Weather, nature

The day of light lasts about 12 hours here: around 6 o'clock, he gets up and at 18:40, the sun sets. And this is happening all year long. They say that summer is the hottest they have in February and April. Apparently, it's now winter, but under 30 degrees. This period is called the monsoon period. This results in constant clouds, strong winds and rains, which have been very frequent periods. Rain can fall all night or even nights in a row. But I like the rains here because of the emotional hue that they give to life and their nature: small tropical showers during the day and persistent, sometimes accompanied by thunderstorms, at night. And always warm, just beautiful! During the day, during the rain or just after, I always took the shale and walked barefoot in the puddles - I felt indescribable pleasure! Sometimes she even benefited: it was not necessary to wash things splattered with slaps from behind ... In July, as soon as they arrived, the wind was blowing almost constantly, very strongly, sometimes directly hurricane. The sun was pretty common. But in August, the wind had calmed down, but the sun was a lot less hot. I liked it even more, because without the sun, it was not very hot, sometimes even the breeze was cool. But as soon as the sun comes up, it immediately becomes hot and clogged. On the territory of the ashram are green, tall trees, shrubs, many in bloom. Everything is planted by people, grown, nicely trimmed and cleaned. But you can not take pictures. But outside the Ashram, when we left the airport, we saw only low trees, not a single flower. This is the difference between natural and cultivated flora. There are two gardens in the ashram: one near the shopping center, built with a fountain and the other called the garden of all religions. In the first case, a local meeting takes place at a time when people are going shopping - on time. Women in the morning 2.5 hours, men in the evening 2.5 hours. Thus, in the morning, all families flock here, women buy goods, men attend a kindergarten, buy all kinds of treats in kiosks, they can go to a vegetable shop (which is interesting in a Vegetable shop sells milk and curts - a kind of thick yoghurt - thick yoghurt. Everywhere there is a division according to sex: even on the bench with juice or ice cream (about one and a half meters long), there are two paths separated from each other: men on the right, men and women. women on the left. In the second kindergarten, there are statues of Krishna, Christ, Buddha and a human hand with a flat circle on the index - they say it is something that comes from the Sufis. It has a tank with purple lotuses (very beautiful) and fried fish. Lords live on lizards. During the day, they sit on the windowsills and can even run at night inside the room. Mosquitoes are sometimes, probably, when it's raining or raining. There are flies, but since the grilles are on the windows, they do not enter the room. The guests in the rooms are ants: they choose all foods, even food waste, and create living trails that move constantly. Just a zoo some! The chipmunks live in the ashram (there are many in some places), the monkeys (sometimes branches are thrown trees and slippers), chameleons, different birds, crows and bats. They scream terribly: if you walk under a tree where the mice have settled, you can not hear you. Katya , whom I met in Satsang , said that before the monkeys would always know what time Sai Baba would come for darshan, they would sit at that time on the building next to Darshan Hall and he would be welcomed. One evening, three times in a row, I found myself on the road to the city just as Sai Baba's elephant was walking along a quiet walk. Some nights, Dasha and I even walked with her for a while. And then with Katya met her to take a picture. It turned out she was still an elephant, she was about 3-4 years old and her name was Sate Gita. But in appearance, he is powerful, for some reason, a hairy elephant, rough and hard to the touch, but as it goes gently on tiptoe! The muzzle and ears are painted white and along the body, a white band. It seemed funny and clever. The former favorite of Sai Baba Sai Gita also died 3 or 4 years ago. It was about 18 years old. On one of the sites, I read that meeting Sai Baba's elephant is considered an unusual sign, as the elephant occupies the honorable guardian's place and destroyer of obstacles in Indian mythology. There are many cows, bulls, buffaloes, pigs, chickens in the city. By the way, the chickens here are beautiful, thin, variegated with black, on long, amusing legs. They look more like fighting cocks, but they are still women. And indeed, all animals are different from ours, probably a special Indian breed! When we arrived, the bed of the Chitravati River was dry and without water. There were threaded ropes drying clothes. But by the end of August, there was a lot of water, because there was already enough rain. At first, the channel was thin and shallow, but the river became richer and richer. And it's nice! In one of the first days of the appearance of the water, Katya and I went to the shore to greet the river. Several times crossed the river on the stones, sitting on the shore. An Indian gave us packets of peanuts he took out of the water in front of us. The "gift" was thrown at us from the other side, so we even thought at first that it was an attack or a desire to offend. Looking more closely, I understood what it was and shouted thanks to him. Admittedly, the nut was green and tasteless. And in the street, it was sold ripe, dried or roasted in its shell. In the river we saw fry. It is said that even fish are caught in the river. Katya and I took a wonderful walk outside the city along the road to the nearby village. We really did not get to the village, we stopped near a lake, where a couple of married Indians were already fishing . On the way, I took pictures of Indians, children who, seeing us, asked to take them and to chase us after whole watagas or by bike. For them, this is unusual and therefore interesting. I would like to observe the life and customs of ordinary people. It seems to me that for the most part they are very open, simple, non-perverse and unrepentant people. Maybe just because they did not see anything better than they did and they have nothing to compare. What happiness, when there is nothing to compare! Then you can settle for what you have and have fun and give thanks for what you have. Hills, fields of corn, rice, something else were visible along the road. The people who worked in the fields and who saw us got up and beckoned us. Far from the stony mountains. Selenia , we only crossed one, right next to Puttaparthi , on the other side of the river. Until the next we did not reach three kilometers. At one point of the road, there remained a huge puddle of water after many rains. The young Indians even carried us in a puddle of motorcycles. Certainly, we have barely got rid of them - what can you do, the costs of youth and agility ... Back we drove an auto rickshaw. This type of transportation was very common between villages.