Home at the edge of the desert I am back at the Fifu Rest House in Jaisalmer, sitting in the fourth floor terrace restraurant, feeling the soft desert breeze and enjoyign the peaceful ambience. I feel I have found another perfect spot in India, along with Aurovalley Ashram, Shinshiva Resort in Kerala and the terrace of Ajay's house in Delhi. When I find a perfect place like this in India, I never want to leave. I feel very at home, calm and relaxed, and very open. Jaisalmer is now a magical word to me. My heart opened up here. There is [View Full Entry]

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Lake of mirrors Udaipur, 5:30 a.m. From outside my window - which has a view of the Lake Palace Hotel glimmering on the moon fed lake - I can hear the sound of morning birds and Hindi wedding music, blaring in spite of the early (late?) hour. It is wedding season. On my ride into the old city of Udapiur, ranged around the lake, I drove pass two barats ( wedding processions) in full swing. People were dancing around the grooms, seated on horseback while bands played noisy clanging, clashing, squawking music. India is bursting with life. I spent Friday morning [View Full Entry]

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Moon over Jaisalmer I am writing this from one of the four terraces of the Fifu Guest House in Jaisalmer. It is located about a kilometre west of the centre of Jaisalmer, the 11th century hilltop fort. The view is magnificent, the guest house is lovely and Fifu and Jitu (who run the guest house and take care of the guests) are two of the nicest people I have met in India. All the many, many glowing reports you will find on Tripadvisor are true and more true. This is a very special place to stay -- perhaps the best in [View Full Entry]

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It's official. I have a new relationship with India (well, with Delhi, anyway). Arriving in this country for the third time really does feel completely different. The entire city seems to have slowed down (which is a bit of a bizarre statement, given Delhi's crowds and chaos!). Everything passes by me at a more leisurely rate and I am noticing more details and having more "moments." I think I am getting a fuller picture of life in Delhi, now that I am not so sucker-punched by all the noise and activity. It's an interesting experience, and really wonderfully satisfying, to feel [View Full Entry]

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I'm just now in the throes of getting ready to travel to India for the third time (or "thrice," as Ajay would say in his upper-crust Indian accent!). Deciding to go was EASY. I bought my ticket months ago (and got a very good deal), motivated by both the carrot of returning to India and the stick of another ghastly Canadian winter. So, I am leaving on January 30 and returning on April 1. Deciding where to go was HARD. I really agonized over it -- though of course it was a kind of sweet agony. I had to contend with [View Full Entry]

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India Redux: Thoughts on why I love India I'm writing this on a very cold Toronto winter day. Ajay and I are basically trapped in the house. It's a good day for reflective thought. And I do find myself thinking a lot about India. Ajay teases me that I cannot go a day without talking about India. And it’s true. India is no longer just a place on the map to me, nor is it just a place I visited and loved. Sometimes a place catches you - it gets into your imagination and into your heart, and even into your [View Full Entry]

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December 2007 The snow is falling, heavily, here in Toronto, and I am casting my mind back to the last two weeks I spent in India. The two highlights were Jaidev's naming day and the wedding of Ajay's cousin. In between, I made a new friend, Divya, spent a day at Qtub Minar, one of Delhi's world heritage sites (the city has four!), went shopping and TRIED to go see the hit movie, Om Shanti Om (with no success). I felt very honoured and privileged to be part of the baby's naming ceremony, a very big occasion in every Indian child's [View Full Entry]

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Toronto, December 14, 2007 While I was in India, I spent most of my time in Delhi. Last time, in 2005-2006, I took seven trips, and returned to Delhi seven times - a particularly auspicious number as seven capital cities have rise and fallen on the site where today’s modern Indian capital now stands. New Delhi is the eighth. This time, I took only one trip, and that was to Rishikesh for four days (Nov. 12-15). I went primarily to visit my friends and teachers, Chetana and Vishva (Yogi Vishvketu), who just opened their new ashram - Ananda Prakash Yoga Ashram. [View Full Entry]

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Toronto, December 7, 2007 I am actually writing this at home, at my desk, in Toronto, with the cold blue morning light reminding me that I am now back in a cold, northern country, having left the warmth and vibrant colour of India behind. I had every intention of writing travel blog entries while I was in India, from November 5-28, 2007 -- but I was too taken up with just being there. Socializing, experiencing, living and feeling that familiar sense of sensory overload India excels in, and that I find so addictive. I remember reading somewhere about the sweetness of [View Full Entry]

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Hello all, I am getting ready to travel to India for the second time. This time a short trip, to North India only -- 3 1/2 weeks in Delhi, Rishikesh and Puskhar for the world-famous Pushkar Camel Fair. In Delhi I will be celebrating Diwali and attending a really big Hindu wedding with Ajay and his family. In Rishikesh, I will be visiting my yoga teacher, Yogi Vishvketu, and seeing his brand-new ashram. I will be leaving on November 4 and returning home on November 28, after a very short stop in Amsterdam. So, leaving in about three weeks. It's a [View Full Entry]

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