Life never turns out as we imagine it should or even as we imagine it might, but it is beautiful- even when it seems unpleasant! Today sitting in my room, nursing a cold brought on by changing season, too much activity and riding Beauty in “rush hour” heavy pollution traffic, I played “fortune teller” with a bag of Yogi Tea- Breathe Easy. In my mind, I simultaneously formed two burning questions about current situations over here and thought to myself that the Yogi Tea bag- with its little quote on the end of the bag- would have the answer! Ha ha… Sure enough, it did…. “Bliss is not disturbed by either gain or loss.” I guess that could be the answer to almost any question, but it made me feel a bit better about the needless fretting I have been doing. In fact, it caused me to have a good laugh. So as I worry about finding the perfect place to live and navigating culture and environment, I just have to remember that none of it really has an impact on the inner-bliss because it is constantly changing, every second and is not disturbed by gain or loss.

Aside from fortune telling with tea bags, there has been much celebrating and worshiping of the great Devi, Durga. Most of the celebration I’ve been privy to is on par with American style Christmas- loads of decorations, lights, parties, dancing and not exactly a whole lot of reflection or meditation on what Navratri itself. Fair enough! Gathering with friends and relatives does wonders for one’s spirit.

Last night Praveen, Deepa, Rekha, kids, their friend Rakesh and I went to a stellar party where we danced all night long, playing Dandia. Honestly, I am not quite sure what it is all about, but it was a blast. I know it is a dance form from Gujarat and I’ve seen it in Bollywood movies, but other than that….? Once you get the hang of it, it’s a blast! Can not remember the last time that I danced for so many hours. Actually, I won a prize. What for? I do not know. I guess because I was the only foreigner and I am tall and I danced a lot???? Even better than that is the fact that the lovely sari I was wearing did not quite fall off!

Tomorrow, it is back to studies and apartment hunting.