Road To Mysore

Get your motor running, get out on the highway, looking for adventure...

For some reason, I did not sleep very well last night. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the shala will most probably be closed on January. We're all hanging here and we can't make plans unless we get the official announcement. When I spoke to Sharath it felt like the family will either travel out of the country or that Guruji will not be in the shala and that Sharath will keep the shala open.

Anyway, I woke up at around 2:45AM and could not go back to sleep. I had just gotten my scooter from Shiva yesterday afternoon so I decided to take my scooter for a spin at 3AM. The whole scooter thing is a big deal for me because as an adult, I can barely ride a bicycle. In Coorg, Rhonda encouraged me to learn to ride the scooter because she too did not ride a bicycle well and that the scooter was much easier to ride. The past week, Vincent has been giving me scooter lessons and I've been surprising a pretty good student. Practice, practice, practice...all is coming.

I figured that since I was wide a wake and the streets of Gokulam were practically empty, it would be a good way to hone my skills. I love driving at night. I've actually been missing my car so the scooter was a good replacement. I first decided to go to the Gokulam main road and then head for Kalidasa Road. It was nice to have the streets all to myself. When I told Rhonda yesterday that I was getting my scooter that day she started singing the "Born to be Wild" song so I had that song in my mind while I was riding.

While I was riding along Kalidasa Road, four local policemen walking down the street pulled me over. I almost freaked out and actually thought of not stopping. One policeman asked me where I was going. I told him I lived in Gokulam and I was practicing my scooter. He gave me this look like, "Why the fuck are you practicing at 3 in the morning...crazy western". He asked me for my DL and since I was really nervous I showed him the insurance papers. Then he repeated DL and then I realized he meant driver's license. For awhile, I thought they would throw me in jail and throw away the keys. He looked at my driver's license and let me go my way(close call). I continued to take Kalidasa Road for another 5 minutes and decided to head back to Gokulam. I decided to wake up the neighbor and continued to drive all around Gokulam for another 30 minutes. By 4AM, I decide to head home and prepare for my yoga class. When I got home I realized that the keys in the ignition switch had popped out and the scooter engine was still running. I had just lost the keys of the scooter and it could have been anywhere in Gokulam or Kalidasa Road. Theorethically, you would think that this would never happen without the motor shutting off but I remember Janet telling me that it's happened to her. I sat for a couple of minutes trying to figure out how I can shut the engine off. I stuck my finger and then my house key. With my house key I was able to flick the switch off. I don't know how it happened but it did. I parked the scooter and just ran up the house. I knocked on Phil's room(he was already awake) and told him I had just been riding the scooter all around Mysore. He could see the excitement on my face. I was literally jumping up and down like a little child.

We both got ready and headed to the shala by 4:30AM. Mentally, I was all warmed up for practice this morning. My adrenaline was just pumping. During practice I had to calm myself by doing 10 A's and 7 B's. It was only 5:30 and I have been awake for almost 3 hours already. I had a great practice and I think I was smiling throughout practice. It's nice to feel like a child.

When I got home I told Taresh(my landlord) what happened. He told me that I shouldn't be in the streets between 2AM to 5AM. If they see anyone in the streets, they will definitely stop you. He said sometimes they would put you in jail and let you go at 6AM. Generally, if they see anyone in the streets at that time, they assume you are a burglar. I guess I won't be doing anymore 3AM rides.