The Power of Prayer

‘Shrits on Wheels’ was started with much fanfare when Shrits had set her wheels in motion on her first solo travel to Peru! She wanted to chronicle her travel and also life’s many journeys. The wheels were always in motion, but the chronicling did not take place since 2012! Today, Shrits on Wheels is ready to chronicle and share her recent journey on..The Power of Prayer!

In Peru, there is the tall mountain across the ruins of Machu Picchu called - Wayna Picchu. While planning for this trip and in my excitement to discover the Lost City, as an ‘add-on’ I signed up for the hike up Wayna Picchu. I thought I was really cool getting to Machu Picchu, doing the short hike on the Inca trail and then getting on the first bus to catch the mystical and captivating sunrise and lifting of the veil of clouds over the ruins.

 As if in a trance while discovering the beauty of the place I later made my way to the famous hike with my backpack trying to look or rather fake the part of a seasoned hiker! After I climbed and made my way to an elevation of a 1000 ft in one mile, I realized what I signed up as an ‘add-on’ might cost me my life! I began praying and asked for the protection of the Incan gods and as I reached the summit while looking down on Machu Picchu in a cliff hanger position, the thrill and the exhilaration was that of having climbed the Mt. Everest. The view was so spectacular and I was proud of myself for pushing myself and kept listening to my inner voice which was also huffing and puffing with me that “ You are gonna make it , Shrits”. The minute I got my hands on a computer back in Aguas Calientes, I googled 'Wayna Picchu' and was shocked but not surprised that it was also called the -“death hike”. I gulped, had some cocoa leaves and told myself never ever again on a death hike, boss!

Four years later, I was completely conscious while being wheeled into the operation room and saw the doctors and nurses surround me, as the anesthesia was slowly kicking in, the last image that flashed before my eyes before thinking I was on the sets of Grey's Anatomy was me standing very precariously on Wayna Picchu on a cliff hanger position and the voice that came back to me was “You are gonna make it, Shrits”.

What started off as a dull aching pain in my lower abdomen saw its culmination in Oakwood hospital in Michigan. Earlier this year I started experiencing pain and nausea and I was beginning to feel very sick very quickly. I normally have a rather casual approach to my health but this time I took all the signals by body was giving me very seriously. I have been practicing Nichiren Buddhism for two years now and the prime practice involves chanting- 'Nam Myoho Renge Kyo'. This essentially is the title of the Lotus Sutra or the Buddha’s highest teaching and in simple terms it means ‘I devote myself to the Mystic Law of Life’. Each time I chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, there was an inner voice that became stronger to take care of my health. I found the wisdom and decided to take action ASAP.

 What followed was a series of doctor’s visits, bloodwork and tests. The doctors found pelvic mass on both my ovaries and asked me to do a bloodwork to test the possibility of it being benign or malignant before going into surgery. I was a bit shaken up but somewhere summoned up courage from within my life to go through this. I got the test results and was told at this point there is a red flag and the tumor marker was off and was referred to an OBGYN Oncologist. For the first time in many years I felt fear and then anger as to why my life is not as easy like other people. Many times we travel different segments of our lives with different people..our parents, siblings, best friends, spouses, kids but the journey ultimately is your own. There have been so many people in my life’s many segments that has helped shape my soul, but when I was faced with a predicament and a cliffhanger situation such this, I knew I had to summon up courage from the very depths of my being!

 I started chanting and praying but this time like a maniac and had to dig deep to unearth that strength that would sustain me through this journey. In a matter of an hour, the voice came back and told me “You are gonna make it Shrits”! Something within me opened up to an expansive life state, and I started working at full capacity in my job and at the same time did not miss a heartbeat to work for my practice of Buddhism and kosen rufu trying to take the smallest step in what seemed an uphill hike, because I knew the view of victory and the endless possibilities in life was marvelous! 

Some years ago, when I went through a very ugly divorce and hearbreak from my marriage I was convinced that prayers do not work and started weaning myself and losing conviction in prayers and would think of myself as Amitabh Bacchan from Nastik :)! In time, as the wounds began to heal I felt less like Amitabh Bacchan and used prayers as a tool to change poison into medicine. 

I was able to forgive and let go and started becoming truly happy from within. My practice of Buddhism and dancing to Bollywood songs with friends at Bollyfit in Michigan helped me find that peace...I started praying again and I started believing,… in the power of prayer and in the power of positivity! As the news of my illness started trickling out, I sensed a mini wave of prayers coming my way. My parents, my family, my friends in Michigan, all over the world, from India, from my city –Mumbai all started rallying up and praying for me. 

I started feeling so humble and saw invisible bridges of prayers being built across the world and from all forms of faith..from Hindu Gods, to Jesus Christ, to Allah, to Gurudwara to the absolute faith in the Gohonzon , to all the positive energy sent my way. This to me, was my vision of the world and was a microcosm of world peace!

The SGI (Soka Gakkai International - www.sgi.org), the lay Buddhist organization to which I belong exists for the reason of world peace, and SGI Michigan really came together and started forming a fortress of prayers for me. Friends started holding chanting sessions for me and with 100% conviction that I will overcome this health challenge and come out of my surgery with a clean chit. Seeing their conviction, helped me become stronger with each passing day and ‘You are gonna make it, Shrits’ became a roaring voice. My family stood by me like a rock and my mom and my uncle flew down days before my surgery and I knew my fortress was rock solid at this point.  Minutes before the surgery, I suddenly felt defeated and started turning white and at that point my SGI family who came to support, my mom and my uncle just sat and chanted ‘Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’ with me. I was now roaring to go.

The surgery went on for over 3 hours and the tension kept mounting, but prayers kept coming in from all corners of the world as the doctors worked through a very complicated surgery with multiple things going on. Going in the doctors had also warned me of the possibility of coming out with some missing parts! 

I opened my eyes very dramatically after all this and thought to myself “mein kahan hoon”!! but that Bollywood dialogue quickly turned into one question -"Do I have cancer”? The answer was “NO” and the next question was ‘what’s missing’..Answer was - "nothing”!! The doctors were excellent and told me I had a miraculous surgery and that I had "MADE IT". I wanted to break into a Bollywood number with all my tubes but paused and for the very first time in my life felt the true power of prayer that engulfed me. Tears trickled down my cheeks and I was so grateful for every prayer, for every daimoku!I knew I had climbed another death hike! The prayers pushed this hiker to the very top and I was not alone on this hike and on the peak of Wayna Picchu, everyone was with me and as promised the view of victory sure was marvelous! 

This is my story and my journey on wheels as I discovered the ‘Power of Prayer’. Our SGI President and mentor President Daisaku Ikeda says: “Prayer is the courage to persevere. It is the struggle to overcome our own weakness and lack of confidence in ourselves. It is the act of impressing in the very depths of our being the conviction that we can change the situation without fail. Prayers are invisible, but if we pray steadfastly they will definitely effect clear results in our lives and surroundings over time. This is the principle of the true entity of all phenomena. Faith means having confidence in this invisible realm”.

Heart of the People

In 'Oprah's Next Chapter', the first in the series on Oprah Travels to India was an entire episode showcasing her visit to my Mumbai. Oprah visited the slums, had an elaborate meal in the epitome of the joint family system, graced the Bachans home and was one of the select few to see Beti B and finally experienced the glitz and glamor of Bollywood and mingled with the billionaires of India. In her visit to the slums, I appreciated when she said she did not want to touch on the poverty, instead wanted to get a sense of the ‘Heart of the People’.

Ever since the show aired and actually over the past seven years that I have lived in the United States, I have been asked countless  questions about India: the people, the paradox, the slums, the caste system and of course Bollywood. I feel we are mini ambassadors to our country and have to constantly balance between the truth and showing the world what India is all about. I appreciate a curious mind and am always fascinated when I come across people who know more about the Indian culture than I would know at times.  I have fielded constant questions on the caste system and tell people how it was first formed for division of labor but it did and does exist very subtly today and is similar in many ways to the underlying racism that exists. There was a time when my claws came out to someone who was the biggest fan of Glee and attacked Bollywood for its song and dance sequences :).

Yes, India is a paradox and we are sometimes a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I cannot put a finger on one thing and say this is what we are and this is who we are. We are like the spices in our food, each of us different and unique but when we come together, we make one lean mean curry. We are as colorful as the colors that adorn us and have a common thread running through us.

It was heartwarming when Oprah said she was in the slums to get to know the ‘Heart of the people’. She did manage to get the pulse of the people and made me choke when the father of the slum she visited started crying.

After watching that episode, I couldn’t help but go back in time probably around 25 years ago. In India, most of us have at least one maid who comes in and does the basic household stuff once a day. Our maid, who was there with us since I was little, lived in the slums near my house. She invited us over to her house for Ganpati festival. I was a kid and barely remember how we made our way to their humble home. But, I do remember the warmth in their welcome and how their faces lit up to see us there and the one thing I will never forget is how they offered me my favorite cola drink – ‘Thums Up’! A ‘soft drink’ was so expensive back then and here were people who struggled to get water for the entire house went out of their way to get the ‘Thums up’. My dad insisted that we split just one bottle between us so that they do not feel let down and their pride would not be hurt. To me as a kid, it didn’t matter that we were in the slums in the middle of nowhere but the love and the sincerity that came with the Thums Up was priceless.

Till this date, when I have a rare treat of the Indian store bought Thums Up in America, it always humbles me and I reminisce the time I had the Thums Up in the slums of Mumbai, bought from hard earned money but most importantly with a lot of love from the 'Heart of my People’.

India and Peru

Indian chica didn’t think in a million years while setting up the title for her blogs, that she would discover a little bit of India in Peru! I always carry India in my heart wherever I go and maybe a part of me always looks for that connection but this is the first time I knew there was a deeper connection and must have gone hundred times in my head “oooh that’s just like how it is India”.

My first day in Peru and in central Lima, I hear loud thumping Bollywood music. I did think at that point that I just might be hallucinating because I am a big Bollywood junkie. But turns out there was an Indian clothes/music/accessories store right there and right then I knew that Peru and I would be best friends for life. I walk a few blocks down and next to the new Twilight release – Breaking Dawn, I saw the poster for ‘Mi Nombre Es Khan’ or ‘My Name is Khan’ – a Bollywood blockbuster which actually released in 2010. The larger than life Shah Rukh Kan and Kajol (actors of the movie) poster, were staring at me in my face and I am sure my soul came out of my body that split second and did a little summersault!!

As I went from place to place, I could not completely put a finger on what really made me reminisce India so much..maybe it was the smaller things....

Banana chips sold loose in Lima..tasted EXACTLY like the ones in India

 

Indian buffet in the middle of Cuzco..yumm!

 Or it could be the bigger things like the hardworking people, the varying landscapes, the flavorful food, the fact that there is so much history and folklore or the fact that the Incans worshipped the sun and the moon and the whole of Machu Picchu was built by the Incans and was so simiar to Vastu ( Hindu architecture based on the premise of the laws of nature and its affect in our homes). 



Ancient terraces of Machu Picchu





Ancient Temples of India

 But most of all it reminded me of the India I left behind in early 2000s, Peru seems right at the helm of an economic boom…construction sites everywhere especially in Lima. Lima the ‘City of the Kings’, has such a striking resemblance to the city I grew up in and carry in my heart everywhere I go –Bombay or Mumbai. Lima is a bustling city where tall, modern buildings  in places like Miraflores co-exist with the humble neighborhoods. Lima, like Mumbai is by the sea..Lima now a gastronomical capital of South America had little bakeries and eateries everywhere and beautiful restaurants that serve the best cuisine.

A funny comparison is that, Lima has a park by the Pacific Ocean called ‘Love Park’ (actually all of Peru is a love park ;) and oddly enough Mumbai has a similar park with a similar setting called ‘Bandstand’ by the Arabian sea meant mainly for couples. Any Bombayite worth their weight in gold who's reading this, will know exactly what I am talking about.

LIMA

MUMBAI

 

And as I was flew out of Lima, I felt a tug in my heart similar to one I feel when I leave my Mumbai and said a similar prayer for the country and the people! And then said to myself ‘Asta la vista baby and I’ll be back”..yup borderline corny but hey  ‘Corn’ happens to be the staple diet of the Peruvians :)...on that note stay tuned for the next blog on 'The Foods of Peru'!

Beautiful People of Peru!

Dora(the explorer) from Uros islands.Hola amiga!

There are people who come and go in your life, but few have a lasting impression and make your heart smile everytime you think about them. That’s what the people of Peru mean to me..in my 10 days of being dumbfounded by the beautiful sights or eating gluttonously, my experience with the Peruvians or Peruanos is the one which is the most memorable. And that’s the reason my first in the series of blogs on Peru, I would like to dedicate it to the Beautiful People of Peru!



Peru with its amalgamation of different influences which date back over 5000 years, the Incan civilization is the one most known to the outside world. But Peru has had a plethora of pre-Columbian cultures preceding even the Incas by centuries & over time has had influences from European, Asian, African cultures. Maybe thats what makes the present day Peruvians some of the most fascinating, hardworking, warm and honest people that I have ever met.
 

A short video clip where the locals from Uros Floating islands on Lake Titicaca sing 'My Bonnie lies over the ocean' in English (in the video), Quechua and Amartany..and it also sumarizes my sentiments on the people.

Without being too verbose, this is just going to be a picture story and hopefully the eyes and the smile speak to you through the pictures as much as it did to me while I was there.



The Shoestring man swirls with the colors, Arequipa





Brother & Sister strike up a conversation on Taquile Island







Chocolates being sold loose on the streets of Cusco..the Chocolate & the toothy smile- both priceless!

Tia (aunt) catching a snooze in Cusco

Jugo (juice). Ingredients: Freshest fruits + a spoonfull of love & served with the prettiest smiles!

Hardworking & a happy bunch of people who take joy in the simple things

Children off to school on their Boat ride.. I saw an incredible thirst for knowledge amongst the kids.

A localite taking a call out of nowhere up in the Andes...my favorite moment & a true sign of a booming economy...and Amen to that!


And they all lived Happily Ever After!

An Introduction

My mom: So what do you want to be when you grow up? Me: I want to travel the world!! Cut to me now.. all grown up & still holding on to this childhood dream of mine and trying to conquer the world, one country at a time!

I launched this blog with much fanfare amongst my friends before my recent trip to Peru! I was confident I could be one of those cool bloggers, blogging as I travel the country..but turns out I wasn’t as cool because I was too busy having THE adventure of a lifetime!!! and although this is a post-Peru blog, couldn’t help but blog about it and try to fit in some of my experiences into a series of blogs.

So why Peru? People asked me this question before and continue to do so..and I would go errr..too much to tell at times and sometimes I was just short of words. My trip to Peru was one year in the making…it started off as wanting to see Machu Picchu (a wonder of the world), the fascinating story of the Incans, Anthony Bourdain’s take on Peru in ‘No Reservations’, an ancient culture like India’s and also somewhere deep inside me I knew I could do this trip as a solo traveler and would do me some good both emotionally and physically to take on this journey.
I went through an adventure/ tour group - Karikuy and Julio C Tello the founder of Karikuy, customized it to perfection so I could go off the beaten path, take on adventures, travel Peru through road for most parts and my trip would ultimately culminate into the Inca trail (short) and Machu Picchu.

Armed with the biggest spirit, a flutter in the heart, a year’s worth of research and books in my backpack, I embarked on a journey of a lifetime to Peru.

Trust me, no amount of prep or reading or googling or manic workouts (to be fit enough for the Inca trail :) was to prepare this Indian Chica for a mentally stimulating and physically challenging experience in the Land of the Incas ..and all this with - Nooooooooooo Reservations!