Good morning from the domestic terminal! We are all checked in and ready to fly to Port Blair to continue our massive Ganges watershed investigation. Despite our early morning, we are happy. Last night we had a lively discussion about Delhiāa complicated place, for sure. Framing the day amidst the remnants of the Moguls in … Continue reading On the Road (again)
Category: India Blog 2017
A Poem
By Evan Pausic speak the language of flowers remember when your mother's hand touched your sickly forehead the world watches and is blind I can see the top a snow capped mountain we only know the outlines of what we see I see the flower in fire on the terrace I see the flower shining … Continue reading A Poem
Births
By Erik DeMario India inspires births in people. We were told about the experience; we were taught the experience, but only through the experience itself can we truly grasp a broadened perspective on life. It feels distant to be in a place where there is no such thing as a bad view. The tall, snow … Continue reading Births
Back in Delhi
After an overnight bus trip through the circuitous streets of the Himalayas, we have returned to the nation's capital. The plains are warm, bustling, and cacophonous. In Agora we'd forgotten the myriad of horn sounds that underscore urban India; we've certainly been reacquainted. We are leaving in a few short minutes to make the most … Continue reading Back in Delhi
A few pictures…
Last Day
This morning we've dispersed along this mountainside in order to say goodbye for now to our home away from home. There is always a certain heaviness that characterizes this final day in Agora. We started our morning with a few sun salutations that faced the snow caps. As we stretched, women walked by with baskets … Continue reading Last Day
Once in a Lifetime
By Eliza Carr Schmidt People at school always said this trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity or that it changed their lives. For me, I didn't really get that feeling until the long bus ride from the tent camp on the Ganges to Uttarkashi. That bus ride, though long and for some an … Continue reading Once in a Lifetime
Never Stop
By Zoe Harding We currently reside in a place that has existed for five hundred years. The people have sculpted the steep mountainside into a small village and hundreds of terraces of farmland. They have taken the wildness of the young Himalayas and made it their own. Agora is just one of the many villages … Continue reading Never Stop
Good Morning
Agora mornings are some of the best: mountain spring bucket baths, sun spilling over snow caps, and chai after chai after chai. We've spoken a great deal about joy and happiness here; really, it feels only natural to do so. The fulfillment here is tangible in the chapatis we flatten (totally ineptly but with great … Continue reading Good Morning
Choice
By Kelsey English Up in Agora, I look down at the jagged rocky paths that are woven throughout the side of the mountain, connecting each terrace to the ones above and below. Along those paths are countless women carrying heavy baskets full of natural fertilizer on their backs. Today I was one of those women. … Continue reading Choice