quest for the singing bowl

i've just returned from my second trip this week to a tibetan settlement three hours outside of mysore. penni, hiroko, alice and myself made the bumpy bus trip last saturday in pursuit of visiting the famous golden buddha and some inexpensive tibetan treasures. i've been on a personal quest since arriving in india to find four tibetan singing bowls after promising joung-ah, katherine, and vanessa that i would send them each one. these bowls are used in buddhist meditation where a pestle-like stick is brushed along the outside of the bowl til it starts vibrating or 'singing'. this type of bowl was used in the c.m teacher training to bring the group out of savasana (sleeping pose at the end)and it's a beautiful way to come out of deep relaxation.
while shopping in c.m with the 3 girls mentioned above, we came across the singing bowls which were outrageously priced. i suggested that we wait til i got to india where they would certainy be much cheaper and i am suprized to say they have been much more elusive to find than i thought. when i made the first trip to bylakuppe with the girls, we were a bit apprehensive as foreigners are not allowed onto the settlement without a permit. this permit comes from delhi and can take up to 3 months to receive. we had heard many stories of westerners going there with no problems so we decided to take our chances. after the bus trip, the rickshaw driver dumped us off at the gate of the golden temple into the harsh gaze of a tall indian police officer. he took one look at me and asked for my permit and passport, of which i had neither. while batting my baby blues with my most charming smile i explained that we were all yoga students who had travelled from all over the world to visit the golden buddha. couldn't he let us in for just a few minutes?
we were given 20 minutes with a promise to be back before his supervisor came around, which was promptly forgotten as soon as we entered the temples. after wondering around entranced by the beauty and chanting (pics to come soon), we made it back out about 90 minutes later. we tried to scoot by the police to make it to the shops across the street but that gaze spotted us instantly. the baby blues weren't working so well this time but stil managed to give us a bit of time to do some shopping. in the first shop, i inquired about the bowls and was brought a few doors down where my eyes lit up after seeig the bowls displayed on the counter. the beautiful tibetan woman working there had just got the bowl singing when alice came rushing into the store saying the police said we had to go - NOW. i was torn. i finally had the bowls right in front of me and they were beautiful but one look at the tibetan shop keepers faces told me i should take heed to alice's warning. the tibetans told me i better hurry or the police could cause 'big problems'. enough said and we were out of there, bowl-less.
i decided to make a second trip, alone this time, today. i thought perhaps if there was only one westerner, i might have a better chance of slipping by without notice. i had also heard the dalai lama was speaking and was intent on hearing some of his remarkable words. after running around with the rickshaw driver (who knew the word 'atm' is not universal!?) i managed to catch the bus to bylakuppe just as it was pulling out. i sat down in a free seat next to hip-looking indian guy who spoke english and gave me lots of helpful tips about where to get off the bus. as the bus trip went on, i thought back to when i first landed in bangalore terrified and marvelled at how quickly i have become comfortable in such a chaotic place. upon landing in bylakuppe once again, i had the requisite arguement with the rickshaw driver about price to the settlement. i had to walk off rather than be over-charged until he realized i wasn't going to cave and came and picked me up. he seemed very sly and nervous and kept asking me if i had my passport and permit. i was insisting yes, i did, and feeling guilty about my dishonesty. he snatched the money out of my hand and quickly sped off when we got to the police check point. i was nervous. would i go to jail over the dalai lama and a singing bowl?
this time around i barely even got a glance by the police. there were hundreds of tibetans milling around the temples as loud speakers were broadcasting the dalai lama's speech. i quickly found a spot with a group in a shady spot under a tree and sat down. now, sa i think i've mentioned, meditation is not something that has come easily to me. it's so hard to quiet my mind and stop all that 'planning, planning, planning'. oh, vata me! but for some reason, the urge to close my eyes and concentrate on the dalai lama's words was overwhelming. i couldn't understand anything he was saying as it wasn't in english but when his deep, melodic 'aum' came rumbling out of the speakers, i felt like i was in a trance. there were kids screaming all around me, families having pinics, yet i felt i was in the deepest, calmest meditation ever. it felt effortless despite the concrete beneath my body. i could have stayed for hours but i was constantly aware of the roaming police and thought it best to leave early.
at the gate, i met a indian-born tibetan man and his infant son. i asked him where i could buy the singing bowls and he told me all the shops would be closed for the next few hours while the shopkeepers were at the temples. he brought me into town, known as camp 1, where i had a drink and waited around to see if the shops wuold open or not.
alas, an hour later, a man came over to ask me what i was looking for and explained that the shops wouldn't re-open to day and to come back tomorrow. sigh. i don't think i'll be able to make the trip before i leave to goa on sunday so i'll keep my fingers crossed i come across them there.

ps- i'm practically falling asleep writing this so i apologize for the errors and rambling sentences.