The Return! (India, post pandemic...)

When I first spotted the monkeys appearing up over the cliff near the ashram my first morning there, I was utterly charmed.  There was a HUGE band of them... families, youngsters of every size...they were SO cute! So inquisitive, playful, interesting, delightful!!! That was all well and good, until Swamiji got the brilliant idea to feed them (this, after confessing to me that the villagers--sensible people that THEY are--threw sticks and rocks at the monkeys to chase them off, and for good reason, as you will soon learn!) Now, clearly he either wasn't aware of-- or else completely ignored-- the common wisdom about NOT feeding wild animals. They may be cute, and humanoid-like beings, but wild animals they still are...  First, he decided to give them orange peels from an orange I had eaten. Then, some pieces of coconut.... I delighted in taking photos, amazed by how close they came (though never eating directly out of his hands...) and it was quite a scene.  HOWEVER!!!!! Wh...

 On the way up the mountain in the rickshaw, Swamiji told the driver to stop at a large, outdoor market in a village on the way. Sadly, it was dark--nightfall by then--so I didn't get any photos. But I was simply AWED by the great variety--and quality--of produce being sold there. Since I told him I had really been missing a good amount of veggies on my journey, he purchased armloads of them--way too much for the two of us, but who was I to stop him?! A practiced bargainer, he got terrific deals on the produce (and of course being Indian and speaking the language certainly helped!)  Swamiji has a strange sense of time...or rather, lack of it! When he says something will take a certain amount of time, it is safe to assume the ACTUAL time will be about double what he claims! This was true of getting to the caves, and this was ALSO true of going up the mountain to his "ashram". He said it would take about 45 minutes... it took closer to 90, not including the shopping trip. I...

  ...Then he arrived.  Since it had been almost a month since I had last seen him in Tamil Nadu, I really didn't know what to expect when meeting him again. I was therefore somewhat surprised by my own reaction: great joy! The vibrant energy of the swami, his winning smile, his warm and welcoming demeanor... I felt like I was greeting a long-lost, dear friend. It was, in short, quite WONDERFUL to see him again! We set out on an excursion to see ancient, buddhist caves, where yogis lived and meditated many centuries before. It was great to be out in the country again and seeing this historical place with Swamiji.  In addition to the caves themselves, we visited a very old swami living by himself in a house above the caves. He had to be an octogenerian, and it was amazing that he could live in such an isolated way. But... I suppose an old monk would simply accept his fate when it was his time to go, if he were to be stricken with a serious ailment. Also, he must have had to...

  If you have read my previous posts, you will recall that I met an interesting character back in early January who calls himself "The African Baba", although his formal name is Swami Dasbodh Giri. He is an authentic, "wandering sadhu" whom I encountered and became friends with back in Pondicherry, South India (along with his disciple, the Russian swami, Maria).  The idea of coming to the little-known, non-touristic city of Karad (in the state of Maharashtra) was to meet up with him, Maria (aka Manakshi Giri) and a group of Russians they were bringing to Karad from Goa. Maria had yoga connections with this group back in Russia, and convinced the African Baba that he should take them on a "spiritual tour" to holy places around India. Luckily for me, I was invited to join them.  The Baba (AKA "Swamiji") had arranged for me to be picked up from the train station by a friend of his who was also a co-owner of a guest house in Karad, where I would pres...

First of all, dear reader,  I did a foolish thing that I will NEVER, EVER do again: book a train and get on a waiting list. This is a VERY common practice in India, and is yet another form of the madness I often encounter here in this strangest of all strange lands! The trains are the main form of transportation around India, because flying is too expensive for most and the buses don't have bathrooms and take forEVER. Hence... most of the population of 1.5 billion in this country go most anywhere and everywhere by train.  What this means is that the trains are PACKED. Unless you book weeks in advance (hard to do, because it is hard--at least, for me-- to plan that far ahead of time), most likely you will find yourself on a waiting list. Get this: I have seen up to one HUNDRED people on a waiting list on a train that goes to a popular destination at a desireable time of day or night!! I mean, think about this: if you are person 99, what do you think your chances are of actually...