I am in my favourite cyber cafe in Chennai on Friday morning, February 17 -- playing hookey! I took the morning off school because I feel so overloaded, after almost two weeks. This is an intense learning experience at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), in many ways. I am learning about yoga of course, and about India, and, perhaps mostly, about me in India. So, I had a very quiet morning in my hotel room, which is actually really very comfortable, especially given it is a budget hotel. I have a large room, on the top (fourth) floor, overlooking the pool. From [View Full Entry]

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It is Friday evening and I am at my favourite cyber cafe, ruminating about my first week of school at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM). It was a busy week, with school each day starting at 7 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., depending on the day. So I am tired. But first -- everyone wants to know how to pronounce Mysore. It is pronounced exactly how it looks like it is pronounced, and with the emphasis on the first syllable. MY-sore. That's it. My name for this entry -- off to a great start -- is actually [View Full Entry]

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February 5 It is Sunday afternoon and I am back in Chennai after spending three days in Mysore, a small city in the centre of southern India. It was a seven hour train trip to get there, stopping at the world famous city of Bangalore -- high tech capital of India -- briefly on the way. Mysore is famous for several things: one of the best climates in India; the many gardens and green spaces that surround it (it is called the Garden City, a refreshing change from "God's Own Country"); the production of silk and sandalwood (did you know they [View Full Entry]

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Hi, all, I am writing this from the most amazing cyber cafe. It is gorgeous, air conditioned and very high tech. I haven't seen anything like it in India -- and it's right near my hotel here in Chennai, so I am very happy. I am now a proud member of Reliance Web World and I can surf to my heart's content in any Web World branch in India. I think this place will be a quiet, cool "safe haven," away from the hustle, bustle, noise and dirt of Chennai. The washrooms are clean and they have a great little cafe [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, January 26, was Republic Day here in India. Everyone gets a holiday, security is tight and Delhi hosts a huge parade. I was really looking forward to seeing the parade, but Ajay's family said it is best to watch it on television because of the immense crowds and tight security. (Crowds in India are quite different than crowds in Canada! When they say immense crowds, they mean it.) Literally everything was closed in Delhi yesterday, and traffic was controlled because of the parade. However, I made the Canadian cultural assumption that the parade would be in the afternoon. Canada i [View Full Entry]

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A short blog today, with pictures only from the party at Sanjay's brother's (Ravi's) house across the street on Sunday night. With help from Ajay's mother (who wears a sari everyday), I wore my new pink-and-orange silk sari. It was fun to wear, but I had to be very careful. Luckily, I had only to walk across the street to get to the party! The party was for Ravi and Meenu's wedding anniversary, and it was lovely. Meenu is very creative -- she's a clothes designer -- and she had the terrace decorated with draperies, lights, fountains, etc. I met some [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday morning, Saturday morning, my cell phone rang at 9:30 a.m., waking me out of a sound sleep only to hear Sanjay's voice. Calling from his brother's house across the street, he said, "Come with me to Karnal. I'm leaving in 15 minutes." Sanjay and I talked about me coming with him to visit his hometown -- which was only a village when he was growing up there -- months ago, back in Canada. I was very excited to have the chance to visit a small town in India with someone who could show me what it's really like to live [View Full Entry]

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My friend from Toronto, Sanjay, is here in Delhi, staying at his brother's house across the street from where I am staying with Ajay and his family in Panscheel Park. (I have learned that Panscheel Park is one of the top two places to live in Delhi, the other being the area where embassy people live. I knew this was a special area .... it's so nice here ....). We just can't get over the unbelievable coincidence ... I visited him at his brother's house, and we went shopping together, and to a great Indian restaurant with his cousin Manu. It [View Full Entry]

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I am writing this from my "home" computer in Ajay's house in south Delhi, on the evening of January 18. I flew back from Kerala yesterday morning, stopping very briefly in Mumbai (Bombay) -- but we weren't allowed off the plane, so I still have only seen India's most bustling city (which features Asia's biggest slum) from the air. It was a very tiring road trip, but I really love Kerala. Lush, historical, friendly, relaxing, abundant -- they call it "god's own country." (But then so does Kashmir. And many other places around the globe. Personally, I think everywhere is god's [View Full Entry]

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January 5 I am going to try and upload some pictures. This place is so beautiful. And there are so many things to photograph. A professional would go nuts. The women all wear beautiful, colourful saris; there are so many traditional ways of life every place you look -- such as fishermen hauling in nets on the beach and women gathered at the well to fetch water. Gorgeous sunsets, thick foliage, amazing birds -- huge eagles swooping over the beach -- flowers. I could go on and on. Yesterday I saw a huge elephant with an enormous gold panel hanging over [View Full Entry]

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