A day, more or less, in the life of Lalaji

My friend Rhonda asked me recently what a typical day was like for me and my job responsibilities. So, I think that's where I will begin this posting.  There's not a typical day but my schedule goes something like this:  Get up at 6am, if I'm going to yoga at 6:30am.  Yoga lasts until 8, by which point because it's monsoon season, I'm thoroughly drenched from sweating.  The yoga hall is on the grounds of the ashram but due to the size of the ashram it's a couple of blocks, maybe, from my room to the hall. I amble back to my room, peel my wet clothes off and stand under the shower using only cold water! I've only used warmish water once or twice since arriving for showers.  I'm sure I'll begin to use warmer water come January/February!

Serving rice pudding at bhandara 

I then get ready for work, donning my kurta and pants and if I remember, a scarf to kind of cover my chest!  I find that rather ironic, considering when women wear sari's their midsection is mostly exposed.  I walk to the main reception area, which is less than a block for my breakfast.  I need to take a picture of my meals and post.  And then I head to my office, which is less than 50 feet from the reception area.  

Interesting juxtaposition

I already have started accumulating way too many emails on my Parmarth account but I see my job as one of making Sadhviji's life easier, since I'm her assistant and she has a lot on her plate.  She's one amazing dynamo!  

I'm beginning to feel more grounded and knowledgeable about my new life.  Total comfort, no but a certain level of comfort for sure.  I'm really looking forward to beginning an on-line Hindi course.  It doesn't seem like Hindi is like any other language that I've studied!

So, I'm working and now have someone sharing my office who I supervise until around 1:00pm when it's lunchtime!  Lunch is served in the same location as breakfast and dinner.  And quite frankly lunch and dinner are very similar and breakfast is not too far behind.  Fortunately, they are giving me more fruits and vegetables than originally so that's a treat.  The diet is dal, rice, potato dish, one of the varieties of Indian bread and pickles.  On good days we get rice pudding!

View looking from the front of Parmarth looking
towards the back and the foothills of the Himalayas

I then may run back to my room to freshen up or just head back to the office.  Once in awhile I run to the market, that's right outside the ashram and pick up Nescafe, laundry soap, and whatever I might need but I also have people who can run errands for me, if need be.  However, I like getting out as much as possible just to experience life outside the ashram.  I had my first meal outside the ashram the other day--a delicious fruit salad with yogurt and grains.  

After lunch I'd love to go for a walk but it's so hot and humid right now, one doesn't want to spend a lot of time in the midday heat.  And by the time late afternoon rolls around, it's almost time for Ganga Aarti so I need to work on scheduling my down time during the day as I'm working 7 days a week.  

Around 6:15pm, I usually amble down to the Ganga ghat--steps leading to the Ganges--in front of Parmarth, for Aarti - the fire ceremony that we have daily.  Here's a link to our website that talks about aarti and you can even listen to the chanting. http://www.parmarth.org/aarti/  It's a really beautiful ceremony and a wonderful way to end the day in contemplation and gratitude.  

Some of the local cows

After aarti, if Swamiji and Sadhviji are here, we have satsang.  Often Sadhviji speaks and the clarity that flows through her is amazing.  You can hear some of her satsang's on our YouTube channel.  

After satsang is dinner and then I will come back to the office to maybe wrap up some things or get caught up on my personal email, Facebook, etc.  I usually head to my room around 10pm, sometimes later but I also want to keep an eye on this.  Once I return to my room, it's time for the second cold shower of the day!  And then I read a little bit usually and then it's lights out.  

In terms of my responsibilities, that's still in the formulation stage but I'm doing a little bit of everything that might relate to assisting Sadhviji, from overseeing the newsletter compilation to handling her personal correspondence to assisting with social media to hosting visiting groups.  As I said, I see my role to make her life easier so since she's involved in so many projects and programs with Swamiji or his blessing, life won't be dull!  And there's really not that many of us here on a full-time basis so that makes it even more interesting!  We have many people supporting us through seva (service) throughout the world but they also have regular full-time jobs and assist as they can.

Johanna, one of the pilgrims and me

I think that's given you a better idea about what my life is like.  

I'll just give a quick run down about some things I wrote down in the past week:  
I've had a hankering for cheese.  
One of my colleagues was shocked when I told her how old I was.  She thought I was 10-15 years younger.  Guess if I colored my hair, I'd practically be in my 30's!  
I hosted my first group--students from the Doon School--one of the top schools in India.
Saw lentils being dried on the floor in the hall under the sun.  
There's so much moisture in my room that mildew has formed on my travel kit.  So, I have Himalayan rock salt in a container--it's my natural dehumidifier!  Another example--I had a loose gel cap of some kind medication and it is now a jello cap!

Until next time--much love from the banks of Maa Ganga!

Random Observations

I've been jotting down things that I observe or notice in a notebook so that I can share them with you here.  I'm not sure there's a connection with any of them other than there are my observations.  So perhaps, this posting will be kind of random, let's see!

I purchased a sim card for my cell phone, which was an interesting exercise and ritual, that I believe I mentioned in a previous posting.  One of the men who works here at the Ashram took me to the market to the "Brown Bread Store," apparently aptly named for the wonderful brown bread they make and sell in the winter time.  We went to the back of the store and after awhile a sim card was produced which had to be filed down a bit so that it would fit into the holder for my phone.  And once it was filed down, voila, I was connected again!  We would have to bring the paperwork back because along with my passport and visa pictures, I had to have another picture taken.  All for a cell phone!  Now, for the best part--my cell phone service for the first month is around $22.00US.  I think we're being overcharged in the U.S.!!!  

Looking towards the back of Parmarth Niketan

It's so humid in my room that my q-tips are bending.  But I am still more fortunate than many people in the world.  I've just never had bendy q-tips before!

Animal roll call that has been seen since the last posting--lizards in my office, monkeys wandering into yoga, really big cockroaches, peacocks on the roofs as well as along the side of the road, and today I saw a monkey and dog playing together near my office.  

I miss ice, variety in food choices, and for some reason, one day I had a hankering for licorice!  

On a more spiritual level, someone I met thought my name was Gauri--the wife of Shiva. Here's a link if you want to learn more about her: Journey to the Goddess

Another crazy comparison to the U.S. is the price of drugs.  I paid $16US for 3 different meds--1 one is prescription and the other 2 are over the counter.  Sateside I would have paid that for just one of the medications.  

This past Saturday was Indian Independence Day.  It started with a flag raising ceremony at 8am, a tree planting that was a few kilometers away, and then we met up with Pujya Swamiji and the Gurukol students who were cleaning up trash that the Shiva pilgrims had left along side the road.  Next year there are plans to have trash bins, water stations and toilets set up.

Independence Day 

And the final tidbit for this blog is that my laundry was returned to me wrapped in newspaper.  Oh, I also got a laundry hanger--movin' on up--and I'm doing an experiment with charcoal in my room to see if it will help remove some of the moisture.  Kitty litter isn't available and I'm expecting a delivery of rock salt tomorrow, which will also be part of the experiment!

I want to say that I continue to be amazed at the work that Pujya Swamiji and Sadhviji do. They are totally committed to being in action with their faith and truly open their hearts and minds to all.  Their impact is huge.  It's also fun to see all the interesting guests that stay here.  Recently, Rob Wilson-Black, the CEO of Sojourners was here with his daughter.  

I've had a request to talk about a typical day for me and my responsibilities.  I think I'll cover that in the next posting.  Until the next time--much love!  And I'm still practising yoga!  

Tree Planting on Independence Day

Settling In

I arrived into Rishikesh and Parmarth Niketan, my new home, Thursday, August 6th, mid-afternoon local time, some 30+ hours after I started my journey from Washington, DC.  I managed to just grab a few cat naps within that time so it was pretty amazing that I was upright and functioning!  

I met with Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, the new boss of me, while my bags were being delivered to my room--this is not normal ashram hospitality!  But if you come visit me, I'll see what I can do!  :)  Sadhvi and I had already met when she and Swamiji were in DC in April and so it was more like a homecoming than "welcome to the office" type meeting, plus, geez, this is an ashram!  She asked if I wanted to eat first or take a shower.  I wanted to do both but my stomach won out!  Hence, my first real Indian meal.  It's all kind of a blur right now but it did the job. I eat my meals in a common area with other staff and some guests of the ashram.  

At this point, I went to my room for the first time.  For those of you who have traveled in Mexico, Central and South America, my room has that kind of a feel.  There's no a/c and come winter, no heat.  The bathroom is kind of like the command module I experienced when staying at a business man's hotel in Japan--very utilitarian and I get to squegee the floor after every shower into the floor drains.  But for now, cold showers a few times a day feel terrific!

After my shower I felt a lot more refreshed and went up on the roof of my building and took the following pictures:

Peace Tower at Parmarth with Mother Ganga in the background.

Close up of the front of Parmarth Niketan.

Very old banyan tree that is in the courtyard.

Looking back towards the foot hills of the Himalayas.

I attended my first Ganga Aarti, which is a daily ritual that is offered and practiced at Pamarth at dusk and open for all to attend. The following pictures were taken a day or two later but they give you a good idea of what happens:  

After aarti, when Swamiji is in residence, there is a satsung within Parmarth, usually led by Sadhvi.  Questions are taken from the group and the clarity with which Sadhvi speaks is inspiring.  Afterward, dinner is served.  This particular evening, after having been up for some 43 hours, I went to bed around 9:30.  I believe I mentioned in my first post that we're in the midst of monsoon season, right?  It did start raining during aarti--we continued on--and there was some incredible thunder and lots of rain during the night.  While I woke up intermittently during the night, I didn't get up until 11:30 a.m.  

I felt tired the second day--no, duh!  I had to wait for a plumber to come to my room.  Sink in bathroom had a leak plus some other mysterious leak in the bathroom as well.  Should I be concerned when the plumber shows up with a screw driver in hand?  Sink problem easily fixed.  And the rain stopped momentarily.  As you might imagine, everything is so lush!  They put a cooler in my window--a huge fan with water that runs through it--but Sadhvi felt that something smaller in the room might be better.  Something about water--it leaked as well!  At that point, I decided to just go with the ceiling fan.  

Everyone is wanting to be so helpful.  It's clear I need to learn Hindi.  I've started learning a few words but it's going to take persistence on my part.  Everything also takes longer than anticipated.  I'm learning to slow down my pace.  

The "orange boys," as we've dubbed the Shiva revelers, continue their reveling all night and it's impacting my sleep.  The ashram has quiet time from 10pm-6am but that doesn't impact what goes on outside.   I now have ear plugs, which help immensely.  It will actually be quite nice when most go home tomorrow.

Anecdote - saw 2 cats, one with a mouse or rat in it's mouth, proudly trotting towards what I imagine was some human they know so that they could show off their catch!  

Its been interesting trying to get an Indian sim card for my phone.  I had to get more photos taken for my application being a foreigner.  I guess a photocopy of my passport and visa weren't good enough!  Speaking of passport--I pulled it out and the pages were curled from the moisture!  

One of the staff took me shopping for proper Indian attire!  We went to the market that's right outside the front gate of Parmarth.  Interesting jostling with the orange boys, cows, and manure!  I got kurtas, the traditional long shirt/dress, and coordinating salwar--loose fitting pants.  I'll get someone to take a picture and I will post the next time.  We also picked up a tee shirt for me for yoga--of course it has OM on it!  We also stopped at a grocery stall and I picked up a few items--yes, I'm drinking Nescafe!  I need to buy a French press.   

And Mother Ganga continues to rise!

  

During aarti, when the lamps are lit, it's a very sacred rite and the devout feel blessed just to be able to brush the smoke from the lamp onto themselves.  One evening, I noticed one of the staff making sure that a young boy who with a disability had an opportunity to hold the lamp, it was very touching.  I also saw one of the young boys who live at the gurukul, on the grounds, on his own, assisted an older woman who was walking with a cane across the street between aarti and the ashram.  Last night I participated in a Yagna, which is offered during aarti but has a different significance.  At the end I received my first tika on my third eye.  

For the last two mornings I've attended yoga at 6:30 a.m.!  The most interesting thing that occurred both days is that the same dog wandered into the room and plopped himself down in the middle of the room and proceeded to go to sleep.  Talk about downward facing dog!  I guess he wanted to make sure we were doing it correctly.  I also saw monkeys up close and personal.  Which reminds me, the name of the train that I took from Delhi to Haridad is the Yoga Express!

Final picture of this post is a view from my office.  It looks like one of the bushes is a hibiscus bush and will soon be flowering.  

I can't believe I've been here less than a week.  It seems like I've been here longer and that's not in a good or bad way, it just is.  

Trains, Planes and Automobiles!

Its only been 4.5 days since I left the United States for India and I have so many notes I better start blogging!  I left from Dulles Airport,outside of Washington, DC, on a United flight that was scheduled to depart at 545 p.m. on 4 August for Zurich, Switzerland, for the first leg of my journey to Rishikesh, India. Due to bad weather in our flight path, our departure was delayed for 2 hours. Fortunately, I had a 4+ hour layover in Zurich before departing for Delhi so that was decreased to a 2+ hour layover, once we arrived into Zurich. 

I've never been to Zurich before and would have loved to have spent at least a night there to explore.  It looks gorgeous--lots of trees, meadows, the mountains not too far away, and charming houses. And I forgot that I have a friend who lives there so we will have to catch up the next time!


Both flights were about 8 hours each and I have to do a sidebar here about a flight attendant that was on the Swiss Air flight from Zurich to Delhi.  A young girl sitting to the right and one row up from me got motion sickness.  Her dad or guardian was more freaked out about himself than the poor girl.  However, the flight attendant was so meticulous in the care she gave the girl and in cleaning up both seats.  I was totally blown away.  I just don't think that would have happened in the U.S.  I would love to be proved wrong but I don't think so.

I didn't have a seat mate on the first leg of the trip so got to spread out into 2 seats--nice! On the second leg I shared with a young man from Spain--yay Camino--who was spending his vacation assisting at an orphanage that a Spanish couple had started recently in India.

  

I arrived into Delhi airport around midnight local time 5 August. My train for Hardiwar, which is close to Rishikesh, left around 4:00 a.m. from Delhi Cantt station.  I went through immigration--can we say bureaucracy?!--where I observed the officials giving this poor young man the run around.  I later spoke with him at the luggage carousel and he told me that he is a refugee from Tibet and they didn't know how to handle his papers.  I than breezed through customs--which was 2 customs officials at the exit basically just letting most people pass through.  

I waited at the airport until 3 a.m., when a prearranged taxi driver picked me up. Interestingly, there wasn't the level of activity I was expecting outside the airport--mostly male cab drivers, I'm assuming.  Had my first donation experience when I was walking to the car with the cab driver.  This man came up and started assisting us with my luggage.  I just assumed he was working with the cab driver.  When the luggage was loaded, he came to me and said I needed to tip them $20 American dollars.  It sounded fantastical to me--I don't tip that much in the U.S. when someone assists me with luggage but given that at this point I'd been traveling over 24 hours with little sleep, I just gave him the money.  I'm sure he needed it more than I did.

Speaking of luggage, my son Bryan really questioned the number of bags I was taking.  I had talked with Sadhvi prior to departing and she said the amount was fine so I wasn't concerned.  Needless to say, I took more than the backpack I carried on the Camino, since this is a move and not a months sojourn.  I didn't run into any problems with the luggage except once I got on the train in Delhi but I'm going to come back to that.  I'm getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at Delhi Cantt station and I was a bit leary about whether this train trip was going to come off.  The lights were off at the ticket counter, there were a few people sleeping on the floor outside the ticket counter area, and once the ticket office opened, the man behind the window acted like he didn't know what I was talking about.  I had reservations for a sleeper berth and I assumed I needed a ticket of some sort.  Several of the men who were getting tickets were trying to be helpful but I got the sense most didn't really know what they were talking about!  We finally figured out the platform I needed to be on, one of the men directed 3 young men who were also going to be on the same train to help me with my luggage!  I said goodbye to my very nice cab driver and walked across the tracks to my platform with my assistants!  There were people sleeping on the platform.  I don't know if they were waiting for the train or just found it a good place to sleep.  I met another young man who was also taking the same train and he spoke more English than my assistants so he assured me that this was the right train and told me about his job in sales for a company that makes pressed wood items.

My traveling companions told me that the train stop would be very quick--now there were a lot of us--so once it came we had to make a dash for it.  So, of course, the train car I was on was one of the last ones and we were all sprinting for my car.  They threw me and the luggage on the car and dashed off to their car. 

I think I mentioned I had reservations on a sleeper birth.  Well, it also happened to be dark in the car and I had no idea how the numbering system went plus the aisle was really narrow and I had 3 large pieces of luggage in addition to my carry on and backpack!  I walked the length of the car and found a couple who were up and they helped me figure out the numbering system.  My berth, of course, was on top!  Now where to store the 3 pieces of luggage.  I got one under the berth below me. And then a man came along and helped me to shove the other 2 pieces under other people's berths.  Not sure they were very happy when he turned a light on so that he could see what he was doing. 

I climbed up to my berth and thought how am I going to lay down with my carry on and backpack also joining me in the berth?  I laid them down and used them as foot rests and used the bedding as a pillow. Can I say this reminded me of an albergue on wheels?! People making all kinds of bodily noises throughout the short night and early morning.  Plus, once it was getting light, vendors were walking through the car selling Lay's potato chips, chai and other sundry items.  I managed a few cat naps before I decided to get up and see where I could sit so I could see outside--my berth had no window.

This apparently is a very local train and it would take me about 8 hours to get to Hardiwar. We're talking a distance of about 120 miles!  But I have to say that I think the train helped me to leave the U.S. culture behind and start acclimating to the Indian culture slowly and so by the time the 8 hours were over, I was immersed! Kansas had definitely been left in the rear view mirror!!!  By the way, I never was asked for a ticket!

Some of my observations from the train, once I was able to see: lots of species of butterflies, many egrets in the fields, dragonflies, people in colorful clothing, people picking and carrying reeds, trash being swept onto train tracks from a platform or off the platform, lots of motorcycles, trucks and other conveyances at the railroad crossings, cows that were tied up, lots of people walking along the train tracks, labor intensive activity with people working the fields and on local construction projects, military person patroling the train, goats, big black bird with red wings, and so much trash along the tracks and countryside.

Countryside Between Delhi and Hardiwar

Women alongside the train route

Train crossing

Cows through the train not very clean train window!

Another train crossing

Women Caught My Eye

Just a few of the many butterflies I observed along the route

Indian Trucks

Shortly after noon on the 6th, my train arrived into Haridwar.  By this time I had been traveling some 30 hours. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get all my luggage off the train so that I could meet the driver from Parmarth, who was going to pick me up, when in dashed Hari--the driver and knight in shining armour!  He grabbed 2 of my roll ons and I took the other one and we zigzagged our way through the humanity at the Haridwar Train Station.  This time there were many people sleeping on the floor of the train station or just lounging and we had one man who was insistent on assisting with my luggage but we ignored him.  Hari clearly had done this before!  

I had begun to notice men in orange when I was waiting for the train and then their numbers seemed to increase the closer we got to Haridwar.  We ended up taking a couple of detours because of the continual procession of the men--yes, mostly men--in orange celebrating Lord Shiva.  They pilgrimage from all parts of India to the temple that's a few kilometres from Rishikesh for a month.  One road close to Rishikesh had no cars allowed but we were able to sweet talk the guard and that was a most interesting ride--the people just kept coming and there were cows in the middle of the road as well.  Smart idea to keep the road closed!  

Hari clearly drives here all the time, he is honking every other second at motorcyclists, cars, people, you name it.  Remind me not to drive in India and if I make noises about trying it, I have clearly lost my mind!  Due to the monsoons, many parts of the road have running water across it or are somewhat washed out.  Plus we took the back road so it was very curvy--had a few close calls! Between Haridwar and Rishikesh, one begins to see the lush foot hills of the Himalayas.  We drove along Mother Ganga and she is flowing fast and muddy these days due to the monsoons. Saw my first Indian monkey and a dead snake in the road.  We arrived in one piece at Parmarth and that's where I end for today.