Doug's thoughts

We are just twelve hours away from my mom's departure and although much more could still happen (this is India and as the locals say, "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE"), I can begin to put some of the last two weeks into perspective. Kristen and I both were totally impressed with my mom and her ability to just let go and go with the ultra-chaotic flow of India (as I am sure you all know, not being in charge is not an easy thing for her to do). All in all, she was a real trooper. I jotted down some of our favorite "Karen/Mom" highlights from the trip. Here they are...

*On my mom's first day in India, she and I (Doug) decided to take the metro (New Delhi's newest subway system) from the heart of New Delhi's business district (CP) to our neighborhood hotel (Karol Bagh). The metro train was literally overflowing with people, so much so that the train doors wouldn't close because there were people hanging out of it. Well, my mom took my arm, and I put an elbow out and dug us a little niche in the middle where we spent the next fifteen minutes enjoying the ambience of far too many Indians' armpits in our faces.

*Earlier that same day, my mom and I were walking the long open strip between New Delhi's India Gate and the Rasthrapati Bhawan (Presidential Palace). The high that day was about 116 and despite the fact that she was jetlagged and overheating, my mom (being the ultra stubborn woman that you know she is) refused to stop walking and take a rickshaw to our next destination. Finally, her body began to cave in (her face was near purple at this point), but her mind still wouldn't and I literally had to tell her to sit down while I went and found a rickshaw. When we finally arrived at the National Museum, I remember sitting down to eat with her and thinking to myself: "Now I know where I get my stubborn behavior from..."

*A few days later, we were at the Attari-Wagah (India-Pakistan) border ceremony. In order to watch the closing of the border gates, you sit on these large concrete bleachers. Well, the weather that day was particularly hot (118 F) and our concrete seats were more like hot plates under the afternoon sun. After a few minutes of sitting, my mom suddenly stands up, takes her bottle of water and begins pouring it all over seat. Much to everyone's amusement (we were surrounded by mostly Indians and some Korean businessmen), she then preceded to plop her bottom back down on this big puddle. The Korean man next to her said, "What you doing? You going to get all wet!" She turned to him and said with all seriousness, "Do you want some? It feels great!" He looked at her as if he was crazy and all around us these Indian women were laughing hysterically. I slowly pulled my hat over my head, trying to act like I was alone...(for the record, the water trick didn't work and minutes later, my mom was complaining that the seat was too hot again, so I gave her my wallet to sit on.)

*There are monkeys just about everywhere in India and in Mcleod Ganj, the small hillstation in the Himalayas where Kristen and I live, there are more than usual. They can be a real nuisance at times, but most of the time they just do their thing and you do yours. But teaching this to my mom was a different story. One night after dinner, she, Kristen and I went to a nice ice cream shop that has a big balcony overlooking the main square. We chose a seat at the edge so we could get the best view. Minutes into our meal, this large monkey carrying a Chapati (Indian flat bread) in his hand began leisurely approaching my mom from behind her. The monkey was walking on the railing (which our table was propped up against) so I tried to give my mom some warning without scaring her. I said, "mom, don't freak out, but look to your left very slowly." She turned and almost threw her ice cream in the air. The monkey had no interest in us and walked right by. This sort of thing takes a while to get used to, and apparently my mom did get used to it, because yesterday at Agra's Red Fort, she actually posed for a photo next to some baby monkey's, which had I asked her to do that two weeks ago, she would have looked at me like I was crazy.

*Above the city of Leh in Ladakh (elevation 11,800 ft) is a large modern World Peace Stupa built by the Japanese Buddhist organization Nipponzon Myohoji. It is quite the climb to get the top of it (I'm not sure how many steps, but at least 700 or so) and my mom was intent on making it to the top in order to tie Buddhist prayer flags (lung ta) for her friends and family. As we were going up, Kristen and I both thought she might collapse, but again with her characteristic drive and stubbornness, she slowly, slowly, made it to the top. Shanti Stupa is over 14,000 ft, so for those you who don't know, she actually crossed another item off her bucket list (climbing a 14'er). The fact that she made it to the top of this craggy beast, is testament to her love and compassion for her friends. I could tell that she was doing this for her friends and family, whose names she wrote on the prayer flags the monk and I hoisted over the Tibetan plateau underneath us. We should all be thankful to have someone like her in our lives...

*I"m out of time here but there are many many more and these will have to wait for another day...