Hari Om..

So now I have had a glimpse of what it is to devote your life to a Guru & to meditation. I have to say I found it to be pretty much what I expected but a little less obsessive. It is something I have been curious about since my early 20's. What a great place to have stayed - I was made to feel very welcome. There is a fantastic collection of characters working at the Kriya Yoga Ashram. A soft orange clad India lady called Tara Mata Jii who speaks a little English very musically - offered to teach me everything she knew about Reiki but I declined to take her up on the offer! Evey morning she dons her trainers and does her daily exercise routine of walking round the grounds. Security Guard No. 1 - This aged gentleman reminds me of sadley (Webber;s will know what I mean). he has white hair but obviously dyed it brown a few months ago and hasn't had his roots done!! He tends the garden beautifully - over dinner one evening he told me, "It's not my duty.. no no! I do it because it is my hobby - my pleasure.. yes"
There is a couple who do the general chores around and about who have twin boys aged 4. The man looks like a mini ninja with wild black hair and she is a very beautiful young smiley lady who wears striking but simple saris. The colour of her skin is a beautiful dark brown and the deep sunflower yellow colour of her sari top is just lovely. Swami Jii - the main man at the Ashram who has renounced his life to spiritual practice is a funny character who makes delicious peanut and jaggery sweet balls & to get peoples attention shouts "Hari Om.. Hari Om!!". He has a big smile and lots of energy and nips around the place doing his work.
Chef makes spicy food and every since I expressed a liking for chapatti gave me at least one at every meal! He seemingly is the top dog of the workers but they affectionately take the micky out of him sometimes!

Crooked bullet

I left at 6am on Tuesday so I could make good time to Shimla only to have to stop an hour down the road because my petrol cap had fallen off! I had to wait for a couple of hours till the shops opened so I drank a couple of chais and waited. I’d called a number on the top of the shop and asked the man if he had one to sell which he said he did but when he arrived evidently he didn’t. So I waited a little longer.. the second shop which opened half an hour later had one so I was on the road again at 9.30am.
I arrived in Shimla at about 6pm and after riding about this hilly town for an hour, eventually I found a hotel. The 12 hrs and wet, windy roads had tested my resilience and the man at the hotel bore the brunt of my state! When he showed me the room I burst into tears and said I’ll take it.. and sorry for the tears to which he replied.. “No no madam no problem..” quickly followed by.. “you look beautiful, can I kiss you!” I replied, “If you kiss me I’ll slap you” and as we walked down to the reception he insisted that he’d been joking! That was the last thing I needed but actually it stopped my tired tears and made me chuckle a little. I did bolt the door that night though! The bed and room was massive – as was the rate for the room, but at 7pm when it is raining outside and getting dark – 12quid seemed doable. 6quid gets you a decent room with hot water and bedding so 12quid was really rather a lot.

I was not sure whether to carry onto Rishikesh or go back to Vashisht as the further away I was getting from Kullu the more unsure I was becoming, but on waking at 5am I told myself to carry on, so I did & set off at about 6am. Sitting on the marble steps of the Ashram having just eaten a very tasty chickpea and potato curry with fresh soft chapatti I feel very happy to be here. Seeing Hilly, a small cute smiley face in the sea of orange clad Indian men was just brilliant and I’m so pleased I didn’t go back.

The landscape after Nahan changed dramatically and the roads improved hugely. What took 1 ½ hrs in the mountains took me 30 mins on the road to Rishikesh. The landslides, road works and twisty/windy wet roads make for very slow progress.

Visually Yogic

One week into my summer holiday and I am now fully into the Indian rhythm of life. The pace here is so different to home, “shanty” as they say here. Most mornings I’ve been getting up to go to yoga with a partially sighted Indian man called Swami Yoganandajii. It’s taken about a year for me to remember his name. It is quite a challenging class with lots of nose blowing/snot flying exercises at the beginning and head stands at the end! It is in a very spacious, simply made hall or room and you can hear the river Beas & bird song (or rain!) in the background as you practice yoga. It is quite remarkable how intuitive Swami jii is and that he is able to adjust your pose so that you are doing it right without even being able to actually see you clearly. The class is a real mix of people from bronzed Europeans wearing skimpy lycra to plump local Indian ladies in their traditional suits. Anyone who comes to stay ought to try it out..

Ready, Steady, Cook

On arrival the shell of the kitchen was somewhat a shock! Anu had failed to tell me that not only had the carpenter not been able to finish his work, but in fact he hadn’t even started it & neither had the plumber, plasterer, painter or tiler!! This seems to be a strategy adopted by many Indians as they don’t like to disappoint. This goes for everything; even asking for directions! If you stop and ask someone, “Is this town this way or that way?” they will say, “yes” rather than that they don’t know! Talking to a friend about the situation gave a bit of a better understanding as to why this had happened. The hierarchy in the village is so prevalent that if someone ‘higher’ requires a tradesman then it is the others ‘duty’ to let the workers move jobs. This is something I have to accept as no amount of money, anger or persistence will change it! Anyway this has meant that for the past week I have eaten out.. oh what a hardship! Today I sorted out a makeshift kitchen and went shopping for veggies and milk yesterday so could make chai and some lunch at home today. It was so nice to have a chai and sit in the top room looking over the mountains this lazy Sunday morning.

In the beginning..

I want to start this blog to keep people up to date on what I am up to while in India.