Bhang?  I had read about it before, and saw it in Varanasi along with hashish, but today Inder told me about Holi and bhang.  I googled it and wikipedia says.....

Bhang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A bhang shop in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

Bhang (Hindi: भांग) is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant, smoked or consumed as a beverage in the Indian subcontinent.

Woman selling Cannabis and Bhang in Guwahati, Assam, India

Contents   [hide]  1 Sub-continent 2 History 3 Preparation 4 Culture 5 Legality 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit]Sub-continent

Bhang has been used as an intoxicant for centuries in the sub-continent. Bhang in India is distributed as a religious offering during Shiva festivals like "Mahashivratri". It has now become synonymous with the Holi festival, to the point where consuming bhang at that time is a standard practice. It is also available as Bhang golis (balls) which is just freshly ground cannabis with water. Apart from this, sweetened bhang golis are also widely available. These are not considered a drug, but a traditional sleeping aid and appetizer. Bhang is also part of many ayurvedic medicinal preparations, e.g. bhang powder is available at ayurvedic dispensaries.

Bhang Ki Thandai also known as Sardai is a drink popular in many parts of sub-continent which is made by mixing bhang with thandai, a cold beverage prepared with almonds, spices (mainly black pepper), milk and sugar.

[edit]History

Bhang was first used as part of the Hindu rite in India around 1000 BC^{[citation needed]} and soon became an integral part of Hindu culture. The herb was devoted to Lord Shiva on Shivratri, a Hindu festival.

Sadhus and Sufis use Bhang to boost meditation and to achieve transcendental states. Bhang or cannabis is also used amongst Sufis as an aid to spiritual ecstasy.

The Nihang sect of the Sikh community consume bhang for pain relief from battle wounds. In Sikhism, it is strictly prohibited to consume for pleasure, a rule which is followed very loyally. It started as an ayurvedic medicine whose main use for the Nihangs was to aid in reducing pain from battle wounds, and also as a digestive aid, called Sukhnidhan ^[1]

The historian Richard Davenport-Hines lists Thomas Bowrey as the first Westener to document the use of bhang.^[2]

[edit]Preparation

Anywhere on the ghats, one can find large number of men engaged in the process of preparing bhang. Using mortar and pestle, the buds and leaves of cannabis are ground into a green paste. To this mixture milk, ghee and spices are added. The bhang base is now ready to be made into a heavy drink, thandai, an alternative to alcohol; this is often referred to casually, if inaccurately, as a "bhang Thandai" also "Bhang LASSI" (made of Curd ). Bhang is also mixed with ghee and sugar to make a green halva, and into peppery, chewy little balls called 'golee' (which in this context means candy or pill in Hindi).

In Kashmir, a common preparation for bhang consists of first boiling the leaves and flowers of the female cannabis plant for a short time. Once the plant matter has become soft, it is mixed with khas khas or white opium poppy seed. The two ingredients are pulverized with a mortar and pestle for 30-60 minutes (adding a few drops of water now and again to keep the paste moist). The paste is then mixed with water by hand and the mixture is poured through a straining cloth to remove all excess plant matter. The remaining green water is known locally as "bhang" and consumed as is. The usage of oil-rich seeds allows THC, the fat-soluble psychoactive chemical from the cannabis, to be extracted into the poppy oil so that potency can be retained in a water-based mixture.

[edit]Culture

Bhang has become an integral part of tradition and custom in the Indian subcontinent. It has become symbolic for many things as it is associated with LordShiva.

In some sections of rural India, people believe in the medicinal properties of the cannabis plant. If taken in proper quantity, bhang is believed to cure fever,dysentery and sunstroke, to clear phlegm, aide digestion, appetite, cure speech imperfections and lisping, and give alertness to the body.^[3] Bhang lassi is a preparation of powdered green inflorescence with curd and whey put in a village blender (a hand blending operation is carried out till the butter rises). It is regarded as tasty and greatly refreshing, with one or two large glasses having little effect. Bhang goli, on the other hand, hits after approximately two hours, sending one into a dreamlike state.

The tradition of consuming bhang during Holi is particularly common in North India where Holi itself is celebrated with a fervor unseen elsewhere. Bhang is heavily consumed in Mathura, an ancient town of religious importance to the Hindus. Here the practice is believed to have been introduced by the followers of Lord Krishna and has stayed ever since. They begin the preparation by Sanskrit chants and recitation of prayers to Lord Shiva. Some people from Mathura take Bhang to work up their appetite while others do it to relieve themselves of stress. But the hub of bhang use is Varanasi or Banaras, the Land of Shiva, where the bhang is prepared on its famous ghats.

[edit]Legality

As Bhang has served such an important role in India's culture and spiritual practices it would be impossible to criminalize cannabis completely in the country. Cultivation of cannabis is government regulated, and illegal without a government permit. Sale of bhang is also government regulated and illegal without a permit.

Bhang is illegal in any country where cannabis is prohibited as it is an integral part of the recipe.

It is 6:30 pm and everything is back to normal here.  There is no sign of the colours that covered everything a few hours ago, with one exception.  The tourists, six of them, did not oil themselves and after soaping, showering, soaping, showering...still have not got the colour all off.  Fingernails, toenails, ears, hair, and skin look kind of freakish.

Tomorrow at 7 a.m. I am off on the last leg of my trip.  I won't tell you where......stay tuned.

Lakhu is picking me up at 7 a.m. and dropping me at Tarun's.  Lakhu is trading me in for a twenty year old.  I am trading him in for a 21 year old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sounds fair to me. I will have him again on the 2nd, my last day here and he will take me to the airport at 2 a.m. on the 3rd.

I probably will not have internet the next night or two, but will update when I can.

It is 4 pm now and the Holi celebrations ended with a lovely meal cooked by Mrs. Kabli.  The gardens and walks are being hosed and scrubbed of colour.  

Colour everywhere. It's in Said's hair, ears, eyes, and nose too.

Watching from the roof of the kitchen, in what were crisp, sparkling white clothes a few hours ago.

Maria, married to one of the workers.

Said's mom is here for medical treatment.  She is the one who gifted me with a beautiful scarf from Afghanistan.

Me with my first Holi colour (and speckles on my nose and cheeks).

Bira Kabli, owner of the Kabli Hotel

Inder, Bira's son.

HAPPY  HOLI at the Kabli Hotel

I haven't left the safety of the covered area outside my room.  I have had the company of the other ladies who are not venturing out either.  There are only three tourist women who are participating

The owner's son, Inder, came and placed a red mark on me and wished me happy holi.  His dad, Bira, also came and wished me a happy holi.

Although the men are working hard to get each other covered head to toe, they have respected my wishes and not "attacked" me.

Inder passed out sweets and now everyone has been given a beer.  There is someone drumming and dancing, too.

Ohhhh, went and ventured out a bit and got doused with a bucket of water.

Everyone is having fun.

There is something that I have not expanded on much.  The majority of the guests here are from Afghanistan and they are here for medical treatment.  They stay at the Kabli.  I have met many of them and my heart goes out to each of them.  Most of the men speak and understand a basic level of English (learned from the troops there).


A couple of doors down there is a man with his second wife and daughter (4 yrs old?). The little one is a sweetheart.  I am sure she does not know English, but she can say hello and thank you.  She has a flute and I am trying to get another fellow to find out where they bought it here, in the market, because I want to take one home for Tim (Kam's son).

Oh my, that little girl just came here to show me the treats that her parents bought her today......stickers.  She was so proud of them. This is the first time she actually came right into my room.  I gave her some Canada stickers earlier today.   Be still, my heart.

The dear lady, next to me, is in her bed.  I just went to check on her and to say Salam.  She is such a dear. She wants me to talk to her.  Earlier her son brought Kebabs which she wanted to share with me (I did not eat her food). Whenever I wear the scarf she gifted me I will see her smiling face and the sparkle in her eyes.  Yes, smiling in spite of her cancer.

How much different is this than the other experiences I have had?  So much so. but a part of my learning process about a world I knew nothing about.  I am so thankful to have had this experience.  I chose this place as my home in Delhi because I knew it would not be a typical tourist hotel, and right I was.

I only hope that I am granted the right to take some photos of these people who have impacted me so much.

By the way, I am finally getting used to be referred to as Mama!!!!!!!

One minute ago one of the workers brought me a 500 ml jar of pure coconut oil for Rs100 /$2.00 Cdn. Yes, I decided to stay put here and not venture out.  I am ready for Holi.

It is so amazing here at Indian hotels because they send a worker to get whatever you want.  Do I feel guilty, NO.  I am happy to have them go to the market for me and will tip them generously.  It relieves me of the burden of bargaining, and makes life less stressful.  When I was 20 something and first went to Mexico I enjoyed the bargaining, but that pleasure has long since turned to an annoyance.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow here at Kabli.  If one searches the net, there are many notices to stay away from Holi celebrations because normal mores are relaxed and sometimes incidents do happen. Consequently, many tourists stay in their hotel rooms.   I am so confident here at Kabli and do not have a worry in the world.  How wonderful is that.

I would be equally confident if I were with the Sharma family, too.

The United Colors of Holi

Taken from the blog Rhythm Divine: The United Colors of Holi with thanks.

The United Colors of Holi

Namaste and welcome to the third post of my blog. I received some very positive feedback for the two of my earlier blog posts and that pushed me to write another one soon enough. The feedback in terms of page views, replies, and online feedback was indeed very boosting and I would take this moment to thank all the visible as well as silent appreciation the readers of the blog showered me with.

I wanted to write about something which I very much believe in, a belief you can term me as a fanboy of, but I would reserve it for my next blog post. As much as I wanted to write about it, I felt I needed some more analysis, and now that the entire nation is going to witness yet another chapter of one of the biggest cultural extravaganza, the festival of Holi, I decided to write something about it.

Just like other major pan-Indian symbols, the festival of Holi has also been discussed, the tales being told by our grandmothers, the symbolism explained by our parents innumerable times. I wish to touch upon those known and certain unknown attributes of the celebration of colors, called Holi.

It all really did start from the burning of Holika, the sister of the demon king Hiranyakashyap. The brother of Hiranyakashyap had been killed by Vishnu, and he had despised Vishnu since then. Much to his horror, his son Prahlad turned out to be a devout worshipper of Vishnu. Worried that his own son would make his subjects go back to openly worshipping Vishnu, he decided to kill his son. His sister, Holika had a divine drape which would never burn, so she wore the drape and sat on a pyre of burning wood. The drape, mystically, flew down from Holika to Prahlad, and Holika was burnt instead, thus the name, Holi.

Symbolically, Holi marks the victory of devotion and the devotee over evil. A night before Holi is celebrated, a pyre of woods is burnt, symbolizing the anniversary of burning of Holika thousands of years ago.

The tradition, then a small entity, celebrated only around the kingdom of Hiranyakashyap, merged with another similar sounding tradition, one of them being Hola, which means offering oblations to God in anticipation of a good harvest, Holi being celebrated at the onset of Spring season, marks the beginning of a new calendar year.

Another legend, which further got merged with the burning of pyre during Holi, was the burning of Kamadev by Shiva's third eye. Shiva had gone into deep meditation after the death of his wife Sati, and Parvati insisted Kamadev to bring Shiva out of the deep meditation. Shiva, enraged, opened his third eye and burnt Kamadev, Holika pyre thus symbolizing control of all worldly desires by a devotee.

For hundreds of years, the festival was celebrated as thus and there was no use of colors by then, until came the legends of Krishna. 

Krishna was dark in color, and in contrast to his skin color, Radha was very fair. So, Krishna's foster mother Yashoda used to apply colors on Radha's face during the Holi festivities as a prank. Krishna took a cue out of it, and started applying dark colors to all his and Radha's friends simultaneously. The playful pranks by Krishna soon garnered tremendous acceptance among the subjects, and this is marked the beginning of playing colors on Holi.

These were mostly the legendary tales associated with Holi. The festival comprises of further symbolic and scientific attributes.

Celebrated at the onset of the colorful spring, and to mark the end of the New Year, the colors symbolize the beginning of the new harvest season and an ode to the colors of spring.

As per Hindu ideology, there are seven basic Hindu gods.

1. Dreaming force - Indra (god of dreaming)

2. Illusory force - Shakti (god of illusion)

3. Voluntary force - Brahma (god of creation/new life)

4. Semi voluntary force - Vishnu (god of preservation)

5. Involuntary force - Shiva (god of determination)

6. Status altering force - Shani (god of status change)

7. Compulsive force - Yama (god of compulsion)

Out of these seven, only Shiva and Vishnu are the ones which help us live a life of discipline. The rest of the gods, who are symbolized by various colors, viz. gold for Brahma, black for Shani, etc., deviate our lives from a disciplined approach. Hence the celebration of Holi, which is a symbolic outlet of all other forces, marked by playing and applying colors symbolizing those Gods and those forces.

In ancient India, this used to be the season where the germs of certain common skin diseases, like chicken pox, were majorly prevalent. The doctors of those times invented Gulaal, which is known to kill germs which cause skin-related diseases.

In certain cultures, the burning of wood and leaves on a full moon night already existed. Older leaves and wood being burnt symbolized the onset of time for new leaves and new wood to arrive. People smeared ash all over their bodies and celebrated the festivity. 

Colorful days, solemn rituals, joyous celebrations - Holi is a cheerful occasion. In earlier times, people used to collect flowers of 'Tesu' trees from forests and spread out on mats. Once dried, they were ground to fine powder, and were then used to play Holi. A festival where all differences among individuals are resolved, people diving on to sweet festivities, Holi is a festival worth experiencing and celebrating in your life.

With that, I wish to end my third blog post. I am still keeping the place reserved for my next blog post, something I very much want to write about. Till then, Namaste, and wishing you all a very Happy Holi

Tomorrow is Holi, the festival of colours.  I have my 'Holi clothes' back washed, folded, and ready for the new colours they will be sporting after the celebrations.  I was told to go to the market and buy some coconut oil to oil down my hair, face, neck, arms, and any other exposed skin so that the colour will wash off easier.  I have yet to go to the market.

Tarun and his family also invited me to celebrate with them, but after I had already accepted the invitation here at the hotel.  It is too bad that the celebrations are only in the morning or I would be able to go to both.

Holi is an Indian festival and the hotel staff will participate, but I am willing to bet that most of the Afghanis will not.  There are also about ten other foreign tourists here and if they are still here tomorrow will most certainly participate.  Inder's mom is preparing Biryani which I love (especially Auday's).

Now it is 3:30 and it has cooled down to 27C so might be a good time to find that coconut oil.

I am staying four nights back here in Delhi, at the Kabli.  We came in last evening and I have not left "the village".  It is so serene and a wonderful oasis in New Delhi.  This morning about 11 a.m. I gave my laundry to be done and it was back freshly washed, pressed, and folded by 5 p.m.  I ordered an omelette, toast, and coffee for breakfast.  It was delivered to me. Tonight I had tandoori chicken and roti for dinner, again delivered to me.    I could really get used to this.

Tomorrow I was supposed to go to spend time with Tarun's family, but that is now questionable.  We are having a cultural difference.......what time etc.  I am awaiting word from him.

I miss Lakhu already.  Just one day and I miss him.  Tarun tells me that Lakhu might be driving on a five day tour starting on the 28th.......ahhhhhhhhhh, too bad for me.  I have become so used to him and his helping ways that I want to book him for my remaining days in Delhi, regardless if I use him much or not.  I am going to contact Tarun right now.

Answer to a question about the different monkeys here.  They have official names, but the locals call them the black face, brown, red, and white.  The white monkeys are the snow monkeys that come to the McLeod Ganj altitudes in the winter to escape the snow of the high Himalayas.  When I was there they had already gone back to the higher mountains.  I cannot remember if I was told that it was the red or brown who were dangerous, but I think it was the red.  The black faced ones were the ones who jumped all over our car just outside of Ranakpur, Rajasthan.  Finally, as Lakhu said, the ones that  sit by the side of the road waiting and watching are the ones to watch out for, regardless of colour/name.

Monkeys here are as numerous as squirrels are back home.  However, I am still very wary of any monkey because they are quiet, sneaky, and fast.  I would much rather share the street with cows.  The cows are gentle creatures, probably because they know that no one is out to harm them.....classical conditioning?

Creative English

Signs and menus in India are something else. Either the message, spelling or both are creative.

At the hotel in Amritsar the breakfast menu had half fried eggs.  Upon questioning this, I found out they were what we call sunny side up.

There were so many funny signs I wish I had taken photos.

Marijuana growing wild.

I had read that it was growing wild, especially in the north.  I asked Lakhu and he said that yes hashish grew wild!  Hashish?  I didn't know it was a plant.  One day he stopped and showed me the hash plant.  Lo and behold it looked just like marijuana, and it was.  I googled and found this.....

Hashish is a potent form of cannabis produced by collecting and compressing trichomes, the most potent material from cannabis plants.

Trichomes are the fine growths on cannabis plants that produce a sticky resin.

Marijuana is a green, brown or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds and flowers of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa.

There are over 200 street names for marijuana including pot, herb, dope, reefer, grass, weed, ganja, Mary Jane, boom, gangster and chronic.
Sinsemilla, hashish and hash oil are stronger forms of marijuana.
It is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a joint or a nail) or in a pipe or bong. In recent years, marijuana has appeared in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana, often in combination with another drug, such as crack. Some users also mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew tea.
The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Marijuana's effects on the user depend on the strength or potency of the THC it contains.
THC has been used to treat wasting syndrome in AIDS patients

We saw women construction workers everywhere....road crews, building sites, etc.  The women were always the labourers who carried heavy loads, usually on their heads.

This woman spent all day, everyday, carrying a small container of mortar from 40 or 50 steps below through the restaurant and up the steps to the male bricklayer.  Every so many trips she would switch and bring a small load of bricks (yes, on her head).

Brenda, this link should answer your questions about prayer flags.

http://www.khandro.net/practice_prayer_flags.htm

Today we drove all the way from Amritsar back to Delhi.  The road is wonderful, and we made it in good time.

I am back at "Kabli Village" and loving it.

I just spent an hour or so with five people from Afghanistan, having a lovely chat.

They reminded me that the 27th will be the Holi celebration and we will all do it here at Kabli......can't think of a better place.

I am not sure, as of now, where and when the next leg of my travels will begin.  Will know tomorrow, I hope.  For now, both Lakhu and I are having a well deserved rest.

Amritsar is hot, dusty, dirty, congested and not a great travel destination EXCEPT for the  Golden Temple, which is not to be missed.

In the late afternon we headed about 30kms away to the India/Pakistan border (the only open crossing) for the nightly parade and closing of the gate between the two countries.

Due to a series of mishaps, there are only two photos to show. Suffice to say, that an army officer, Ordnance Division, came to my rescue.  This clip from YouTube will show the ceremony.

wagah border parade

Lakhu, taking a break on the steps with me.

The view as you first arrive.

I spent a lot of time watching from here!

We drover to Amritsar, the home of the Golden Temple the Sikh headquarters.  It is truly special to see.  So far it has been the only temple that does NOT have a multitude of stairs going up.  There is, however, a very long walk to get to it.

The line-up to actually go into the main part and pray was very long......maybe a thousand people, so we opted not to go.  In addition, I think it may have been disrespectful, not being Sikh.

It was truly a colourful fashion parade because both men and women were dressed in vibrant colours.