1 Six months into our marriage, Guri (my wife) and I left home to journey India by foot. Living on dollar a day, eating wherever food is offered, sleeping wherever a flat surface is found, ours was an unscripted spiritual pilgrimage to greet life in the farthest corners of our own consciousness. As we walked, we learned much about India, a lot about humanity and most about the stranger we call "I". Below are entries in chronological order of our year in India. Some of the early ones are of our experiments in service prior to starting the walk on March 31, while some of the later ones are at a meditation retreat following our walk. Before the walk 2 Fourth Floor Rain-bow Jan 29, 2005 As we were moving out of our apartment, I blurted out: "Guri, do you know what you're doing? Selling everything, moving out of your home, saying goodbye to all your friends, letting go of a thriving organization ... all for what? For some unknown destination outside your comfort zone, for some unknown reason?" I paused and then continued my tirade as Guri, Harinder and my mom were wrapping up the packing. "It's one thing to leave if you're dis-satisfied, lacking in some way, wanting adventures, feeling the need to make a difference in the world. But I have it all here. Why would I leave all this? Now, why exactly am I leaving again?" They all thought I was joking, and started laughing. I mean, I was sort of joking but not really. You gotta be pretty crazy to do something like this without a rational reason. For the next half hour, we wrapped up our packing as the rain outside intensified. Then it started pouring like I've never seen in Berkeley. And out of the nowhere, out came the sun. And the most beautiful, full semi-circle rainbow across the Berkeley hills. From the fourth floor, we had a perfect front-row view of the most majestic rainbow that any of us had seen in our entire lives. Walls Must Come Down Jan 31, 2005 Everywhere I turn, I see walls. Some tall walls, some short walls, some dividing walls, some illusionary walls. But they're everywhere. I can't see a situation, without building up my own wall, my own secure fence to protect what I have -- my judgements, my opinions, my hopes, my desires. These dividers are really getting in my way now. I have peeked on the other side of the wall, and that's my real turf. In the past, I couldn't even see the walls; I would keep running into it and complain of the headaches. But my time has come. Walls must come down. While I'm at it, I want to have a word with the builder too. Poor guy has been working so hard all these years, that it's time to give him some real rest. Kachi Kapshida Feb 1, 2005 Guri and I are leaving for India today. We want to use our hands to do crazy acts of kindness, our minds to profile everyday heroes and broadcast it over the world wide web, and our spirits to be true pilgrims 3 of life. Many others plan to join us and while much is unknown, we bow to all you and request your blessings ... that we may truly serve in our every waking moment. A friend, serving in the army, wrote me a touching note that ended with a beautiful Korean phrase: 'Kachi Kapshida' -- we go together. Always together ... Doors Keep Opening Feb 1, 2005 "I'm sure you'll have many doors open for your like this," Jayeshbhai said as he opened the door to his 21st floor, penthouse-like home, overlooking all of Singapore. Several years ago, I had met Jayeshbhai at 11PM in Bangalore. At the time, I didn't know he was the founder of Sony Ent. TV in Asia or that he was planning on committing his life to service at the age of 50, or that he was deeply interested in spirituality. But he was. :) A year later, he handed over ProPoor to CharityFocus and himself became an active CharityFocus volunteer. Right as Guri and I entered Jayesh's house, fully jet lagged with droopy eyes, we were taken by a striking, life-size, 600 kilogram weighing idol of "Ganesh", an Indian diety. If we are able to first see "God" behind every door that opens for us, I will ask for nothing else. President of Singapore Feb 2, 2005 On a morning walk today, we chatted with the President of Singapore about CharityFocus, the India trip and of course, Singapore. :) It turns out that he goes on this walk on the beach, with just one unarmed bodygaurd and is super friendly! Singapore is an interesting country: Cars are 3x the US price, with all the duty. And every ten years, the government forces you to junk your car. So Singapore streets look really rich! Audio CD's are sold for $2 on the streets. Probably pirated copies. :) For about $500/month, you can have a live-in, 24x7 maid in the house from anywhere in the world. Speaking of 24x7, there's a 5 story, 3 block Indian mall that's open 24 hours a day. Just in case you want to buy jewelry at 3AM. :) 4 It's true. Forget chewing gum, many streets impose $500 fine if you bring food and drinks! Public transportation is totally awesome. Simple, clear UI that San Francisco should take serious lessons from. Thai coconuts. I wasn't impressed. :) 8% of Singaporeans are Indian, largely South Indian. And Tamil is one of the four national languages! Weather is humid, muggy and nothing to get jealous of. Oh, and if you've arrived into town via Singapore Airlines, you're already in a good mood -- 60 on- demand movies, 216 full audio albums, lots of leg room, great food and awesome service. Now, if they only had Internet access. :) Going With The Flow Feb 2, 2005 From Guri ... from January 31st ... After months of much thought and consideration, we're finally off to our journey in India. We've moved out of our place and gotten rid of most of our belongings. We have no real plans. With the blessings of many, we'll go with the flow. PapaUncle -- Nipun's Dad -- used an analogy couple of weeks ago that seems appropriate for the trip. During one of our meditation circles, he shared that life can either be like a mountain where your goal is to get to the top, or like a river that flows effortlessly into the direction that is most natural and eventually merges into the large ocean. When you're climbing uphill, going to the mountaintop, there's a constant struggle but in the end you reach the top no matter which side you start from and see the entirety of the universe. For me, the analogy of the river flowing along is naturally a more attractive one. In this journey, I hope to be like the river that flows along. I know we'll hit a few rocks along the way but if the current is strong even the largest rock feels like a mere pebble. Just Do It Feb 2, 2005 5 At this restaurant, you don't get billed for your food. Pay what you like, their slogan reads. It sound unbelievable but there's a fully volunteer-run, high-end restaurant -- Annalakshmi -- where they trust that everyone will pay their fair share. And the food was awesome too! A very kind lady, who has been there since Annalakshmi opened in Singapore 20 years ago, spoke with us for a bit. I asked why she does this, and she replied, "I don't know. It just fills my heart. I don't really have any expectations. I just do it." Prove Your Identity Feb 4, 2005 On the way to Sikhism's holiest spot, the Golden Temple, we saw a sign outside a hotel: "Prove your identity." In a land of hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects, translations can be quite hilarious. But sometimes, deep too. :) I can imagine the hotel clerk throwing a fit -- "Sir, please prove your identity." "Ummm, I'm Nipun Mehta, age 29, 6 feet, 155 lbs. My driver's license says so. See, here." "Anyone can make up a badge. Prove it!" "Well, I have this social security number." "That's just a number to me. Are you a number?" "Ok, fine. I read in a quantam physics book once that we are a bunch of moving electrons forming at the speed of observation. So I'm really nothing." "Huh? This is a hotel, not a physics class. Please prove your identity or I will have to throw you out." "Who will throw me out?" Smilingly, the Zen master opens the door. Service to Humanity Feb 4, 2005 Spotted outside of the Golden Temple in Amritsar: 6 A Dip Into Sikhism Feb 5, 2005 About ten of us crowded in a car to head to the "Golden Temple", a temple of Sikhs that is truly made of gold. Hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe visit the temple every single day; some come to heal themselves, some come to pray, some come to thank God for abundance. You first wash your feet -- in warm water, thank God! -- touch your head to the ground, and proceed through the front gate.