Calcutta---------Next
Aug 2008----.----23
Calcutta is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. When referred to as "Kolkata", it usually includes the suburbs, and thus its population exceeds 15 million, making it India's third-largest city and urban agglomeration.
23 August 2008------Back
23 August 2008-----6:29 AM--------------Out of the ashram!
That's it! Hourrah! I've got my yoga teacher certificate from the Bihar School of Yoga and just left the ashram two days ago! I must tell you that I really deserve it because it was quite hard work! But of course not as I expected it! What was difficult was not the course in itself but the ashram life and the many many hours of toilet cleaning, seva and karma yoga including all kinds of community work that we all had to accomplish every day on top of our training.
Getting up every day at 4am. 5 am first yoga training. 8pm in bed.... 3 hours of daily yoga sessions but 5.30 hours of community work. Rice rice rice and... potatoes! No time to rest. Silence most of the time but we were breaking it all the time. Difficulties of community life. Overdose of orange and orange dresses and shaved heads. Overdose of kirtans or devotional chantings that we had to attend to after a long day of work.
Ashram actually means "hard work". I should have known!!! Rikhia and Munger ashrams from the aspect of karma yoga (karma means work or action) are probably the toughest ones of all India. This fact was confirmed by my Indian friends participating in our TTC (Teacher Training Course). The whole experience and its many frustrations were balanced totally by the presence of my friend Marie. "Mon petit rayon de soleil!" Marie and I shared the same room for 3 weeks and we managed to take our experience with humour. We had the unique opportunity to understand ashram life and the multiple aspects of yoga which is certainly wider than few postures and breathing exercises.
I developed a very good understanding of the devotional and religious mind of India. I met Indians from the whole India and will keep in touch with some of them. It was refreshing to be able to establish good relationships with Indians without the suspicion of hidden interests. Our yoga instructor Swami Yogkanthi was a remarkable teacher, an experienced Australian lady. So much more to say about those last 4 weeks and all I have seen, especially the help given by the Rikhia and Munger ashrams to the poor population of Bihar.... But I have only few minutes left here in Calcutta. I have been staying here for 2 nights in the Lytton hotel in Sudder Street near the new market.
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It was a joy to find again the madness and chaos of India after one month closed in the ashrams! Marie and I have had a really lovely day. We shopped around and had a fresh beer in the Fairlawn hotel, a colonial residence with the charm of the past
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In a couple of hours I will take my train to Chennai and am looking forward to discover Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Speak to you then! Love to all of you! xxx Mumuji
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