Rishikesh

Believe it or not, 220 km took us (me and Sandi Prawat, the driver) 6.5 hours to make. Needless to say I was so exhausted after the nearly 36 hours of travelling, that I looked closer to a zombie than any human being by the time I arrived to the ashram. The two ladies, Silvia and Maryon welcomed me at the reception area of the ashram, where they take care of all the practical stuff like mailing, administration, bookings etc, and have 2 computers with internet access – there you go, try to get away from cyberspace! J

So, to cut this rather short, I got keys to my apartment (which later I had to leave due to a herd of yellow bees that were there earlier than me), and when started walking towards the house I realized how beautiful this place was: the mountains in the back, you can hear the Ganges in the distance, breathtaking gardens with butterflies, flowers and trees and green grass, my new favourite pets the cows – and the 2 calves, Fules and Barni, well fed and beautiful, unlike the ones you see on the side of the roads outside the ashram. A pitch of paradise in the middle of absolute chaos.

Later I learnt that there are approx. 80 residents here, students from all around the globe, some of the Indians are with their families, people from South Korea, UK, the States, Italy, Holland etc. - and the 6 guests: apart from myself, Leah from Israel, John from Australia, Ale from Mexico, Magda from Poland and Master Happy (not kidding, that is his name), a Buddhist monk from Malaysia. J

Due to the bees I ended up sharing a house with Leah, this beautiful Jewish girl with such a deep voice that would make you fall asleep even if you were in the middle of a rave party I think. She is very interested in everything you have to say, has some interesting thoughts on world peace and of course thorough insights on every day life in Israel, and she is particularly funny when it comes to conversations on different nationalities and countries: she admittedly doesn’t have a clue about geography – but she doesn’t need to, she is great!

After the first half a day which I spent in half-coma, I honestly was not quite ready to start the routine on Tuesday morning, at 4.30.. yes, AM! Let me share how a day looks like, and with that I think I won’t have to write a single word for the next 3 weeks. Every day is almost the same, the 2 lectures after breakfast and at 8pm are the ones that are changing daily, today for instance there is a 2 hour self-study which I decided to use to put down the promised mails. Other than this weekly 1 self study day - which is supposedly the silent day but I figured no one is silent - there is not much time during the day to quickly check mails and reply to anything urgent and read the notes I get from you. So, apologies if I don’t reply to all, just keep sending me news from your sides of the oceans.. J

So, 4.30 wake-up bell rings; 5am: morning prayers. This is – sorry to say – but rather a hassle for me, the prayers don’t mean anything to me and as my heart is not there, I just struggle and ask myself in every minute, what exactly am I doing here at 5am in the morning, instead of being in bed, curled up.... Then 5.15 is the first yoga class with Geeta, who sings with a voice I could never describe. If you think of hindi songs you heard, now she is the one singing them. By the class finishes it is around 7am, and the sun is up – the Himalayas in the background, mist over the grounds, crisp clean air, and the one thing you hear is the mantras from the close-by temples. At 7 there is a pranayama (breathing practice) session, then 7.30-8.30 meditation. At 8.30 is breakfast – and let me tell you about the meals. You can help to serve food –which, for some weird reason I really like doing, but the one thing I haven’t managed yet, to get into the kitchen.. It is somewhere between 10 and 30 people having meal, sitting on the ground, in complete silence, the rest of the residents are having their own food in their homes (I guess). Breakfast is toast, for lunch and dinner you get chapati. There is banana for breaky, cucumber-tomato-raddish mix for lunch and an apple for dinner, as dessert. There is always soup, a veggie curry and rice/pasta as the mains, lunch, breakfast, dinner. You can get hot milk (which is close to yoghurt but not quite, not even a lassi so closest to milk) or water, chai in the morning. VERY simple, and VERY tasty!!! You also find clear water dispensers on every 10 meters, so no worries, there is water to drink around, not only the Ganges.

Oh by the way, most confusing of all: the 3.5 hour time difference to Europe.... And the ‘yes’ that in most cases mean a ‘rather not’ and definitely seem to be an ‘absolute no’..

After breakfast you have about an hour to rest, shower, get yourself together – for the first few days I literally fell asleep in every possible 2 minutes, being that the meditation, breathing practice or a yoga-pose on the ground, I was out by the 4^th breath... 10-11.30am is the first lecture, then comes another pranayama session at 12.20, 1pm lunch, 2pm digestive breathing class (which is again a great spot to fall asleep immediately), 2.30-4pm another lecture, 4pm tea time (or internet for me), and then comes the very best part of the day, 4.15 hatha yoga class, finally. The yogis leading these classes are simply brilliant! 5.30pm is guided relaxation (where again I tend to fall asleep), 6.30 pranayama, 7pm dinner, 8pm lecture or special program which the first night was singing – hehe, and the day closes with 9pm prayers. So, loads of food, sleep, meditation and exercises – absolutely no complains at all!

And, my favorite pet just poked his head in through the door. These two are so peaceful, and make me laugh like an idiot every time I see them.