Mysore

9.9.8 802pm
I was in Mysore on the 4th of September. Fr. put me in gratis hotel room courtesy of Anthony, a Kutta parishioner, who now works there. I put my luggage down, had lunch, peeked in on the internet and then headed for a walk to the Maharaja’s palace. On my walk, I was convinced by a rickshaw driver to let him be my guide for a few hours.

The first thing he suggested was to not go to the Maharaja’s palace as it was the day after a holiday, and there would be enormous crowds (something later agreed by several other Indians).

Instead he took me up to a Hindu temple, and I opted for the 300 stair climb instead of the doorstop drop-off. I chose to do so, as it was 3pm, the hour of Mercy, and I wanted to pray a rosary and a Divine Mercy chaplet as I climbed.



On the climb up, I was meditating on the Sorrowful mysteries; Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the pillar, Crowning with thorns, Path to Calvary, and the Crucifixion.

Depressing things to think of as you’re climbing 300 stairs up a hill. But on the way up, as I was meditating and praying the rosary, a butterfly chose to grace my path and lead me for a few minutes up the stairs. And all I could think of was how joyful that simple act of encouragement must have been for Jesus as he climbed the hill. I have no doubt that while humanity was frenzied against Him, creation was standing in awe and encouraging the Son of Man in the small ways that they could.

Later, I received another experience from the Passion, and that was the guards beating him… as I was praying the rosary, mind you recall on the way to a HINDU temple, a policeman on the path caught sight of me and started yelling at me and waving his baton at me. And by at me, I mean 3 inches from my face. I was confused, and briefly scared, until I noticed the faces of his two friends, which were smiling. And though I wasn’t sure if he would let me pass, I walked by as I continued my prayer.

I also want to remind everyone about the violence against Catholics that killed several people in Orissa (near Calcutta), and has left hundreds homeless.



India, IS NOT peaceful, and I fear it never will be. Constantly there is an undercurrent of violence, whether by the police, or more commonly by the Hindu extremists. The social fabric of India is delicate even today, and at any moment could tear apart. Though I doubt it would be immediately catastrophic to the nation-state, I suspect it would be catastrophic to Indian patriotism (which is what holds the nation-state unified). Such a tear could lead to one of two things, either the individual provinces growing in power and separating more from the central government or to the redefinition of what it means to be Indian, and a new rallying cry that might bring about an even stronger and more focused country. If I had to place odds, I’d choose the first option, based off of the fragmentation of cultural groups that I see.



Anyhow, I made it to the top and viewed the temple, quite marvelous from the outside. And I decided not to enter, as I didn’t really have the money, nor did I care to. I’ve seen a few Hindu temples before, and though usually gorgeous, they fail to inspire me.



After I made it back down, the driver suggested taking me to a Kashmiri shop, to which I said okay. The shop was EXTREMELY overpriced, and basically the generic Indian trinkets you could get in any town. So I left. The driver then tried to convince me to go to an incense factory (that he’d been trying to get me to buy from), but after the Kashmiri shop, I was reconfirmed in my conviction that I’d rather not waste my time. So I asked to be taken to a market… he asked what kind of market and what I wanted to buy, and I said “It doesn’t matter where, I just need to buy soap, and you can get that anywhere” so he dropped me off in the center of the city and pointed out two roads that radiated from there with various shops.



Eventually after buying cellphone minutes (and not soap mind you), I ended up heading to the church popularly called St. Philomena’s (which apparently is more properly known as St. Joseph’s Cathedral and St. Philomena’s crypt). I was excited upon entering and finding that adoration was happening, so I joined in, and left when mass began.

I headed back for dinner and to buy soap. Both of which, I actually did. In fact I made a few friends of the staff over dinner.



They even invited me into the kitchen after I was done. I was actually impressed by how (relatively) clean it was.



It was really nice to have company while eating, just at the time when I was feeling homesick for Michelle… the guys brought my spirits up.
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