The End of India

I seriously cannot believe I haven’t posted since before I saw the Taj Mahal. Uh oh! Well, I’ll get right to it then.

After arriving in Agra around 10am, we ate our typical breakfast of muesli, curd (yogurt), honey and fruit, and hired our typical rickshaw driver to tote us around for the day. It really is the best, cheapest and most timely option.  We first were taken to Itmad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb or the Baby Taj, which had really intricate details and was gorgeous. Dee and I had a hard time understanding who actually was buried inside the tomb though, because there were WAY more tombs than people mentioned on any of the info boards. Maybe they just threw in some  no-name people for show? Next was a view of the Taj (the big mama one) from the back-side, which was supposed to be incredible since not that many people see it from this view. Besides an old woman plowing into Dee and Bollywood filmmakers filming a commercial there, it wasn’t anything too special and just made me extra restless to see it from the proper view. We begged our driver to take us to the Taj (and no, NOT a Mughal Village where they make handicrafts for cheap- aka commission for the rickshaw driver when we buy over-priced goods), and after a lot of huffing and puffing and head wagging from him, we were dropped off at the East Gate.

The Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum that was completed in 1653 for one of Shah Jahan’s wives- Mumtaz Mahal. Nice place to spend an eternity!! After he built the mausoleum, he was imprisoned in Agra Fort (though he had a nice view of the Taj) supposedly for wanting to build an exact mirror image of the Taj Mahal, but in black, across the river for his own burial. This would have been way too expensive, so the Emperor put him in prison for his grandiose plan and to make sure it wouldn’t come to fruition. Most people seem to think this is probably just an old wives’ tale though it’s an interesting theory.  After receiving free water and shoe coverings (for paying a shitload to get in), my first view of the Taj literally took my breath away. First, it’s GIGANTIC! After seeing it from so far away and in pictures and even from the back view, nothing prepared me for the grandness of it all. Also, it’s not pure white like it looks in most pictures (or at least in my brain), but more of a cream-color. We explored for about an hour and 1/2, did multiple photoshoots, and finally copped a squat on a section of the Taj facing the river in the back. There we started a tally of how many Indians asked us to take pictures with them (mostly men, but some women too) or with their babies. I think we got up to around 30. We literally just sat there and people swarmed! It’s been happening since we arrived in India, but I still was not used to it. Finally, when one man wanted to videotape us (lord knows for what reason…) we drew the line and stopped doing photo ops. Or we tried anyway, but it’s hard to say no with no good reason, when someone nicely asks you to take a picture with them. It’s all just so strange that it’s practically endearing. Plus, I don’t need any more people in the world thinking Americans suck! We did feel like celebs though…again. We wanted to stay for sunset to see the colors change, but it was a cloudy day and we weren’t going to be able to see the sun anyhow, so we went to a restaurant, watched Romeo+Juliet (Baz’s version), and boarded our train to Varanasi around 8pm.

In many books and blogs, people have described their experiences all over India as being “overwhelming” or “nauseating” or “unbearable.” I never once felt this way UNTIL I stepped foot onto the ghats (steps) in Varanasi descending down to the Holiest of Holy rivers- Ganga herself- the Ganges River. It took about 30 minutes for the disgust to sink in after walking along the ghats from cremation site to temple to cremation site. The sight and smell of burning bodies, human waste, buffalo, goats,cows, Sadhus, and beggars, along with the thought of all the dead bodies floating in the river, was “overwhelming,” “nauseating” and “unbearable.” I have a very strong stomach and honestly thought I might vomit into the Ganges. Not like it would matter- I have never seen a more pollluted body of water in my life. As taken from Wikipedia (resource extraordinnaire), Hindus believe that bathing in Ganga remits sins and…ensures release of a person’s soul from the cycle of its transmigrations and over 100,000 pilgrims visit the city each year.  Watching people bathe or doing laundry (counter-productive?) in this river of filth added to my queasiness.  I even saw a Western girl going for a dip! I was extremely tempted to ask for her email address so she could later fill me in on all of the diseases she contracted from stepping foot into the Ganga. Now, I wish I didn’t have such an aversion to the filth, as I would love to remit my sins and release my soul, but no such luck. After we couldn’t stand it anymore, we took a rickshaw back to our hotel through the extreme traffic and pollution of ’downtown’ Varanasi. The next morning, we took the requisite sunrise boat ride on the river, which was really nice and relaxing, and was glad no floating dead people rammed into our canoe. Holy men (Sadhus), animals, children under 10 and people killed by cobra bites aren’t cremated, but just weighted down with rocks and put into the river and sometimes pop up!After, we enthusiastically packed our bags and cut our time in Varanasi short, with the decision to try and get up to Nepal! I didn’t manage to find a super-cheap flight from Varanasi to Kathmandu (the capital of Nepal toDelhi (where my flight to Bangkok was taking off on March 26), so we made an instantaneous decision to immediately board an overnight train to Delhi and figure out getting to Nepal from there. We wanted to get out of Varanasi and needed to get to Delhi anyway, so it would be a win-win situation. We arrived in Delhi after an 18 hour train ride (was only supposed to be 12), immediately went to a travel agent and booked a flight for a 10 day spur of the moment trip to Nepal! The goal of the trip was to do some trekking in the Himalayas, but we figured we’d just book a trek once we were there instead of worrying about it from Delhi. I realized it was my last night in India, so I took Dee out for a nice Indian meal and we got a good night’s sleep.

 

 

 

TONS of new pictures

Hi all,

Just arrived in Bangkok this morning at 630am, but couldn’t check into my hostel bed until 2pm, so took the time to upload all of my pictures from India and Nepal. All of the new links are in the blogroll (named Karnataka, Goa, Mumbai, Jaipur, Taj Mahal, & Nepal) so enjoy!

xox

Jillian

 

Holy Cows and Painted Elephants

It’s only been 15 days since I last posted, but it feels like so much more time has passed. India is a crazy, crazy land.  I have learned the true meaning of never knowing what to expect from one minute to the next.  From taking rickshaw drivers for their first slice of pizza to having my chakras read by a guru to getting nudged by a cow in the middle of traffic whilst wagging my head to the tunes of The Venga Boys- every second is an unexpeceted adventure.

I’ve visited quite a few destinations in these past days- usually never spending more than 3 days per city. It would be fantastic to linger longer, but that’s not a luxury that I’m afforded being in India for only 2 months. I’ll describe the places, but really the best thing to do is look at the pics (if I can ever find an internet cafe fast enough to upload them!). First was Hampi, where the accomodation was AWFUL at best, but the sights were magical. The town rests between these gigantic rounded boulders that are actually very similar to the Devil’s Marbles in the Australian outback. The difference is these boulders have 500 year-old temple ruins set in them. One morning we got up ridiculously early to go on a bike ride to see the temples outside the town limits, but had to turn back by 11am because the heat was already too much. It was HOT in Hampi, man. Boiling! We spent most lazy afternoons in the shade at this place called The Mango Tree, just absorbing chai after chai and journaling. 

We couldn’t get a train from Hampi to Goa, so instead we had to take a ’sleeper’ bus. I figured that this bus would be like all of the overnighters in South America, but NO SIREE! The bus was just a little taller than a normal bus and was filled with bunk beds- not a seat in sight. Dee and I had to SHARE a bed that was smaller in width than a twin sized bed, completely filthy, and we couldn’t even come close to stretching out our feet because our stuff had to all go by our feet.  We had no choice but to cuddle all night long during the 13 hour journey. We were lucky that we knew each other- some of the beds were filled with two strangers! Can you imagine how awkward that would be?! To make matters worse, the road from Hampi to Goa was seriously the BUMPIEST road that exists in the entire universe. Every five minutes, I would be flung into the air- literally like a foot off the bed. Not pleasant- let me tell you. However, it was all worth it when we arrived in Candolim, Goa on my 26th birthday.

When we were in Costa Rica at the very beginning of our adventure, Dee and I discussed how we wanted to spend our birthdays. For mine, I said I wanted to get a room at a nice hotel and watch Seinfeld episodes on DVD and eat junk food all day long. That’s exactly what I did! I booked us the least expensive room at the Lemon Tree Resort and they upgraded us to a HUGE suite for no extra cost. It was SO fancy pants and had a DVD player and movies to rent from the front desk. They didn’t have Seinfeld, but we managed to rent Aladdin and The Sound of Music, even though the speakers were messed up and everyone sounded like chipmunks. My birthday consisted of watching movies, ordering room service, drinking Bacardi Bay Breezers at the swim-up pool bar, and napping in the oversized king-size bed in the freezing cold A/C! I mean, really, what a fantastic vacation from my vacation. Unfortunately, that night I started feeling some tummy rumblings and I haven’t been 100% since. A few days before I got sick, I definitely jinxed myself by saying aloud, “If we’ve made it a month in India without getting sick, I bet we’re in the clear.” Stupid!

After our glorious two nights at the Lemon Tree, the Menezes family picked us up from Anjuna to take us to Madgao. Our friend Susan from The College of Wooster is marrying the nephew of this family, so his Indian uncle Desi took on the responsibility of doing EVERYTHING for us while in Goa. He set us up in a beachside apartment (for free) and took us out and paid for every meal and everything we needed- including medicines (which we needed a LOT of)! Our days out with Desi consisted of visiting some sights and then sitting and sitting and sitting…for multiple hours at a time. We got pretty bored, but Desi seemed to be enjoying himself doing nothing, so we endulged him as our host. In the sitting time, we did a lot of chatting. His family has a lot of money for Indian standards and I found his tolerance for lower class people extremely low. He hated a lot of things, but I think Russian tourists and people from South India topped his list. He also won’t let his children (ages 11 and 16) read Harry Potter or swim in the ocean. He went to NYC and didn’t leave his hotel room because he was scared of being shot. Obviously, he was in complete disbelief of how Dee and I’s parents would actually let us TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD at age 25. Obviously we butted heads a lot, but we managed to keep our mouths shut in respect.  I don’t usually spend a lot of time with such conservative people, so it was fascinating to listen to him. The fact that his kids weren’t allowed to read Harry Potter beyond KILLED me!!! Painful. Goa is known as the party state of India, but Dee and I didn’t experience that side at all. Partly due to being sick and partly because we only did stuff with the Menezes. Clearly from the above description, partying wasn’t on their agenda.

Next up was Mumbai/Bombay 12 hours north of Goa in the next state- Maharashtra. We only had two and 1/2 days there and one goal- to be an extra in a Bollywood movie.  On our first day, after breakfast, I announced to Dee “we NEED to find a phone to call this casting agent to book us on a shoot.” Literally, not more than 5 seconds later, a young guy approached us with a business card for Cute Look Productions asking us to be an extra! He was heaven-sent. He told us to meet him at 3pm at McDonald’s (since obviously all westerners should know where it is) and we’d be in a song and dance scene. He said they’d do our hair and make-up and provide us with costumes and we’d get paid 500Rupees (about $12.50) for working from 3:30-8pm. We couldn’t wait! We spent the morning doing the recommended Lonely Planet (the backpacker’s bible) walking tour and met up with him at 3. The shoot was set-up at an abandoned old factory and we found out it was for a music video, not an actual Bollywood movie. The video was the first for this boy band called F4*- the winners of last years’ Indian Idol! The cheesiness factor was at a solid 12 out of 10. I’ve never seen anything like it. I will be dying until it comes out on youtube so you can see for yourself. The group consisted of four boys in their early 20’s (typical of a boy band), but they could NOT dance- they just basically moved their arms around and did strange rap video-type moves. One scene, for example, had them dressed all in white against a white background with a giant dove painted on it. Then, two ‘animal handlers’ (I’d call them animal abusers actually) were throwing doves across the camera frame so it looked like they were flying. In case you couldn’t figure it out, the song is about peace and freedom. Obvious and cheesy much!?! Finally, at 10pm, two hours after we were supposed to have finished, we began our scene. At the beginning of the day there were about 10 white girls, but by scene-time Dee and I were the only token white girls left! In our scene, the boys just exited their car (license plate F4* with neon F4* sign hanging from aboveof course) and we played their REALLY EXCITED fans. I had a poster with Abhi’s face on it covered in lipstick kissies and I had to hug him and have him autograph it- screaming and jumping up and down all the while. After 10 takes, it was exhausting work!!! It’s going to look beyond ridiculously cheesy on film too. CANNOT wait to see it!!! We received our promised $12.50 for 8 hours work. Oh India.

I had just finished reading this AMAZING book called SHANTARAM, which takes place in Bombay. The author describes the city so well that after 900 pages, I felt like I’d been there and knew everything I wanted to see just from the book. We ended up hiring a driver to taxi us around on Bombay Day 2 because of the heat and our limited time. First stop was the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat where hundreds of men wash thousands of pounds of laundry every day. Each man has his own ‘cubicle’ with dirty looking water and a large rock that he uses to pound the dirt out of the clothes. I asked why only men are allowed to work there and the women said it’s because laundry is such backbreaking labor. Next, we went to the Mahalaxmi Temple, which is a Hindi temple dedicated to Laxmi- the Goddess of Good Fortune. I’ve found that the temple scene in India is very similar to my experiences at temples in China, in that EVERYONE pushes to get to the front. I had to throw a few elbows just to get my puja (blessing) from the priest. The people going to worship are RUDE! It’s just such a contradiction, being that it is a holy site with a holy purpose. I am learning to greatly value the order that we have in the US of A! We Americans sure do know how to wait patiently in lines and exit airplanes and busses in an orderly fashion. Anyway, next we went to the Haji Ali floating mosque, which was the first mosque either of us had ever visited. We both felt very uncomfortable inside for a variety of reasons. A of all, Dee was wearing cut-off denim shorts and neither of us had head coverings and B, we simply didn’t know the procedure or where to stand or what to do as it was prayer time. We left in a hurry, though it was an interesting place for sure. Bombay has a large Parsi population- a religious sector originated in Persia, who believe that the earth is sacred. Therefore, instead of burying or cremating their dead, they leave them out to corrode while vultures eat the flesh. The place where they pile the bodies in Bombay is within the Towers of Silence. We tried to go see these Towers, but it is off limits to everyone except Parsis.

After Bombay, we flew to Jaipur up in Rajasthan. It was semi-miserable because there was no air-conditioning for most of the flight- being in a confined space 40k feet in the air with NO air flow in the hot weather is not enjoyable. It was Women’s Day (did you know March 8th is International Women’s Day?!) so all of the ladies on board received a free sandwich and lychee juice! I felt bad for the man next to me who was staring longingly at my paneer sandwich. I don’t know too much about how women are treated here, but I’ve mostly talked to men and NONE of their wives actually worked in a job- just tended to household duties. I can’t imagine just making chapattis all day long. Ugh. Jaipur is a REALLY busy place- it’s the capital of Rajasthan- and known at the ‘Pink City,’ though everything is actually more salmon-colored. We hired drivers for both days– it’s really just the only way to get around to see everything as public transportation doesn’t seem to exist. Today, our driver Vicky (he is a boy with a girl’s name- very common), took us to see his Guru. He read our chakras and energy. He said he disliked me from the instant I walked into the room- meanie! He did say some very interesting stuff though, including that I shouldn’t go back to the city where I was living before this trip because bad energy was there. He also stated that I need to do creative work, I have lower back and knee pain, and low iron (all true). He said my throat chakra (communication skills) was blocked and I need to lower the mask I tend to put up. Great. Other than all that, he said I have fantastic energy. I don’t necessarily believe everything he said at all, but there were some points of good insight.

Off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal tomorrow at 6am and then moving on to the very holy city on the Ganges River- Varanasi- tomorrow night!

Love,
Madam Jillian
** Everyone here calls me madam – I feel as if I run a brothel! **

 

Happy Oscars!

Unfortunately, this year will be the first time in probably 15 years that I won’t be watching the Oscars. Tonight, I am boarding a 10 hour overnight train (my first overnighter in India) to go to a city in Karnataka called Hampi and none of the guesthouses there have TVs. No chance of getting a sports bar to play them for me either, since alcohol is forbidden in this ‘Holy’ place. I’m just going to be blindly rooting for Sicko and Cate Blanchett for I’m Not There to take home the gold.

Yesterday Dee and I got ’stuck’ in Bangalore and decided to spend our time watching Hollywood movies, since they are very rarely playing anywhere. We first saw Jumper, which was AWFUL!! I thought maybe major scenes were cut out to show here or something, but then I read a bunch of reviews saying there were plot holes left and right, so I think it really is just that bad. The reason I’m writing about this though, is that before the movie, they made everyone in the theatre stand-up and they played the National Anthem on the screen! Amazing. THEN, literally half-way through the film, the projector just shut off in the middle of a scene and it was intermission for the next 15 minutes. Workers came into the theatre to take people’s orders of popcorn/drinks/samosas and then would deliver them to their seats! Unlike the Bollywood movie, there wasn’t any phone answering or chatting- I was surprised, but maybe this city crowd was just more sophisticated?? FYI- Bangalore is a really big city and tons of people come here to work in IT fields. In the evening, we saw We Own The Night (so much better-thank goodness) and the theatre was freeeeeezing, so the manager brought me a blanket. Conclusion: cinema experiences in India are VERY different from America.

I am learning that there are many different games you have to play in this country. The first, and most useful and important, is the art of bargaining. This game ALWAYS needs to be played with a smile and a “let’s have fun, while making a deal, though I know I’m still probably getting screwed” attitude. I think the salespeople love it a lot more than I do, but if I want to get anything for a semi-decent price, it’s the only way to go. The second game is being touted around by a rickshaw driver or guide from store to store. In this game, you really only have to go into a store for five minutes, get majorly hassled by the salespeople then get out and get a free/cheap ride to the next touristy spot or shop. Today, Gunga took us around from 10am to 3pm, alternating between stores and errands and touristy spots. We had to go into six different stores for him, but he didn’t charge us for one ride. It’s extremely draining to pretend to seem semi-interested, but well worth the 500 Rupees we probably saved in the long run.

Going back to my time in Mysore, we befriended an English photographer named Peter, who in turn befriended an Indian rickshaw driver named Harish. Since we were friends of Peter, Harish took the three of us to his family home, where his wife and sister-in-law cooked us a fantastic thali lunch and then the girls dressed us up in their saris. Peter proceeded to do an America’s Next Top Model inspired photoshoot with us in our saris in front of a bicycle full of buckets and on top of a taxi. It was hilarious- all of the little villagers came out to watch in awe. The next day, Harish took us to this huge and incredible temple in his rickshaw on the bumpiest, holiest (not in the spiritual sense) road imaginable and let me tell you how LITTLE shock absorbtion those tiny 3-wheeler rickshaws have. It was very tiring being shaken around like that for 2 hours to get to the temple and back. Harish watched Peter with his camera and would take my camera and mimic everything he did. He eventually wore down my battery completely because, like Peter the professional photographer, he would take 4-5 shots of every little thing with all different angles. Never in his life had he owned a camera, so as a little present, I bought him a disposable one.

xoxo

 

Pics

Uploaded new pictures from the ashram and my time in Kerala- links are on the side!

Also, wanted to add a link to this slideshow from the ashram that this guy Rishi took during our Yoga Vacation. He’s an amazing photographer- enjoy! http://www.rishio.com/galleries/sivananda/index.html

 

Post-Ashram/India First Impressions

After our “liberation” from the prison-like (at times) ashram, I finally got to see INDIA! The ashram was filled with mostly westerners and really could have been set anywhere in the world, so on our freedom journey from Neyyar Dam to Trivandrum (Kerela’s capital) by taxi- I took in the sights and smells of India for the first time. Kerela is one of India’s 28 states and is nicknamed “God’s Own Country.” I was really gearing up to learn some Hindi to communicate to those few who don’t speak English, but the state language is Malayalam- turns out, not everyone even understands Hindi- so that idea has kind of gone out the window. No way am I going to possibly learn even the basics of the hundreds of languages and dialects spoken in this country. 

As far as the smells are concerned, there is definitely a scent in the air, though it changes from absolutely delicious to absolutely disgusting. Nothing yet though has been as bad as the smells (or toilets) I experienced quite often in China- thank goodness. I have a feeling that the north is VERY different from the south and this will be changing fairly soon. It is true what they say about your senses being on overload. There are just sooo many colors and cars and cows that it’s hard to keep my eye on any one thing for every long. The taxi and auto-rickshaw (Indian Ferarri) rides scare me to no end- I’ve started to just avoid looking out the window entirely. I find in this situation it’s better to just be in denial.

Our first stop after doing some major emailing catch-up in Trivandrum was to a city on the coast called Kollam, where we did a backwaters canoe tour of Munroe Island. While waiting for our tour to start, we stopped at this four-story Wedding Center to have a look at the saris. About five different sales people were eagerly pulling saris of all different colors, designs and prices off the shelves for us to make our choice. We narrowed it down to 3 saris each, without any intention to actually buy one. I really just wanted to try one on and have a look at myself as an Indian lady. Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to escape the grasps of the salespeople without buying anything. Even though I really like the “game” of haggling for prices (it really can be fun when done with a smile), I do not like feeling the huge weight of the pressure most sales people pile on to get you to just buy something. I also don’t like feeling that no-one can be trusted. If someone tries to help me, I often find myself thinking that they’re just doing it for a quick buck. It’s very very unfortunate, but happens too often to not be wary.

Anyway, on our canoe trip, we went through this little village and got out a few times to see how people there make a living and learned a thousand different uses for coconuts- from soaps to ropes. The canoe trip, clocking in at 3 hours, was a tad long, but extremely relaxing, minus the few minutes where I thought our ship might sink as the boat-man poured bucket after bucket of water out of our boat that was coming in through the HOLE in the bottom. In Kollam, we went to eat at the Indian Coffee House (a small chain restaurant) and discovered that there are seperate room for ladies only- how 1950s!  The non-western restaurants still have us eating with our hand off of metal plates, just like at the ashram, and full vegetarian meals cost anywhere from 50 cents to $1! I’m still not over how inexpensive most things are. For example, tomorrow we are getting a full-day guided tour for only $3!!

After Kollam, we traveled by train to Cochi and spent the next 3 days there. It was ridiculously hot, so we spent most afternoons drinking tea and devouring our books in cooled restaurants. I found a heavenly place with iced coffee comparable to Starbucks and went there quite often, of course. While wandering along the beach to see the neat-looking Chinese fishing nets, I passed a vendor selling peanuts cooked in sand and then sold while still covered in sand. Who eats sand?! I didn’t quite get how this would be enjoyable.  I also passed a long line of schoolchildren and each of them needed to shake my hand and ask me my name and where I was from. I really needed my publicist. It is funny though- how you feel a little bit like a celebrity. I think someone needs to teach these kids how to high-five- it would be much more time-efficient than having to shake hands and going down the line would be much simpler.

One afternoon, we decided to cool off while watching a movie at the local cinema. The box office man said that the movie, Jodhaa Akbar, was over 3.5 hrs long and entirely in Hindi without subtitles, but even with this warning, we went ahead and purchased our $1.25 tickets in the 1st class balcony seats. The experience was FANTASTIC!! First of all, from what I understood, the movie was pretty good and the cinematography was gorgeous. I was surprised at how much I was able to understand without knowing one word of Hindi- but it was a pretty basic historical love story with lots of elephants in the gorey fight scenes. The audience was a’hootin and a’hollerin throughout the entire movie, with cell phones ringing (and being answered) left and right. In the US, this would have driven me NUTS, but it somehow added to the experience. Everytime the two leads would come close to touching or kissing (they never did), people would start oohing and aahing and yelling stuff at the screen. I can’t wait to see another!! After we saw the movie, I was reading the NY Times and saw it reviewed in there, so I guess it’s coming out in the states if anyone want to see it- though I’m sure it won’t be the same seeing in a quiet, normal theatre. ]

Another interesting thing to note is that the men are extremely friendly towards one another. They are always clasping hands or walking down the street with their arms around each other. It’s very interesting since India is supposedly very homophobic, yet the men look very into each other.

 From Cochi, we took a train and a very bumpy, crowded bus that was missing window panes to get to Kalpetta in the Wayanard District in the Western Ghats. Yesterday, we arranged to have a full-day guided tour with our hotel, which started at 6am and finished at 6pm. First we went to a wildlife sanctuary in hopes of spotting wild-elephants and tigers (no such luck- we only saw a mongoose, peacocks, and birds), then to a VERY old Jain Temple, to the overly schoolgroup crowded Eddekal Caves to see petroglyphs dating back to 6000 BC (pretty spectacular stuff!), then to a waterfall and finally back to our hotel. There is a major transportation strike going on today due to petroleum hikes, so we had to thenrush and pack up to get on a 7pm bus to get to Mysore (since we wouldn’t have been able to travel today) and we arrived last night at midnight.  From here, we are going to Hampi for a few days, then to Goa, where I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending my 26th birthday! After that…I really haven’t a clue, but definitely heading north pretty quickly since my flight out of India is on March 25th and have to squeeze in as much as possible during the next month. Adios for now chicas and chicos! (I actually kinda miss Spanish!)

xoxo

 

How I Spent My Yoga Vacation

Now everyone sit cross-legged with your left leg tucked in first, hips forward, shoulders down, back straight, with your hands on your knees in Chin Mudra. Close your eyes and take 3 deep abdominal breaths. Command the mind to be quiet and don’t play an active part in your thoughts- instead, just watch them go by. Focus on either your heart, if you are a loving person, or the spot between your eyebrows, if you are an intellectual person. Now repeat OM or your personal mantra mentally or quietly under your breath for the next half hour.

That is how we began each day at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram,
in Neyyar Dam, Kerala, South India in our satsang starting at 6am and again at 8pm. The 2 week program I did was called “yoga vacation.” In satsang, along with our meditation, we did a lot of chanting (I bought a CD entitled LIVE AT SATSANG so you’ll be able to get the idea once I torture you with it when I’m home) and then one of the head Swamis (monks) would give a little talk. Topics included love, God, and why you should not have sex (or go shopping!!) if you want to be successful in life. My meditation skills are relatively useless. I can’t even come close to sitting still the entire 30 mins because my lower back is so tight, which then transfers to my hips being unable to go down far enough and therefore, my knees want to kill me when I sit “Indian-style.” Also, there’s a cat named Tiger who enjoys making me giggle by meowing during meditation and birds are chirping from every which way and lions roaring from the sanctuary about a mile from the ashram. Yes, the ashram is surrounded by lions, there are crocodiles in the lake, and if you think any unpure thoughts, you are surely destined not to succeed- it’s a dangerous place! Needless to say, it’s hard to concentrate during meditation. After trying my heart out for the first 3 days, I subsided to using the time to simply daydream. I still really enjoyed the hour daily set aside for meditation though- I got lots of great thinking in that there usually isn’t time for on a daily basis and strange things definitely popped into my head every once in awhile. 

After our morning satsang, we were rewarded with tea (am now completely addicted) and if we were lucky, a banana smaller than my thumb. This is supposed to hold you over for another 3 hours until breakfast time at 10am-we wake up at 5:20am so the wait is trying.  After tea, it’s time for the first asana (posture) or Yoga class of the day. I joined the beginner class and we had two classes daily- each lasting for 2 hours. Yes, it is as tiring as it sounds, but from all the special breathing exercises, somehow it’s incredibly energizing as well. Our morning class teacher is a yoga therapist from Canada and tells us that if something hurts while yoga-ing to “talk to the pain like a small child and just guide it through.” Yeah-somehow that doesn’t work lady! My yoga accomplishments by the end of our 13 days included a pretty perfectly straight headstand, a few seconds in The Crow, and touching my toes for the first time in probably 20 years!

Meals, at 10am and 6pm, had us sitting on the floor in front of metal plates and cups. Our onionless & garlicless vegetarian food is ladled/slopped out onto our plates from huge buckets and I felt myself quoting “Oliver!” quite a few times. We proceeded to eat using only our right hands. Inevitably, my clothes and floor area were disasters by the time I finished, but it is really fun eating with my hand.

I served tea during afternoon tea time at 1:30pm for my karma yoga aka self-less service aka chores! Everyone at the ashram has to do some sort of chore for good karma. I’m not really supposed to say this because it goes against the purpose of karma yoga, but I pretty much had the best job possible. It was really easy and didn’t involve scrubbing toilets, so honestly I felt blessed. The crazy thing is though, that you’re supposed to WANT to do the most back-breaking and smelliest job unselfishly because it gives you better karma- oops! Other than our 2 satsangs, 2 teas, 2 meals and 2 yoga sessions, I spent a lot of time reading, siesta-ing, journaling and chatting with my new group of friends. It’s really hard to describe the vibe around the ashram, but it was usually very positive. There was even a talent show on Saturday night that was as painful as I’d expected. One German named Wolfgang even did some performance art.

No, I haven’t turned into a New Age-ie spiritual guru and no it didn’t change my life, but I did learn a lot about Sivananda hatha yoga, a bit about meditation, and from our lectures, a little more about what yoga culture is all about.  These Sivananda yoga centers are spread all over the world, including one on W. 24th St in NYC and one in Chicago.  In my daydreams during meditation, I spent lots of time thinking about how I’d come back to NYC and am able to afford joining both a fancy yoga studio and a gym and would go to yoga every morning on my walk to work and to the gym after work.  Uh-huh- keep on dreamin’! Om shanti blessed ones.