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Published: February 12th 2008
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After a lovely 5 hour train ride out of Delhi I reached Haridwar, where I took a short rickshaw ride to the town of Rishikesh. It's located right on the holy Ganges river (Ganga), so it's a popular pilgrimage site for Indians who want to bathe in the river and feel it's energy. It's also got a "new age" vibe for tourists, with a ton of ashrams, yoga and meditation centers and bookshops.
Rishikesh was also made famous in the early 70's because the Beatles came here for an extensive stay at an ashram. Ringo left after 2 weeks because he was over it and wanted to eat a good steak. But the other 3 stayed on with their girlfriends and studied with the guru. It influenced their music immensely and it's where they wrote most of the music for the White Album. The ashram has been abandoned for years, but I bribed the security guard Rs 40 to let me in. I wandered around the overgrown gardens and dilapitated buildings in the compound. It was cool to imagine how pretty and tranquil it must have once been for them.
Day after I arrived I came across the gardens
of Parmarth Niketan ashram. I signed up for a beginners yoga and meditation course. Pranayama beathing at 7:15AM / Asanas & Meditation at 3:00PM. The asanas were challenging as I haven't really exercised or held a downward dog position in a while, but after every class I could feel my spine lengthen and my body toning up. The meditation was the hard part. It wasn't just a matter of sitting quiet for an hour. You need to make your mind still and not think of anything. That is harder then it sounds. Chanting OM helped a little, but my mind would wander off all the time. I would be making plans in my head, or replaying conversations in my mind, or thinking of childhood memories or getting mad at myself because I wasn't concentrating. I still can't meditate without my mind wandering or thinking of a million things. They say you need to practice everyday for 3 years before you can gain a little control over your thoughts. That's a big committment, but the benefits of meditation are amazing. It can take your mind to a totally different place and can fill your body up with really pure energy. You
Mountain Village Home
This is where we stayed on our overnighter. are more grounded, confident, calm and happy. I feel some of those affects -- or rather I feel much better than I did while I was working in New York. I also took part of the Ganga Aarti ceremony every night at Sunset. My yoga teacher, Mataji, would lead the singing prayer and people would clap, j
Towards the end of my stay I hooked up with some people from my yoga class. We went on a weekend overnight to a country home. Met a guy from Colombia, South America (Sebastian) in my class who organized a trip with his Hindi teacher, Tilak. Six of us took a jeep taxi out of town to a mountain village. We had to walk about an hour up hill to get to this small rural village. The house belonged to Tilak's father-in-law and it was in the middle of rice and vegetable fields. It was a tiny stone building with a main porch room. Off the sides was a small kitchen and 2 bedrooms. We basically sat on the floor, watched a beautiful sunset and star gazed outside, ate homecooked Indian meals, talked, laughed and sang Kirtans (songs) while Tilak played the
Auntie & Uncle
A sweet old couple who lived next to the doctor. They hung out with us all evening. drum and lovely Jenny from UK played her flute. It was real homespun fun.
The only downside was when the father-in-law got drunk with his friends and started fighting with each other. It was a major drunkard/alcoholic family scene -- which was really uncomfortable for the guests. Family problems are everywhere I guess. To them it was a normal Saturday night, but to us it was a crazy scene. The two Korean girls (Yung and Cheyun) were freaked out and wanted to leave. So did the Brazilian lady, Monica. They couldn't hike down the hour long trail by themselves at night, so they waited until morning and left first thing. I stayed behind with Sebastian, Jenny, Tilak, his wife Paksmi, and their neice Suchita. We took our time that day to hike down and then had a great lunch at Suchita's house by the river. In the end I was glad that I went and I met some cool friends.
My outlook on India has changed since that first day in Delhi. I think that I may have been a little too paranoid and insecure. I felt so threatened by things and people. Now I look at those
Suchita!!!!!!!
Suchita was an awesome cook for us. She was so sweet and her birthday was 2 days after mine. same customs and people and feel totally at ease. I think it's just a matter of getting used to your surroundings and feeling confident enough to accept things that are different. Maybe it's the yoga, but I feel less nervous and more grounded.
Next destination is Goa, to enjoy some beach life.
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