Lalaji's India: 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.