Today was my second full day in India. Already there is so much to write! India is splendid, rich with detail, and very new to me. Where to start??
I met up with my Bandha Room yogi travel buddies on the layover in London, flew to Bangalore, and then got a taxi to the city of Mysore. During the 4 hour ride I looked out the windows to see the sun slowly change the dark sky to colors, tall tall palm trees heavy with green coconuts, patches of insane traffic coming at us from all directions, beautiful women draped in the most gorgeous fabrics (one tiny truck where so many ladies crouched together closely as sardines), men peeing on the side of the road, two monkeys crossing the street, big beautiful white cows with horns growing straight back, dogs eating trash, a giant golden Ganesha, pastel colored buildings, huts made of plastic bags, painted trucks.....This is India. A place of high contrast; a feast for the eyes and the imagination.
On our first afternoon we were magically invited to go to a lunch cooked by a woman named Sandya who used to cook for Guruji. Another amazing rickshaw ride and we were there, half dazed and hungry from all the travel. The food came out in waves: little bowls of spiced tomatoes, potatoes peas and onion, cucumber salad, grated beets, curried rice, and warm chapatis. All delicious! We got to meet some other friendly yogis to help us orient and get our bearings. A great start to the trip.
We walked around the neighborhood yesterday to get a feel for things. I am enamored with the white mandalas chalked onto the driveways in front of many of the houses. Little blessings. Things like that are everywhere here: Paintings adorn even the big dirty trucks, strands of jasmine tied on the front of the rickshaws and in ladies' hair, mini altars at the bases of trees, flower petals to grace pictures of gods, a smudge of red pigment in the center of the forehead. I am soaking in these adornments, taking in all these sights like nourishment....
I met up with my Bandha Room yogi travel buddies on the layover in London, flew to Bangalore, and then got a taxi to the city of Mysore. During the 4 hour ride I looked out the windows to see the sun slowly change the dark sky to colors, tall tall palm trees heavy with green coconuts, patches of insane traffic coming at us from all directions, beautiful women draped in the most gorgeous fabrics (one tiny truck where so many ladies crouched together closely as sardines), men peeing on the side of the road, two monkeys crossing the street, big beautiful white cows with horns growing straight back, dogs eating trash, a giant golden Ganesha, pastel colored buildings, huts made of plastic bags, painted trucks.....This is India. A place of high contrast; a feast for the eyes and the imagination.
On our first afternoon we were magically invited to go to a lunch cooked by a woman named Sandya who used to cook for Guruji. Another amazing rickshaw ride and we were there, half dazed and hungry from all the travel. The food came out in waves: little bowls of spiced tomatoes, potatoes peas and onion, cucumber salad, grated beets, curried rice, and warm chapatis. All delicious! We got to meet some other friendly yogis to help us orient and get our bearings. A great start to the trip.
We walked around the neighborhood yesterday to get a feel for things. I am enamored with the white mandalas chalked onto the driveways in front of many of the houses. Little blessings. Things like that are everywhere here: Paintings adorn even the big dirty trucks, strands of jasmine tied on the front of the rickshaws and in ladies' hair, mini altars at the bases of trees, flower petals to grace pictures of gods, a smudge of red pigment in the center of the forehead. I am soaking in these adornments, taking in all these sights like nourishment....
I wrote this post on my iphone! It's kindof great that I'm able to do it this way, but not ideal because I'd rather have all the photos interspersed with the words which doesn't seem possible from the mobile app. I came to an internet cafe to edit and beautify the post and the internet connection is so slow that none of the pages will load. So here it is....this may be as good as it gets!
ReplyDelete-Julia
Oh Julia,
ReplyDeleteHow very beautiful your travels, writings and photos are!
You really capture the heart of what you see, hear, touch and smell. You have a rare gift. I am so happy for you and this lovely life journey. I started at the 19th and read my way backwards. Loved everything! Looking forward to more my sweet niece. Hugs, health, and magic of spirit be with you. LY, Nan