journey2mysore

journey2mysore
December 30, 2005

Today is a moon day, so the yoga is not being taught today. I asked “why not” and the answer varies from “new moon is a low energy day and you should rest” to “guruji invented an extra day off for himself”. I think the body needs all those days to rest – you can’t just plow through life at full throttle all the time. Rest gives body time to recover from asana practice, and to explore new things. Today after ayurveda massage class (10-11:30 or so) at Mandala Shala Oxana and I did some shopping and went to get some lunch. We were ready for something nice, so we went to the Metropol hotel for a lunch buffet (after a tea, coffee, water and all the taxes the bill came out to 600rs for both of us). Food was excellent – there were choices of Northern Indian curries and South Indian items like Pani Puri. I feel like I am really spoiling myself – yesterday there was a party at Tina’s house – another delicious simple meal was served. Perfect afternoon spent sipping Masala Chai and discussing life. Yet the best was still to come. As we were exiting hotel (Oxana decided to treat herself and have manicure and pedicure at Royal Star Hotel (which is right next to Metropol hotel). There is also pool at the Star, I think 150rs. Will have to check it out someday. So, as we were leaving I noticed a lovely middle aged couple sitting in a swinging chair by the door. I greeted them, then exited. Outside I realized what a wonderful picture they would make – so I came back and asked for their permission to take their picture. Pictures came out lovely, and they invited me to their house which is not that far from Gokulam. We exchanged information and I will definitely talk to them soon. The gentleman has studied yoga for past 40 years! What a wonderful conversation that will be! That was definitely action of good Karma in meeting them!

P.S. If you noticed that the dates of posts written and posted are different - it is not Varanasi hash. I actually write them at home, and post them as oprortunity presents!

Daily life in Mysore 1.0

journey2mysore
December 27, 2005

Everything is getting better every day! Small things – like getting cold at night or getting attacked by mosquitoes are history. To battle cool weather at night I bought a blanket (actually, a whole set with pillow cases and small pillows – don’t know what I was thinking). I also had have taken measurements and ordered dress pants and a shirt – all out of hemp. Go natural! If those cloths work out I’ll get couple more shirts and a pair (or more – why not!) of pants. The process is like this: you pick the material (all Indian made fabrics like cotton, linen, hemp, silk, polyester) and they got several variations on each, like stonewashed silk. Once you know the fabric, you decide what you want. Fazel, the owner, has been most helpful with my fashion decisions. I try to pick clothes I could wear at home as well as something more exotic. Least to say, I won’t be walking in the same clothes everyday. Boy, I feel like such a “fashionable” guy! The costs are quite reasonable – 1m of linen fabric costs about 200rs a meter, it takes about 2½ m for pants and tailoring is another 150rs, so the cost for pair of pants is 600rs which is about $12. And those are not simple drawstring pants – they are fully zippered, pocketed peace of work. I’ll pick them up on Wed so I’ll see. I think I want something more casual as well. Want want want want! Hahahaha, but do I need them?

Went to see an abandoned hindu temple at ???. It is about a 30km drive from Mysore, so I teamed up with another yoga student and we sprung for a car (Ambasador, of course and a driver dressed in white). First class, 750rs! Trip was good, temple was very intricately carved out of soapstone, It has layers of figures – people, gods, animals, and none are the same. There is even a portion where work is not finished yet (and it will never be). On the inside there are just elaborately decorated chambers with statues of gods. I am still not up the speed on different hindu gods – I know Ganesh (good luck), Shiva (the destroyer) and Brahma – god of all gods. Well, I’ll read up on gods and be better prepared next time. After the ride back we had a nice Christmas luncheon at the local hotel. There was a full spread of Indian curries and deserts, nice!

Deciding to expand my range of activities I visited Mysore Mandala, the “other” yoga shala. There are many classes but I am focusing on Ayurvedic massage, Pranayama and Asana practice. I think once a day yoga with Saraswati is just not enough. So Sheshadri will fill in some gaps! So the schedule right now is as follows: Saraswati asana practice at AYRI in the mornings, breakfast, do things around the house, lunch, then off to Mandala for massage class at 2. At 4 pranayama class with Sheshadri, and at 5 asana class with him as well. Jump back into an auto rickshaw and 35rs later be back in Gokulam, maybe have a coconut and then head for bed. On the holidays when there is no yoga I want to take Indian cooking course – local housewives teach it. So much to do and so little time! I’ll see how things are working out and modify accordingly. Wow!

Christmas in India

Yesterday started with the waking up at 2:00am. Today, slept till 3. Thanks, jetlag! Overall my new place is not too bad except for 2 things: mosquitoes make it inside, and there are little ants in the bed. They don’t seem to bite, but mosquitoes do. Maybe a net would be a solution, burning a coil would be another, although I am not ecstatic about breathing smoke all night. I attended my first yoga class with Saraswati, Patabi Jois daughter. On Saturday she started at 7:30. No class on Sunday, then go back on Monday. During the first class she already made very useful adjustments, according to other senior students that’s the best way to go – I would get much less attention from Guruji. For example Haley, who’s been attending PJ class for past month, has not been adjusted at all, and she does not expect to be. Basking in his aura does add a certain charm.

For breakfast I had an omelet and a chapatti, then some ovaltine – all cooked by Jena from the house near by. Cost -70rs. After breakfast with my new acquaintance James (from London) we went out too take a look at motorcycles. There are Honda and Yamaha dealerships just down Gokulam road, and Yamaha seems to be much better stocked. You can have a decent bike for around 50000 rs. Hondas seemed to be another 10000rs higher and there was nothing in stock, just demo models. You would have to order one, and wait, while Yamahas were ready to roll. At this point I don’t need a bike, auto rickshaw is just fine. From Gokulam to “center” it costs about 30rs, so there is no need to get fancy unless you travel far every day. Renting a scooter would be 1500rs a month, and that’s a lot of rides (50 to be exact). Minimum fee on rickshaw is 10rs, and that gets you around.

I spent couple hours trying to find out about wireless internet. At my house there is no WiFi access point visible. So my other option would be internet over GPRS via cell phone. Airtel supports that, up to 56k. They want a 3000rs deposit and I would have problems getting it back.They suggest I just get DSL (according to them it takes 3 days to install). DSL is about 1000rs a month. Huch is another mobile provider I checked, their speed is about 15-20k. 150rs for the voice plan, then 499rs for 100mb. After that it is 5rs for 1mb. So I might get a prepaid plan – no deposits – and have a basic internet on my phone. I could check my emails that way in a pinch. For blogging and uploading files I’ll use café near by – 15rs per hour. And I will write all my stuff at home, just do the uploads there. I think that’s going to be the ticket!

Through the grapevine I found out about Xmas eve dinner at the Metropolitan Hotel. 285rs got you a nice meal and a desert to boot – ice cream and flan. But what’s really good was meeting of new people. I met Tom and Haley, and was shown a good tailor shop. I ended ordering hemp pants and a short sleeve shirt. I just want to find out how they will fit! I think I will get linen pants just for daily wear, and couple more shirts. They got silk, linen, hemp, cotton, polyester; tailoring is cheap – for pants and shirt it was 350rs, the hemp fabric was 1200rs with discount. Linen would have been much much cheaper – fabric would be 200rs a meter vs. 500rs for hemp.

Today the plan is to look into pre paid phone cards with internet, check out new food places, meet new people. Also, mosquito net would be nice. No yoga today, so I’ll just stay busy with other activities, which are plenty here. Life is great!

day in the life of Singapore

After spending a night in the airport, I managed to escape into the town. The tourist center iin the airport s totally hip! They provide free tours, free tickets, free etc for the us! I got a free MTR (read: subway) pass for the day! Went to Chinatown for chicken with sticky rice (hmmm, good), then off to shop for a phone (I loved my old Nokia 6610, but since I lost it I have been suffering with an inferior Siemens 62t, locked too). So now I am a brand new owner of Nokia 6021. Fully unlocked and ready to work with bluetooth and all. Cost me 235 S$. Well, not too bad - there was also no plan to sign. The city is totally cool - bustling with people, full of life. And Din Tai Fung is just as good as in Taipei. Cheaper too, had 10 pork dumplings and a side of pickled lotus root - under s$16. So there. Made it back and see if I can take a shower before I got to board the plane. India is next, I hope my reservation for Empire hotel via email works out!

Touchdown in Singapore!

After a long haul from LA to Tokyo and then to Singapore, I have arrived. I left LA at 1PM on Tuesday, and now it is 10AM on Wednesday PST. In Singapore it is like 3 AM on Thursday, so I lost a day.

While in Tokyo, I was not able to find a free network connection, but in Singapore I was able to connecto to Silver Kris lounges wireless, free of charge. I like this place already! Anyplace with free Internet deserves an extra star on my list. So while streaming a KCRW simulcast and typing my log I feel quite at home.

The flight was tough. I ordered lacto-ovo vegetarian meal, and my stomach did not agree with it. I ended up drinking a liter of water and "driving the porcelain bus". The stuardesses were super nice - but there was not much they could do. And although there wasn't too much space between the seats, my whole 6' were able to sleep once I got tired enough. I have a Brookstone "fom" pillow, eye mask from Korean Air and a set of earplugs - that blocks out 90% of distractions. The fresh socks that Singapore Air provided helped too.

Now I have 16h to explore Singapore. I figured I'll chill in the airport till morning, then take a train or a bus into the city. Singapore awaits!

almost gone... t minus 2 days

After practicing with Andriano for a month I feel much more comfortable in a self paced class. Actually, I wish would have done that much earlier. I feel the beginning of opening hips and forward bends have started opening up my body. It is such a big difference between a class where you push yourself and have somebody help you. We can always use some help, even if we don't want to admit that.

I have been in touch with Jorgeng Christianswon who normaly teaches at Maha Yoga in Brentwood and now is studying with Guruji in Mysore. Well, he is been super helpfull in answering questions and providing usefull information like the costs - rent will be 100-200 usd a month, food will cost 70-100 rs a day, coconuts are 7rs each, etc. I should bring grapefruit seed extract to fight off the buggers in the gut. More worriesome info I got is that PJ will be closing the studio for a break and will restart on the Jan 3rd. Well, that gives time to adapt to India more slowly. Sharath (Gurujis grandson) might restart his class on 26th, so he's a possibility. Also if that's not happening - I'll exlore other teachers like Sheshadri. I want to maximize my time in India to the max!

Couple more days to pack and off to India!

Passport is back!

Yesterday found a note from US Postal service on my door. I will have to pay a visit to a post office and pick up envelope from Indian Consulate in SanFran. Yey! Getting closer and closer. It took one week to get my passport back. After talking to my ashtanga teacher Andrianno, I am going to try to find Jorgen in Mysore. Jorgen teaches Mysore style ashtanga class at Maha yoga in Santa Monica/Brentwood, where Andrianno now is subbing. Trying to connect the dots...

tickets and visas, thoughts about teachers

Today the envelope with airline tickets showed up in my mailbox. I will have 8 weeks in India! So now all I have to do is wait for the passport with a visa. I chose 6 month visa, who knows when I will be going to India again, so I decided to hold on to my cash. Now I will only need to figure out where to study and where to stay. I am thinking AYRI, but Sheshadri also looks very appealing. I am thinking to come to Shashadris class and see how I feel about it. If it feels right - stay there. If not - go to AYRI. Any thoughts?