Smelly Delhi

Dharmaraj () 2004-2005

Smelly Delhi, cow dung fried
Roller coaster taxi ride
Pay in Rupees, rear end sore
Hotel Saina, second floor
Namaskar and namaste
Everybody found their way
All together, off we go
Auto rickshaws, to and fro
We came to see this wild place
India, so in your face
We came from nations far and wide
Spiritual beings, now allied
A monk and nun to lead our tour
Who could ever ask for more?
Pushkar parrots, Chill Out Café
The Bodhi tree where the Buddha stayed
Jamalpur, we went there for Some Baba stories and the Baba tour
Rishikesh to Old Menali
Hindi, Sanskrit and Bengali
On the trail and on the road
Mosquito bites and buckets cold
River rafting, camel humps
Spirit highs and spirit slumps
The smell of smoke and sewer drains
Crowded, cold and filthy trains
Triple-decker, bumpy beds
Sleeping, sniffling, snoring heads
CHAI, COFFEE, CHAI!!!
What was that? Who am I?
The clash! The clash! Please sir, no chai.
Quick your bag! This is our stop!
Pills of Diarex to pop
Stomachs rumbling, cramping pain
Dysentery, don't complain
I have it to and so does she
We're a happy family
Popping pudin, carob powder
Cipro if the cries get louder
Sickness plugged and feeling hunger
Cooking duty, my group number
Chopping, chopping, chop and chop
Chopping, chopping, chop, chop, chop
Pressure cook ‘til whistle sounds
Heaping globs of mushy mounds
Your lasagna's a spring roll, what is that?
Look in the kitchen, it's a giant rat!
Kiritan and meditation
Even at the Patna station
Chandranath, a man so wise
So cool with sunglasses over his eyes
Baba nam and kevalam
Pancha janya was never done
Shopping though at the shopping store
Colored things, just give me four
One in yellow, three in rose
Buy some stuff and money flows
They sell and sell as pockets swell
One moment more, I swear I'll yell!
Where do I come from and where am I going?
What is my name? Many things for the knowing
I come from the earth I come from the stars
I came on a spaceship from the planet mars
So Tilikapash says “Hey my friend”
And kaoshiki with Surya never ends
Krishna Jyoti's tiny pack
Would fit upon a chipmunk's back
And with Asiima, off they go
For mild food, searching high and low
Chandra's crazy and so spaced out
With a heart so warm, she's completely devout
Maduvidia, a madam so fair
Sporting all of the fanciest India wear
Vanita with super cell telephone power
So happy, happy at any old hour
Now violent Nepal we should avoid
Though Nityesh may be annoyed
A bus for us to Kulu Valley
Malati with carsick belly
Solang, Menali, trekking hard
Didi's daily mastering card
“Tolerance” might be needed
Hotels off-season are scarcely heated
Pulga, Kalga, snow and ice
Dada starting snowball fights
Naliini and Jiivika warm in beds
Sleeping bags pulled tight over their heads
Porage, soup and can'o'cheese
Yes more chocolate, if you please
That's not dirty, it's India clean!
My tiffin box has a greenish sheen
Dirty is warm and hot springs are too
In Manikaran it's the thing to do
Kumar's going home with a mountain man beard
I would too, but mine's growing in weird
Last Riwalsar, hard to say
But we'll stay there anyway
We were fourteen and down by two
They had some noble work to do
Still at twelve, then down to ten
Canadians gone in search of Zen
Two more left and two more came
Now ten travelers here remain
Friends much closer than the start
We've mastered the India traveling art
And when the eyes shine back at me
I'm lucky as a man can be!