Road To Mysore

It’s been raining on and off everyday since I've arrive. It limits the things we can do. I’ve opted to stay home and watch DVD’s and cable TV…yes, I got cable TV. It’s hard to believe I have cable TV because I refuse to have it in the states. It’s like giving an alcoholic some whisky. I’ve been known to sit in front of the TV and veg. The TV and cable connection came with the apartment.

A few days ago, Robin lent me a Bollywood movie which I’ve been wanting to see. It’s got the most beautiful Indian lady I’ve ever seen...I think her name is Priety. I’m told I’m going to need software so I can watch VCDs in my laptop. I’m still looking for someone who has the software. I haven’t gotten it yet. I decided to go with Robin and Mani and check out DVD/VCD players. I have previously checked out prices in the showrooms of Devarajas Road and was told that the cheapest player was at least 4,000 rupees. Robin told me he was going to bring me to the wholesale street and said it would be much cheaper. When we got there Mani told me to wait outside. Mani has become my official negotiator. Between Robin, Mani and Shobha, they refuse to let me pay tourist/foreigner’s prices. Five minutes later, Mani comes out of the electronic shop and calls me in. I walk in and the shop owner is surprised to see me. The shop owner tells Mani he would have made an extra 500 to 600 rupees if he had known I was the one buying it. The price has been set at 3,200 rupees…just saved at least 800 rupees. I decided to take it.

On our way home, I told Mani I wanted to see the apartment he was renovating. It’s still a week away from being completed. I was happy to see that Mani took my advice. Each room was much bigger and now has a window. I can’t believe that in about a week, I’m going to broker my first apartment…ha ha ha.

After that, we headed home and they helped me connect the DVD to the TV. I’ve been hanging out with Robin and Mani a lot. It’s really a cultural experience. I’m experiencing India in a different way…it’s not as conservative as it seems to be. When they finally connected the DVD, we played the Bollywood movie. The copy was a terrible copy so I only watch 15 minutes of it. Robin said he would find me a better copy.

I was supposed to resume my Kanada classes with Rashmi yesterday. I think there was a little confusion. I got to her place yesterday around 10:15AM. I was supposed to be there at 10AM. She wasn’t there so I thought she forgot. She arrived 10 minutes later and thought I would come back. I talked to her this morning and we agreed that I would start Monday next week.

I met A a few days ago. A over hears me talking about possibly practicing in New York. He introduces himself and said that he lives in New York and was looking for a teacher there. I asked him, “So who was your teacher in New York before coming to Mysore?�

A said, “I never practiced yoga before coming to Mysore.�

I was like…what, “You’ve never practice yoga before and you’re here in Mysore. How did that happen?�

He said, “I was having back problems and was told that yoga was good for me. I walked in a yoga school and I asked the teacher where the best place to learn yoga would be. I was told to go to Mysore so here I am.�

My jaw just dropped…everybody here just surprises me. It took me about 6 years to finally get the guts to go to Mysore. Here’s someone who’s never taken a yoga class and decides that he wants to learn yoga in Mysore. I wanted to drop on my knees and touch his feet…I wish I can be like him.

I finally got to watch the Bollywood movie Robin gave me. There was nothing wrong with the VCD…it was the DVD connection, which needed to be fixed. The title of the movie was, “Kal Ho Naa Ho�. According to Robin, it means “tomorrow…maybe� or something like that. That’s the best translation he could give me. Like most Bollywood movies, it was 3 hours long. I watched the first hour this morning and the last 2 hours in the afternoon. This is the second Bollywood movie I’ve watched and so far my favorite. I saw the first one last year and didn’t enjoy it as much. I hope it’s not going to be a pattern but both movies had two men falling in love with one woman. I think the best part of Bollywood movies is there dance/musical productions. They are quite elaborate, colorful and well choreographed. Oh, and I take back what I said about the actress, Preity Zinta. She is not one of the most beautiful Indian women…she is one of the most beautiful women… and yes, the dimples are to die for. She’s not the greatest actress but who cares…

Yesterday I met Kathy the scooter girl. I tried to set her up with a scooter but she was very specific about which kind of scooter she wanted. I have never met anyone who knew so much about scooters. Most of us here are just happy to get from point A to B. Hopefully we can get her a scooter in the next few days.

Not a whole lot has been happening in Mysore the past week. It’s like the calm after the storm…the storm being Guruji’s birthday. The shala hasn’t been as full. I’ve been laying low and doing as little socializing as possible.

I woke up at 3:15AM this morning and decided that it was too early to get up for the 5AM led class. Went back to bed waiting for my alarm to go off at 4AM. After about 30 minutes or so I decided to check the time again. It was still 3:15AM…shit, my batteries were dead. Got up and checked my watch. It was 4:30AM, which means the shala time was 4:40AM. This is the first time I’ve had to rush to practice. I hate doing that. Surprisingly, I got in on time and secured a good spot in the back. Practice was OK…considering I wasn’t in a great mindset. Can’t wait for tomorrows’ Mysore class.

Robin took me to my second motorcycle lesson today. This time he let me practice on the street. He chose a street, which was not so busy. I did so much better and I actually enjoyed it. I can now understand why some people really enjoy riding motorcycles…cool wind in my face. I never imagined I could ever be one of those motorcycle junkies. Last year I barely knew how to ride a bicycle and now I’ve riding a motorcycle…damn, I’ve gone a long way. The scooter is now a piece of junk compared to a motorcycle. It rides the humps and the potholes so much better. I don’t think I’ll be driving the motorcycle in the busy streets anytime soon. I’m still getting my timing and coordination together…unfortunately, I’m not a natural. Maybe I’ll get a Harley and a leather jacket when I get back to LA…just kidding.

I watch another Bollywood movie this afternoon. It was better than the first two movies. It had subtitles so I didn’t need Robin to explain the story to me. The title was, “Dil Chahta Hai.� I don’t know what that means but it’s about 3 really good friends, not two men going after the same woman. There was a little of that but it wasn’t central to the story. This time I sat through the whole movie…3 hours straight. Robin decided to leave me alone because I refuse to talk while watching the movie. For some reason, Indians like to talk while watching a movie. I actually prefer watching movies alone. The DVD we borrowed has 3 movies in one disk so I have 6 more hours of Bollywood movies to watch. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever enjoy watching Bollywood movies. Maybe I could learn a little Hindi in the process.

Since I rarely walk around anymore, I’ve taken the effort to walk around the lake as often as I can. Normally, I ask friends to join me but today I decided to go alone…good call. I bumped in P in the lake and ended up walking with him. P is a senior teacher/student who has been practicing with Guruji for 17 years. I have never practiced with him but had spoken to him a few times. I’ve learned so much from him it’s always a pleasure talking to him. About 90% of those who come here are teachers but only a handful of them have the depth and understanding about the practice the way P understands it. He is one of the few teachers I would go out of my way to practice with. I felt so lucky to have spent that time with him.

Today’s practice has been my favorite practice since arriving. I think I’m hitting my stride. It’s the last Mysore practice of the week and I’m not necessarily looking forward to the rest day. I can feel my body could use a day off but I could easily do another Mysore practice tomorrow.

The past week it’s been Saraswati whose been assisting me in Mari C. Today Sharath got a hold of me in Mari C. Sharath has this way of making you feel relaxed before trying to get you into the posture. He is patient and waits for your breath before making any move. My shoulders have been slowly opening up, allowing my arms to rotate a little more. As Sharath, was adjusting me, I could almost feel my fingers touch before my arm slipped over my knee. Sharath gestured that I have about an inch more before my fingers touched. What once seems to be an impossible task is almost a reality.

After the adjustment, I told Sharath, “Next month�

He replied, “That’s my goal�

I pointed at my belly and he continued, “You fast, don’t eat at night.� I nodded and smiled. It’s nice to know I'm not alone in this.

I must be out of circulation…too much Bollywood movies. I missed conference last Sunday and just recently found out that the shala will close for two weeks in October. I still don’t know what the exact dates are. I normally would be upset but some senior students convinced me to use the time to travel around India. I haven’t decided where I’m going or whether I’m going to do it alone or ask if anyone would want to join me. I’m still not very comfortable traveling alone so I might just do it. My shortlist of places I want to go to is…Rajasthan, Dharamsala, Agra, Varanasi and Dehli. I’m not sure if I can see all those places in two weeks or if I have the money to go to all those places. I have over two months to figure all those things out. Isn’t being in India a lot of fun. Why do I even have to work? Why can’t someone pay me to travel around India?

I've received a few emails from friends wondering what's been happening to me. I'm still alive in case anybody was wondering. I only have two excuses...first, I was either too busy and second, when I had the time to blog, I was not in the mood. I think I felt like I over blogged myself when I first arrived. There has never been a storage of things to blog about. In fact, so much has happened the past two weeks, I don't even know where to start. This entry is going nowhere...to many things in my mind right now. I have a lot of good and not so good experiences I would like to share...maybe tomorrow.

PS. This morning Sharath help me at Mari C and my fingers touched...woohoo!!! I didn't bind yet but I have no doubt it will happen. Whether it happens, next week, next month, next year or the year after...it doesn't really matter. In the bigger scheme of things, moving from one asana to the next is not really that important. It's how the practice affects you in a deeper level is what counts. I'll try to elaborate on that on my next entry. It's a touchy subject so I have to be careful.

I don’t know what is it about this second trip but I seem to be gravitating to either the local Indians or yoga students with Indian decent. Yesterday, I gathered a group of people and head towards Chamundi Hills. It was Robin (my landlady’s son), Mani (Robin’s friend), Reema (my first friend in Mysore last year, she’s Gujarati but grew up in London. She’s also my homeopathic doctor), another Robin (a crazy Punjabi who grew up and lives in Birmingham…where ever that is) and the coolest couple…Ari and Ruby (originally from Calcutta, living in London).

Our first stop was Caranji Lake. We walked around the park and decided to go boating. We rented two of the boats…Ari and Ruby in one boat, crazy Robin, Reema and I in the other boat. Mani and Robin didn’t want to go boating so they just hung out. The lake was pretty big and it must have been a bird sanctuary because it was filled with all kinds of birds. It was really nice and peaceful getting out in the lake. It rained while we were in the lake but it didn’t really bother us. It was really fun but we didn’t want to stay too long because Mani and Robin were waiting for us.

After the lake, we headed to Planet X for bowling, go carting and some pool. We first wanted to go bowling but the lanes were all full so we got some drinks. I wasn’t really interested in the go carting but the crazy Punjabi insisted…so what the heck. The first batch to go around the course was Robin, Ari and I. We paid 100 rupees each for 10 laps or 10 minutes. When the race started Ari went out first, then Robin and I was last. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the go-carts where pretty fast. My competitive side came out and I aggressively try to pass Robin. I was on his tail all the way and every time I tried to pass him, he would cut me off…the bastard. At one point Ari lost control of his cart so Robin and I passed him. I was getting really annoyed by the fact that I couldn’t pass him and I kept screaming at Robin for cutting me off. When I realized that we only had a few laps left, I made am aggressive move and crashed on the side of the track. I was able to recover but it was too late…f@#$k. The Punjabi just laughed at me after the race because he knew I really wanted to pass him and he just kept cutting me off. I told him I was going to get him after the next race.

I took the second race off so it was Reema, Ruby, Ari and that Punjabi. Reema and Ruby were a little hesitant but once the race started, they were really getting to it. After the 4th lap, it started to rain so they had to abandon the race. We got our refund and headed into the building to join Mani and Robin and played some pool. When the rained slowed down, we headed to the Olive Garden for some dinner. It was around 6:30PM and I normally don’t like to eat dinner that late but since it was raining, we were pretty much trapped. For some reason, I thought they would have Italian food but it was either Chinese or Indian food…it’s not connected the chain of Olive Garden restaurants in the US. For the price we were paying, the food was terrible and the servings were small. The restaurant was pretty posh for Mysore standards but we didn’t really see ourselves going back anytime in the future. When dinner was over, it was still raining so we were trapped. It was around 8:30PM and we had to make a decision…wait for the rain to stop or drive in the rain. Robin and Mani had motorcycles and Ari and the Punjabi were on scooters. Mani and Robin suggested that we wait for the rain to slow down because scooters don’t do well in the rain. Ari asked me if I could drive his scooter for him since he doesn’t have very good eyesight and he doesn’t drive well at night. I said yes but suggest that I take Ruby behind me because she was much lighter. Ari suggested that we ride together because we would have more fun shouting and laughing in the rain. I thought that was a crazy idea because we’re both heavy and scooters don’t ride well but I agreed that it would be fun.

By 8:45PM, we decided to go with or without the rain. Robin and Mani told us that no matter what…don’t stop, this part of town was full of bandits. Thanks a lot, it’s bad enough we have to ride at night in the rain. Now we have to worry about bandits. I seriously need to learn how to drive a motorcycle and get one. I was a little scared about the ride back but once we got going it was so much fun driving in the rain. Every time he got a chance, the Punjabi would ride beside us and say something stupid which made Ari and I laugh. It was difficult driving in the rain because the accelerator bars were wet so I couldn’t speed up when I wanted too. We got home around 9:15PM…what a long fun day.

Time really flies when your having fun. This afternoon, I headed to the shala to pay for my second month. As I walked in the shala I saw Saraswati. I smiled and told her, “Finished first month, paying for second month.� She replied, “Four more months.� It’s amazing; with all the people in the shala she remembered how long I was staying. I went in Guruji’s office and paid. I didn’t really say anything and just thank him. On my way out, I spotted Sharath and waved.

Outside the shala, I hung out and chatted with Badur (the security guard) and Guruji’s driver. Sharath’s daughter was also outside riding her tricycle. I attempted to talk to her and said, “Beda petrol, beku salpa petrol.� She understood me, smiled and said something in Kanada. A few minutes later, three Indian boys passed by with a basketball. I asked them to pass the ball. I dribbled it and passed it back to them. I asked them if they knew how to play basketball. They said that they’re just learning. I told them I would teach them how to play. They were heading to the basketball court and asked me to join them. I said, “Nale� (tomorrow) because I had to meet Reema and Ari at home. All of a sudden I heard Sharath shout from the shala staircase, “No basketball� I looked at him surprised. I didn’t realize he had overheard the conversation. He repeated, “No basketball, must bind marichasana C first.� I smiled back and said, “OK�. I guess there’s no basketball for me here until I bind Mari C.

Bollywood Review

I haven’t watched a whole lot of Bollywood movies since I last blogged. Last week, Reema arrived so we’ve been busy just catching up. I did watch Koi Mil Gaya and Bride and Prejudice. Koi Mil Gaya was not that great…it’s the Indian version of ET. The dancing and singing was good but there was not much to the story. If you want a mindless movie and want to be entertained…then watched this movie.

Bride and Prejudice was a much better movie. You can get a lot of insights about Indian culture in the movie. I’m not sure if this would be considered a Bollywood movie because it seem like it was made for the western audience…it was only 2 hours long. Aiswaryi did a decent acting job but the male lead actor was terrible. He was supposed to be a rich American but acted like a poor man…he had no substance. I would still recommend this movie though.

I attempted to watch Lagaan last week but I didn’t get a very good copy. I couldn’t read the subtitles. I’m hoping to get a better copy next week. I also started watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai with Sharuck Khan. I think it’s going to be a good movie. I got through 30 minutes of it but I’ve been really busy so I hadn’t had the time to finish it. Oh shit I forgot, I also watched Munna Bai MBBS. Robin had highly recommended it to me so I had very high expectations. It was a decent movie but I think I expected too much.

It's hard to recall what's been happening the past weeks so I decided to post pictures instead. I haven't been in much of a writing mood lately so maybe my pictures will tell the story for me.

About a week ago, Robin and his friends brought me to the Brindavan Gardens, about 18 kilometers from Gokulam. It's also where the KRS Dam is. This is my Mysore Mafia connection...don't mess with me. Robin from the left, Mamar, Ragi and Mani.

This is a really nice place to just hangout and chill. It's always nice to hop on a motorcycle and ride in the countryside. The landscape is filled with rice fields.

The following day we went to Chamundi Hills. It's nice hanging out with the locals because they know all the little side streets and hang-out places. One of the reasons why I'm so obsessed with learning to ride a motorcycle is because it's soooo sweet getting behind Mani's motorcycle. That's Robin, Mani and Ragi again...both motorcycles are Mani's. I had my 3rd motorcycle class with Robin last Sunday. I'm much better now but still not ready to go into traffic. Robin is obsessed with me learning how to drive he wants me to practice in traffic...I don't think so. I also got into my first fall. I was practicing making a sharp turn and I somehow slipped and I made the mistake of holding on the the handle bar which happens to be the accelerator. The motorcycled just dragged me forward and we fell into the canal. I broke the side mirror and the tail light. I bruised my leg...thank God, no broken bones. Robin says it's important to have your first spill...whatever, tell my leg that.

Went to Bylakuppe for the second time with Reema (from the left), Crazy Punjabi Robin and Shobha. Not all Punjabis are crazy but this one is.

Monks chanting at the Golden Temple

When in Bylakuppe, don't miss the debates. It's the most interesting experience. The courtyard is filled with over a thousand monks intensely debating. It's at 6PM...not sure if it happens everyday.

Go-karting at the Planet X. I want a piece of that Punjabi next time.

Rashmi, my Kanada teacher told us about the local yoga competition. We decided to check it out. It was pretty cool to see these young Indian yogis.

Smile!!! Your in candid camera.

Hopefully, I can do this in my next life...no hurry