Anyway, he grew up in Chicago. She met him on the banks of the Bagmati River in Pasherpatinath. The Bagmati River flows to the Ganges and and at this particular location is a Hindu temple for cremations. He was a baba, or Hindu holy man. And he grew up in Chicago, for crying out loud.
After hearing more of the story, I thought, hmmmm, this is a job I’d be interested in. They are wanderers, smoking hash most of the day and accepting alms from people. Where do I sign up?? How was it that a guy from Chicago became a Hindu holy man?
This gives me hope that I can be whatever I want to be.
And if smoking hash all day, wandering and facilitating Hindu cremations aren’t your thing, she also met another man who grew up in Chicago selling jewelry in the gold souk in Amman, Jordan.
What is it about Chicago?
I witnessed a Hindu cremation while I was in Bali in 1999. It was amazing, this was my second trip abroad. I went out for a walk and came upon a parade where men were carrying a large bull and most of the townspeople were following it.
We came to the beach and an entire cremation ceremony took place before my eyes. I was very moved at the time because my father had recently died. Standing next to me was a man who spoke to me in English. He had lived in, need I even say it?, Chicago! He told me what was happening and pointed out a small pile of burning embers close to the water, telling me “That was someone not as important cremated earlier today.”
Ok, I’m not from Chicago. I’ve flown through Chicago too many times to mention. Maybe that counts for something.
According to Shakespeare in the Merry Wives of Windsor, the world is our oyster. He referred to young, rich people, but, on the whole people didn’t live as long in Shakespeare’s time. So, the world is my oyster and, even though I am from Seattle (and female), I am ready to accept its riches.
2 responses so far ↓
1 lissie // Mar 30, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Yes you’re right Cheryl - we limit our selves by our minds much more than anyone else does. There is nothing more annoying than someone in their 40’s saying I am too old to … (fill in the blank) - OK so I am too old to have kids (I hope!) but apart from that I feel in my 40’s I have a lot more confidence to do anything than I ever did in my 20’s - back then I cared what “they” (whoever they might be) thought
2 Cheryl // Mar 30, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Lissie, thanks for your comment. It’s so true. And it’s also very true for me that I am more confident now than I was in my 20’s. I think I was mostly terrified in my 20s. I could probably create a whole blog about that, but who would want to read it?
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