YEAR: 2014
START DATE: January 30, 2014
END DATE: February 17, 2014

As a child, I first learned about the Taj Mahal from the Golden Book Encyclopedia - available with grocery purchases at Safeway in Columbus, Nebraska. An interest in Mahatma Gandhi, the Taj Mahal, Indian Mughal art, and ancient Indian spiritual texts drove my desire to travel to India. In 2013, my friend Gretchen Dykstra and I spoke with travel agent friends about arranging a trip to Northern India. Their suggested itinerary included Mumbai, Elephanta Caves, Varanasi, Pashan Garh in Panna National Park, Khajuraho, Agra (and the Taj), Jaipur (the pink city), Jodhpur (the blue city), Udaipur, and Delhi. The cost, with airfare, would be about $14,000. I told Gretchen I could not go. Several days later, I got a letter from the Dallas Mornng News saying that the DMN owed me $18,000 because of some miscalculation in their math on a pension for my three years of being full time there. Pennies from heaven, and the trip was a go. Mumbai: Trident Hotel, Gandhi site - Mani Bhavan, Prince of Wales Museum, of Western India, Dhobi Ghat. Within a few days of arriving in India, I stopped writing much and used mostly images in the joiurnal. I could not find the words to express the contrasts that we were seeing, learning, feeling, smelling, tasting. Varanasi (Banares): boat trip on the Ganges - the archetype of the world’s most sanctified water. From the water we saw funeral pyres that burn 24 hours/day - all igniting my desire to die in Varanasi. We stayed in a Taj Hotel - Nadesar Palace, the Lord Mountbatten room.The hotels in our trip were the epitome of luxury, and the welcome rituals at some of the hotels made us feel like queens. (flowers, horns, umbrellas, cold drinks, tours, photos). Panna National Forest: I went out alone with two guides before dawn. Saw elephants, tigers and vast natural beauty. Khajuraho: sexually explicit sculptures on sacred architecture. Agra: Oberoi Hotel - with a close of the Taj Mahal from our hotel room. Itmad-Ud-Daulah. Even now, as I write this brief, I am at a loss for words to describe the beauty, intricacy, observations, and history of Agra. Jaipur: Rambagh Palace Hotel. I did not plan to shop in India, but resistance proved futile when shown textiles in Jaipur and Jodhpur. I bought five quilts and to this day, regret not buying more. The textile sales rooms were adept at shipping to Texas via Fed Ex. Jodhpur: Umaid Bhawan Palace. Garden of Cosmos exhibit. Udaipur: Taj Lake Palace. Delhi: The Imperial Hotel, India Gate, Old Delhi, Jama Masjid, Tara Homes for Vulnerable Children, site of Gandhi assassination, Gandhi’s cremation site. The cow in India, in the Hindu faith, the cow in US. Our guides in India.

Friends Don Wilmarth of Dallas and Terry Clough of New York died while away.

I worked on this journal while traveling in India and then finished it in the days after returning to Dallas. My friend Gretchen Dykstra and I toured each day - almost always with a guide. I picked up ephemera along the way, took photos and compiled pages each evening after dinner. The trip was arranged by friends at Go Philanthropic and nothing could have prepared me for the scope and beauty of the experience. Two days before flying out, I tripped over a box and took a terrible fall at the 29 Pieces offices in Dallas. I thought I’d broken my leg and was taken to the ER. I hadn’t, but I was in a lot of pain. I was on hydrocodone for the entire trip (had never taken pain killers before). This may have contributed to the general euphoria of the trip!

The 2013 Dallas LOVE Project was completed. I was ready for a break - and a culture and landscape new to me.