Bodh Gaya is located in the state of Bihar, the poorest state in India. Bihar's facilities reflect this in all aspects. As a result, my internet works rarely, if at all.
Right now, I seem to have functional internet, but we'll see if it lasts.
I've continued conducting interviews and hearing lots of fascinating stories, but to know all the details you'll have to read my paper. However, today I got a special opportunity.
While I was doing interviews at Sarah College, a friend informed me that one of our mutual friends is from the lineage of Denma, one of Gesar's main generals. Not only that but "Drakpa" was in Bodh Gaya! It took a few days to finally get in touch with him, because as a market seller, he was running a lot of errands. We sat down and talked for quite a while, what gesar meant to him, to his family. What it meant to be the great, great, great, great, great grandson of Denma. Even the question of did he believe in the Gesar story. It was a long and complex interview. I'm very glad I recorded it, because I will have to listen to it several times to truly understand it.
Whether or not he believes the entire grand epic of Gesar, he does strongly identify with the lineage of Denma. Even his chat screen name is DenTruk Drakpa meaning "Drakpa, son of Denma"
Kagyu Monlam is starting tomorrow, so things should start to get a bit more interesting. Meanwhile, I'll talk about a few other Bodh Gaya experiences.
First of all, you KNOW you've been here too long when the guys hawking dust masks know you by the bastardized Tibetan form of your name (amala.)
And I got a marriage proposal today. I was waiting outside the stupa (blocked off because the Thai and Lao prime ministers were visiting) when a middle aged Khampa man came up to me and said "Oh! You are 'Choedak Tsering's' friend? I am his dad!" I was happy because I hadn't spoken to Choedak since I left Dharamsala. I asked where he was and we got to talking. The father was happy enough to give me his son's phone number. Later, I ran into him again on the road, which was good as I'd made a mistake copying down the number. He gave it to me again and asked "Where is your husband?"
"I don't have a husband" I responded, "I'm unmarried."
"Oh good! You can be our namma (bride/daughter in law)"
I choked. Nope. He was not joking. He then went on about how his son liked me and had told them ALLLLL about me, but was too shy to tell me and...and...and...and.
At this point, the mother came in to join the conversation.
I managed to extract myself from the situation, but I get the feeling they're still hopeful.
The rest of my day consisted of conducting interviews while avoiding that section of the market.
Tomorrow starts the Kagyu Monlam Chenmo!!!
Right now, I seem to have functional internet, but we'll see if it lasts.
I've continued conducting interviews and hearing lots of fascinating stories, but to know all the details you'll have to read my paper. However, today I got a special opportunity.
While I was doing interviews at Sarah College, a friend informed me that one of our mutual friends is from the lineage of Denma, one of Gesar's main generals. Not only that but "Drakpa" was in Bodh Gaya! It took a few days to finally get in touch with him, because as a market seller, he was running a lot of errands. We sat down and talked for quite a while, what gesar meant to him, to his family. What it meant to be the great, great, great, great, great grandson of Denma. Even the question of did he believe in the Gesar story. It was a long and complex interview. I'm very glad I recorded it, because I will have to listen to it several times to truly understand it.
Whether or not he believes the entire grand epic of Gesar, he does strongly identify with the lineage of Denma. Even his chat screen name is DenTruk Drakpa meaning "Drakpa, son of Denma"
Kagyu Monlam is starting tomorrow, so things should start to get a bit more interesting. Meanwhile, I'll talk about a few other Bodh Gaya experiences.
First of all, you KNOW you've been here too long when the guys hawking dust masks know you by the bastardized Tibetan form of your name (amala.)
And I got a marriage proposal today. I was waiting outside the stupa (blocked off because the Thai and Lao prime ministers were visiting) when a middle aged Khampa man came up to me and said "Oh! You are 'Choedak Tsering's' friend? I am his dad!" I was happy because I hadn't spoken to Choedak since I left Dharamsala. I asked where he was and we got to talking. The father was happy enough to give me his son's phone number. Later, I ran into him again on the road, which was good as I'd made a mistake copying down the number. He gave it to me again and asked "Where is your husband?"
"I don't have a husband" I responded, "I'm unmarried."
"Oh good! You can be our namma (bride/daughter in law)"
I choked. Nope. He was not joking. He then went on about how his son liked me and had told them ALLLLL about me, but was too shy to tell me and...and...and...and.
At this point, the mother came in to join the conversation.
I managed to extract myself from the situation, but I get the feeling they're still hopeful.
The rest of my day consisted of conducting interviews while avoiding that section of the market.
Tomorrow starts the Kagyu Monlam Chenmo!!!
Remind him that he must negotiate with your parents. Without an acceptable bride price, there will be no deal!
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom