wake before the crack of dawn, yogi's don't mess around with sleeping in 'round these parts. hydrate, and stroll down the dirt paths of my little neighborhood to the shala. there the wait begins. the first group starts somewhere around 6 am, and with ashtanga yoga, everyone finishes at their own pace. so the second group waits on the flights of stairs leading up to the rooftop shala for people to finish, one by one. its a wonderful group of practitioners who come from all over the world to study here - europe, brazil, north america, asia, you name it. the teachers are truly world class and really work with each individual's needs and skill level. as i'm relatively new to the practice of ashtanga, i really believe that i couldn't have chosen a better place to practice. some of the other practitioners are extremely advanced, working on the 2nd and 3rd series which takes years to get to sometimes. its inspiring and beautiful to see where my foundations are leading to. personally, my practice has improved everyday, noticeably. i feel as fit and strong as i ever have after finishing my sequence of 50+ memorized asanas each day, and rolling out of the shala after practice is always a beautiful high for me.
on the walk back from the shala, i go by the pre/primary school, and hear the laughing kids in the classroom, or see them in their blue and white uniforms playing around the yard. its a sweet sight to see in the early am. the neighborhood is a series of interconnected dirt paths that weave between the main road and the beach, its a nice lower to lower-middle class area. there are definitely some shacks around, but my feeling is that everyone is eating.
after getting cleaned up and relaxing a bit, i walk down to the bus 'stop' to catch a bus and get food. stand on the side of the road for a couple minutes and raise my arm as the bus approaches. it usually slows instead of stops, and as it slowly rolls by, i grab the rail and hop on board. pay my 5 rupees, and enjoy the ride on the rickety old thing, down the bumpy road. there are two kinds of busses here as i see it. jesus busses and 'shiva' busses. the jesus busses have blinky lights going around a cross at the front of the bus and play some interesting assortments of music. today it was mariachi. the other kind of bus, the 'shiva' bus, has some sort of hindu diety overseeing the activities and often has indian 'pop' music blaring out of tinny sounding speakers. whatever the case, even if i'm not a believer, i'm glad that some god like figure is watching over these busses, shiva knows they need it! i'm kind of a regular now, so people know me a lot of places i go. the bus wallahs charge me the indian price now, as opposed to double it when i first arrived. we're talking about 8 cents extra when doubled.
when i see the restaurant i'm eating at, i give the bus whallah a nod, he whistles, and the bus slows to a speed where i can jump off. i've got a couple favorite restaurants that i like to eat at. the main criteria is threefold:
- pure veg. its an option, its around, and i like to be able to just pick something on the menu that i don't know what it is and order it.
- cleanliness. for real. i want to eat somewhere thats clean. there are levels to this though. one restaurant i eat at looks like its been in business since the dawn of time, and it shows. inside, its relatively clean. this particular spot is right by a bus stand. one morning i went in there and ordered a masala dosa for breakfast and the place was almost empty. 5 minutes later a bus arrives, and every seat in the house including those at my table are filled with indian men. which leads me to the third criteria...
- eat where the indians eat. best food, cheapest prices, and most authentic experience. nuff said.
after the meal, the bulk of the day is generally filled with some or many of these activities: walking on the beach, hanging with friends, reading, writing, swimming, napping, interwebs (a great way to beat the heat in an ac computer place), visiting a new place, taking pictures, or whatever the day brings. in the afternoon, i usually run my errands - the laundry wallah and mini mart.
mental note about packing for travels to this part of the world - buy clothes when you get here. its hot, and most of the clothes i brought don't meet the main criteria: can the breeze flow through it? so i bought some flowy hippie pants and shirts. i visit the laundry wallah almost daily and for about 25 cents per item, i get the cleanest clothes back the next day, professionally and neatly ironed and folded. the system works like this i imagine: i drop off, the laundry wallah gives to some indian woman who hand washes the clothes and gets them cleaner then a western washing machine, hangs them to dry in the hot goa sun, and returns them to the laundry shop where the guy irons and folds each piece in anticipation of my pick up. its an extremely low tech and efficient system, and the laundry wallah is always happy to see me. he takes great pride in his work, as many indians truly do.
next stop is the market. the equivalent of a small us corner store, but filled with pretty much everything one might need day to day including dry food (no produce), toiletries, batteries, cleaning supplies, you name it. the owner sits behind the counter every day, all day and is a pretty wise and rich man. i generally buy a 5 liter container of water each day (and drink almost all of it). plastic in india is a huge problem. most of it is thrown away, or burned, neither of which is a good thing. the big containers however have a deposit, and are reused after being sanitized, which makes me feel better about my longer term stay in one place. it really sucks to need to have a piece of plastic waste as a byproduct of every time you get thirsty, which is a lot!
i carry around a little purse everyday that has the essentials, or my estimation of which, for india. sunscreen. the sun here can be unbearable, and protection is a must. kleen kanteen water container, hand sanitizer, and of course, toilet paper. not to verge to far into that, but a little glimpse is in order. one should consider themselves extremely lucky to find tp near a toilet anywhere in india, and even luckier to find a western toilet as opposed to a squat toilet. whatever the case, being prepared is essential in this regard. the mood can strike at any time, anywhere ; ) also in the bag is a silk scarf to protect from the sun, or keep you a bit warmer when it cools in the evening. its also somewhat of a mosquito deterrent, which i'll get to later...
ok, so after a little siesta on my large porch overlooking a really pretty garden, i'll stroll down to the beach which is a few minutes away and take a nice sunset walk with a friend or by myself and meet up with friends at sunset. its hard to put into words how beautiful these sunsets are. i see them everyday, but wow, stunning! there's a little beach shack where the yogis hang at sunset and dinnertime, and after socializing for a while and maybe having dinner, its off to home around 8:30 or 9 pm. there is no night life here at all, which i appreciate. i spent the last weekend in another beach town to the north that's totally on the hippie traveler circuit, and in my opinion, not that 'indian' at all. there are things happening there, and its fun, but i like the relaxing and somewhat more authentic experience where i'm at without the distractions. yoga is my primary objective here after all.
once home, i usually take another shower. cleanliness is definitely a state of mind here, and it doesn't last long. walking the dirt paths that are lined with every kind of trash imaginable and copious amounts of cow poop, combined with the heat of the day that has you sweating just after leaving the house can be a humbling experience. i've accepted things as they are and have lowered my general standards of cleanliness a bit. however, i won't put anything in my mouth before washing my hands, everytime.
i make sure that the mosquito net above my bed is 'bomber' and read myself to sleep before starting it all again the next day. i've learned the hard way about not having the net bulletproof, and its not a lesson i want to relearn.
india is truly an amazingly complex place with so many layers to uncover. the above is just a small snapshot, but i could go on and on. life here is raw, in so many ways. it brings out the truth, and cuts to the bone. i love it.
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