Healing, love and meditation in India


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Asia » India » Kerala » Varkala
April 16th 2013
Published: April 19th 2013
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Namaste friends!6 months of work in Montreal and Vancouver has once again brought me to the other side of the world. The journey took me in the opposite direction than usual...I flew over the pacific instead of over Europe, landing first in Honk Kong to visit Jordan and Alice and meet their daughter. I had only seen them once since our last encounter in HK in 2006. So I was really happy to be back there again. I wasn't surprised by the overwhelming amount of people in HK. I remembered it being bustling and busy at all times. But I noticed this time that everywhere the enormous crowds walked, they had a sense of purpose. they were often going to and from the metro stations. Everyone must have had somewhere really important to go! Few people were just lingering, or sight seeing. The newest development i noticed was that everyone had a Samsung galaxy, but the biggest one. Ive never even seen one that big in Canada, (which i know isnt saying much but now that I've graduated to an iPhone it's possible I would notice these things at home). And everyone has a Samsung despite the multiple 2-story apple stores in the city. People walked around, faces buried in their oversized phones. More Often than not, when i was able to steal a glance at the screen, they were just playing games. Sophia, Jordan and Alice's daughter is adorable. We really bonded and had a great time getting to know each other. I was so happy to visit HK but I was anxious after my 5 days there to get back to India. I didn't waste any time getting back to my favourite spot, landing directly in Kerala and going straight to Shiva Garden in Varkala. If any of these names are sounding familiar it's because this is my 4th trip to the same guest house in the same city. This year I intended to stay at least a month, to give my body a chance to relax and recover after 6 arduous (ish) months of work and 2 frostbitten (k thats an exaggeration) months of cold weather...I'm weak, what can I say. It was too much for me!My plan was to get some Ayurvedic treatments and really give my body the chance to gain strength and heal. I hadn't been feeling so well my last few months in Canada. I was lucky enough to find an incredible healer who spent a week treating my body, with oil massages to strengthen the digestion and relaxation techniques commonly used in Ayurveda. They gave me back my strength and best of all my appetite. But the best gift he gave me was the treatment of my mind. He helped me to see my body as healthy and whole rather than as stricken with a disease. It seemed like such a simple concept, To just envision my body as healthy. But it was one I had never considered before. So it completely change my attitude and my approach to my health. The second angel that came to me in Varkala was not a new one. I had met Thomas every year that I had visited Varkala. But our interactions had been limited. Neither of us are sure what changed this year, but a friendship started from the day I arrived and slowly grew to a relationship, which developed into love throughout the 5 weeks we spent there together. It's a pretty easy place to fall in love...between the beach, the hammock and excursions on a moped to the backwaters. By the end of my time in Varkala, Thomas had only a few weeks left in India and decided to spend it traveling north with me. We went up to Dharamsala and Rishikesh, 2 places I had been several times before but were a first for him. It was nice for me to share these places that I loved with this man who was slowly taking over more and more of my heart. Ok that's mushy enough for now... For those of you who think India is a small country: heres what it took to travel from varkala ( in southern india) to Dharamsala (in the Himalayas), in only 2 day: -taxi - 50 km - 1.5 hours-2 planes - 2216 Km 4.25 hours-shuttle - 5 km - 10 minutes-metro - 20 Km 18 minutes-rickshaw - 5 km - 20 minutes -train - 484 km - 10 hours-rickshaw - 1 km - 5 minutes -3 buses - 80 km - 4.5 hours-rickshaw - 1 km - 5 minutes This Totaled:12 vehicles2862 Km20 hours 35 minutes on transport (total 27 hours from door to door)2 meals10 chais Good thing I had good company. Usually I am traveling alone doing these sort of things. And let me tell you, there are not enough books or movies or music to keep me from getting bored and frustrated at the length of time it takes to get anywhere in this country! And it was only that short because we flew the majority of the way! One day we walked to a waterfall in Dharamkot (a small town in Dharamsala, where we were staying). It was really small and quiet and of course had one chai shop just at the top, That coincidently had a tent to rent out for the night. We were unprepared on that night but made the hour and a half walk back around the mountain to our guesthouse, packed our stuff and came back the next day to stay. It was a beautiful, quiet and peaceful place, wonderful to wake up in the morning to the sound of the water flowing below us and the birds chirping above. From there we continued trekking the kilometre up to Triund, a place I had visited before But never in March when the snow hadn't fully melted. We spent two nights there using a lot of body heat to stay warm and were quite shocked on our second morning when we awoke to a ground covered in a foot of snow. It might've been cold and wet to walk around up there but it was beautiful to see a pure white landscape in front of us where before had been damp grass. In February while I was still in Varkala, Mesi, a Hungarian girl I met and traveled with in India last year, told me a British nun I knew of would be giving 3 days of teachings in the north March. I had listened to this nun speak before and was inspired by her courage to stay alone in a cave for 12 years and by her light-hearted, balanced approach to life. The teachings were a few days after Thomas had planned to go back home to Italy (although he's German, he lives in norther Italy). So I met up with Mesi just before the teachings and we made our way to Bir together, about 100 km east of Dharamsala. Bir was the first new city I visited on this trip. In the 3 days of the teaching all we saw of Bir was the inside of the room where the teachings took place and the small main strip of the tourist area of theTibetan colony surrounding the monastery. We walked beyond the strip one day, past the landing fields where the paragliders land daily and Bir opened up into this magnificent sea of tea plantations and rolling mountains. Mesi and I were both awestruck. We had never seen so much greenery in all of India. Neither of us ever wanted to leave this paradise. And we both realized we had no reason to leave. So after a couple days of visiting the surrounding villages and some temples, we each found a little oasis of our own to spend some time in peace. My trip so far had offered me so much already, I felt like I needed some time to process it all...the healer, my heart opening to a man and these Buddhist ideas that I found so intriguing and confusing at the same time. Bir offered a perfect opportunity for a peaceful personal retreat, where I could absorb the past two months and figure out what to do with it next.Some foreigners I met who come every year for paragliding (supposedly Bir is the best place in the world for it) showed me upper Bir, about a half an hour walk up the mountain from the Tibetan colony. It's a quiet, small Indian village where only a few foreigners live, with one main street that holds all of the (at most) 50 shops, surrounded by a residential area with relatively large houses by Indian standards, built at random and scattered throughout the mountain. Within two days I had rented an apartment that occupied the upper floor of a family's house. It offered a bedroom, a living room, a big balcony outside and my own kitchen. I had always looked at the local markets and thought how amazing it would be to walk to the shop every day and buy my fresh vegetables. But eating at restaurants was so cheap, it never seemed worth it to cook for myself. Besides the fact that I rarely had access to kitchen. So I got really excited at the prospect of spending three weeks cooking for myself and decided to stay until the end of the month (when I had a plan to attend a 9-day meditation course in Dharamsala). Not only did I go every day to the local market to buy my fresh produce, but the family hooked me up with all the local vendors. I bought fresh eggs from the neighbors who had their own chickens and paneer from the local dairy farmer. It never cost me more than $.50 to buy all the necessary ingredients for a meal! I was also excited at the ease at which I could buy all the Indian spices and cooking ingredients that I have trouble finding in Montreal. Ghee, mustard oil, aesofetida, cardamom pods, chapati flour...even this little town had everything I could need to cook a great Indian meal. Although cooking a small portion only for myself was never easy, since I didn't have a fridge to hold the leftovers. It proved to be a little bit of a challenge at first, but slowly my appetite grew so that I could eat all the food I prepared and I was really loving being able to cook every meal fresh. My abundance of free time allowed me to do so. My favorite part was feeding the composting to the neighbours cow. I would deposit the bucket of scraps in front of her every few days and watch her go to town. It did feel a little funny to be cooking Indian food for myself when the Indian family living in my house cooked better food than I ever could! But where better to learn than from my Indian mother! And what better time to practice than when my day is completely free!With the rest of my time I meditate, do my yoga practice and read the 18 (ish) Buddhist books I have accumulated over the past few weeks. When I need a break I hang out with the paragliders and I even let one of them take me flying once. I agree that this must be the most beautiful place in the world to do it....with small villages below and snow capped mountains in the distance reaching over 4,000 metres high. But mostly I am happy to stay by myself, in silence with the peace of nature all around me. Being completely on my own is something I rarely have the chance to do...Whether its in Montreal or traveling around India where there is rarely a moment of solitude. I actually had to tell the family I am living with that I am here for solitude. It is not in the nature of Indians to be alone. They therefore didn't understand that I came here for that. So they constantly sat with me on the balcony, brought me chai and invited me to dine with them. They saw me as their guest, not their renter and wanted me to feel at home. To them, this meant having someone around to keep me company at all times! But slowly we came to a comfortable place where I could spend time with them when I wanted to and sit quietly on my balcony reading the rest of each day. One day a friend came from the colony to visit me. My directions were to exit her building and turn left, walk through the wheat fields, around the house and turn right on the road. These are the only kinds if directions i could give in this small village! The road part confused her because it was in fact a 2 metre wide dirt path and she was looking for a proper road. I told her to follow the road up the mountain and eventually it would become paved. Again this was confusing because she expected it to turn into a road but all it meant was that the 2 metre road became paved. Then I told her to follow it as it winded around houses and I would meet her when she arrived at the main road...which again was only a slightly wider paved road! Not the easiest place to direct someone to. No real landmarks. Thus is village life...and I love it! In the past 4 days I haven't seen one other foreigner in the town. I have kept to myself in my house, going out only for walks or to the market. So I am seeing only Indian people. Most of the time little kids get excited and say hi to me. Today on my walk I encountered some kids who only stared at me in confusion. I wondered why for quite some time until I realized its because I'm white and look different to them....everyone I look at looks the same, Indian. But I don't see myself and forgot that I don't look like them at all! I think it's time to leave! I hope you can see why this blog has taken me so long to write and can forgive me.. I have been otherwise preoccupied for most of the time! As of today I have one month left in India. I plan to stay in Bir for one more week, attend some more Buddhist teachings and then move on to my meditation course. When I leave India, I'll go to Italy to visit Thomas for a month before coming back to Montreal. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from again before I am back! Namaste


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19th April 2013

Your Blog is a brightness on a rainy day!!!
Trish, So wonderful to read your beautiful, happy blog. It is so great to hear about your love, Thomas. He has brought a new light to your magical life in India, I'm so happy for you!!!! Also, very happy to hear you are feeling healthy, that is the best news! Have a wonderful time with Thomas in Italy, and look forward to meeting him!!! Trish be healthy and Happy!!!! Xoxo
20th April 2013

HI Trish Cherie It was truly a joy to read your captivating descriptions of you journey in India. You sound fabulous... so at peace, so in love and so deliriously happy! Thank you for sharing all that you are learning with us all. Much love, Danielle
22nd April 2013

Thanks!
Dear Trish! Thanks for making me travel in India. It is always with great excitement that I read your blog. You have to let me know when you come back to Mtl. I will spend the month of July in St-Agathe. We should definitely meet. I am glad to learn about that new man in your life. You deserve a partner as full of live as you are. See you soon my friend. joe xzx
25th April 2013

It is great to read your blog, to learn a bit about far away places that I will probably never see for myself, and to know your travels give you so much pleasure.
6th May 2013

Deep Breathing!!!!
Trish, There are no word to describe the happiness and pride I am feeling for you at this time. Although we have spoken and I hear the sparkle in your voice ,it was so great reading about your experiences.You have accopmplished so much and I guess now,have figured out why India!!!! Have a wonderful time in Italy,with Thomas, and I hope it all works out for the best,which you so deserve!. Cannot wait to here about your next adventure. Safe travelling ! I love you, Auntie Karol

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