India is a country very dear to Carly’s heart. She just totally loves it. She acknowledges that India is a complete and thorough assault on every single one your senses. And more. She’s been to the countries either side – Bangladesh and Pakistan – both for work, but they, for Carly at least, are full of wonderful and warm people but just don’t send a buzz down Carly’s spine in the same exuberant way. Yes, India draws Carly into its big and voluptuous heart. It is able to refresh and rejuvenate her in a way that few other places can. It is so very “out there”. Like Carly. Yes, they both have ginormous hearts and wear all their emotions singularly on their sleeves. No digging down deep needed. No trying to discover the meaning and truth of the actual reality. Sometimes, for Carly, who lives and works in a very contained and constrained environment, this can be problematic. Carly is often to be found crying. Sometimes this can be perceived to be inappropriate. Especially by her daughter Boo who thinks all Carly’s release of emotion is just for effect. But Carly is like India. Everything is there on show. And sometimes embarrassing. No hidden layers. Obvious 24/7. Carly doesn’t sleep that much. India never does. And aren’t parents supposed to be disconcerting to their teenage children some of the time, questions Carly?
Carly’s father wouldn’t let her go to India until she was 21. He wrote her a note and Carly still has it. She occasionally looks at it and for sure cherishes it. He was worried her immune system wouldn’t cope. But Carly is built like a brick. She is now in her mid-fifties and hasn’t had a fever for over two years. She has only had one day off work for gastroenteritis. And this is over a 30-year period employed as a doctor in a hospital working with countless numbers of infectious patients. Carly does sneeze a lot. But this is because she is allergic to tree pollen in the spring and wine in the evening. But that isn’t going to stop her from drinking. She loves the taste far too much. And sneezing is a physical sensation that she really loves to do. Especially now in the time of corona-gate. Everyone runs a mile when you sneeze. It is a great way to clear the area and get some peace. It reminds her of working in Selfridges department store when she was a student in the holidays, way back when. Whenever she wanted to clear the area, she would fart away. This would enable her to tidy up the merchandise. It worked a treat. Yet again, Carly has gone off on a complete tangent. Back to India.
Carly had been planning a sabbatical for years. It is what is needed for your mental health when you work for the NHS (despite the fact you aren’t paid for this time off). You are paid if you work for a university, but then they stipulate what you do. So having time off without pay meant Carly could do exactly what she wanted! She had had her form signed for many years and she planned for it to start once her youngest child had turned 18 and was on her way to Uni. What she hadn’t planned was being a divorcee. But some things in life don’t work out despite meticulous planning. Even for control freaks such as Carly.
She realised that there was a yearly Camel Fair in the hippy, dippy town of Pushkar in Rajasthan, in the first week of her planned sabbatical. Having a focus was a great starting point. And going alone for four months as a middle-aged woman was a tiny bit scary. Even for Carly who is pretty fearless. But even she is sometimes fearful of being alone. Although she is the consummate extrovert. She smiled to herself as there were no shortage of people in India. A population of around a billion surmised Carly. And many spoke English, Carly reassured herself.
She’d been pretty friendly with Jacqui for several years. Like Carly, she had her own woes to deal with. Not crosses to bear as both are Jewish. But shit going on. Yes. True. Things for both of them. Carly suggested going together to the Camel Fair with her friend who immediately leapt at the chance. Then Carly was a bit worried. What happened if they got on each other’s nerves for the 10 days they would be together? But it should be ok thought Carly, who speaks her mind. She remembered that Jacqui is a counsellor and so well versed in seeing what is really going on. Yes, it would be fine, Carly reassured herself.
So, they booked themselves into three places to stay. In Jaipur – the pink city, Amber – near the world-famous fort and Pushkar – home to an annual camel festival. Due to financial constraints, they decided they would share a room. The places they stayed were exquisite and Jacqui soon also fell in love with India. They did the usual touristy stuff. But also met with jewellers who probably fleeced them and went to over-the-top Indian wedding shops, although neither had planned to get married any time soon! At Amber Fort they went to a monumental sound and light show and also ate extraordinary meals in all manner of places, including street food. Everywhere they went local tourists asked them to be in their photos. ”One selfie please?” Soon Carly started asking for payments when all this nagging got a bit too much. The boot was on the other foot, and everyone laughed.
Carly’s best memory of this part of her trip was trudging up from the quaint and wonderful Mosaic Guest House to the main road for a morning coffee. Jacqui and Carly sat on the roadside on tree stumps. The vendor had to make coffee especially for them as everyone else drank the local tea – chai. As with all milk in India it was boiled and boiled and then served in small terracotta disposable cups. These cost a bit more than the paper ones, but Carly kept them to use in some of her projects later. Whilst the friends sat there drinking their sumptuous coffees, they watched the progress of brightly painted elephants returning home from their morning work at Amber Fort. It was pure magic. There were so many and sometimes the procession stopped as the riders would break for a chai or a packet of crisps. This meant that they could inspect these magnificent animals whilst they were stationary. She knew they were living in a sanctuary and being well cared for. They only worked a few hours which was necessary as they had to eat for 18 hours a day. This was to digest all that green matter, as they, unlike cows and sheep, only had one stomach. It did mean that they produced an enormous amount of dung, but India, being a country of innovation, had a myriad of ways to utilise this. All round everyone was contented.
In London, before she left, Carly told any unsuspecting believer that she was going to buy a camel at the Pushkar fair and travel around India that way for the next few months. Clearly this was ridiculous. Carly may be a lover of animals. Yes. But travelling around for hours on a camel? Clearly no. However, at the fair she did meet a couple who ran a camel milk business which supported local farms to take care of these wonderful creatures. This was where Carly would head after a prolonged stay in spiritual Pushkar on her way down to the textile heaven that is Gujarat. The Ranakpur Camel Lodge was a beautiful place being managed by two employees who were both divorced. This is very unusual in India and made Carly feel very much at home. This was the first place she went to visit without Jacqui who had by then returned home.
Carly was truly grateful to Jacqui for coming out to be with her at the beginning of her long trip to give her the courage and commitment to continue. Carly felt that Jacqui was the truest of friends. Like India is the truest of nations. That feels good, sighs Carly.
