[www.washingtonpost.com]

Nepal police: Slovak saved from 'Buddha' followersAP foreign, Monday March 26 2012
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Police in Nepal say they have rescued a Slovak woman being held by followers of a man some say is the reincarnation of Buddha.

Police official K.P. Sharma said the 35-year-old woman was held in a forest of southern Nepal where Ram Bahadur Bamjan has been meditating for seven years. The woman, identified only as Marichi, had been visiting Bamjan for the past year but was reported to be held captive for the past two months.

Police reached the site where the woman was held and brought her back Sunday.

Sharma said the woman has a broken arm and appears to be scared. The official said she was being kept in the police station for her protection.

Several Buddhist scholars are skeptical of claims that Bamjan is the reincarnated Buddha

[www.globalpost.com]

What happens when religion goes wrong? Kidnapping, or something similar, allege the Nepalese police.

Police official K.P. Sharma told the Associated Press that Nepal's cops rescued a 35-year-old Slovak woman from followers of a young man whose supporters have claimed to be the reincarnation of Buddha for the past several years. (All is, indeed, suffering).

Sharma said the woman was held in a forest of southern Nepal where Ram Bahadur Bamjan has been meditating for seven years, AP said. The woman, identified only as Marichi, had been visiting Bamjan for the past year but was reported to be held captive for the past two months.

No information was provided about the motivation behind the alleged crime, and all that the police officer said regarding the psychological state of the woman was that she appeared to be scared.

Bamjan created a media sensation around 2005, when he supposedly meditated under a tree for months on end and then suddenly disappeared.

Since then, Bamjan, who has instructed people not to call him the reincarnation of Buddha, has appeared and reappeared, preaching and meditating, all over the tiny Himalayan republic.

[www]

Jean-Baptiste Talleu--Disappeared--Indiahttp://www.mid-day.com/news/2012/apr/040412-Son-shine-and-shadows.htm

Son-shine and shadows
Five years after her cyclist son vanished from this country and was last traced removing money from an ATM in the city, a French mother was back again in Mumbai on her annual search for Jean-Baptiste2012-04-04 07:49:51
April 4, 2012

Mumbai
Hemal Ashar
[beta.mid-day.com]


In December 2007, 25-year-old French national Jean-Baptiste Talleu disappeared from Mumbai. He was last traced withdrawing money from an ATM in the suburb of Goregaon and has not been heard since. For the past five years, his parents Maire-Claire and Pierre-Marie Talleu clinging on to the slender hope that they may find him some day have been visiting India in search of their son.

Jean-Baptiste’s family is from Nancy in the East of France, 300 km from Paris. His mother, Marie-Claire has been in India for one month since March 2012 this year, hunting for Jean-Baptiste. Her husband could not come to India this time, as their daughter also called Marie, was in France from China where she resides.

“He wanted to spend time with her,” said Marie-Claire with a smile. Marie-Claire has been searching for Jean-Baptiste, any sign of him, with a journalist friend called Dominique Hoeltgen. In fact, she has been in the country every year since Jean-Baptiste disappeared. “In total I have spent nine months in India through these five years,” said Marie-Claire.

Cycling
When Jean Baptiste came to India in 2007, this country was one more stop on his proposed cycling tour of the world. The computer professional, one fine day traded in his keyboard and conventional job to take a trip around the world. His mother explained, “Jean-Baptiste was always the introspective one, from all my seven children. Reticent and spiritual, he was used to taking short bicycle trips along with his brothers.

In 2007, he decided to go around the world. I tried to dissuade him saying it could get dangerous —you might get robbed or you might get killed, but he waved my concern away, scoffing at these maternal misgivings saying, oh I don’t care about that and if my bicycle is stolen, I will walk.”

Kaveri
In this year’s search for Jean-Baptiste, Marie-Claire and her friend Dominique flew down to Chennai and went on to Pondicherry. The Talleus have been sponsoring a little girl called Kaveri “like the river” explains Marie-Claire ever since they have been coming down to India to search for their son. “Kaveri lives in an orphanage in Pondicherry and we are now paying for her education and basic amenities,” said Marie-Claire.

She was a baby when we decided to sponsor her, today she is five-years-old,” explained the Frenchwoman about this labour of love. It is not just Kaveri’s impish innocence that continues to draw the Talleus to Pondicherry, the place steeped French culture. Marie-Claire believes that maybe somebody in Pondicherry could give them some hint of Jean-Baptiste, "Because he wanted to visit Pondicherry on his India stop.

We went to several ashrams, in fact, we have travelled extensively in the South this time, visiting several ashrams and holy places. Jean-Baptiste was a spiritual person. He may have spent some time at these places, somebody may have seen him," said Marie-Claire her grey eyes showing signs of quiet desperation. “Even though I have not found him, these spiritual places give me peace. I feel his spirit here,” said Marie-Claire.

Leaflets
The Talleus have printed leaflets (see picture), which they give at several sites they visit, promising a reward of Rs 2 lakh for finding Jean-Baptiste.
Marie-Claire said, “I do not believe in putting up posters in the city, that is not a good thing to do. Instead, we have these leaflets asking for information about him also so that Indians do not forget about him and even pray for him. I have given some of these at spiritual places.

When we printed these in fact, the police and the French Consulate here told us that we would be hounded by false claims from people who would be lured by the cash award. Surprisingly, though, that did not happen. There were a few calls, but that was all.” The announcement of a reward is not always counterproductive. It also galvanizes people to try and look for him, though, of course, money is the main motivator.
had his bicycle, a small bundle of clothing, not a great amount of cash, “He would withdraw cash from ATMs as he travelled,” said his mother, “He was not carrying a camera, no mobile he would keep in touch via the Internet, in fact, we would web chat and he used to communicate quite frequently,” said his mother. “He has also couriered us (the family) some books on spirituality he had taken with him while touring.” Today, those books serve as a painful reminder of her son’s disappearance. “He came to India and poof! Just vanished,” said Marie-Claire.

Hope
With disappearances, the most painful thing is the absence of any kind of cathartic closure. Without a clue whether one is dead or alive, the issue cannot be brought to a close emotionally. Even after five years, it is evident that Marie-Claire clings to hope like ivy to a wall. A strange thing has happened in five years of journeying to India. Marie-Claire and her husband have fallen in love with what Marie-Claire described as, “a beautiful country.”

She feels India bubbling in her veins, but that love could have easily been hate, as this is the country from where her son disappeared. “But, I love India, I feel Jean-Baptiste over here. This is his place, dead or alive.” Looking out from a coffee shop in Bandra, both Dominique and Marie-Claire explained they love the energy, dynamism and vibrancy of the city, never mind its dirt and pollution when compared to Europe.

“Even outside Mumbai, India is so picturesque,” they said. “People seem much happier, more ‘smiley’, here,” they add. When in Mumbai, Marie-Claire lives in Goregaon, “So that I can be close to where Jean-Baptiste lived in this city.” When asked why, if Jean-Baptiste were alive he would not contact his family all this time, Marie-Claire said, “We think he may have been hit by a vehicle and possibly lost his memory or not know who he is. He always intended to return to France, I had booked his return tickets though he did not have a definite date of return. He was also in excellent health when he left for his trip.”

Serenity
Years have rolled by but Marie-Claire does not want to accept defeat. “I will return to look for him, next year, maybe I will also go to Rishikesh in the North as these places give me peace,” she said as she and Dominique prepared to go to Film City in Goregaon, “where Jean-Baptiste may have visited to have a look at the Bollywood industry,” they said.

“There is some force that keeps bringing me here. I know it is not realistic for me to leave my entire family, my other children in France and come here for good to look for Jean-Baptiste. Incidentally, Jean-Baptiste has a twin sister Catherine. She told me, I know you will be back with Jean-Baptiste this time,” ended Marie-Claire.

This mother feels her son’s presence in the gurgling of the rivers in the South of India, the cool marble of the ashrams she visits, where the crevices hold the secrets of souls seeking solace and even hears music in the belch and roar of the Mumbai traffic. “It is here that I can sing to Jean-Baptiste, sing freely and fully,” Marie-Claire signed off.

[www.thejc.com]

Stresses for Israelis in India, especially women
Hebrew University anthropologist Darya Maoz has conducted extensive research into the experiences of Israeli backpackers in India. She found that the men take their risk-taking culture, born of military service, directly into the backpacking experience, attempting the most dangerous treks, or abusing drugs. "It's a test of courage, which, just as in ancient societies, is a part of the rite of passage. This pattern takes over the whole backpacking experience, and most women adopt these codes too. They feel that it empowers them."

Indeed, Galit recalls many scary moments which she did not tell her family about. "There was already enough pressure on me to go back home. And anyway, it's not that they could help me when I was ill, or when I suffered physical difficulties."

She broke up with her boyfriend in Nepal, but carried on backpacking, travelling by herself. In time, she says, she learned how to avoid dangers. "Abandoning feminine characteristics," she explains, "is in many cases simply a precaution adopted by women travelling alone, trying to avoid unwanted attention."

Mika Ullman, 28, a kibbutznik from northern Israel, agrees. She travelled for a year in South America, and a couple of years later spent three months in Nepal. "In conservative regions a demonstration of femininity can put you at risk," she says. "I avoided wearing dresses and wore my hair extremely short."

There are emotional dangers, too. One former backpacker in her early 30s, who asked not to be named, recalled a relationship that went badly wrong. "I hooked up with an Indian guy, and we practically became a couple." They lived together in North India for a few ideal weeks, "during which time I lent him, at his request, different sums of money. I was clearly in a better financial state than he was, and it seemed reasonable to trust the guy you love." When the debt reached around £250, the boyfriend broke up with her, refusing to return the money. It happened a few years ago, yet she still feels unable to tell her family or her friends about it.

The political situation in Israel seems to have little bearing on how Israelis are treated when they venture abroad. If they are made unwelcome by locals, it appears that their reputation for boorish behaviour may have a lot to do with it. Travelling in South America, Ullman left her big Israeli group as soon as she felt confident enough to travel alone: "It was unpleasant, loud and burdensome. All they wanted to do was go clubbing and drinking. So as soon as I learnt some Spanish, I parted with them."

Dr Maoz says that while European backpackers, who are usually older than the Israeli ones, tend to mingle with each other, the Israelis stick together. "It's a result of the Israeli socialisation, the idea that as a small nation we ought to be strong and united." Sadly, she says, in many cases the outcome is an aggressive, overbearing Israeli backpacker. "Since the group empowers its members, the Israelis can be insensitive and sometimes even violent. Playing loud music in the middle of the night, blatant drug use and even shouting at locals, and sometimes stealing."

In some places in India, she continues, "you can find Israeli enclaves where only Hebrew is spoken and Israeli music played, and restaurants with Hebrew signs serving only Israeli food.

"The Israelis are scornful of the locals, and, interestingly, in one of my studies, I found that Israelis in India compare the Indians to Arabs, using the same oriental stereotypes: both the negative ones - of dirt, primitivism and stench; and the positive ones - warmth and hospitality."