What day is it?
December 17, 2011 : New Shiva Café, Hampi, Karnataka, India
“It’s been, let’s see, two months?” I wonder as I take out my Blackberry held in a Snow White-style hibernation. I put my Blackberry to sleep in “Airplane Mode” the moment I boarded our American Airlines flight for Delhi on October 3, 2011. I kept this phone, incapable of being used in this side of the world, as an MP3 player and, while not quite high quality, portable camera. Still, I rarely use this device. It still looks like a relic from a more hectic lifestyle, where I would forget how much I like to draw or breathe. Now the calendar on my phone is disoriented. It surprisingly hasn’t kept track of the time very well. And neither have I.
Jake and I consistently can’t remember what day of the week it is. Without work or any cultural ties to mark the passage of time we have slipped into the amorphous blob of the present which is only popped by the rise and fall of the sun or the rumbling of our stomachs. Our bus ticket from yesterday is stamped with December 16th for the Departure, so I know today is the 17th. I use my calendar to count days backward. My phone thinks it’s the 6th of December, but now I know it’s been 75 days since our journey began. I include the moment the airplane left the ground.
Flying over miles of sea and countries I may never step onto still feels like adventure, albeit simplistic and luxurious.
What should I do today?
December 26, 2011: Internet Café attached to Nirvana Café, Gokarna, Karnataka, India
During extended travel, creativity sparks and fizzles—just like at home save an appreciable lack of responsibility. In India, responsibilities are self-created—just like at home except you are more keenly aware it when you are choosing between lying on the beach and going for a run. There is the illusion of having more time though the days do seem to go by quickly. For example, this morning, Jake and I along with our two friends Rosie and Rachel discussed education and modern art during breakfast. After some time, we shifted in our seats and checked our watches. There is after all, a natural desire to do something with the day, even if it is as simple as hiking for 40 minutes to try a new restaurant. (We will do this tonight, timing our hike to sunset to take in the beauty that surrounds us). We were shocked to learn it was 1:30 pm already.
Since being in Gokarna, a laid-back beach-side destination, I decided I would complete one picture per day. I take the simple primary colored pencils I bought in Udaipur, and compose a reinterpretation of the standard card playing deck. There is a sense of accomplishment that accompanies me after I complete each piece. As there are 52 cards, I have a new way of keeping track of time. Each day has a card and feels thereby unique. Having done this for 4 days already, I can see how my moods infused the composition. Some days I copy to practice technique and patience. Some days I struggle to stay inside the lines. I have completed the Queens, but sense that I will do many more once I finish the full deck. I want to explore the meanings of the symbols. I want to see if I can more closely mimic the style of the cards, so I can reconfigure them later. This infuses a sense of purpose to my day. That purpose is enjoyable, I am grateful.
Now it’s time to go for a run…