It's been a while since my last post and there's been a lot of good things that happened before I left Mysore 8 days ago. The last two weeks in Mysore was crazy busy in a very good way. I did Narasima's philosophy and sutra class every morning and did the chanting class in the afternoon. I was driving to the city twice a day...that was exhausting but well worth it. The philosophy class really help me understand what I've been going through. I felt everything but didn't know how to verbalize it. I learned so much in those two weeks, some of it stuck and some of it was just way over my head...it's all good though. There were two things that really stuck.
For the longest time, I been concerned about the road ahead. I would make plans for the near future but it would never stick and then another one but it still wouldn't stick. Nothing made any sense. It reach a point about a month ago...I no longer saw a road ahead. All I knew was the step ahead and beyond that was a total mystery. I asked myself many times..."am I going to go through life blind?" It's a scary thought...not knowing what life has in store for you. I was not brought up this way...it doesn't make any sense. One day in class Narasima said, "Yoga is a pathless path." He elaborated beautifully but that one sentence hit me like a brick. I'm fine with where I am and what I'm doing. It's a scary thing...this yoga path, but deep inside me this is what I want to do...this is my path...this is my passion...this is where I want to be...this is my destiny...
The other thing that he talked about was how the east and the west view things. I won't go into details but the gist of it was...In the west, it's either black or white and in Indian it's all grey. I've been struggling with this for a long time. I was brought up to think of things in terms of black or white and wrong or right. At some point in my life, I started to see things in terms of grey and what I once thought of as black or white is now simply grey. This is important to me because I've realized that there is no point in discussing things when that person look at things as black or white and you're looking at it as grey...it's a stupid discussion and something I should simply avoid. We discussed a whole variety of things which I'm still trying to soak in and make sense of. One thing is for sure...I have so much more to learn...I haven't even scratched the surface.
The last day at the shala was surprising. It was a Friday led class. There were still over 60 people at the shala. I had expected that it would have thinned out by then. The energy was great and we all applauded Saraswati at the end of class. She did an amazing job running the shala alone. Outside the shala at the coconut stand, I stayed as long as I could. I didn't want to leave Mysore...I wasn't alone. I did tell Saraswati that I would see her in January though and she just smiled.
I left Mysore early Saturday morning the day after the last day for Bangalore. From Bangalore, I took my flight to Jaipur and spent about two days there. I visited the forts and did some sightseeing but for the most part, I didn't care much about Jaipur. One thing I loved about Jaipur though was the Lassiwala on MI Road...best lassi in the world...since 1944. I can't wait to get some on my way back to Bangalore. It's penned in my calendar...January 2, 2008.
I left Jaipur last Monday evening and took a sleeper train to Jaisalmer. The train was suppose to leave midnight but we didn't leave the train station until 1:30AM...it was freaking cold in the train station and I didn't have enough warm clothing. We didn't get to Jaisalmer until 4PM the following day. I was starving on the train because I skipped breakfast thinking we'll be in by noon...big mistake. I wanted to ask my fellow passenger if I could buy some of their food but resisted. When we got to the Jaisalmer train station, I made a B-line to the nearest food stall and grabbed some cookies to hold me over. My last meal was the night before.
I met a fellow traveller in Jaipur and we decided to stay in the same hotel in Jaisalmer. We reserved a room in the Ganesh Guest House inside the fort. The rooms were sweet and we paid only 350 rupees. I stayed in a crap room in Jaipur and paid 1,250 rupees...what a rip off. Let me say one more thing before I continue...OMG...Jaisalmer is an amazing place...love at first sight. I decided to stay a day longer than plan. A beautiful fort in the middle of the desert...breathtaking.
My love affair with the fort was short lived because we booked a two day two night camel safari the following morning. My travel companion had to leave on Friday so we had to do the safari immediately. I would have wanted to soak it in a bit but I knew I would stay for two more in the fort so it was all good.
On Wednesday morning, Chris and I met up the rest of the crew and headed to the desert to meet up with our camels. There were 8 of us doing the safari. We were on the camels for about 4 hours each day...two hours from around 10 to 12 and around 2:30 to 4PM. We camped beside the sand dunes...they were amazingly beautiful. We ran around the sand dunes...it's great fun...and the sunset...OMG!!! At night we hung out the camp fire and got to know my fellow safari mates. One thing I've learned on this safari is that you realize how little you've travel when you start meeting other travellers...it's very humbling. We slept under the stars...no tents just scorpions...our guide told us that the scorpions don't come out during the winter so we would like to believe that they were under us keeping warm. It was a great time and I learned so much about myself. Camping in the desert for two nights is definitely not within my comfort zone. The thought of not being able to take a shower for two days was difficult but I survived it and I would do it again.
I spent last Friday and Saturday sightseeing in the fort and surrounding areas. I met some really cool people...a group of New Yorkers and an Indian family from Mumbai. I was a little worried about travelling alone but now I'm glad, I did this trip alone. I could have easily stayed another day in Jaisalmer...I love that place.
I left Jaisalmer on a 10AM bus this morning. I'm glad I arrived in the bus station early. The bus was packed like a sardine can. I was fine with it though. I arrived in Jodphur around 4PM and checked in my hotel. I'm not feeling the vibe here...felt like Jaipur. I met a couple of Americans during dinner and they said they were heading to Mt. Abu tomorrow. I was supposed to go there but I was told that it was too cold to go. They're from Colorado so they said, "How cold can it be?" My landlady kept telling me before I left that I should go to Mt. Abu but ditched that idea when I was talking to other travellers in Jaisalmer about Mt. Abu...too cold. Since I don't care much of Jodphur, I decided head to Mt. Abu the day after tomorrow. I'm told that the fort in Jodphur is a must see and worth it...beyond that, I would rather be away from the hustle and buzzle of Jodphur. It's late and I have a long day ahead of me...ciao...