March 2013

Dear all,

Greetings from India and thanks for all the kind emails that I got in the meantime while I was silent. I was originally thinking that I’d send my next email once I reunite with my laptop, whenever that might be, but hey, there you go :)

I left Thailand in the beginning of December. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it is in fact my fourth month in India already. I didn’t travel around here that much, this – Bombay – is only the second place where I’ve been staying. The idea was to come to India and do lots of yoga. While in Thailand, I was collecting different recommendations, trying to figure out what place would be best for me and bla bla, long story short, I couldn’t really decide, and without much planning ended up in this ashram in Kerala. I thought ok, I stay for the yoga, then maybe over christmas and the new years, just because it’s nice to stay at one place without moving elsewhere all the time, or maybe I’ll go to Goa instead, let’s see.

I got there a few days before the course was supposed to start. Soon after I changed my mind, decided not to do the yoga over there, and eventually stayed in the ashram for three months. It was quite refreshing, although still not entirely sure what I should think about all that. It is basically a huge charitable organisation, that is revolving around Amma – an Indian woman who is very well known in some countries (US, France, Germany), and virtually unknown in others (like mine). Some people believe she’s a present-day Buddha, a self-realized person, while others consider her nothing less than the Divine that’s taken a human form. Naturally I asked – how do you know that a person is realized? And was told – maybe because they have more strength and endurance than anybody else, don’t need to sleep as much, and smile a lot. Food for thought :)

Everyone is supposed to volunteer and work around the place for at least two hours per day, or do some selfless service, as they call it. In the beginning I was working in a cafe where mostly the foreigners would come, later I switched to an ayurvedic centre where I was pouring all kinds of essential oils and blends into little bottles to be sold overseas, and in the end did some translations, including a Czech version of a documentary, which we also dubbed with the (only) two Czech residents of the ashram. Glad my time of working in the radio came in handy :) I’m bringing a copy with me if you’re curious.

The main temple of the ashram, dedicated to Hindu goddess Kali.

My favourite hiding place.

There was no photography allowed on the ashram grounds, so I just have loads of pictures of sunsets on the beach.

This is actually the only sunrise I’d seen in the entire time there. Not that I got up early.. just went to sleep a bit too late.

The endless fashion choices..

“My religion is love,” she says. This is the lady in charge, commonly known as Amma.

Ladies at the marketplace in the nearby village.

There’s still many fishermen living there, hence the fish. Btw, notice the miniskirt attire of the guy in the back. While women are supposed to cover their legs preferably all the way to their ankles, this guy’s outfit is perfectly acceptable. And I’ve seen even shorter minis, too.

I was a bit worried about stuff before coming to India, even bought a cute heart-shaped ring as I was advised, but fortunately haven’t really needed to use it. Things have been pretty smooth and easy, I suppose I’ve been very lucky with everything. Twice I happened to be left in the middle of nowhere, without a map, phone or knowledge of any local words, with only a vague idea of where I was staying (my fault, I should never allow the rickshaws to leave no matter how politely they ask), but again, the whole thing turned out to be quite enjoyable, rather than stressful. People outside the main tourist areas tend to be nice and friendly, honest and innocent. I guess it’s like this in quiet parts of any country, and I’ve seen places like that during the past months in Asia, but it still touches me how gentle people can be.

I spent my very first day in Bangalore, just before getting on a connecting flight to Kerala the next day. I was surprised how different the city was compared to what I imagined, or feared. It felt kind of European, at least for the standards of Asia. After seeing a bit more of the country, I’d say there’s not much difference between southern India and Sri Lanka, although probably neither would be flattered by the statement. Later I traveled a little around parts of Kerala and Karnataka, and then moved on for a yoga training to Bombay. Again, this was a random place that I stumbled upon, being under time pressure. We exchanged some emails with the school, and few days later, I was there.

So, the yoga place. Weather is lovely (compared to Kerala, where it was pretty hot during the day), food is healthy and tasty, the training good, the place clean and reasonably comfy, and way cheaper than anywhere else.. what more could I wish for :) Although I find the schedule a bit too easy, so I’ve started attending other classes as well, and adjusting my curriculum to fit my interests better. So now I’m doing 3+ classes of asanas a day, and also taking advance classes on Yoga Sutras twice a week. Let’s see if I can find some more things to do.

Girls. (Notice we’re sitting right in front of the board with instructions for sutra neti, how very yogic of us.)

Girls again..

More girls.

This is how we do it.. a sneaky pic from the class.

Something wrong is going on there in the back.

Classmates.

Ok, some days have passed, and this is what happens when it takes me too long to finish an email. (My excuse is that there’s only one computer to share, and often there’s no internet.) Descending from the dreamy pink cloud eventually, I also began to see the weaknesses of the place. I was forbidden from attending other classes, they even issued an official statement preventing everyone to do so. And what’s more, somebody complained about bed bugs, and without any prior notice, the whole place was sprayed, including all our personal stuff like clothes and toothbrushes.

I want to send this email already, but maybe I should finish on a more positive note. Or.. whatever, next time :) Let me just say that despite all this, things are good, it’s fun. I hope you can say the same about whatever you guys have been doing lately. Keep me posted, otherwise I’ll have to keep reading these ancient yoga texts and twisting my body into weird shapes and directions :)

Jana xx