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| Crumbling Walls |
JAIPUR, INDIA “I’m so sorry I’m late. The streets are completely flooded,” Umrao said, out of breath. “It took us an hour to get here.” On the way to the Amber Fort in Jaipur, Umrao explained. “Six people died, five from mud slides and another when he drove into a sink hole and drowned. My Muslim neighbor called at 1:30 this morning. ‘We got to help or pray. People are being washed away’ he said. ‘They’ve opened the Mosques for prayer.’ My mother said, ‘no. It’s too dangerous out. You will get washed away. There’s water coming into our house.’ I managed to stop the water from coming into our house — then we all prayed for the rain to stop. We were scared. My wife and I sat lotus style and prayed to Durga, the goddess who takes many forms for the destruction of demons who are troubling the gods. Then I said the Gaytri mantra. Gaytri is the five-headed goddess of divine light. We have many gods to pray to. I normally pray to Ganesha first, the son of Shiva, the destroyer. Ganesha’s the one with the elephant head. He brings fortune and good luck to anyone he blesses. Shiva, is one of the three major gods. The other two are Brahma, the creator, and Vishnu, the protector. Some say there are as many as 330 million gods, but actually there is just one god and the rest are manifestations of this one god.As we drove through the city the devastation was clear: streets flooded and impassable, walls crumbled, and huge piles of garbage strewn against the fences and buildings. A gaey (holy cow) lie with its feet up, electrocuted by a downed power line.
