Out of India

So it begins Life out of India I adapt easy enough but re adaption is something else.

Omaha has left with her father and all I hear now is the washing machine and the fan. I can't say I don't like it but.....

The day we left was a day of loss. I wandered around aimlessly for half the day until Jessyca returned and then we wandered aimlessly the rest of day until Emma returned, then packed and drove to Bombay with the brothers. We drove through the Slumdog Millionaire neighborhood in Bombay. God I love Bombay. God I love India.

Our flight leaving Bombay was crazy. I am not sure that the poilet even showed us the prevention film, people may still have been in the isles when he began taxiing down the runway, then he really speed up and we were off. I am sure we were at altitude in about 60 seconds and we arrived in London 40 minutes in advance. The 3 of us, smelly, dirty, lost and laughing. Jess was in another part of the airport so we could not meet up as we had hoped to spend our 8 hour layover together.

We went to Starbucks to get coffee and were assaulted by the difference in communication and efforts there of. Welcome Back????

In Heathrow airport they have a kids area, implemented just that day for long layovers. We brought Omaha who was in sore need of a loan form the kid zone. She played and we pulled the cards out.
By our secondhand we took a look around and looked at eachother nothing was said as we both felt the change over us and then the comment came in synchronicity- "we are not in India anymore"- We looked at ourselves, on the floor with the cards, barefoot, plumcake next to us, oily, smelly, dirty and laughing... we were still Indian thank the good lord but how did we appear to others? How do Indians appear to others? and what a shame it is in the details I sited that we accept them to be.

The flight back form London was crazy, they fed us wine and we drank it mourning our loss and weening ourselves back to our gains. Trashed and hungover we landed in Montreal still foul but now with huge bags under our eyes as well. No Matter we were back to the place we call home.

We hailed our taxi and got in. On the drive home we had a horn blowing holler at the driver next to us and again no words were spoken as we knew, this would never happen in Inida. Accidents happen here because we are hazardous to one another and willing to sacrifice you for what we want. Accidents happen in India rarely and because it is an accident, not because they have been careless about you or themselves.

But on today the first day back and the good Canadians I know and love. We entered our house last night and Omaha went up to tell Francois and Trinh we were home and get the basement key. Trinh came down 5 minutes later with fresh food and welcome home love. We ate, showered, scrubbed, rinsed often, then went to bed.

I awoke at 6 am comme le habitutde and went out to tend the garden which was insane. I began sorting the baggage and Francois came down the stairs and we spoke, then from over the fence I heard Chantal- is that Kara are you back??? Let me climb the stairs to see you- now this is beautiful so Indian and so Canadian we can all love our neighbors. We then went to the cafe around the corner where we call our local sweet chariot and got our coffee. As Canadian tradition requires we got a big smile and Have a Great Day.

Welcome Back !!!!!!!

I will stop this blog until 2013 when I return but will continue with my other.

So for the last I give you Salutations and my first attempt of life out of India

the last day

Allo, salut, namaskaar, and HI from India for the last until 2013-

Whew that hits home and perhaps I will conclude this when I do get there. But for now that last day.

We had a our last great cauffe from The Sweet Chariot which I ordered in Marahti along with asking for Hindi music also in Marathi thanks to the diligent Datta. They loved it and compted our last meal.

These last days have been trying with Omaha as we both have had our own stresses. In all honesty she has done well considering she has not had enough sleep and has been with adults the entire time. Yet I am fatigued by the constant of a child and no adult time. She goes with her father for 2 weeks and I will be blowing off steam in a big way for those bits of liberty.

There are things in Omaha that go beyond my comprehension for instance when we went to her friends house, which I consider a sacred invitation. They live over and beyond a slum in a 2 room apartment, one room is the kitchen, the other has 1 bed,1 tv and 1 locker locked with all their cloths inside. Indians don't need much nor do they demand much. Omaha could have noticed the vast difference is living styles but did not, she was just thrilled to be in Mohini's home for this I find her spirit touching beyond measure. Also for her to sit still or watch the classes is not something every child would do and for this I am owing her her props. But she is forceful and ungrateful of what people can supply for her and is constant in her demanding of them. Obnoxiously kicking and hitting, licking and kissing. All done for attention but she disturbs people as they can only take so much of this and does not listen when I tell her to stop, so last night she had 3 swift reactions that did indeed provoke a response which she had to adhere by.

Life holds many choices to make and I brought Omaha because I could not feasibly deny her this gift but also because there was no other safe alternative. This has changed and I will now have the time any adult needs to unwind and begin a sane life once more.

Omaha asked me to begin reading Shantaram to her last night and adoring this request I did, 4 pages in she said- I love this book. A half hour later when I stopped she said- oh really- so again I comment on her aptitude to realise the world at such a young age and enjoy it.

The 3rd copy of Shantaram has been gifted- Greta began her read yesterday on a long lay over home. We had a great group here in India and I will hold dear all whom I have met and look forward to seeing again.

I will at some point rework add on or endeavour more for these entries in script but for now -

I give you Salutations from India

2 days left

Geeta said something in pranayama last night that make me think of Granny, the elephant. She said that if it is tough there is no sensitivity. I considered Granny's trunk and how thick her skin was, how tough and impenetrable it was and I remembered how she closed her eye's as I caressed her and how touched I was by her sensitivity so in this case of tough verses sensitivity she was one to preserve the other. This might very well be the case for all of us, we hurt to hide and hide to help and the cycle continues forever unless revealed to us and we are able to break the shackles.

I have found that my practice here has not been the thing that was augmented by this visit. My practice has not changed so much, my teaching will, and I have and will. This trip has provoked within me that capacity to abandon. And to love India, coming from somewhere so different we must abandon as the same rules do not apply, can not apply because India is not somewhere else and it can not be forced because it's nature is not forceful. We must realise what we know and preserve as our reality is only that a perception nothing more and we may change it or keep it but we can not place it as fact for others when indeed it is not. So where as yoga was the catalyst for this trip and the central post around all that we did my yoga on the mat has not been altered as much as my yoga off the mat has been touched. And in fact this is more of what I needed anyway.

I have been in constant contact with Datta, my shou shou (prefered), for the past 4 weeks to find a Marahati dictionary. Yesterday he told me that "tomorrow I will take you for a special ride on my scooter" to find you a dictionary as he was pleased with none he had found as of yet. I bragged to everyone last night that I was going with Datta. So today arrived and Omaha joined us on the excursion as I had no none to keep her. Datta drove, Omaha was in the center and I was the caboose. Datta was signing away the whole drive and Omaha was chirping questions- Why is Datta signing,- Well what do you think he signing for?- He sounds happy- Then this is why he is signing, he is peaceful. In the end after visiting the Ganesh temple and 4 other book stores we found a book that will begin my studies. Datta dropped us at Roopali's for lunch where he recommended the coffee, dosa, and tallie all were good and Datta remains my shou shou.

So with Marathi on it's way I give you Salutations from India

Day something

I know these blogs are rushed and I apologize I may or may not get back to them later. I also know they have been diluted by days passing but the time here is closing and you never know how many people you have met and grown to love until it is time to say goodbye. Such is the case here.

But I have had an experience today that has left me with out the alternative to come to you and so here I am and I will get to it in a moment but first allow me the liberty to catch you up on the past days.

The news from India is as such.

Omaha rode Granny- the elephant who walks Fergesson College Road every day. We say her from down the road and I began to ran as my lawyer's son loves elephants and I have have not been able to catch her yet. God is good and the gift was given. Got it. We ran up the road by 3 hubris collection of Shantaram books and bottles of water to see her walk.

Finally we crossed the street and were invited to touch her. To kill an elephant would be no easy task. Her skin was thick and tough, you would have to find the Achilles heel so to say. But she on the other hand could destroy me with little or no effort just a simple sneeze. But she is gentle, perhaps broken. I touched her truck and caressed her. I spoke softly about how touched I was by her allowing this invasion. Her rider asked if Omaha wanted to ride, she said yes and was yanked up 10 feet to the top of an elephant. We walked together down the street, Ouevien, her two friends in from Atlanta, myself and Granny the elephant porting Omaha on her back. How much should an experience like this value? I paid 100 rs, roughly 1.25$  Is that fair, probably not, would Granny be happier not have traffic blasting around her and being a freak show, probably but none the less this experience for me was moving enough to bring tears to my eyes and again force me to my knees in gratitude of India and all her might.

As Onward is the only way forward we continue. As I mentioned I had collected 3 copies of Shantaram earlier that day bargaining like a fisher woman for the books. I am not sure as of yet where the third copy will be placed but I have a good idea.

As I have said many times, in Omaha's 7 years I do not think she has ever been so safe as she has been here in India and especially Poona. Everyday there is more affection towards her and cheek pinching which she has tolerates but says hurts as they really grab and jiggle but this is love and India is brimming over with it.

Now there have been a few things that have been acquired with my adaption one I noted last night in practice and was surprised and fascinated to see. I have earned cellulite here. I have always thought I did not have it because of my Yoga practice, so it must be the diet. I have truly become Indian. Now I won't exaggerate and say it is truly India as I have laughed with Erick about no I am not that far down the road but I am now perhaps on the Jr varsity team. Yes probably still on the bench but none less there. I imagine after 4 weeks back home this prize will be lost and I am okay with it as as fascinating as it is I do prefer it on others.

Jessyca has had her 4th pair of sandals break and we went shoe shopping. So shamed by our purchases we were that we almost got a rickshaw home but decided to master our shame and expose it to the world.

Our card games have expanded to include more people and after a few drinks and much aggressive questioning to the rules Emma finally confessed she made the game up and then denied it 2 seconds later.

We spent a rough 3 hours last night trying to get a card game going but the numbers were wrong. the rules were inconclusive, the emperor left the room and nobody really cared about betting pasta that did not belong to them so we laughed and misunderstood what was happening more that we played anything legitimately.

There takes a certain amount of abandonment to endear India and if you do not give yourself to India then she has nothing to offer you, but if you look at the flecks of shine that reveal themselves with the sun at just the right moment then you will forever be changed and this now brings me to today.

BKS is always in practice with us and I tend to leave the space to him. I don't watch or interrupt or present myself in any form for that matter. But today it happened that the only place happened to be in front of him so Omaha and I took it. Now typically he just practices but today he worked with Raya first in Sirsasana II to go into an arm balance I know not the name of. I watched but I continued my practice. Abbhy came in then and I have wanted to see her train since I have been here and thought that she did in the house as I have never seen here there. BKS was teaching Abbhy- it was a backbend practice and already my throat is tight and the tears have returned to my eyes just in remembering what I was able to chance upon today. Abbhy is BKS's granddaughter and a teacher who teaches under the guidance or oppression of her grandfathers eye at every class I have attended. I could never teach under her circumstances, she is a marvel and on every level this practice/teaching session today was moving. A master teaching the next kin, a marvel being taught and making her efforts with such verity my heart ached with the levity, as everything has and end and this one is inevitable. I thank the good Lord for small mercies and for every obstacle I traversed, succumbed to, assumed, been beaten by and walked next to in order to be here now to relay this small effort to you that holds within it everything as pure as monsoon rain.

With everything I hold dear I give you Salutations from India

Day 4 closing out

I have been introduced to street food, I know put my face in the shower, I eat fruit, I have been on a 2 wheeler with no helmet, I have had my nose pierced by "a professional", Omaha has decided she wants to spit on the street and last night when Omaha went to the temple with our neighbors she not only did not put on her seat belt, she was actually councilled against it. I think it is fair to say we have adapted. I am not bragging.

India has a rhythm, you see it in every angle. They are not interested in going faster or in slowing down, they just want to keep moving, it is the only way to get where you are going at the right time. India has a soul, you feel it, the heart is beating all the while. You smell India, just before it rains and then again after.

The other day when Omaha were coming home from the oil perfume shop we were in the rickshaw at a light 2 kids came one on each side begging for food, one on crutches, one trying to sell some plastic what ever. The driver told them to get away rudely and abruptly, they did not, he did not bother again and when the light changed, I saw him look behind to make sure before he started that they children were out of harms way and with out a word took off. India has a soul and they are uninterested in loosing it for other matters.

Prashant never leaves me wanting less and today I cornered him and told him so. The limitations we oppress ourselves with are so with out scruples that we see not what we have done. We understand not how our wants have far surpassed our sources they need to correspond with. The parameters have so far exceeded the intended zone we know nothing of where we are or how to get back. Birds can migrate from country to country with out any modern technology and find their way back to the nest and we are lost because we can not rely on ourselves to get us somewhere we need to be, only were we want to be and again our wants have superseded our account.

Day 2 of closing out

The first day of pranayama with Prashant. My class with Prashant is at 7 am and everyday Indians have their cars washed and I get this spectacle on my way to class. Prashant spoke of those with large egos and as easily as they can hurt they can be hurt for they live in glass houses. He spoke of the one that is the most repulsive to ourselves is ourselves and this is why we can not be alone, we are always looking for company. I thank God I can live with myself. I thank God I can be alone. We must be able to be alone, otherwise we have no right to ask another to tolerate what we can not.

Prashant is a writer and has a gift for language and it's usage be it spoken or written and he asked if anyone knew how long it took to write something that would take 2 hours to read. I thought of the blog and how depending on the day it is 3-10 minutes to read and 20- 60 minutes to write so I ventured a rough 17 hours. He said 18.

We then went to meet our new friends Sneha and Shaun. We had a most enlightening conversation that brought me home. In India the national language is Hindi we are in a Marahti state and so the language spoken in the state is Marathi I hope that I am spelling this correctly. Sneha spoke of an experience that she had where she was charged 100rs more for not speaking the state language, when the the speaker did not speak the national language. There are many similar stories in Montreal with this topic. Nice to know that home is everywhere. And that it was complete chance that we should meet these two at our coffee house as they never come to this part of the city due to it's issues. I guess we are not all so different as we would have hoped.

We then went to the oil perfume place that I have wanted to go to since we came and I am happy to say that everyone will be smelling a much nicer Kara from here on in. Holy Cow everyone should go there and buy everything. They are so nice and knowledgeable.

I found 5rs more this past evening in the phone booth when I called Bhatesh, if I stay I just may find back what I spent.

On the way back from the oil shop we passed the elephant and of course I did not have my camera. DAMN

We are looking into the movies tonight. Smurfs

With love Salutaions from India

Day 1 of the last week

I am certain that I missed a few days so I will do my best.

The end is coming and with it the tension of remission. Omaha is homesick and I am fatigued from her impatience to be in her familiar place. I understand and have sympathy but she is unnerving from the stress this produces within her. It is only when we are alone that she is calm. If we are all together she is so hyper and disturbing that we all become disturbed and angry. The end is coming. And with it the relief of temperment.

Prashant spoke of the deciding on the gravity of our actions he speaks in terms of asana but surly this translates into our lives, we all must decide on the gravity of conditions, if it is a backbend or if it is more relative to our daily routine. We must expose the conditions we must work in, on, within and discover who we are in different associations. Why we adapt or don't why we neutralize the mind or refuse. How we can consent to certain terms and omit others. How we can keep polarities at bay within our practice and our daily life. This is always the challenge and so we engage, and so we continue.

Last night we had a fire in the house. This fire happened after early evening of wine and card playing which is becoming quite the entertainment chez nous at the present. Interesting how a wasp had everyone in heat and the fire we watched for close to a half hour unperturbed until it grew to a blaze where we had to do something. I do have great shots of it.

Mohini came last night and today. She has mehindied Omaha and it is beautiful. I am happy that Omaha will have a friend here in India to write back and forth with through the years and come to understand friendship on other terms.We all must because as Prashant has said what was mirco yesterday is macro today and what is macro today will indeed be micro tomorrow.

So in deciding my gravities I give you Salutaions from India.