Sleeping in India

Here are a few of strange places I slept in India. First the mosquitoes, then the scorpions, then on the way to the bodhi tree… At one time, I was sleeping on the beach in Southern India. We discovered there were 4 Indian hippies living in a thatched shack up from the beach. Now at the time, Indian hippies were very rare. In a year and a half, these are the only ones I saw. So the first night there, it came around to dusk. I could hear a strange, very loud buzzing sound (and it wasn't the hashish)…It sounded very much like an airplane. Except there were no airplanes here ever. Suddenly the shack was full of mosquitoes. I was covered, completely covered. I looked over at the India hippies and they had absolutely none. I quickly asked how this was and can I do it? They said: " when you have 365 days to get used to it, you do…" Well given that I did not have that long to wait, I went over the sand dunes and down the beach to closer to the ocean. The constant breeze kept all the skitters away…that was the solution every night as there were none in the day…just hordes at dusk and night…
Now, when I'm somewhere there are skitters and they are bothering everyone but not me, I say 'just get used to them, look at me, and did I ever tell you the story about the beach in southern India…' This one was not quite a sleep in the Ganges but fortunately not as it would have been the end and I wouldn't be here... I had had a very bad tooth while hiking in Nepal. I basically lived on Mandrax til I found the nearest dentist. Then it went away and I ignored it til I was in Benares. Then it came back with a vengeance. I went to a local dentist – which meant he had an office as opposed to the so called dentists sitting on the street with their only tool – pliers. When this dentist was pretty good with some exceptions. He did not have an electric drill as electricity was expensive and unreliable. And as he explained no anesthetic was allowed in India. So he drilled the huge cavity with a treadle drill – think treadle sewing machiones and you get the picture. It actually wasn't too bad. Then the next day the tooth broke in half. So back I went to have the tooth pulled. Yup, with a pair of pliers and no anesthetic. Will it didn't hurt at all til about 10 seconds later. It hurt like hell. I wondered down to the local pharmacy – I knew him as I have lived in Benares for awhile. It was strange. The front just had junkies sitting out front. Morphine was over the counter for about 10 cents a fix. He gave me a pill but would not say what it was. Wait a minute no anesthetic at dentist but any pill you wanted up the street…So he said wait a half hour and if it doesn't work, I'll give you another. So waiting half an hour out from with the junkies with excruciating pain. Opps, half hour, still pain. I got another pill and the pharmacist said do not take for awhile. I walked towards the house boat I shared (30 cents a month) and immediately took the second pill. And immediately stated to get off on the first. Oops…I was now staggering down the narrow alley to home. So narrow that if a cow was coming the other way, one had to get flat against the wall or else be crushed. I got to the boat. It had a long gang plank across water to to get to it. I soon fell into the water. I was so out of it I almost went into a sleep that I would not awake from. A friend came running and pulled me out. I collapsed into a deep sleep on the house boat floor – that was the only bed – the floor. I woke up next morning unable to move. I had broken 3 ribs in my fall off the gang plank. I had felt nothing at the time. Those unknown pain killers were very strong. The empty hole of a missing tooth never hurt again. And I still have that hole.
Now the scorpions. We were in the Kulu valley in the mountains and just happened to arrive in a small town that was having a religious festival – not at all uncommon. So there were no hotels left to sleep at. We heard there was a temple down by the river. We thought we could sleep there. It was a beautiful if relatively wide open temple. The sound of the river rapids was soothing. There was one other person at the temple – a saddhu, setting up to sleep. He said nothing as we assumed he had some vow of silence. No one else which was surprising as with the full hotels and other saddhus, the temples are usually crowded with sleeping bodies. Well, we found out why and why was that saddhu was sleeping way in the corner. Well, scorpions, or at least these ones, are nocturnal. And the temple was in a direct path of their nightly march to where, I'm not sure. So I was lying down in my sleeping bag with straight lines of hundreds of scorpions passing on both sides. I had little choice. I could not get up as I would step or land on them. I could not stay awake as I was very tired. Once I noted that they were always in very straight lines, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the sunrise – not a scorpion anywhere. And we were all alive, unstung and even the saddhu appeared happier…
Now the road to the Bodhi tree and the chai (tea) shop… Well I was on my way hitchhiking on the main road to Calcutta but wanted off at the Bodhgaya. The drivers in a big truck didn't seem to know where it was but let me have a ride anyway. First off was the chuck of opium to eat. It was a friendly compliment to them so I had to eat it… As it slowly made me drift in and out of dreams, they sent me to the sleeping place – the top of the large cab that was boxed in sort of. This was where they slept as other drivers relieved them. Then I was totally out. Until I could hear them blowing their horn. We were at the turn off for Bodhgaya. On the corner was a chai shop. Just a stall. I enjoyed 2 cups of chai and as darkness fell, I nodded to the dirt floor and the chai walla nodded yes. Sleeping on the dirt. Soundly. Then it was off down the road to the golden roofs of temples and the Bodhi tree.