Last day in India

... so I'm flying back home tomorrow morning.
It feels too early to have, let alone to share, some general thoughts about this trip.
All I know is that I had an amazing 3 months and it feels natural to go home now.
I'll try to keep that blog going a little bit to let you know how I settle down in London.

Love,
Om Shanti,

Caroline

last 2 weeks stories and pictures...

India 2010 - part 5

As you can see from the map of the previous post, from Hampi, I went on to Mysore, where I stayed 2 days.

Pennywise and pound foolish
I've always loved that phrase and really applied to its best there: I stayed in a really nice hotel, with swimming pool, A/C etc and then got in a row over half a roupie that the cloakroom guy wouldn't give me back. I also walked a block to get my Rs 10 coconut, because Rs 20 really is a rip-off... only to pay Rs 80 for chai at a hotel/palace!!
Anyway, Mysore has a nice center, with an Indian/art deco maharadjah palace and a beautiful market for vegetable, flowers, spiced - so I really enjoyed those quiet 2 days...

On Friday 12th, 5pm, Mariette and I agreed to head to Rishikesh that same night.
The main reason for our hesitation was the Kumba Mela that is taking place in Haridwar currently. It draws millions of Hindu with its many auspicious dates for bathing in the Ganges and as it is on the way to Rishikesh, we didn't know if we'd be able to get through. Well, getting to Rishikesh was fine. For Mariette to get back to Delhi the night before one of the most auspicious days is another story... that she will tell in her blog shortly!

We enjoyed fruit juices on the riverside and white water rafting during that weekend, and then Mariette left as she had to get back to work. I was able to attend really nice yoga classes at my hotel and found someone who held 1h meditation session every morning. It felt as if many sensations were coming together at the end of those 3 months. Accross the town of Rishikesh, I was touched by all the pilgrims who travel such a long way, in difficult conditions, who sleep on the side of the river Ganga, to be able to bathe there at the right time.

Philippe became my travel buddy to get to Haridwar, as we were not sure what we'd find and it's nicer to be with someone when things get rough. Anyway, it ended up being a very nice and relaxing day as not that many people were there. We watched the pilgrims, the Naga Babas (naked holy men or not so holy), the swamis, the river go by. The day finished with the climatic aarti - when fire is shown to the gods and then to the devotees for purification, along with chanting. As most of the devotees, we deposited some flowers with a light on the river. I was really moved when depositing my little basket on mother Ganga: each light goes their own little way, some flipping over quite soon, others traveling quite a bit - so it doesn't matter if one's own doesn't go far. I felt like the power of this ritual was that Ganga slowly turns into this river of light and hope and this makes each individual prayer/wish possible.

Eventually, it was time to go back to Delhi, to enjoy a girls weekend with my cousin sister Mariette, staying at her very homey flat...
We did some yoga, some shopping, some pedicures, some nice wining and dining - who can ask for more?
As today is my last day, I went for a marathon of visits:
- Humayun's tomb at 9 am - what an amazing site. it is so grandiose and simple and peaceful. I simply loved that place and could have stayed hours in the shade of a tree there
- Purana Qila at 10:30 am - another very peaceful site, very green
- National Museum at 12 - many reminders of the rest of my trip + I realise I make more sense now of all the various deities, who is the avatar of whom, etc, so it was really fun to walk through those regions and centuries. (+ the museum has A/C :) )

Guess where I am :)

I know I can be a little hard to track, so please find below my itinerary of the past 2 weeks (I did fly from Bengaluru to Delhi...)
I am now at the foot of the mountains, enjoying the views on the Ganges and the quite special atmosphere of Rishikesh. I am this minute hesitating between a 4 day trek with views on the himalayas or laying low, doing yoga and meditation here - still a beautiful view. Any thoughts on that? (we can make this an interactive blog :) )
On Friday I go back to Delhi and then fly back to Paris next Wednesday.






View Larger Map

some pictures

India 2010 - part 4

now in Hampi...

so, I did go to the beach... and stayed there one day. I really enjoyed the view and swimming in the sea but I was ready to move on at the end of the day!
So after spending a quiet day in the very cute town of Gokarna, I took the night bus to Hampi; certainly an adventure in itself. I was welcomed by Muttu, the guide recommended by Meghna, and he has taking me around this amazing World heritage site for the past 2 days. I'm resting today - the mainy things to visit + the heat are taking their tolls, and I need a break from my holidays :)
Maybe I will try to go for the waterfalls tomorrow...

Hampi is an amazing area where the remains of volcano activity form hills of boulders, on which kings of the 14/15/16th centuries had temples and palaces built (carving directly their raw material out of those granite boulders). Witnessing sunset over that landscape, I imagine that they are the giant ruins of giant people whose civilisation was swept away, and small humans arrived and settled over those remains, trying to replicate in their small way the grandeurs of their predecessors, only to be swept away in their turn...

love

inner peace and cosmic happiness (bis)

The 2 weeks I spent at Sivananda ashram were amazing and challenging at the same time. It was a very good complementary experience to the time at Manav Sadhna.
While giving, self less love and compassion were at the core of MS values, Sivananda ashram's approach is more focused on Bakhti (devotional) yoga and raja yoga (physical practice and meditation).

A discipline is imposed to the students to help them focus on that personal development and can be quite exhausting if you launch at full steam into it. Being me, I, of course, jumped up to intermediate class on the second day and gave the asanas (postures) and the overall program all I had. After 2 days, I was surprised to be completely exhausted and with a really stiff neck; seriously, that was only 4h of hata yoga a day! ;)

To rescue me from that stiff neck, a yoga teacher gave me a powerful shiatsu massage, that relaxed me so much that I spent 2 days like a zombie. I also received a very sweet and beautiful tarot reading by Asrael: the outcome card had "peaceful strength" in store for me - it sounds like a great goal!

The ashram life is quite full on and, after a couple of days of embracing it while trying not to judge, I took a step back to assess what, amongst all the activities and values they shared with us, was part of my journey and what was really not for me. Since I am not going for enlightenment (at least not in this life ;) ), I could kind of pick and chose what can really help me in my daily life...

Did you know you can actually learn to relax? well, I must have learned it as I find myself more relax than I have rarely been (even if things are not always going exactly as I want...).  I also certainly developed my ability to sit crosslegged: up to 5h sitting on the floor, that was a lot for me! I can now be still for 15/20 min, which is a progress on the 10 min from when I arrived in India... I also noticed that each time I had a low, I could be kind to myself and hang in there just a little bit more, and that low would just pass (so no fighting...).

The daily life is sharing a dormitory with 31 other women of all nationalities; washing your clothes by hand (which I have been doing since the start in Jan, so I was used to that); waking up at 5:20 am to meditated and chant at 6; going to bed at 10:30 pm. and yes, I sung Hare Krishna every morning noon and night!
so you let go of a lot of little comfort elements and prejudices...

 I have also now accepted that I am NOT detached from food. The food served at the ashram is satvik, which in short means that it is supposed to help you meditate - no meat of course, no eggs, but also no spices, no onions, no garlic! and only 2 meals a day. Each time I'd close my eyes, after 1 week, I'd see steaks, saucissons, oysters, etc. dance in front of me. I am ok to eat in silence and mindfully, but if the food has some taste and consistency. As soon as I left the ashram last monday, I went for a butter chicken: the most silent, mindful and tasty meal I'd had in a long time! :)

I think I could write pages more on my experience there, the great people I met etc.
The main lesson is that the journey to inner peace and cosmic happiness (thanks oli for that phrase ;) ) requires acceptance, courage and perseverance - but results can be reaped as early as the first step on it...

Love

moving on from Kerala

A bit of catch up to do as I was on internet detox the last two weeks!

Firstly, I would like to share the pictures of the wedding I attended over 2 weeks ago in Nagpur, Maharastra. it was a buddhist wedding - a great opportunity for me to observe different traditions and even take part in them, also a great opportunity for fun! (I've also included last pictures from Gujarat)

India 2010 - part 3

For more recent news: I just spent 2 weeks in Sivananda Ashram and am now travelling alone towards Gokarna, in Karnataka, to spend a couple of days relaxing at the beach.
I'll tell you more on the ashram - and the beach soon.
I realise I have "only" 3 weeks left: I'm trying to keep my mind focused in the here and the now, once again, planning only the bare minimum.

xxx
Caroline
PS: for this album and the previous one, I've tagged the photos on a map in picasaweb, so you should be able to see it!