A little look at the last 8 months

नमस्ते!बहुत दिन कबी नहीं हे!
A photo glimpse of the last nine months of life (since I cannot seem to write about it!)

हरी ॐ

Varanasi

I’ve been in Varanasi now for a week! Hard to believe! After a rough start, things are smoothing.

My luggage made its way to India, only 1 day late, got a good night’s sleep on the train and arrived at Varanasi train station rested and ready for the oncoming sauna. The humidity is astounding- truly. Temperatures are about like Austin 98 F 90% humidity. With power outages lasting from about 10-2pm hiding out inside under a fan is generally just not an option. That means that my clothes are constantly wet, often dripping and someone turned on a faucet that leaks from my face. I like to think of it as an intensive detox. If there were anything that could come out via the pores it is gone!!! Probably, it is a good checks and balances system to ward of the daily pollution that attacks my lungs and skin. It is funny, but I really do not remember pollution being so bad when I was here before. Maybe it just takes a little time to slip into a state of denial or develop a thick enough coating in your lungs so that you do not notice anymore. Hmmm…

The feeling when arriving back in the city is like I had never left, or rather that there was some sort of time shift and I had momentarily stepped into the USA dimension and then stepped back into the same space and time when coming back here. That is not quite true because the city does have a slightly different rhythm than 4 months ago. While I would hardly say that Varanasi is harmony with nature like a rural agricultural community is, it does have a relationship with the external environment that is much more in tune with and dependent on climate and seasons in a way that the West is not. It is evidenced in the produce available in the market, the hours that shops open, the seasonality of commerce. Not having electricity for 6-8 hours a day might have something to do with that.

Seeing friends has been good. Kids have grown, girlfriends are making it, guruji is looking more beatific after his major surgery this summer. Now I am just trying to settle in and get prepared for the coming adventure with the Dragons!

For those of you who do not know. I’ve taken a 3 month gig with a spectacular company called “Where There Be Dragons.” http://www.wheretherebedragons.com They organize learning experiences for 17 -21 year olds in India, West Africa, South America, Thailand, Nepal and China. I will be co-instructing their India Semester program: Visions of India. We pick up the kids in Delhi, take them up to Rishikesh, Garhwal Himalaya (2 week trek), journey to Varanasi (2 month stay), Bodhgaya (10 day Buddhist retreat) and then Kolkatta to finish up the trip. Should be intense and gratifying! I am looking forward to the experiences and the challenges!

So, the journey begins again…..

The pictures in this post are of my buddies Tanu and Srigan and a group of sweeper kids who gathered around a young man who was painting a watercolor of their slum. Digital cameras are great!!! Kids love to have their picture taken and then see it on the screen. Still not as quite as good as a Polaroid!!

Delhi at last!!

After what promised to be a grueling trip that turned out to be an ordeal that tested both my patience and nerves I have finally arrived in Delhi!!
Yesterday was so tediously horrendous that all I can do now is just laugh (but you should have seen me at about 7:25PM yesterday!).
First I got up at 3:30 to catcha 5:20 flight to nearby Houston. On the way, mother nature struck- thunder, lightning, rain. Houston airport shut down and we were diverted to Beaumont (where the heck is that?). They deplaned us and told us to collect our luggage and head to the bus (that had not yet come!!!). I rallied with another girl and rented a car and drove 2 hours through pouring rain in order to reach Houston in time to catch a connecting flight that MIGHT get me to Newark in time for my Delhi flight. It worked! I rechecked my bags, and rushed through security to get on the standby flight for Newark. GOT ON! Flight was delayed 2.5 hours. Yikes. Got to Newark just as they boarded Delhi flight. Flight was delayed 2 hours. My bags did not make it- nobody seems to know where they are!!!
Now I am here. Happy to be here worried about the bags! Please all chants some baggage mantras for me, just make up your own. I am sure it will work!!!!
Anyway, Delhi is great. Hot, steamy, polluted and FULL of life! Ahhhh India!
Love to all!

Back in USA!

I am back in the USA as of 4/23 and tolerating the jet lag pretty well! I've got a big plan to retroactively update this thing with stories and adventures, but let's wait and see if this plan actually materialize.

Sorry about dropping the blog, but it turns out (no surprise to me) that this is chronicling of my life as it happens is not really something I am made for.

In the meantime, enjoy these videos!

Quick trip to Nepal

I just returned from a quick trip to Nepal to make sure that I did not violate my visa and end up on some black list. Here are some pics from Chittwan National park (an important tiger reserve.) No, I did not get up to the mountains! Soon!

Lazy writer

Hello out there. Just a quick update to let you know I am alive and out here. It is getting hot hot hot way too early, already 90 degrees on Feb 25th. Ouch... After a couple of more weeks I am thinking about heading somewhere a little cooler, maybe Assam, Sikkim, or somewhere in the NW Himalayan foothills. Looking forward to seeing some of the North country.

Really, I am too lazy to write more, and I have a million other things to do so....

Love to hear from you friends out there!
I am coming back to the states on May 6th and hope offer some workshops on all the good stuff I have been learning and practicing (of which I write very little about here!).

A little update

Finally I have a little time to write a little update about this crazy life in Varanasi. Things are going on as usual, still taking classes riding my (still as yet nameless) bicycle around, constantly sweeping my white dusty floor, working on chanting pronunciation, agni (internal fire) building, samskara (psychological habitual ruts) burning, and trying to keep my eyes open to the wonder around me.

The last week has actually been lots of fun and very elevating. Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge and arts etc.) puja was last week, so there was lots of wild dancing going on (as in the previous video) and a lovely puja at my teacher Betina Baumer’s foundation (Abhinava Gupta Research Foundation-Samvidlaya). Loosely defined, a puja is a ritual that invokes and praises the energies of the said god or goddess and is a chance to offer our prayers to that particular manifestation of the Divine. The traditional Vedic or Tantric pujas offer a chance to sit in a beautiful and controlled environment that can help to re-infuse your daily life and more importantly your consciousness with the presence of Divine. I am not necessarily a huge fan of religion or ritual, but when you combine, flowers, fire, offerings of nature and powerful chanting into one event, it is hard not to love it. . These pujas are also lovely because even those who are not Hindu and those who may not understand the whole process are very invited to watch and participate as they feel. Often, they go on quite a while (2-12+ hours), so it also requires a certain amount of cultivation of discipline to sit and remain aware throughout the event.

As well as the Saraswati puja, my friends at the Ashram have done 3 lovely pujas this week, one to Ganapti (the god of new beginnings and remover of obstacles), a Lalita Sahasranamavali (three of us sat and chanted 1008 names of the goddess) and then last night, our teacher Mark requested that Jnan do a Kali puja in which all the students could participate. So last night above the Harischandra ghat (the cremation ground) we sat around the Kunda (fire pit) and chanted the 1008 names of Kali offering samgiri (a mix of herbs etc..) to the fire. To be sitting above the Ganga, watching the cremation fires burning offering fruits of nature to our own fire and chanting names of she who devours time is an experience that leaves a lasting impression. After the puja I felt such strong positive energy, then I went home, slept like a happy baby and today am feeling very refreshed and a little crisper in my awareness.

While I am really missing friends and family at home, I am slowly, slowly finding a strong sense of community with those who have come here from all over the world to study and practice. I think the benefit of any ritual (whether it is religious or that of a college frat or sorority) is that brings you into a space together where the differentiation becomes less prominent and it drops that anchor into your consciousness. Last night the 14 people attended were from: India, UK, Poland, Belarus, Russia, USA (East and West coast), Sweden, Spain, Belgium, and Germany.

Below (or above?) are a few pics of some of the pujas. After the Kali puja last night darling Babaji, was in full costume and ready for pictures, so I have included those too. He is such a sweety. That might sound strange, to you having never met him and seeing these crazy looking pictures. But, he is genuinely, a very sweet guy- a bit of a drama king, but what to do? He loves to have is picture taken with friends. I guess If I would go to the trouble to get so dressed up every day, I would want my picture taken too!