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India in a Bottle
text & photo by Gretchen Coombs

Excerpts:

       I found The Face behind a small temple shortly after arriving in Puri, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Mentioned in the Lonely Planet guidebook, The Face offers massages, facials and manicures that could wipe the road-wear off any traveler, pure indulgence that I felt I could afford. Not that I really mind being grubby — in fact, developing a new relationship with my body has been an essential part of the experience of traveling in India. I’ve stopped trying to sterilize my travels and instead have let myself slowly acclimate to the local flora and fauna. But the stresses of too many 36-hour train journeys and too much haggling in the heat eventually built up. I wanted an escape.
       I stepped into The Face and waited for Kuni, the proprietor. I picked up a local fashion/feminist magazine and anticipated being anointed by her hands. Before I knew it, I was enjoying an ayurvedic massage. I decided to indulge further and was then intoxicated by an herbal facial; some of India’s best bounty was rubbed deep into my pores. My eyes were cooled with frozen cucumber, my hair moistened with coconut, jasmine and olive oil. Kuni then massaged my jaw, and I fell into a deep paralysis that kept me in Puri for a month. . .

. . .

 . . . Indian women are so often presented as a monolithic group, wrought with oppression from men and society in general. Hearing Kuni’s story helped dispel the myth that all Indian women are dutifully serving husbands and caring for children. I learned a great deal from her — ayurvedic principles, the significance of Lord Jagannath and the ins and outs of the town’s big festival, Rath Yatra. But most importantly, I was inspired by how she has empowered herself in a town where women don’t often start their own businesses . . .

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