milk it...

Lee's dead keen to get some raw milk to make some raw butter...so we were cruising along to Loyal World for some Khichiri supplies, when we spotted a group of cows being milked on the side of the road...we found the milker with the best English - Mahesh (see the pic) and took a try on the teat...Mahesh and his mates milk daily in the afternoons, so Lee and I arranged with Mahesh to come back and do some milking ourselves and get some milk...hopefully daily. Mahesh said that they deliver milk to the Shala...the milk was so frothy and creamy...just what Lee was looking for...

Mysore Palace has something like 97,000 light bulbs...Hanuman, Alex and I went along, though a bit late...next time i reckon get there a half hour before sundown as the lights are coming on...the street sellers see it as a perfect opportunity to sell to a captive audience...

After taking in the lights there was still time to make it to the shop to pick up the dhoti and kulta...i've loaded a pic of me in the dhoti - Hanuman helped me with tying it on :)

your dhoti and kurta is not quite ready sir...

the shopkeeper phoned the tailor's son, who said that the tailor was at the temple praying...so, it would be another half an hour before my dhoti and kurta would be ready...this was at 1845, after the shopkeeper had assured me yesterday that I come after 1800 and it would be ready...my suspicion is that the half an hour would be closer to 2 hours, so I took off back to Gokulam

i'd arrived at the silk emporium 1820, Manju my rickshaw driver picked me up around 1800, Manju asking - pick up the stitching?, his way of asking if the tailoring had been finished. I'd seen a couple of dhoti's around the place. My friend Andrew, from Adelaide via Encinitas, definitely looks the part in one, as does Arnet and Ben had a shot at wearing one too. Dhoti's are a traditional form of Indian clothing, I'd asked Andrew whether it was a cultural faux pas to call them a skirt...he said, yes, it is...i like the idea, there's a number of different ways to fold the rectangular piece of fabric that is a dhoti, most suited to warm indian weather, allowing some good ventilation up under the fabric, or so it looks like to me.

at the store, when i turned up, they didn't outright say that the tailor wasn't there, but instead suggested i check out some of their other goods for sale, upstairs...they have some awesome brass, marble, onyx, gold and silver, semi precious stones (see the pic in this post), sandalwood, rosewood...after that the shopkeeper gave me the "half an hour" line...enough for me to quit the scene and head back to Gokulam in the rickshaw...

what am I doing here???

...one of my facebook mates asked me that - what am I doing in India? Today and yesterday have been good to reflect a bit on that question. There was no yoga practise yesterday or today, so mainly relaxing round Gokulam.

I've been practising yoga for about 8 years, the last 6 years of which have been a style called Ashtanga, as taught by Sri Krishna Patthabi Jois, who, in turn was taught by Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, a great yogi and teacher who taught and helped many people. Krishnamacharya also had a strong lineage of teachers...

A traditional method of learning Ashtanga under Patthabi Jois method is known as "Mysore Style" - Mysore being the city I'm in at the moment, practising with Patthabi Jois daughter - Saraswati.

I started my Ashtanga practise in Adelaide with Simi and David Roche, then on to Sydney and North Sydney Yoga with Angelika Knoezer who bought Graeme and Leonie Northfield and Dena and Jack Kinsberg to our school each year to teach. The practise involves a set of asanas, or postures, performed 6 days/ week.

All the while speaking with people who practise this style, a question often asked is "have you been to Mysore" - the source of the teaching and a place to really get in touch with your practise

So, for the past 6 years this question has been spinning away in the back of my head. I've had a few half plans to make it over here...then, at the end of 2008, circumstances conspired to open the door fully to this opportunity...everything fell into place, if you will...and, here I am :)

all it's cracked up to be...

the highlight of the day - an "alignment" with Dae, a Hawaiin, Korean girl who has a unique body work method, involving chiropracty, martial arts, yoga, cranio-facial...Lee was the first on the mat, I took a pic of Dae about to mount an assault on Lee...Dae's a really strong gal and the work was pretty deep...to start there was some stretching into the lower back to prepare the body for what was to come...then a kind of wrestle hold on each shoulder, kind of pulling the arm out, extending the muscles around the clavicle...some spinal adjustment and a big twist, arms crossed, one leg bent at the knee. I got some really nice pops going on...

we had late lunch at Tina's, then a dvd and sweets session...the sweets were a bit too much though, within an hour I was coming down off a massive sugar high...which carried over into practise the next day.

Lee's got firm ideas about diet, having gone primal just before he reached Mysore...i'm also starting to notice the effects as well, with the high carb food not really feeling grounded, without enough protein and iron, among other essential nutrients

before all this was breakfast at Joseph's house. Joseph came to practise with Guruji 15 years ago...and is still here. Joseph's spent time organising travel for Guruji's family on a lot of his touring round the world.

Joseph's breakfast spread included dosas, a massive fruit salad, various chutneys and curd...and muesli..

this was after i'd been to Om Cafe (at Alia's) for a cup of coffee, where Natalie and Lee turned up after an ill fated scooter riding lesson for Nat...whereby one of her big toes scraped along the road for a bit...they showed up at Om Cafe and Javier took to the first aid brilliantly...couple of days later and Nat's toe's looking good. Not a helpful injury for the practise though

yesterday (Thursday, April 23rd), there was supposed to be a mass migration to Ooty...but there was a freeze on crossing the Tamil Nadu border, we think because of the elections going on...so, the Ooty crew hung around and we went to the Green Hotel in the arvo, for some protein, mainly in the form of fish...and for a cold beer. Haven't worked out how to position my pics in the text, so i think the beer pic is up at the top???

when it rains...

my stomach probs of my first week in Mysore were almost a memory...but it went from one extreme to another just before my practise on Monday, April 20th. I keep adding in the days as I'm kind of losing track of the day of the week and the date, being disconnected from the daily news and plugged in to talking about yoga, living well, karma, dharma...so the date is kind of in the background. So, before my practise, the drought caused by my stomach being good again, was broken and I had the lightest practise that I've had so far - including my first attempt at Pasasana in the second series. A historically tough posture for me, I was able to bind the posture on both sides, but I was way up on my toes, so balance was near impossible. Saraswati gave me a good, quick, strong adjustment into it...then told me to take Krounchasana in two days time (today). So I took Krounchasana today.

Alia's for breakfast next where I met up with Hanuman and Simone...Simone's laptop was exhibiting some strange behaviour, so, given I've told everyone I work in IT, I took to some computer fixing for Simone, unsuccessfully trying to figure out why the Toshiba light on her machine wasn't working.

Ben and I then took the table at the back underneath the coconut trees. It's the table farthest east so it's in the shade the longest. Hanuman and Simone joined us to get out of the sun...then Lee, then Hanuman and Simone left...then I described some business ideas to Ben and Lee. Breakfast is the perfect forum to postulate and muse on ideas, dreams, ambitions...to prove this point, we were still chatting when Hanuman came back with his friend Ram...by which time it was near midday and time to move on

I'd been keen to work on some yoga sutra chanting, Lee was keen to further his chanting and some philosophy, so, we thought we'd kick off maybe a daily session. First, off to the Green Leaf for some food, after we'd found out that Shiva's kitchen was open between 1 and 2, so we'd missed it.

Shiva recommended the Green Leaf, so Natalie, Elizabeth Lee and I took off there...food was certainly filling...but a little stodgy for me...

now, chanting? nope, shopping at a couple of garage stalls..Natalie ended up with some really nice tops...Lee ended up with an Indian/ Afghani camel trader combo which suited him really well...Elizabeth and I were interested onlookers...sometimes not so interested :)

now, chanting? nope, off to Anu's for smoothies...now, chanting...nope, absolutely stuffed!

April 21st - yep, got some chanting in...after a good practise then I ran into Alex, a girl from Malaysia, who's arrived in the last week, off to get some coffee...I too was interested in some coffee, so we shared a large at Alia's, along with Lee, who added some to his daily large chai, served in the same cup. The combo of coffee and chai? - a dirty chai, apparently quite big in Mexico?

I'd been struggling with sleep, ever since the day I had paan, coffee, a big pot of tea and a couple of bars of chocolate in the evening, so i flaked for about an hour, rebounded in time to get stuck into some banana bread with peanut butter, purchased the day before from the guys sitting across from the shala...then get invited to lunch at Aunty's in Lakshmipuram...having heard lunch there was good, i was in...off to the smallest eating place - see pic - off a small road, down a narrow laneway, in the smallest eating room - 7 of us tucked around this table, getting stuck into the best chapati i've had so far...and some really nice, fresh food

after some ice cream and smoothies...and shopping for khichiri ingredients...i made it back to Lee's...for some chanting - first 10 sutras in all, but it's a start :)

all about the food...

robbie from San Francisco took off from Bangalore at 4am this morning. Yesterday there was a feast in his honour at the Dasaprakash Hotel, apparently the scene of the finest thali...in the world...my judgement is reserved, but, it was really good...really good. after the meal they served small sweets containing paan?, which is traditionally chewed and contains a mild stimulant...that and the chocolate I blame for keeping me awake well past 11!

that was after a 5am lead practise, which, to me felt like a really slow count...then, the coconut man wasn't outside the shala, so a tortuous 50m commute to guru, the coconut man on the intersection at contour road...for one coconut, then back home to lie down, then i was out like a light - heavy, deep half an hour sleep, then off to Alia's for coffee and omelette...then organic markets near the Green Hotel. The market kicks off at 10am on a Sunday...i was a newbie but picked up some dried celery, basil, lemon grass, all spice and drumstick leaves...this week i've resolved to get some structure to my days. The first week was a sensory overload - new at the shala, lots of new people, still very much getting accustomed to India...eating out...A LOT...so the herbs and spices i'll use in some stir fries, a bit of home cooking for some grounding...i've started to clean every couple of days - the flat has tiled floors, which is nice, but with the dryness, everything's really dusty and the ants are really persistent, so Andrew reckons sweeping and mopping regularly are essential...after my first sweeping session, I could see why...

then Dasaprakash for lunch...

then karenji lake, in a group of about 8, it was the first time to the lake for everyone, except me. it's on the opposite side of the city to Gokulam, so not really on the yogi's radar. I see myself spending some hot afternoon's there, it's so green and peaceful

what followed was a fun, random sequence of events...we were with a Hawaiian girl...there I am with names again...who heard about the Lassi's at the 3 sisters restaurant, we took 2 rickshaws with Lee and Nat on their scooter. I was in the rickshaw with the Hawaiin girl, so that means i'm going to Lakshimpuram looking for 3 sisters and lassi...the other guys are keen to head back to Gokulam, but somehow, since ours is the lead rickshaw, we all end up at 3 sisters...which isn't open...we try Aunty's, just down the road, who's somewhat overwhelmed by 8 parched westerners turning up at the small front door of her home on the hunt for good lassi...no luck there...

we're in the backstreets of lakshmipuram, the suburb where Pattabhi Jois' original shala is...with not many rickshaw options...that's when the most pimped rickshaw i've seen comes around the corner...6 people, no problem...headed back go Gokulam, my butt perched on the bar on the right hand side of the rickshaw, sticking out a bit...a little more exposed than i'd like to the traffic...

half way back to Gokulam, a beer at the Green Hotel sounds perfect, so we ask the rickshaw driver to change directions...he doesn't quite understand so it's a bit of chaos through Gokulam backstreets, taking corners on 2 out of 3 wheels, bopping along to some Bollywood tunes...then the sanctuary of the Green Hotel, where no one ends up getting beer, but we did end up with some nice afternoon tea...after paying the rickshaw man Rs 150 for the pleasure...

another 6 person rickshaw back to Gokulam for Rs 60...then an hour of general milling at the contour road coconut stand...where Ben "shouted" me a coconut. I'd introduced Ben and Robbie to the Aussie concept of a shout at the pub, which we then applied to coconuts...

by this time it's around 6 and the prospect of another rickshaw, back into the city is a bit too much for the Mysore Palace Illumination...

the next best thing is back to Lee and Nat's, via the chocolate man on 7th cross, armed with a couple of chocolate bars some more chatting and relaxing...chatting this time about a road trip to Ooty...

3 sisters...and blogging etiquette

just back from late lunch at the 3 sisters in Lakshmipuram (the suburb where the old Shala is located). late, for a couple of reasons. first, we booked for 1330, we'd arranged to take off from the coconut stand in contour road at 1315...and I'd arranged for Manju to meet me there at 1315...Manju arrives at my place just after 1300. We head up to the coconut stand where Robbie, Elizabeth and Ben are coconutting, waiting to go. We do the numbers and Appu's going to provide the other rickshaw...it's getting towards 1320, so we decide to head off with Robbie and I in Manju's rickshaw, following Appu's rickshaw. Appu's the only one who knows how to get there. We're about 5 minutes on our way when I get a call from Natalie, saying they're back at the coconut stand...I tell Manju to turn around, head back to the coconut stand, so we've lost Appu, our lynchpin in the whole exercise

we head back to the main street in Gokulam where we catch up with Natalie and Lee on their scooter...then Hanuman and ...can't remember her name...call...they're also back at the cocount stand...Lee takes off, directs them back to where we are...then we're off on the long way round to Lakshmipuram where Manju does his best to get us there by using the usual Indian GPS method of looking for larger, then smaller landmarks.

it's a tiny, charming place (see the pic on this post). It's Robbie's (sitting next to me in the shot, head away from shot) last full day on this trip to Mysore. Like most people leaving, he's got a plan in his head of coming back soon.

The folks who came with Appu were well into their meal, which was fine for Robbie and I at least, we'd both been to Andrew and Jessica's for a great breakfast at their place on Contour Road. I was ill prepared and didn't take anything along, while Erin, Arnet and Robbie bought fruit salad, flowers, incense...i'll be on the ball next time

I might be having two new flat mates - Hanuman and...can't remember her name, they're studying at a school in Gokulam as well.

there was a bit of talk about how well Guruji's faring, apparently in intensive care at the moment. Joseph was there for lunch, along with Carol. Joseph said that they were hydrating Guruji as his kidneys were shutting down without enough fluid. Andrew had said that Guruji had been saying some death shlokam in preparation. Hanuman asked why Guruji wasn't going off into the Himalayas to meditate before he passes...that kind of caused a few awkward pauses in the conversation. Joseph said, which I like, that he's surrounded by family and people who love him and are taking care of him, that's a good way to go. Taking that further, I'm not sure whether ascetism is the right way to go at that point in your life...i don't know.

finally, Lee read my blog, and was a bit quieter today. I really hope he didn't take my blog too personally, I'm gonna go round there now and apologise, if need be :)