My Friend Bessy shopping in town Settling back in, thrilled to be home, and feeling completely grateful for every aspect of my life. India was vast and life changing. In trying to wrap my head around all of it, I've decided to write about my experience in three parts, the conditions, the yoga and the culture. My reflections are personal and by no means meant to generalize the country or the people as a whole. Just a little snapshot from what I personally saw, heard ,and felt.
The majority of my stay was on an ashram north of Mumbai in the small village of Talwadi, about thirty minutes from Nasik. The areas surrounding the ashram are hills and rice farms. From the ashram you could walk along dirt paths through rice fields to the village of Trimbak where the Trimbakeshwar Temple is located. I arrived in a van from Mumbai with three other students. It was raining the day we arrived. This was to be a main theme which ruled our lives and psychological state. The monsoon pounded for 16 straight days before the sun finally cracked through the sky and our Psyche on August 17th for a total of 15 glorious minutes. Much of the time we were soaked, cold, and damp. The rains flooded the roads, blasted through roofs, and left us without electricity the majority of the time. Every living creature great and small sought a dry warm area. Snakes, scorpions, bedbugs, cockroaches, dogs, cats, cows, lizards, spiders and birds all vying for a dry spot. I learned quickly to inspect everything before I sat on it, climbed into it, or put it on my body. No hero here I used my net when sleeping! Keeping dry was nearly impossible. Clothes were damp and moldy and many of us had rashes, jungle rot on our feet and itched from head to toe. The washing machine was always full but rarely in use because electricity was limited. Hand washing clothes was a poor alternative because things took too long to dry, days and days, and by the time they did, they were covered in mold. Our living area had four beds to a hut/room with "western" facilities. This consisted of an outside toilet and a bucket for washing clothes and the body. In our initial room the toilet didn't work consistently and the system to heat the water wasn't working much better than the toilet. Eventually we had to evacuate that room due to pest problems. The new room had a bathroom in the hut, consistent hot water and a toilet that worked. Heaven!
Once a week we had a day off and were able to go in town if we liked. Nasik was a thirty minute drive from the Ashram. I loved my day off. My classmates and I would pile into an overcrowded jeep and head down a bumpy dirt road in search of a hot meal, Internet and basic commodities. Nasik considered a small town had a population of one million. When visiting I indulged in sinful delights such as coffee, spicy foods, and the incredibly clean and well working toilet in McDonald's. (which I dubbed the raj of toilets.) I bought things like towels, socks, toilet paper. and umbrella's. There was one large store for commodities called the big bazaar. Once after scoring packages of that elusive and rare commodity, toilet paper, I was sauntering to the front of the store, pleased and happy when I nearly tripped over a rat making an Olympic sprint past my feet. I screamed and ran to the front of the store, toilet paper flying behind me.
Crowded and overpopulated I got used to being just one more in the hustle and bustle. This swell of population consisted of people and animals. Many animals, lots of cows. Cows congregated at every corner, kibitzing, sleeping, shitting, eating and just in general living their lives as they saw fit. Cows are treated very well in India and from what I saw, often as a member of the family. In turn these cows had incredible personalities and characters. Affectionate, fun, communicative and all with definite individual personalities. The ashram had cows as well. One little fellow Krishna was quite young. He had lost his mother shortly after she gave birth. Krishna was quite comfortable with humans and would often trot up to the mess hall for a chapati and a little snuggle.
This of course was not sanitary but in my estimation cleanliness in general was pretty relaxed. Coming from America the land of the clean, cleaner and cleanest I was appalled by the standard of hygiene. I mean do what you want but consider the health factor... please!
When the rains finally gave way we could see where we were living. The surrounding areas was absolutely exquisite. Hills and mountains with dozens of waterfall bursting out of the mountains. Hunnaman the monkey king was born on one of the mountains so monkeys freely inhabited the area as well. Men and boys peacefully tending cows everywhere. Cows grazed outside the main hall where we practiced. Sun salutations and mediation with cows peacefully sauntering past. Morning sun was the most glorious of all. The dawn never ceased to fill me with a sense of a new day and renewed feeling of hope and peace. Everything so green and lush with the added benefit of fresh clean unpolluted air. Stunning India could bring me to tears and leave me speechless with its beauty.
