My Trip to the Bookstore

Hello!

I am still so very enchanted by the culture here in India.  Today a new friend and I went to one of the big bookstores here in Mysore called Sapna.  Our rickshaw driver insisted on waiting for us outside until we were done.  Maybe for 30-45 minutes we said.  Once we entered the store, walked and wandered around the first floor, we realized that there were two additional floors to peruse, we quickly went and told our rickshaw chauffer that we would no longer be needing his services, since we didn’t know when we would be ready.  The first floor consisted of many pens and notebooks.  For those of you who know me well, know that I have an affinity towards pens and notebooks.  I believe that this strange liking towards stationary was passed on through my Guiv side of my family.  My dear Daddy has (and still does) keeps a very organized drawer or two of the most beautiful stationary that you can imagine.  Just thinking about it makes me happy, hehehe. 

India, a fascinating country.  The bookstore was filled with spiritual books, philosophy books, books on yoga and sacred texts, as well as mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science.  The two genres seem to be what comprised the entire store.  I see this not only in the bookstore but also in everyday life here in India.  India has some of the worlds most scientifically educated contributors who are just as versed in the Bhagavad Gita and spiritual practices.  I see so my beauty to have the two sides of the mind that seem to be polar opposites to operate in one life.  Maybe spiritually minded individuals have a very logical way of living life?  This is what I am coming to believe through my own experience.  There is so much in the world that cannot be explained, yet some how it works in an organized fashion.  For example, how can we explain sea turtle migration? These little (well sometimes not so little) creatures travel over 10,000 miles, crossing the entire Pacific Ocean from the West Coast of the US to Asia.  How do they not get lost?  Do they have a compass or a GPS system?  Or birds, when they fly, they all turn together at the same time.  How do they know when to turn?  Do birds have a language?  A very wise woman told me the other day that it’s all Grace.  Everything, all of it.  Whoa.  As crazy as that sounds, it rings true for me.  It gives me a sense of comfort that there is a greater purpose to all of life’s experience.  However it doesn’t let me off the hook for doing my part; I do my part to the best of my ability and awareness.

Some of you may be familiar with the following text; it’s pretty insightful and hits the spot about faith and logic:

“In ancient times material progress was painfully slow. The spirit of modern scientific inquiry, research and intervention was almost unknown. In the realm of the material, men’s minds were fettered by superstition, tradition, and all sorts of fixed ideas. Some of the contemporaries of Columbus thought a round earth preposterous. Other came near putting Galileo to death for his astronomical heresies.

            We asked ourselves this: Are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material?”

Ok, enough of my jibber jabber…on a funny note, this morning we had a led practice.  I was balancing in sirsasana (headstand) trying so hard not to fall over. Sharath was counting very slooowly and I could feel, pesky little misquotes biting the backs of my leg.  Somehow I managed to stay up and stay focused on my breathing even though what my knee jerk reaction was to jerk my knee and smoosh the little bugger.  Or maybe do Maziar’s infamous misquote dance.  If you haven’t seen it, do ask him next time your around him.

One more thing, for those of you who are not familiar with Osho, he’s a pretty cool dude and one of my favorite spiritual authors.  He’s very popular here in India.  Here is a quote from a book I am reading:

“The rebel goes into his inner world with open eyes, with no idea of what he is looking for. He goes on polishing his intelligence. He goes on making his silences deeper, his meditation more profound so that whatever is hidden in him is revealed to him, but he as no preconceived idea of what he is looking for.”

Pretty far out.

Peace hommies,

Neda

Mr. Ganapathy and Laundry Soap

My landlord is a very sweet man.  His name is Mr. Ganapathy.  He lives in the building I live along with his family.  A retired businessman, he seems like a very logical and rational person.  When I was first introduced to him, he handed me his business card.  I showed it to Maziar when we had a short Skype date.  Maziar noticed that Mr. Ganapathy was a mechanical engineer!  Of course, a logical man, as all engineers seem to be rooted by facts (my opinion and observation). 

As I was walking back to my apartment after buying some soap for the cleaning lady and oranges, I approached him and told him that I noticed he was a mechanical engineer.  Then, of course, I had to brag about my love, who is an accomplished genius (my opinion and observation) and shared with him Maziar’s successes.  Certainly he was impressed, but then he asked me what I studied and where.  I said Economics at UCLA.  Then he asked me, why I am interested in yoga.  I thought for a second to myself, and then said, for peace of mind. 

For those of you who know me, I can be a little koo koo, a little off my rocker.  It hasn’t always appeared in my outward behavior, but inside I’ve been a ball of anxiety with thoughts.  A little bit controlling, a little bit of a worrier.  Peace of mind is exactly what I desire most in life.  I’ve experienced it, and I want more of it.  I want to live from a state of a quite mind.  Without being dominated by fears, resentments, worries about the futures, regrets about the past, just to simply be.  That’s what yoga gives me, every time I practice.  It is not easy, as the fears and worries do come up, but somehow I gain the strength to push through them slowly, where on the other side awaits a calm, undisturbed space.  Did I need to come all the way to India to know this, certainly not, but I followed intuitive guidance and came.  The inspiration and circumstances here have catapulted me to face the nastiness and experience the vastness.  And it’s only been a week…

Sending Sunshine and Soap,

Neda

Mysore

It’s been about a week that I’ve been living here in Mysore, India and I have to say it’s been a whirlwind of a time.  It all started with my travel experience, which took about 30 hours, including driving to and from the airport.  That’s a lot of travel time!  I flew from Newark to Paris and then Paris to Bangalore.  I’ve flown into Charles de Gaulle Airport before, when I went to study abroad in Greece, but I don’t remember it being so upscale!  I could have spent a lot of time (and money) at the stores.  Very clean and organized.   This I appreciate this for sure.

When I arrived in Bangalore I must say, I was petrified.  About two weeks before I was to leave for India, I got cold feet.  I called the airline to see if I could cancel my trip, I wasn’t ready to go.  Of course I bought a non-refundable ticket.  The motivation of losing money and Maziar’s gentle nudge helped me build up the nerve to pack my bags and head off.  I am so happy that I did.

The man sitting next to me on the plane to Bangalore was from Salt Lake City.  Born in India, he decided to move back with his wife and child to live in Bangalore, surrounded by family, for 9 months.  This culture values family.  As do I.  It’s always been a source of comfort and enjoyment for me.  Love you family!  Miss you!!  When I told him it was my first time coming to India, he turn to me, with big eyes and said…WOW!!!  I didn’t know how to interpert his reaction.  He gave me some words of advice: 1) don’t trust anyone! 2) wash your hands often 3) bring toilet paper with you wherever you go 4) be strong! be hard headed 5) always negotiate the price, in other words, if you understand farsi, chooneh.  30% he said you should be paying for goods off the street.  Very nice man.  I will always remember him.

When I got outside of the airport, it was about 1 am.  Filled with smiling faces, people were shouting and hustling.  I felt oddly at home and comfortable.  I laughed to myself because I it all reminded me a lot of SUNNYVALE!  I saw my name written on an 8x10 piece of paper and ran over to a very nice gentle man who took my bags and walked very fast to the parking lot.  The cars here are like toys, yet they fit it to the point where people are hanging out the window.  One car had rainbow headlights that flashed different colors.  I don’t know if that is illegal or not, but it looked pretty cool and got my attention. 

I took a 5 hour taxi ride to Gokulum, Mysore, the neighborhood and city I will be living in for the next 2 months.  The taxi driver was very kind, didn’t speak a lot of English, but had great music.  When he turned it off (because he thought I would want to sleep) I asked him to turn it on.  What did he put on for me?  Michael Jackson, Shaggy, I listened to the Dancing Queen, he had it all.  After the initial high of being in India, I put my head down on my bag and passed out.

I arrived at Anoki’s Garden where I stayed for the next week.  It is a small café that is open to the public Thursday through Saturday and houses 5 people.  I was one of those people.  I am forever grateful that I stayed there for that week and met some fabulous people.  Marie, the owner, is like a mother, and knows everything about the area.  If I wanted passport pictures, she knows exactly where to go.  If I needed a rickshaw, she knows the perfect rickshaw driver.  For those of you who don’t know what a rickshaw is, I will explain in another post. 

Within the first few days upon arrival, I got pretty sick.  I don’t know what the cause was, but I will tell you, I felt like my head was going to explode, my throat was smoothed with sandpaper, and a very ugly fever.  I missed only 1 day of practice, slept for 20 hours, and felt all better.  One of my biggest fears coming to India was to get sick, especially since I’ve had issues with my health.  It was a breeze.  Not pleasant, but I was well taken care of and if I needed a doctor, there are plenty of good ones here.

I thought that I would not like India.  I had not expected to not only like it, but love it.  I seem to have this experience; when I think I am incompatible with a city, it ends up being the perfect place for me.  It happened for me with New York and Paris.  Just goes to show you, I don’t know what’s best for me.  So, I’m following my heart rather than my logical thinking.  I can always change my mind if it’s a mistake. 

Om Shanti

Neda