Upheaval

Hi, folks. First off, as is clear from my recent posts, I’m nowhere near Mumbai and am safe, sound and reasonably warm. I’m in Darjeeling and have probably received less news about the Mumbai situation than most of you, though it’s clearly flooded the media here. The headline of yesterday’s Telegraph was “FEAR” in giant letters. It’s hard to get a read on what people are feeling. I’ve seen shopowners with their eyes glued to the news reportage and heard some locals suggesting conspiracy theories (like an alphabetical list of targets: Assam, Bombay, etc.) but haven’t observed much more than that.

I’ve been in Darjeeling for two days and will stay for two more. My plan had been to take the train to Calcutta and fly to Bangkok on Tuesday but, as the Bangkok airport is currently occupied by PAD forces, that’s clearly not going to happen. I’ve canceled my train and plane tickets and have decided to head to Nepal for the remaining three weeks of my trip. I’ll leave Tuesday, crossing the eastern border to head toward Kathmandu. Happily, I’ve met lots of people in my travels who’ve recently come from Nepal and so have profited from lots of good experience and advice. I was even given a Nepal guidebook from an Israeli I met here yesterday who had just arrived from Nepal. After having breakfast with my temporary roommate (a fellow American from CO!) this morning, I ran into him and he asked about my travel plans. When I told him that I was heading Nepal and on my way to the bookstore to buy a guidebook, he offered to give me his!

Though it’s extremely disappointing that I won’t make it to Thailand and Cambodia, such is life. As Heraclitus put it “nothing endures but change.” If life as a Peace Corps volunteer taught me anything, it’s to expect the unexpected, remain flexible and adapt. I’m excited for this new opportunity to explore Nepal, especially as everyone who has been there can’t say enough about it.

So that’s the news. My thoughts are with the Mumbai victims and their families and my hope is for justice on their behalf and, above all, peace in India and everywhere. I’ll try to get on again soon and report on the last few days I spent in Sikkim – my revisit to Namchi and the inimitable, ever-hospitable Dungmali family.

Namaste.