明星日記
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| 歌手：蔡健雅 |
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♛人氣指數：♛♛♛ ❤愛的鼓勵：❤❤ |
| The day has come. My journey to Mysore. A pilgrimage to the land of Ashtanga. My first grown up trip. Kept my cool as the plane touched down in Bangalore Airport. Trying not to think about what if I can’t find my driver..what if I get lost, get deserted in the middle of the road..get trampled by a million Indians…
The airport is surprisingly ‘clean’ and simple. Just one conveyor belt. Got luggage. Pushed my way out into the crowd of people holding cards with names. Couldn’t find my name till one little Indian man came and asked if I was Tanya..had missed the sign spelt Thanya…how very Indian I suddenly sound. Traffic was chaotic. Everywhere cars were packed bum to bum..honking away. No one was moving. Still managed to get into my rented car. Very decent. Off we went. Halfway through the journey, Indian man pulled out some dvd and asked if I wanted to watch English movie. The fog. Wow. I got more than I bargained for. He said it’s the first in mysore. The cars seem to make up their own rules. As we zipped through the dust filled road..oncoming traffic roared headlong and we almost seem to have just missed them by an inch. I guess I am really in India. Dark streets turn into small lit towns and continued on. Trip to mysore took about just over three hours. So here I am. In Saketh. A nice clean boarding house. The watchman Mr Nagaraj was there to show me to my room. Long room with a few beds. I get the whole room to myself. In the dark of the night, a neighbouring black cow is mooing away. Very loudly. Dogs barking away. I hope I can get some sleep. Will find my way around Mysore in the morning and register at the shala. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
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| 歌手：蔡健雅 |
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♛人氣指數：♛♛♛ ❤愛的鼓勵：❤❤ |
| Sun was in my eyes by 6am. Quiet neighborhood started filling up with car horns and motor sounds. My room looks out to an empty land plot and thereafter a few Indian huts. My neighbors are all office workers. Looks like I’m the only yoga student here. Oh well. Landlord Arun came around to give me directions. Very nice jovial guy. Had a very hearty laugh which I liked. Something about being in India just naturally puts a smile onto your face, somehow you just want to be friendly to everyone. Maybe it’s because you are so aware of the poverty that you can’t help but to smile to hopefully cheer someone up. Took a little walking tour around my neighborhood. Made my conclusion. Cows rule the road. Even goats. They would just graze in the middle of some road circus oblivious to the traffic. Haven’t found anything that excited me yet. Have already walked to the shala just out of curiosity. Looked like some typical house from the outside.
Went to shala at 4.30pm. Went into a dark office where guruji was doing registration. Was still figuring out what I felt seeing the guru for the first time. He looks exactly like how I expected. I thought I would be overwhelmed..but I was more intrigued by the number of gold jewellery he had on including his huge gold rolex watch. Filled up my form in silence trying to keep it casual and friendly. Then an awkward moment came when I paid him the 26900 roops. Money counting machine kept getting stuck at the 39th note..so had to count manually. It was right but when he counted it was still 39. So we counted together and then it turned out to be the right number of notes. But boy…what a start.
My best time of today turned out to be the evening when I came back to the house and started chatting with the watchman and Pavi, the house assistant. Very pretty 21 years old girl who told me she was a year away from getting married through arranged marriage. Said that it was by tradition that a girl of 22 years must get married. Arun came by and we started chatting too. Very helpful bunch of people. Lesson learnt: a smile and friendliness go a long way. I feel like I genuinely made good connections with the local people. Yay. I guess India’s not so scary after all.
Asked to go to shala at 630am tomorrow. Whoo hoo. Excited. Just about 8 more hours to go.
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| 歌手：蔡健雅 |
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♛人氣指數：♛♛♛ ❤愛的鼓勵：❤❤ |
| I kept waking up in the middle of the night. First it was knowing that there was some power failure as my fan stopped working. Then it was the tossing and turning due to over excitement. Finally at 545am the alarm went off ..my first practice at AYRI! The walk from the shala is about 12 mins (I timed myself). Already cars and lorries were giving off soot..that’s the only thing that spoils the walk. Other than that, the air was cool. The air was peaceful. When I reached the shala at 615am, there were a couple of japanese students waiting outside on the steps. Upon opening the door, it revealed a room packed with people from all over the world.. All waiting for the two famous words- ‘one more’ barked out by guruji or sharath or saraswati to place their mats and begin their practice. Nervousness, eagerness, cautiousness filled the waiting room. The two panels door had one ajar, so we all sat outside marveling and staring into the room where men in too tiny shorts..women in skimpy tops and well…all shapes and sizes jumped through one vinyasa after another. Some floated like air, weightless, effortless. Some thumped heavily. Some struggling. Whatever level or state they were in…one thing for sure is, they were all here for the love of yoga.
So the next thing to do is…wait. And wait. And wait. We didn’t know when our turn would come as some students who came later than us were asked to get inside. There must be some kind of system..some rules which we didn’t get. My friend Alina tried to get some ‘order’ to things..and eagerly waited for her turn, only to be rejected again and again until Sharath finally explained the older students get to go first. Ah…..old not meaning senior..but meaning those who’ve been at the shala for awhile. And as for me…I contented myself in one corner knowing that it’s best to sit till I’m called. I was the third last to be let in. must have been an hour so of waiting. I started on the primary series. There’s definitely a very strong and positive aura and energy in the room for I felt very open all over. I was really floating through. No one came to adjust me..which I somehow have been mentally prepared for. I guess that’ll have to wait. Finished my practice in a record time of one hour and twenty minutes.
Students gather outside the shala to have their coconut water. I must have one too. Breakfast was at Tina’s. A wisely looking Indian woman who teaches cooking to some yoga students and converted her little garden into a nice cozy café that serves breakfasts. I think this will be one of my hangouts for awhile.
Coming back I started feeling restless. Idleness don’t go down well my system. What to do what to do…oh! Will walk over to Barathi, an Indian lady who teaches Kannada vocals. Sat in the class while some of her students sang some amazing traditional songs. But in my mind, I had already given up. I can’t speak kannada, where do I even begin? Nope. Not my cuppa tea. Had a nice chat with nice lady and left. Next, Tabla? Sitar? Made a couple of phone calls and set up my two instrument lessons on wed and thur. Yay. Felt quite accomplished. Next. Ayuvedic massage. Called Shashi. He came to pick me up and had the most wonderful and relaxing massages at his home clinic. Definitely something to indulge in more often this month. Last activity of the day-visit to an Indian temple with Pavi. Received my first pooja. Nice. Just writing this down made me realize that I’m a little too over active. Must slow down. Don’t want to burn out before the week ends. Back to book.
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| 歌手：蔡健雅 |
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♛人氣指數：♛♛♛ ❤愛的鼓勵：❤❤ |
| Second day at shala. Was sore after ayurvedic massage but still relatively a good practice. I don’t’ know if it was because of where I placed my mat which was just right outside of guruji’s office that made him pass me by and felt me down the bum?! Twice. But getting a drop back by guruji I suppose is an experience being ‘touched’ by the guru. I’m happy. No complaints. Breakfast was at Kev’s Inn. A nice little house turned into a hostel by an American guy called ..Kevin. Met an Austrian guy called Harold. And an American couple. I must say this is definitely something that would become a habit. Breakfast is, aside from being essential to a yoga student after a long hard practice, is literally a time to socialize with human beings before you return to your solitary rest of the day..at least for me. Most exciting thing of today would have to be my first sitar lesson. Teacher’s name is Saroj Mukherjee. Originally from Culcatta and now moved to Mysore, he is an accomplished sitar performer who is a disciple of a great sitarist called Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffar Khan. Don’t know much about the great legend so must find out more. I’m literally starting out as a moron in Indian music. But it’s great to go there with an open mind. Saroj teaches at home. Met him and his lovely wife. Must say he is a very warm person. Invited me to his performance on the 18th Nov at Kev’s Inn. And said if he does take me as a student he would have to perform a pooja. A ritual done by the guru as an act of accepting a person as his student and blesses her. Incense would be burnt and the guru puts the mizhrab (the pick used plucking sitar strings) on her finger. And they both feed each other with a sweet. I made the mistake of not knowing what he meant by sweets and bought a toffee sweet. But what he meant was an Indian confectionary. Haha. I was told to buy some incense, a coconut, some apples, a garland of flowers and 200rupees and 1 rupee coin. So a pooja was performed and saroj told me that Wednesday happens to be Saraswati’s Day, a Hindu Goddess symbolizing music and arts. So that’s a good day and a good start to my first sitar lesson. Halfway during the lesson he seemed quite satisfied with what I was doing and left the room to chat with his wife and she came back with dinner..hmm..wasn’t used to taking a break. But I suppose there is more to embrace with an open mind. Must get into the lifestyle and pace of theirs. I’m still too high strung and eager. Need to learn how to be more trusting too. But he was nice enough to send me back home with a practice sitar. On our way back to my place, he confessed needing to have a cigarette! Haha. And had to stop by a little shop to get one and asked me to join me. I was more amused than anything and said that I will bring mine tomorrow and we’ll have a puff after the lesson tomorrow. Said that he has to smoke in secret for fear of his wife and daughter knowing. So that’s our pact. No offering of cigarettes in front of his missus. I think I made some really good connections with the guru. Two gurusJ Lesson learnt today: offering someone a cigarette goes a long way.
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| 歌手：蔡健雅 |
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♛人氣指數：♛♛♛ ❤愛的鼓勵：❤❤ |
| Only five days in Mysore I managed to cram today with so many activities that I was actually exhausted when I got home. Practiced as usual at 7am. Then breakfast at Kev’s Inn. 11am Shashi came to pick me up to help him make a phone to call to China to inquire about his yoga mats. 1pm I was at Tina’s learning some Indian Cooking. 4pm I had tabla lessons at Mysore Mandala with Bargava. 6pm I had sitar lessons which ended at 9pm. I AM EXHAUSTED. No more of this crazy day.
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