I sometimes don’t know what props I should get because each teacher teaches differently. Geeta wants you to learn certain poses without props, while others expect you to use them for the same pose.
I am sitting in Baddha konasana and I hear slight whoosh and a blanket is on my head. Sunita (Guruji’s daughter) says from the stage, your knees are high use a blanket….
Prashantji’s classes are incredibly difficult. I find I have to mentally prepare prior to attending. That being said, they are wonderful.
This evening we did three main poses. Ustrasana (about a 100 of them) Urdhva Dhanurasana (about 50) and Dwi pada Viparita Dandasana (about 30). Prashantji did not do this to torture us, but to get us to feel the layers of each pose.
One analogy he used, and he uses many, he talked about us becoming experts, as opposed to consumers. As a consumer, we know many things about the product we own. He used a laptop computer as an example. As a consumer we know how to use the computer but there are many functions we don’t understand. A computer engineer is an expert and knows about the computer on a much deeper level. He wants us to become experts.
Side note, if I hear the word Ustrasana over the next few days, I may keel over and die….
I must be getting used to the long drives because the 5 hours it took to get here flew by. The drive was not as scenic as my other excursions, but once you arrive it’s incredible. Vikram took me to the Daulatabad Fort. When visiting the caves you must make time to see this; it’s spectacular. The diameter of the wall surrounding the fort extends for 3 miles. The views from the numerous levels of the fort are amazing. Part of the ascent to the top goes through pitch-black, bat infested, spiraling tunnels.
Although I have become used to people taking photos of me, this was insane. At one point there was a line of people waiting to take photos with me. After 30 minutes of people taking their photo ops, I told Vikram it was time to rescue me. It is all quite innocent and friendly, I just happen to be the whitest person they have ever seen and that warrants the need to take my picture. One photo had mothers, fathers, grandparents, nieces, nephews, cousins all in one photo with me in the middle!
I often watch the medical classes, sitting behind Geetaji, viewing from the stairwell. It’s always a beehive of activity with teachers working on many different issues with their students.
There is an Indian teacher who assists in the classes and Geetaji coaches her. “You just do without seeing the purpose. See here.” Geetaji demonstrates how to adjust the student. “You see now?” Her voice is stern but the teacher smiles with warmth and understanding.
Geetaji has a reputation for being harsh. However, as I view her instruction in these classes, behind her stern voice I see true affection for her teachers/students and a desire to help them understand.
While I’m in India, I’ve decided to indulge in all of the local cuisine. I have eaten various unknown fruits and vegetables from street carts and had sugar cane juice from a roadside eatery that would never be allowed to operate in the states. The cane was put through a press with water (local not filtered) and poured into a glass. It was warm and yellowish-green in color. I expected it to be sweet; instead, it tasted like it looked.
Vikram & I went to Milan, a local hangout across from the hotel in Aurangabad. It was one of the best meals I’ve had in India. Vikram went over to the restaurant earlier in the evening and asked the cook to make a fresh chicken. When I say fresh, I mean the cook went out back, got a live chicken, showed it to Vikram and made us dinner. The sauce was wonderful having a kick to it but not too spicy. According to Vikram, you have to ‘eat it properly’ which means do not leave any meat on the bones. He told me if you really want to eat it properly, you crack the bones with your teeth and suck out the marrow….I have no intention of being that proper.
I was in Prashant’s class this morning. Three quarters through the class he had us move into Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana on the chair. I didn’t want to get up, walk across the room, get a strap and come back to do the pose. I do the pose without it.
SMACK! Get a strap!
I got a strap.
My friend is visiting me for a few days in India. Since her arrival, we have discovered there are roaches the size of horses in her bathroom sink. Last night we used a rag to plug up the sink so they couldn’t get out. Today the housekeeper, who is lovely but doesn’t clean, took the rag away. We come home from dinner and there is one staring at my friend waving its long antennae.
What are we going to do?
It’s your bathroom; you can use mine or make friends with it.
Help me catch it, she says.
I walk into the bathroom, grab the cutting board, smoosh it and go back to my room.
Now we can’t use the cutting board….
Of all the critters I’ve seen running around my apartment, this is the only one that made me smile 🙂
House Gecko
I wonder if I’m the only one who didn’t know the cows, pigs and donkeys wandering the streets of India don’t belong to anyone. I assumed that after wandering around town all day they went home at night.
So, I asked my driver, “Who do these animals belong to?”
“No one”, he replies.
“Really, they are strays?”
“Yes.”
“So if I lived here and I decided I wanted to take that nice cow home that would be fine?”
He laughs. “If the cow wanted to go with you, that would be fine…”
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