Saris & Spice

I am back, in one piece, with my head still awash with the sights, smells and sounds of India. Wow! Here is just a small selection of the 790 photos I took.

Suffice to say that I have fallen in love with the Indian people. They struck me as beautiful, welcoming and gracious. A smile given was always a smile received. From New Delhi to the Maharashtra region, and from Agra to Jaipur in Rajasthan, there was nothing but nourishment for the soul.

I left there knowing that I would definitely return, and not even the unpleasant aspects of the visit have put me off. My partner and I had no choice but to spend a night in hospital with food poisoning and sunstroke that left us seriously dehydrated, amid temperatures that rose to 46 degrees celsius. Also, there don't seem to be any rules on the road, which was nothing short of frightening, especially when our driver only just avoided a head-on collision at dusk in the middle of nowhere. Someone was on our side.

A mix of emotions and unique experiences made this trip one of the most memorable and rewarding so far. I'm looking forward to putting together a video with more of the most striking images I took, but that will have to wait for a bit as I'm off to a wedding in Spain on Friday. I really hope my still-fragile stomach and anti-malaria tablets don't hold me back!

Also, while we seem to be in hyper-travelling mood, I've just booked my tickets to go home to visit family and friends in New Zealand for three weeks in July. It's a 30-hour flight, and I really wouldn't be surprised if all this time in the clouds results in my brain being turned into mashed potatoes. Can I also have two weeks in the sun in France on my return? (NZ will be in the middle of winter). Would that be asking for too much? Have travel bug, will travel!

Delhi Is Calling !

I got a taste of the colour and the culture when I recently saw the St Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, but now I'm off to see the real thing!

Yes, today I'm leaving for a two-week trip to India. It's my first time and I can't wait. It's a country I've always been fascinated by: I love the people, the culture, the food. I'm hoping a new love affair is about to begin and that this is just the introductory trip.

I will no doubt have plenty of photos to share with you when I get back. I'm also going to be filming a little bit. My partner's 30-year-old cousin is Indian - she was adopted to France when she was little - and she will be seeing her roots for the very first time. Four of us will be travelling together, and we plan to go and see the orphanage where she used to live. How special will that be?

OK, a suitcase needs to be packed! See you at the end of the month.

A Pause For A Poem

I watch her rolling on the parquet,
her feline pleasure uncoiled, rattling
beneath a palm on her royal markings.
But how I wish we could share a smile,
just a smudge of a grin, without the
need for the tweaking of whiskers.

Did she once have this gift but then
decided on subtlety?

Why for the sake of heaven do I
hanker for such a sign? To bury my
guilt about her quasi-imprisonment?
Because I’ve denied her the joy
of prising the head off a rodent,
or a hapless bird she’s courted?

Please, have mercy. Tell me I’m not
her terrible jailer.

If canines and apes can achieve it,
is it too much of a leap to frame her
laughing behind an excited tongue?
Surely it’s the natural step from the
diving and arching between my feet,
the motherly licking of my skin.

What did our forefathers make of
this absence of a smile?

Maybe she simpers in the night, when
the fire’s out and her life is being
contemplated: unbroken sleep, an easy
hunt, the reassurance of domestic
safety. But what rustles in her dreams?
Instincts we’ve dashed? Her family?

I guess I need more faith in those who
say she really is content.



© Copyright, 2008. Seamus Kearney.

(The photo that goes with this poem is a shot of Miss Muffin, our adorable Siamese cat. She was so well behaved, staying perfectly still while I focused!)