Three months in India

The past couple of days have been wicked and eventful- I ran out of insect repellant and so I went around all the chemists but they only have this petrol-smelling foul greasy cream- I asked for spray but they say thats bad for you to inhale.... in Mysore which has to be the most polluted city I've ever stayed in!!! Anyway, I got creative and went to see the lovely Noor in the market and purchased citronella, lavender and eucalyptus oils, went to the chemist for a bottle of alcohol (had to reassure them I wouldn't be drinking it, they really do have some funny ideas about Western Yoga students) and did a little mixing at home, topped up my concoction with water and put it all in an spray bottle and hey presto, chemical free insect repellant that doubles up as perfume... I was so impressed with myself that I've been offering it around to everyone- if a rickshaw driver slaps his neck, I'm there, hovering with the repellant... Have been spending a lot of time with Tracey who is by origin, a 'Jersey girl' and very vocal and friendly- unfortunately this can be misinterpreted here, you have to watch it- she has now been offered two massages... from... er... rickshaw drivers...! It makes you wonder.... do they honestly think she might say yes? As in "Oh, what a good idea, that sounds relaxing, in fact why don't we stop off at mine so I can pick up my aerosol of whipped cream on the way and, oh, see if my blonde friend wants to join us?!" Has it ever happened, or do they just fantasize about it and tell each other porkies about the liberties us Western girls let them take?! I find my MP3 player a godsend to avoid those personal questions and avoid rickshaws where they have their mate driving around with them. Tracey and I had a nice afternoon on Friday, we went for a wander round town and shared a South Indian Thali at Indras, which was beautiful and I've got the eating rice with bare hands sussed too- its all about 'squashing'.
On Friday evening there was a charity fundraiser at Santoshas which was a lot of fun- there was classical Indian music, the coolest man playing the clarinet and a man whose drumming technique was awesome- I'd love to see what he'd be able to do with an Irish bodhran- it was a similar skin drum but double sided and his coordination was incredible. I was sitting next to a Swami dressed in orange and everyone was smiley and happy, there was a little toddler girl dancing around, and I sat there with my club soda and my apple crumble feeling completely content, drinking in the incense, the music and the sense of celebration. There was a charity raffle later on- T-shirts signed by Sharath ('Do Not Hurry. Sharath') and Pattabhi and Saraswati, and massages (from qualified masseurs) and so on. We sat on the roof and watched people go into a bidding frenzy, I restrained myself.
Yesterday was a good day, I did a self practice as it was saturday and my practice is so much better, the healing is really working now. .I spent some time with Simone in the morning, drinking tea in her flat. Simone's from the USA but has been living in Amsterdam for nine years- she's worked as a Macrobiotic chef and has the most amazing complexion, at 40 she looks about 28 and has an elegance about her, when I first saw her I thought she was French- I took her up on the offer of some spirulina today. She's in the same kind of place as me- things in storage, reasessing, so great to talk to, and we're going to get together and do some Tarot soon. I spent all afternoon reading- the Yoga Rahasya, Iyengar and the Yoga tradition, and what prana is actually started to make sense to me. In fact as I was having more healing on.my hamstring a lot of things clicked. I love that- when you've been reading and reading and the information suddenly assimilates. I spent a while tealking to Gita and her husband and I'm going to their house tonight for dinner and to learn some protective meditation and healing techniques which I'm really looking forward to.
Practice this morning flowed really well- except Sharath asked the girl next to me to stop and I thought he meant me so I stopped too early (just pre Kurmasana) and he came over to ask why I'd stopped- annoying. It wasn't the most focussed practice this morning- I can see that coffee doesn't really do me any favours- it seems to give the citta vrtti space hoppers to bounce around my mind on... Hey ho I'm kind of thinking I'll have one a day till Wednesday then there won't even be any available on the Ashram for a month. Feel like I'm off to the Priory. Have got study to do all day today so can't go out and have chai with my Yogi mates- its really lovely meeting people when you're not in a drinking environment, its good to shake yourself out of old habits and realize you can have fun and be entertained and entertaining without crutches, I think being able to let go of that glass of wine idea is very Yogic in terms of pattern breaking, I've actually only wanted wine once- last Sunday afternoon when all I wanted, randomly, was calamari with Pouilly Fuisse. Hmmm, maybe I'll have one beer in Mumbai on Tuesday....
The weathers getting hotter here, especially in the afternoons, I'm loving it though...