Much-needed Update from India!

I suppose I should begin this update with effusive apologies for not having updated over the past couple of weeks since my arrival in India. The reasons are varied, from the ridiculous cost of the business center from my ridiculously expensive - but phenomenally lovely - hotel in Delhi, to power outages or slow Internet, to simply not taking the time to walk down the hill from where I am staying to get to the closest Internet location. Here I am now, though, and there is really so much to write about that I can't fathom being able to put it all in one post. Because of the passage of time, it will most likely be difficult for me to articulate everything as sincerely as I would have been able had I been constantly updating. Experiences in the markets of Old Delhi are more distant memories now; the sights, smells (oh, the smells...), noise, veritable chaos, all will feel more like fiction as I write them. The brightness of the colors fades each day, the pungent odors dissipate, the sounds are mere whispers, and the chaos seems more orderly. All of this aside, I will begin working backwards from today, and eventually will arrive at October 13, the evening I landed in this land of mystery and spirituality, a place that, for better or worse, will become my home for the next 2 months.

Three Weeks in Rajpur

Rajpur is a sleepy village approximately 30 miles outside of Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand state in Northern India. I arrived here on October 18 on an overnight train from Delhi (more on this later). I share a flat (sorry, apartment) with two wonderful ladies, Najat (who speaks English and limited Hindi with a deliciously rolling Quebecoise accent) and Lori, who is from Wisconsin and speaks English like me...American English...which, in a land of Brit and Aussie tourists is quite noticeably ill-refined.

I'm here until November 8 doing an intensive asana and pranayama yoga course in the Iyengar tradition at the Yog-Ganga Centre for Yogic Studies. First let me say that, if you are at all interested in the Iyengar tradition of yoga, this is an amazing course. Rajiv and Swati Chanchani have trained for many years under the renowned B.K.S. Iyengar, as well as with his wife Geeta and son Prashant, both of whom are highly respected and recognized as expert teachers and practitioners. We have group asana class from 8-10am 5 days a week, group pranayama class from 4-6/6:30pm 3 days a week, and 1 afternoon dedicated to a talk on yogic philosophy and tradition. One afternoon a week is free, and the other 2 days are considered vacation days. The yoga hall is open for self-practice from 7:30-8am and 2-4pm on days when we have group practice, and 9:15-10:45am and 2-4:30pm on days when we have "vacation". The Yoga Centre also has library with books to check out and yoga reference books. The grounds are exquisitely serene, full of beautifully colored flowers with the Doon Valley mountains in the distance.

Rajpur itself is a poor village by most standards, but they make do and over the past 5 years have taken good advantage of the tourism opportunities that the Yoga Centre brings with the 30-some-odd students that come for each course. A man and his family opened a business to wash and iron clothes for 4 Indian rupees (10 cents, US) per item; numerous fruit and vegetable stands line the main street through town, which extends for less than half a mile; there is a chemist (pharmacist), and a couple of "general stores" provide bulk foodstuff like gram (lentils), rice, sugar, flower, nuts, and spices, as well as all kinds of packaged goods like biscuits (cookies), indian snacks, toothpaste, shampoo, detergent, henna hair coloring, tea, coffee, diapers, plastic containers...you name it, all in a tiny store that is no bigger than the master bedroom in most houses I have seen. A couple of tea stalls entertain both locals and foreigners alike with deliciously steaming cups of chai and, if you like, a sweet imported snack (the cream horn is not recommended, but if your sweet tooth is aching, it will probably suffice). And the samosas...aaahhh, spicy and hot from a Sikh gentleman's shop on the chowk.

And this is Rajpur. At night it is mainly quiet, save the barking dogs, firecrackers, and what sound like random gunshots (we still have no clue what they are). Being so small and in the Doon Valley, it is surrounded by mountains, has fresh, crisp air, and a view of the stars that can only be dreamed of from the smog-filled courtyards of elite Delhi hotels. As far as a location for a Yoga Centre is concerned, it can't be beat. Warm October days, cool evenings, no rain this time of year...as I was drinking my chai and eating my biscuits to the symphony of Creation waking to greet the sun this morning, I thought...you know, I am a blessed creature witnessing a nothing less than a miracle. And then, with a sigh, I closed my eyes and thought that the only thing that would make it more beautiful would be to share that moment with Jeff. And so I did.

Luckily, I have become good friends with both my roommates. Lori and I will continue on to Rishikesh from here, then to Amritsar for a couple of days, through Delhi and Agra, and then on to Varanasi to stay with my teacher for about a month. It's good to have a travel partner...I feel safer, not so alone, and I know it makes Jeff and my parents feel a bit better.