So here I am - still experiencing Ashram life... With the departure of the Scandinavians, a newbie, Ted arrived. Ted is a professional entertainer and singer and the most irreverent Englishman I know. Twice a week the Yoga Teachers and Kitchen Staff get together and sing Bhajan (Hindu devotional) songs and ask us if we'd like to sing a song from our respective countries. One of Ted had the words "Swami says this, Swami says that, if I ever get enlightened I'll eat my Yoga mat." I have been hanging out with Wiebka from Germany and Adrienne from Ireland. Wiebka and I seem to share the same silly sense of humour and have been giggling our way through yoga.
The yoga is really difficult actually, we are supposed to be doing Hatha yoga. One teacher in particular is very hard on us and digs his knee in your back or stretches a bent limb and says "stretch!!" or if we are doing really badly says "go wall side" which means we are about to do something like headstands against the wall and have to make our feet crawl down to our heads in a crab. All three have the habit of forming a difficult asana and then saying "do it!!". Wiebka thinks this picture just about sums it up...
We don't seem to be very good at learning each others' names and refer to the Ashram Swami as Swami Christmas due to his big white beard. He is 84 years old and sometimes falls asleep in meditation or forgets what he is saying halfway through his 'evening discourse' prior to our meds. The other person of some influence is referred to as Library Guru as that's where he hangs out in his white swathes of cloth. He is a bit scary actually, makes out he can mind read and has asked questions like "why didn't you meditate on the object like I instructed you?" or worse still "so, who am I? eh??" Speaking of who am I, this guy sits in the same way, perched on a table for 12h per day at a restaurant called Chowtiwalla. He is the image of their logo.
What else? Oh it rained for 3 days and was so cold! Massive thunderstorm, heavy rain and then no sun. Everyone was miserable, the cows weren't themselves either.
The monkeys are still very naughty, here are two on a motorbike and a pic of one outside the 'cage of the women's rooms. We sit in the cage and the monkey watches from outside.
So then, yesterday morning I was told my room had to be vacated for the Ashram 40yr celebrations this weekend so I have had to move!
I am now 7km outside Laxmanjhula along the Ganga at Phool Chatti Ashram. I start an intensive week of yoga next week and it is a reealllly austere living conditions... cold water to wash out of bucket type thing. Oh well, I've done rough camping, I can survive this! The setting is lovel, on the river at rapids and is right in the middle of nowhere (no one can hear you scream) but more about that in a few days with pics...
