Road To Mysore

There's been talk the past few days that the shala will be closed for two weeks in January. Nobody really knows why but we think it has to do with Guruji's wife death anniversary. I asked Sharath this morning before practice started and he said that he doesn't really know. He told me he would ask Guruji and an announcement will be posted.

I'm supposed to be here living in the present but I can't help but think about January. I was expecting to leave on January 31, 2005 and now I may leave a week or two earlier. Phil and I have talked about going to Goa and practice in Purple Valley or maybe in Bangalore with Guruji's nephew but we have to know for sure before we can make any plans. I also found out that my driver's license will expire on January 28 so getting in the US a week earlier might be necessary. I know that the moment I land in the LA, it's going to be all about work, work and work. I'm definitely coming back here in September next year for another 3 to 5 months so the sooner I can get may ass back on the work force the sooner I can get back here. Phil and a few other people I've talked to said they expect to be back about the same time next year so I'm already looking forward to that. My gut feeling tells me that the shala will be closed but until we get the official notice we can't make any contingent plans.

Last night, Julie(from Oregon) and I went to Chamundi Hills. I've never been to Chamundi Hills so I was looking forward to seeing the city lights and the Mysore Palace all lite up. We got to the bottom of the hill at around 6:30PM and started our way up the stairs. They say there are 1,000 steps to the top of the hill but it felt more like 2,000. The steps were pretty steep and humbling. I think we took about 3 or 4 breathers and 25 minutes before we finally made it to the top. There weren't very many people along the steps up but when we got up it was complete chaos. There was a lot of people, vendors, cars and buses. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to get a scenic view of the city. Julie suggested that we walk back down the stairs and find a spot where can get a view of the whole city. I'm glad we did that because on our way down we found a short detour, huge rocks to sit on and a breath taking view of city lights and the Mysore Palace. We just sat there, talked and soaked it in. It was nice to be away from the chaos of Mysore for a moment. I would have wanted to say longer but it was getting late and I have a 4AM wake up call. We slowly walked back down and decided to come back another day.