friends !
' You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard, Some that you recognize, some that you've hardly even heard of. People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame, Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.' The KINKS - Celluloïd heroes (1972)Uploaded by Petite-Rigolote
What makes us so fond of the whole Hollywood scene ? When I visited the Hollywood Walk of Fame recentlyI knew I was doing it somewhat halfheartedly, since myown passion had long cooled with the passing of years.And the passion was not easily re-ignited when we got outon Hollywood Boulevard into the intermittent drizzle and damp of a rare Weather day in L.A. As the old '70s song goes,'It Never Rains in Southern California' but it certainly didwhen I was there....three out of five days !
As I walked along the 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' forreal, I soaked in the sights even as I got soaked....frequently. But Hollywood by day seemed a lot different, not as crazyand jumping as say, the Vegas Strip at dusk or Bourbon Streeton a pre-Katrina night. There were a lot of tourists waiting in line for tours of the Stars' homes, Cemeteries and hideouts, but luckily for me even the drastic discounts offered by desperate Limo Drivers could not entice me to be a Tourist here. Instead, I walked all over the glitzy stars on the Boulevard, and true to Ray Davies' lyrics, there really were'some that you've never even heard of'. That's when it struck me that with the current economic crisis this Blvd. might be dying as a major destination spot for many Tourists. I mean, how many of us can name a film that Silver Screen legend Betty Grable starred in ? Although The Walk does keep up enough to sustain itself with names like Paula Abdul, Antonio Banderas, and the one embedded star with the most gawkers, Arnold Schwarzenegger a.k.a. nowadays as The Governator.....
My nephew wanted me to visit every single attraction but all I wanted was to take some memorable pics of this long-running Tourist Attraction to share with the folks back home. Talk about bad luck, I was getting my fill as I discovered that between my nephew, his mom and myself we had three digital cameras with batteries as dead as Groucho Marx, rest his soul. Yours truly unflappable and unfazed just went into the Grauman's Theatre store and bought new batteries. Tossed out the old ones and then rushed to the huge urn/garbage receptacle to recover the old ones which were the expensive rechargeable kind. But the new ones I bought weren't, so we resorted to the new backup, camera phones ! And so I did salvage a few moments from the whole trip and actually made a go of it after meeting up with some of the strangest performers I've come across in America. I posed with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator with a fur-collared jacket on, covering that famous dress with the low-cut neckline, above a grate that blew the wind up her dress to make it billow just as in the classic pinup pose, while wondering how she could be out on the street in the chilly, damp weather.
I met Christopher Dennis, an unusual Superman impersonator who believes like the rest of the 'actors' there that something will eventually turn up, and his fate will improve. Except it's something that he and the Captain America, Cat Woman, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Marilyn (Melissa J Weiss) and Jack Sparrow characters have been doing for years. Many years.
Even while their fortitude is tested on a daily basis in all kinds of weather, these denizens of Hollywood and Vine are not just earning their living by posing for a Dollar. 'Marilyn' claimed she was a Scriptwriter and Director, as did 'Superman', which I swallowed in a kindly gesture even as I mentally pitied their fantasy world.
Well, I was more than a bit wrong....later that evening my nephew asked me to watch a film that he streamed via Netflix called 'Confessions of a Superhero'. Surprise, surprise....all that these Superhero characters claimed seemed to be true. Someone else was intrigued by their lives, too. Matt Ogens made a Documentary that opened at the SXSW Film Festival and it was a hit there as well as a hit in my book.
I like rooting for the underdog and the creative souls who try to rise above their surroundings. These struggling 'Heroes' are in no way as unfortunate as the people starving in real conditions in India, the Dominican Republic and Darfur, to name a few of the poverty-ridden countries that are often glossed over in our comfortable little existences. And yet, in America where folks own large homes but have no Health Insurance and face growing Unemployment, these 'Heroes' still display a Superhuman resolve, giving their all as they pose for that one lousy Dollar tip which they mustearn, since Panhandling is against the law. The Photos are from my Flickr set 'Confessions of a Superhero' Official Site AFI Fest Photos from Life.com
I tried to post this to your Blog...did it go through?
I wasn't sure so I thought i would send it as a message as well... :)
Very interesting blog my friend. Your insight regarding the slow decay of ‘the Hollywood experience’ is likely correct. The icons and Hollywood mystic has been eroded, replaced by the phenomenon of ‘reality stars’… everyday folks like you and me??...I don’t think so…but J.Q. Public does.
Perhaps it was apropos that it rained and the images of those struggling actors looked so bleak…these are in any case bleak times. ~ from Lyn on Facebook
UPDATED Dec. 01, 2009 with video and link following the one below:
A Happy Thanksgiving at least for some folks, thanks to The First Baptist Church ofCharlotte, North Carolina. They came up with enough food to feed 5,000 people, just like in the Bible story.
Video and story from FOX News Related video and link to Thanks and Giving in Humble, Texas where the Parishioners received money in envelopes to share with anyone they found needy, including Link courtesy of my nephew Shaheed of Grace Church in Humble.
News Junkies with limited time on their hands are guaranteed to get their fix of the day's Headlines with NEWSEUM - Wash. D.C.'s most Interactive Museum. This very useful website not only lets you click on a city's Front Page thumbnail, but also lets you zoom in and actually access the page in PDF format. If the headline looks interesting enough to warrant reading of the entire article, the link to the newspaper in question is conveniently placed next to the PDF link. No need to type in a newspaper name into that Google Search box and wade through endless results for the exact URL. Just Bookmark Newseum.org and you're on your way to all the news that's fit to print (or view online).
Whether it's in the USA or anywhere else in the world, like Italy Poland
'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home' ~ John Payne
In a somewhat hidden and deserted strip of land alongside the busy Port of Long Beach lies a former mudflat that was turned into an artificial island. Measuring less than 5 miles long, officially named Terminal Islandin 1918, this area was once the Tuna canning capital of the world.
Fine, I thought to myself last October as I was being driven through the shipyards of Long Beach to visit this place. But where was it ? No one in sight. No Maps, Directions, Concession stands, Museum Brochures or Restrooms. Not a soul in the area with the exception of a lone Mariner who was probably walking along this silent strip of land to get to his vessel docked a few miles away.
And then it came into view, this rather large Monumental Statue of two Issei Fishermen, cast in Bronze. Looking deep into the distance while their hands worked instinctively, perhaps dreaming of their old homes far away in Japan that they would in all reality probably never see again. At once somber and mystifying and touching. I had my fill of taking pics not realizing what all this was about until I got back to Texas and started reading up for this post.
A large amount of the work in those Canneries was performed by similar Japanese immigrants who took up residence there, building lives and families in their own traditional orthodox and naive way.
Although the older children took part in normal activities such as Baseball, dining with friends, attending Local Catholic schools, celebrating Christmas and New Years', enrolling in the Boy Scouts, etc., these 'Nisei' (second-generation Japanese- Americans of immigrant parents) still had a strong sense of their heritage thanks to their parents who were content it seems, to remain within the confines of their own tightly-knit, isolated community, speaking a weird dialect of English and Japanese words. For over two decades by all accounts it was an idyllic existence for these families, right up until the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Within twenty-four hours, these immigrants and their families were subjected to evacuation orders, literally banished forever from Terminal Island. A population close to 3,000 was forcibly and unofficially removed by the FBI and sent to internment in Camps. Most of these Islanders wound up in Manzanar at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, victims of Wartime and Racial hysteria.
After the war, they discovered that there was no 'going back home' since their homes and schools had been razed to the ground by the Navy. Not a trace remained to prove they had once lived a simple, happy life in the Cannery district.
Deeply dismayed but not willing to have a part of their lives obliterated, these former residents banded together and formed the Terminal Islanders Club in 1971. A club that holds periodic Reunions, Picnics, Dances, Sports competitions, etc., today these folks are well into their Eighties. As concerns grew about their unique heritage disappearing, they succeeded in erecting the Terminal Island Monument in 2002, a memorial to honor their parents and preserve their precious revered memories of Furosato: their Home Sweet Home. An almost-forgotten Memorial to an all-but forgotten time in Japanese-American History. Ansel Adams picture from the US Library of Congress
I don't get around much any more, but when I do you can bet you'll hear about it. Some of my pics taken in October '09 of a truly unique place to visit when in the L.A., California area.
Mountains and hills, the Blue Pacific Ocean below, Blue skies above, 365 days a year. Well, almost....it was damp, drizzly and overcast on the day that I re-visited this modern-day structure that consists of a Pavilion that houses the enormous Bronze Korean Bellof Friendship
Situated in Angels Gate Park in San Pedro, close to L.A., the bell was presented in 1976 by the Republic of Korea to the American people to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States, to honor American veterans of the Korean War, and to symbolize friendship between the two nations.
On the day I was there a Photo shoot was in progress literally at the steps of the Bell. Angels Gate Park that houses this starkly beautiful monument has been a favorite location for Hollywood film cast and crews due to its picturesque surroundings. 'The Usual Suspects' starring Kevin Spacey and Giancarlo Espositowas filmed here, as were parts of The Titanic. The secluded and peaceful area attracts people like Johnny Depp, who is noted for hanging around the San Pedro area. Notable area residents past and present include actress Sharon Tate, Author Charles Bukowski, Comedian D.L. Hughley and Art Pepper, Jazz Saxophonist. But don't take my word for it. Just check out this
October is the one month in the USA that many Retail stores find it in their hearts to give up their precious display space to promote awareness for Breast Cancer. The color Pink is Everywhere ! Pink is the distinguishing color for hats, bracelets, mugs, shirts, pens, cosmetics, you name it - an increasing number of products are tied to Breast Cancer awareness, and with good reason :
" Women in the United States have the highest incidence rates of breast cancer in the world; 141 among white women and 122 among African American women." ~wikipedia
Today there are over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors, which mean 2.5 million Survivor stories, many of which remain untold.
DOVE Chocolate Promises of Hope include special messages of hope, inspiration and strength, written by survivors. Look for their personal, motivational messages under each DOVE Promises wrapper. After eating these chocolates and reading the survivors' inspirational messages, I sought inspiration in sharing their message in my own little way. What I came up with is above : two pics of Dove wrappers that I took and then uploaded toFlickr Full size Wrapper Images: OuterInner
I'd best let the Komen.org team tell their story : " Susan G. Komen fought breast cancer with her heart, body and soul. Throughout her diagnosis, treatments, and endless days in the hospital, she spent her time thinking of ways to make life better for other women battling breast cancer instead of worrying about her own situation. That concern for others continued even as Susan neared the end of her fight. Moved by Susan’s compassion for others and committed to making a difference, Nancy G. Brinker promised her sister that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever.
That promise is now Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the global leader of the breast cancer movement, having invested more than $1 billion since inception in 1982. As the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, we’re working together to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.
Thanks to events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, and generous contributions from our partners, sponsors and fellow supporters, we have become the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. " ~ ww5.komen.org/ Houston Texans : Real Men in Pink In early March, 2009, American Football Running Back Ryan Moats's mother-in-law, Jonetta Collinsworth, died from breast cancer. When they were informed that Ms. Collinsworth was close to death, Moats, his wife Tamishia (Collinsworth's daughter) and other family members rushed to Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas. After driving through a red light, Moats was stopped by a Dallas Police Department officer, who delayed him for 13 minutes outside the hospital's emergency room, after Moats's explanation was corroborated by a hospital nurse. The officer drew his weapon during the incident. By the time Moats reached Collinsworth, she had died.
Now Moats and other members of the NFL are daring to wear Pink during their Sunday matches, and all for the cause of raising Breast Cancer Awareness. ~ story from KHOU Texas
Happy Thanksgiving ! Latest update Nov 2009 Flickr now hasa great set of Sita-related images including ones of Merchandise from the Sita Store. Get Jewelry, DVDs, Posters and clothing by visiting Happy Dassera ! .....which goes well with this Update Sept 28 '09 to include Nina Paley's Facebook Group where you will find all sorts of goodies, and also ways to keep this unique artist's vision alive.Lacking enough support and funding in spite of worldwide screenings, Ms. Paley has taken an unlikely approach to furthering this film. No one that I know of with such talent allows the world to have FREE FULL access not only to view the film online, but also to access the Source files and distribute them freely via Creative Commons.This is unparalleled generosity and intellectcoming from the soul of an Artist in the truest sense of the word !
Originally published June 2008 : East meets West yet again but this time in an unheard-of way. NYC animator extraordinaireNina Paley single-handedly envisioned and executed Sita Sings The Blues, an amazing, animated feature based on the classic Hindumythological tale of Sita and Ramaas told inThe Ramayana.
Romance, action-adventure and Comedy are key elements here, but it's definitely the sense of fun possessed by the creator that is ever-present, right from the opening sequence which describes this as 'The Greatest Break-up Story Ever Told'. The story in this case draws parallels to the real-life trials of Ms. Paley in NYC, and her husband who relocated to work in India. They were eventually divorced, and Ms. Paley's grief finds its voice here, where the striking visuals are set to authentic 1920s American Blues music. It all works brilliantly and entertains wonderfully enough to justify its place as number 10 in the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. But this is nevertheless a touchy subject for many Hindus, since it deals with their religion and some of them consider this work blasphemous. I can't say if there is any need for Ms. Paley to apologize to anyone, but I do know that as a Musician and Artist myself I appreciate the creative process here and the intense effort that went into bringing this grand opus to worldwide attention.
Watch the Trailer below first and then below that, Part 1 of the YouTube HD version. Please switch to normal viewing by if your 'net connection can't handle all the HD buffering. The whole awesome film is available in 10 parts on YouTube.
Created by metroamv when she was a student, this video is based on the Argentinian Political Advertisement "The Truth" by RECREAR, and was the second-place winner for the AARP U@50 video contest. Watch closely as she reads the words on the board normally and then reads the entire thing in reverse. It all makes sense, to me at least.
While I fancy myself only an amateur Chef, concocting in a class of my own making, I never hesitate to rouse up the nerve to convey my thoughts about Food Blogs and Cooking to anyone who will humor me. One such gracious and outstanding Chef, a personal favorite, is Jyotsna Shahane of Pune, India who maintains her own Food Blog, 'The Cook's Cottage' on TypePad. A talented Cook, Blogger and Photographer, she meticulously recreates many of the simple but delicious meals that I grew up with in my old hometown of Pune. So it's naturally a pleasure to stop by her Blog and linger, and freely comment about the latest Recipe she so generously shares. Time certainly has flown since I left my first Comment after stumbling upon the Photo illustrations for her Recipes onFlickr.... five years at the very least.
The Recipes that Jyotsna blogs about are carefully researched for their history, origins, trivia and above all ease in preparation, utilizing the freshest ingredients available locally. Health- conscious and leaning towards traditional Indian flavors, the Recipes she so neatly presents have become a worldwide hit not only with Indian expats but also with non-Indians fascinated by the spicy, sumptuous cuisine of India.Be it Curry in a Hurry, Hot as Hell or Just Vegetables, there's something in her Blog for anyone with an adventurous palate.
And so, five years later as The Cook's Cottageofficially celebrates its One Millionth Visitor Click by awarding an apron to Bharathy, I am thrilled that I missed winning said Apron by a mere click....an Apron that I believe I would not feel worthy of, since there have been many more talented Chefs and Visitors who have helped Jyotsna achieve this very personal milestone. Read the short take on the One Millionth Click, and take the time to see and perhaps try out the food that gets me salivating and homesick.
Goa Photo: Prawns in Garlic Sauce
All images displayed here are Originals, Copyrighted and used by kind permission of The Cook's Cottage. Thank You Jyotsna, for the use of your photos, and continued success with the next Million clicks for your delicious Recipes at The Cook's Cottage!
And now...in a related way, good news for this Blog, dear readers...tomorrow, after many years of Blogging here, but with keeping track only since the last 6 months, I hope to reach the 10,000 mark for visitors to Virtual Poona ! Thank you all for keeping me inspired, your Comments would be greatly appreciated !
The problem of Homelessness used to be generally associated with Third-World nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia, where poverty has been a way of life for centuries. Born and living in India for close to 26 years I 'grew up' with the problem and dreamed, like others still do, of a better place where there was no such problem....a place with beautiful lawns and white picket fences......like America, the Beautiful.
A comedian once said, "They call it 42nd Street because you're not safe if you spend more than forty seconds on it." As a naive and ignorant immigrant at the age of 26, I remember the sense of shock that gripped me during my first week in America as I walked on 7th Ave. at Times Sq. in NYC.
It was like a Sodom and Gomorrah version of the Big Top right there in the Big Apple, even as the music of The Bee Gees vied against Boston, Donna Summer and Parliament for one's attention. Strolling along, taking in all the neon lights, sights and sounds one evening, I was stopped by an Army Veteran in a wheelchair with a battered tin cup and a cardboard sign around his neck that simply said, 'PLEASE HELP - HOMELESS VET'. Dazed and confused, I gave the man $5 and rushed away, because it was not only a rude awakening but also part of the Culture Shock that followed as I slowly learned about the real America, the Beautiful. And what better place than 42nd St. in NYC to be Culture-shocked and awed by my first sighting of a Homeless person in America ? The notion of 'begging' in America was a totally new one for me.....
Today, that Homeless Veteranstill haunts me as I am faced with the daily news of the huge numbers of Americans who are Homeless or in peril of falling under that category due to loss of employment and the lack of a system to support them in their darkest hours.
I don't read much about the Blogging community, and so I would have missed this unusual tale of an unemployed Blogger. Technically, she is not Homeless and living nowhere near the conditions that 'Slumdogs' face in India, since she does have a roof over her head. That roof being a Mobile camper that she inherited from her Father, who committed suicide ! Loss of employment followed by loss of a parent is enough to demoralize any single young woman, but not this trooper. Since I had CNN turned on in the background, the words 'Homeless Blogger' immediately got my attention. As they reported, Brianna Karpwas Homeless and living in her trailer, parked in a Walmart parking lot. And from within that trailer, picking up free Wi-Fi signals for her Laptop, which she used for Job Searches and Blogging about her plight. Eventually her persistent posting paid off somewhat when she found herself Blogging for the August 2009 issue of ELLE magazine. She is still seeking permanent employment.
Former CNN Editor and Photographer among other things, Linda Schaefer has witnessed first-hand the plight of Homeless Orphans in Kolkata, where the world's worst slum conditions are as stagnant as its filthy, water-logged streets. Recently on Facebook she shared a link she received from Photojournalist John Spink about an Americanlady named Crystal Buchans who survives as a Homeless person in downtown Atlanta, walking along the CSX railroad tracks and under the CNN parking decks.
Gallery | Homeless in Atlanta: Crystal's life near the tracks| ajc.com "Although she formerly worked as a waitress and a grocery store cashier, Buchans says she is now a drug addict and homeless. ..." Source: projects.ajc.com Speaking of Talent, you don't have to be a Country OR Western Music fanto appreciate this Clay Walker video so creatively juxtaposed with images from the web....
For a thorough look at America's Homeless, check out the Complete L.A. Times coverage on the issue of homelessness, the current reality and possible solutions.
Thousands of miles away, driving home after working the Graveyard Shift as Night Auditor at the Homewood Suites Hilton in Clear Lake Texas. I reached my front door and was about to turn the key when my next door neighbor told me in his most sober voice, "They done rammed a plane into that big office building in New York" in his normal Texas Slanguage. I staggered in already tired, turned on the TV and left it on till I went back to work that night at 10:30 pm. Only overnight work fatigue drove me to shut my bleary eyes that fateful day.
One of the last things I did before leaving the NY/NJ area 5 years earlier was to drive a Limo to the front doors of Building No.1 of the World Trade Center. The VIPs that I drove to and from the Twin Towers often arrived by Private Jet around 7:30 am and by 8 am we were at their usually scheduled meeting inside the WTC. They remained inside till early afternoon and I then drove them to their hotels or sometimes back to their Private Jet or Helicopter. In the interim between 7 am and 4 pm I ate breakfast, drank lots of Coffee, smoked lots of cigarettes and strolled around the area, often shooting the breeze with the numerous other Livery drivers parked all around and under the area of the WTC. Our clients were Stockbrokers and CEOs at all the major financial institutions like Chase Manhattan, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America etc., and they paid handsomely to keep us booked all day when all we did was barely an hour's worth of actual driving for them.
The pic above was not a B/W shot originally. I decided to present it that way to convey how it contrasts with the original below.... the 'extra' bonus one you get at the end of the roll inside disposable cameras. That last one you try to squeeze out, color bleeding and appearing to be double-exposed.
Blood-red stains that permanently blot my last memory of the place I loved. I often wonder at my luck in leaving that NYC work situation when I did....8 a.m....I could have been buried in the rubble along with countless other Limo Drivers and their Lincoln Town Cars. There is no way to tell if I would have become a statistic along with those who perished that tragic day.
So, where was I on 9-11? Physically, thousands of miles away in Seabrook, Texas. Mentally however, under that rubble, knowing that day would last forever.
Madhu Dhas a.k.a. Madooo, the Big Dooker is once again offering a Free Download of his original 9-11 song in Zip format as his tribute during the 8-year anniversary of the tragedy in NYC. Written, Produced and performed entirely at his own expense, it's definitely worth adding and sharing this rare and unusual song to your collection.
It's not often you come across a talent like Madooo's. Aside from the fact that he is a long-time employee of Deutsch Advertising in NYC, he is also an accomplished Vocalist, Photographer, Promoter, Guitarist, Keyboard player, Composer, Music Producer and Arranger, Elvis/Jim Morrison/Rick James impersonator and a recent Grandfather for the first time ! His is unbounded energy and talent coupled with a genuine sense of camaraderie..... over 500,000 MySpace fans and friends, and he's never used Facebook either !
I rightfully praise this man because I had the opportunity to play Bass guitar for him at a Beat Contest in India where he won the Best Lead Vocal Performance award, after less than a day's rehearsal at our first meeting.
This Day is Forever - The 9-11 song and the story behind it is available at his website: http://www.bigdooker.com/sept11.html Watch Madoo in action on YouTube here
As in lfe, things just seem to fall into place of their own accord here... sometimes. Like a Karmic sequence, like the convergence of rivers, my previous post about the River Ganges led to my unplanned viewing of 'Short Cut to Nirvana', a LINK TV Documentary film. This phenomenal award-winning film somehow got linked thereafter to my receipt of an evite toGlenn Losack's upcoming show Sept 2009 at Salon Ciel in New York featuring his Kumbh Mela picture. (Unfortunately this show will be yet another chapter in the days of my vicarious* lifestyle. ) The Bathing Ghatsof Dr. Glenn Losack's fabulous capture above depict one of those unimaginable moments that for centuries have left so many in a stupor of disbelief. No less a person than 1894 attendee and famous writer Mark Twain wrote,... "No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.[21]
Based on attendance alone, there just isn't any event in the world that comes close to the Kumbh Mela, the World's largest, oldest, longest-running Fair of its kind. While it is still primarily a Hindu Pilgrimage it is now a world-renowned Travel Event that follows the revolving path of the different venues at Allahabad (Prayag) at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river, Haridwar along the Ganga river, Ujjain along the Kshipra river and Nashik along the Godavari river. Think Burning Man, Woodstock, Altamont, Carnival, Rave and Trance parties all rolled into one. But don't think in hundreds of thousands like they do : The 2007 Kumbh Mela attracted 70 million folks, and even more are expected for the 2010 Fair. There's music food, drink and Pot. Lots of Pot being freely shared. There are Spiritual seekers from far continents with no knowledge of what they will find here, who intermingle with those who do nothing but meditate, surviving on receiving alms, which they never ask for. Hordes of naked Sadhus ** run through the chilly river in a bathing scene that mildly evokes the Polar Bear Club's annual icy dips. Yogis display amazing feats of strength even as Massages, mind-expanding discourses and lectures are being given. Even the Dalai Lama beamed all the way as he joined the superstars of Spiritual Thinking in the colorful parade of floats. It's all just too much to share with you here. Go visit the wiki page if you can. Or go buy the movie at the Official site.
** In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for a mystic, an ascetic, practitioner of yoga (yogi) and/or wandering monks. The sadhu is solely dedicated to achieving the fourth and final Hindu goal of life, moksha (liberation), through meditation and contemplation of Brahman.
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