Travel Around the World-India

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of my trip around the world.  Seven months with seven thousand dollars, and most of it was for the round the world tickets.  I wrote about my trip back then but never published it.  I was still deep into the experience and my head still swarmed with the sights, sounds and smell of each country unable to fully comprehend what had happened to me. But now 20 years later I feel the need to share the experience. I hope you enjoy these little stories.

India

India was simply beautiful. Once I got used to the shocking poverty and unsanitary conditions, the real India emerged with beautiful colors and unforgettable moments. There was such a harmony between everything, the people, cows, dogs, the earth and the rain.  But poverty hits you at every corner like a whip lash. My heart wrenched as I watched the small homeless children trying to make a living by sweeping the trains, shoe shining or simply begging.  So many of them were maimed. My sadness turned into anger as I felt helpless and to my horror I became harsh and unforgiving toward the children. Then I realized I knew nothing about generosity.

Indians were so kindhearted and loving. Something, no matter how small, was always offered to the begging child, to the wandering pilgrim or to a tourist as a token of friendship.  But most of all Indian people were free, a freedom we cannot fathom in the west.  I heard three very poor, homeless men in the streets of Mumbai play the most soulful music that shook my entire being. I wished I was as rich as them. 

I don’t know where to begin to describe the unparalleled diversity in India.  Nothing was ever quite as I expected it. Just when I thought I had gotten the hang of things, they would be totally different in a different village or town.   I traveled on trains.  Every day over 15 million people take the trains in India. That’s EVERY DAY. The train station is a place where small hungry children beg, the homeless take refuge and Chai-Walla’s voice yelling “chai, chai, chai” fills every passing train.  So many people, on the buses, on the trains, in the rickshaws and on bikes.  The swarm of people bustling back and forth made me dizzy.

I arrived in Mumbai, went to Pune, down to Banglore and Mysore, back up to Ellora and Ajunta Caves, through Rajasthan and up to New Dehli. Here are the highlights.  Karnataka is home of Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India.  But I loved the Maharaja’s Palace in Mysore which graces the city’s skyline.  Inside it is an extravaganza of stained glass mirrors and gaudy colors of bright greens, yellows and reds.  It looks like something out of a Disney movie and I felt like a small child in a playground.

Rajasthan dazzled me with color and beautiful people. It was filled with fantastic hilltop fortresses, exotic fairy-tale palaces and gripping legends of medieval chivalry and heroism.  Possibly no city in India is quite as romantic as Udaipur. The elegant palace in the middle of the lake was truly out of this world.

Taj Mahal in Agra (State of Uttar Pradesh) is possibly the most magnificent monument ever built for love.  It was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the Lady of Taj who died at child breath. It is breathtakingly graceful from any angle and in any light.

Maharashtra is the home of Mumbai, the most populous city in India and the most ugly. This mass of humanity is a frantic melange of India’s extremes: glistening skyscrapers and malls mushroom amid slums and grinding poverty.

The initial shell shock of Mumbai’s chaos never subsided for me and I left quickly for better pastures to the Ellora Caves! The 34 gigantic Caves were carved out of the rocks, chipped out laboriously through five centuries by generations of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monks. With elaborate entrance halls to the main shrine, a truly magnificent place to worship god.

There was so much more, so much. Sometimes the sights, sounds and smells were so strong that I felt my senses would explode. I can’t possibly capture the essence of India here for you. I can only say that of all the placed I have traveled to, India is my most favorite.  In the one month I was in India I lived a life time and experience things I never dreamed possible. Somewhere I read “Discover India and discover yourself.”  I discovered that my life after India will never be the same.

 

 

Beyond Shahs of Sunset

Beyond Shahs of Sunset

I found a very popular facebook page: Not Shahs of Sunset. Everyday they introduce successful, famous, accomplished Iranians. In a short time, they have gained over 10,000 followers and are very popular.  Everybody is so proud of our accomplishments. Yes of course, we are not the shameful Iranians they portray us to be; we are not barbaric or uncivilized. Look, not only do we have 2500 years of glorious history but we are one of the most educated and successful immigrant communities in the world. Okay, I get it!

So let's size up my life. What have I done? What have I accomplished? What am I leaving behind when I die?

I was very blessed to be born to an educated mother and father who had masters degrees and for their time, this is extra-ordinary. They both came from poor families but they worked very hard and were able to rise up to a middle class status. I had a very happy childhood. I was very different from most of the children my age and most of the time I did my own thing. Then, just before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, I came to America at the age of 14. I graduated top 7 from high school at the age of 16 and went to UC Berkeley.  I later went back to school and got my MBA. Okay that's my academic accomplishments, good but not overly impressive.

What about personal achievements? Here, may be, I've done better.  I traveled around the world by myself for 7 months. I hiked up the majestic Himalayas and ventured into the magnificent temples carved deep in the mountains of Nepal. I saw the breathtaking Pyramids of Egypt and the majestic Colosseum of Italy. I walked up the Great Wall of China and meditated in a Tibetan monastery high above the clouds. I adopted a beautiful girl from Kazakhstan as a single mom. I published a children's book about adoption.  Okay, no so bad for an Iranian woman born 50 years ago.

But let's face it. I am nobody! I have no titles or money or extra ordinary accomplishments.  I don't know any important people and never received any awards. But I know I have lived an extra-ordinary life. So what is the measure for success?  Is it determined by the mountain of things we have amassed, or by the education we were lucky to receive? Is it the status of the family you were born into? What is it that determines our success in life? Well, my life hasn't been about gathering money or becoming famous. I couldn’t care less about those things. My life has been about living with integrity and love. It's been about making a difference one person at a time.

I have learned that we are One and the only thing that matters is love. And that is what I want to teach my daughter, not how to become famous, not how to become rich but how to love and respect herself and others, how to live with integrity and how to inspire others and serve. 

That is pretty much it. I will never make it to the big leagues. I will not be portrayed on the media as this successful Iranian immigrant. I will never be introduced on the Not Shah’s of Sunset facebook page. Yep. I'm nobody. I'm not rich, I don't have a title, I didn't end world hunger or end wars and they don't mention me anywhere!  But if I die today, I will die happy and fulfilled without any regrets. And on my tombstone let it be written that she followed her heart and worked hard to make the world a better place for everyone.

Motherhood 6

Motherhood 6

One step forward, two steps back. This my life with my autistic daughter. They tell me this is normal. But it's sooo frustrating for me. There are days I can't stop crying for her & for me. Why should it be so? But I guess you can't really ask these questions? Why does someone's child die? Why does someone get raped? Why does someone become paralyzed in an accident? It is not about fairness, is it? What is it about?

Someone said: "every body comes to your life for a reason."  So essentially, the universe provides whatever experience you need to learn and grow. I used to so believe in that. Now I think that's the biggest bullshit we made up to justify the injustice of it all and accept the pain and misery we feel every day. 

So someone please tell me what life is about, REALLY, not the goddamn old cliches. 

Shedding the Weight

Shedding the Weight

It's time to say goodnight. I leave you with the experience of today. Shedding extra baggage, be it in body, mind or spirit is such a freeing experience. I had hidden inside my weight for a long time, thus hiding from the world. Today I dumped the clothes and the shame of being fat. I feel so much lighter in my body, mind and spirit. Blessed be dear ones and sweet dreams of weightlessness :-)

معصومانه

معصومانه

چه معصومانه به من مينگرد

چه غريبانه به او مينگرم

ماما، ماما

هى صدايم ميزند
بى دليل
با صدايى كَزانِ خود اوست
انگار كه از رفتن من ميترسد

با چشمانى پر خون
با دلى آكنده از درد و جنون
با صدايى لرزان
ميگويم
جانِ مادر، جانِ نيلو
من هنوز اينجايم

نيلوفر سليمانى

گناه

گناه

مرا بسپار

بدست ويرانگر باد

تا با پراكندن خويش در افق طلايى

جانت را رهائى بخشم

مرا بسپار

بدست قله هاى بلند دماوند

تا با فرود خويش

بر دشت بيكرانِ پر گل

روح خجل زده ات را رهايى بخشم

مادر

مادر

من كشتىِ سرگردان و تو ناخداى من

من ورقى سفيد و تو نقاش من

مادر

عشق و محبت

زشت و زيبا 

و تمام نقش هاى بدرنگ و تلخِ اين دنيا را

تو به من آموختى

تو

گناههاى من 

از بدو تولد نبود

زشتى هاى من

در گاهواره نبود

كودكيم را تو چون خميرى نرم

در مشت خود به بازى گرفتى

و به دلخواه خود شكل بخشيدى

مادر، مادر

مرا بسپار

به اين اب روان

تا با تسليم خويش به ابهاى زلال زمين

گناههاى تو و خويشتن را پاك كنم

نيلوفر سليمانى

New Year

5 am the early morning before new year. The silence around me is, as always, beautiful and comforting. My wish for the new year (not that anybody is going to grant it!) is silence all around the globe, and a paid vacation for all of humanity, so that our souls can rest, and find peace again. This vacation has done me wonders! May 2013 be a year of love, forgiveness, generosity and abundance of food, health and wealth for you and all of us, the children of the world. Peace and Love from me to all of you who tirelessly work to make the world a better place. Blessed be!