Elephants!

November 23, Tuesday
6 pm

    We left the pouring rain in Bangalore and hopped on the rickety bus to Mysore, a laid back city about three hours south.  While this area would still qualify as a bustling Indian city, it held a chill vibe that may be one of many lures to hippy tourists.  Mysore is famous for its silks, ayurvedic oils, and incense.  Sumleen arrived to our $2 a night hostel on Thursday evening and awoke early Friday for a fun-filled Mysore day.  At breakfast we met a German dude who is traveling around until he has to return to Bangalore for a masters in math.  We agreed to meet up later to visit the palace and zoo; and in the meantime Sumleen set out for some adventure.  Mysore's streets were filled with the typical rickshaws, street vendors, colorful saris, and uniform clad children; however, nothing could beat the crisp, cool mountain air surrounding us.  There wasn't much more than hills surrounding us, but thanks to the higher altitude, the climate was not only bearable, but pleasant.  It was a wonderful break from the sweltering Kannur oven we are used to.
    In route to the old market, a guy overheard me talking to Colleen about its location and offered to take us there.  He is currently in university studying linguistics and was more than happy to practice his English with us. He ended up spending the morning with us,  taking us to various shops to see the making and uses of beedis, incense, and various Ayurvedic oils.  Colleen and I selected our all-natural ammo, water lily oil, against the army of mosquitos that plagues us in our sleep.  The man we purchased this from was very informative and eager to share the purpose of each oil to us--whether he was being a good salesman or just plain excited to share I'm not sure.  We did, however, make a quick exit when post-water lily purchase he started explaining how he imports illicit substances to America.   K thanks for the water lily, uh bye!  Before we knew it, we were in the basement of some other shop with another very enthusiastic persian rug salesman.  This guy was good, and we assured him that if we 1. had the money to purchase one, and 2. actually had a home to put it in, we would purchase a masterpiece in a heartbeat.  These rugs really were breath taking, and it was fascinating to see how each one was created by hand, tying silk knots one by one.  One large rug can take two years to make, and probably causes some serious carpal tunnel. 
    While watching our persian rug friend spin the carpets around on the floor to show how the rug changes color with each angle, we realized It was already one o'clock and Sumleen had to meet our Deutsch amigo.   We weren't sure if the guy showing us around would ask us for money (he met us completely by chance) before we dipped; and to our slight surprise, he didn't.  I felt awful for having the notion even cross my head, but things like this happen quite a bit.  When he put us in a rickshaw and waved goodbye, I pinched myself for almost assuming that this guy was nothing short of a friendly dude just trying to show some hospitality and practice some English.  Even if the vendors were all his friends, good!  They were good people and provided a much less stressful experience than lets say, Kolkata.
    The palace was ginormous!  It towered above us with decorative twisty turquoise pillars, and frilly golden arches leading inside.  The only thing that took away from the authenticity was the mass of Indians tourists, and a couple hundred rupee charge difference for westerners.  Determined to dive inside this Aladdin fairytale, the Sumleen Deutsch trio joined the crowd, tickets clutched in hand, and practically "moo"-ed as we were all herded inside.  Elaborate paintings of historical Indian armies, elephants, rulers, and Hindu gods decorated the walls that lead to a central room fit for a ball.  Speckles of colored sunlight danced upon the floor.  The turquoise pillars encompassing the sparkling center lead up to a spectacular stained-glass skylight.  This ceiling could probably cover most of my home.  Peacocks, trees, profiles and swirls collided all throughout the circular masterpiece and boasted the bright spectrum of colors that reflect down upon the intricately tiled floor.  Its amazing how this place was created---every nook and cranny was intricately detailed, carved, painted, or etched with some purposeful symbol, god, or figure.  I also found it fascinating that regardless of the fact that this was a palace for a ruling Muslim, there were tons of references to Hindu gods.  Inside the palace walls, there were also several Hindu temples. Aside from the stained glass, I was most impressed with a 10 foot dark wooden door with tiny in-laid designs using mango and ginger root to honor Ganesha.
    Speaking of elephants, we had heard from our friend in the morning that the palace had elephants that day.  Thats one way to get my attention.  "Elephants?!" I'd inquire eagerly to officials.  Each pointed in a general direction towards the center courtyard of the palace and temples.  Sure enough, sitting on a grassy knoll in the center were two camels and two elephants.  AH!  I revert back to five-years-old and scamper off to play with the wild beasts.  Some are saddled up and walking around with tourists on their backs so the Sumleen Duetsch trio had a grand time making faces and talking to the very cranky looking "off-duty" camel.  We also got to see the elephants up close and personal by giving them a rupee--they take it with their trunk, give it to the man on their back, and then lightly touch us on the head to 'bless us'.  While quite the tourist stunt, I ate up every second!
    I got to see more elephants, of both Indian and African nature, at the Mysore zoo.  It turned out to be a lot bigger than we imagined, and while it was exciting to see all sorts of animals, this zoo was nothing short of depressing as every animals 'home' was barely enough space to pace back and forth and stare back at the faces looking in.  I was thrilled to see the tigers, but more upset that they were crammed into an area smaller than the elephants' and camels' grassy knoll at the palace.  I come upon the wolf exhibit and read the sign, "The wolf is a highly social animal and travels in packs of six to twelve."  I look into the mini arena and see two nervous dogs pacing around.  Yeah, I don't feel great about that zoo.  On a lighter note, I also wondered who was really the exhibit as the white trio was getting asked left and right to get pictures taken with EVERYONE.  I have become used being a spectacle as men, women, elderly, and children alike approach and ask to have their picture taken with me.  Its typically fine until its every couple minutes and I forget where I am and what I'm doing because I'm getting bombarded by sketchy high school boys or having children shoved at me by parents.  It is kind of cool that I'm circling family albums across the subcontinent.
    All elephant expectation had been exceeded and I contently gazed out the bus window on the long, rickety ride home to Kannur.  I became used to watching wild monkeys scamper about on the roadsides, and seeing the lush green canopy of palm trees stretch back to the fading rolling hills.  I put my ipod on John Butler Trio's "Under and Indian Sky" and…. elephant!  "ELEPHANT!" I yell loud enough to alert anyone within five rows of me.  "ELEPHANT!" I shake Colleen violently but turn her around a second too late as we had already zoomed by.    Lots of people give me odd glances, like, "yeah, we have those here."  I didn't care.  I was beaming from inside out.  I had seen a wild elephant in his natural habitat and didn't care who knew it!