Two Weeks Left in Mysore City

Ness Sherry, a lady I have become good pals with here in "Ashtronga" Ashtanga City, is a brilliant photographer from London. She has some amazing photos on her blog, including ones of me and other Mysore yoga junkies doing some yogic maneuvering. I am in the top few photos, save for the second one down, in my little sitting room in my the apt I share with Poni, who has started an India blog as well, very worth checking out.

Poni and I have been very busy the past few days. We have started preparing to leave Mysore (gasp!), buying presents and such, wondering what to do with the insane amount of stuff I have collected over the past four months, and recovering with flying colors from the getting-to-know you disease our bowels suffered together by going into a mad feeding frenzy. Cooking classes have helped support the feed. We now know how to make idlis, both traditional and rava(instant), three kinds of chutney, sambar (curry), keseri bath, carrot halva (these last two are soft pudding-like sweet dishes) five kinds of dosas, and proper masala chai. The woman we have been taking classes from is amazing and animated, as are the two crotchety but gorgeous ladies she has helping her out, and the food is phenomenal. Though Poni and I might end up rolling home on our enormous dosa bellies despite all the yoga.

The new moon came around again as it always does. There has been some menstruating (yesssss!!!) and some "emotional complexity". There was some dancing at Planet X to celebrate having met Ness, who is leaving tomorrow. There was some lounging all day at a crazy hotel that looks like a palace where we and the rest of "Team Iyengar" played in the empty pool all day while monkeys and weird birds frolicked nearby. There have been more coconuts and sunburns and trips all over Mysore on the scoot. There has been Valentining and gifting and romance. There has been yoga, of course, and the emergence of superpowers (ask Poni about seeing auras!). There has been heat. Showers are becoming less about hygiene and more about sweet relief.

I am ready to leave Mysore, ready to go to the beach. Kerala is our first destination at this point. Travel plans are all up in the air. All I know is I miss the ocean, being the water bird that I am, and I am dying for a fish Thali. On the other hand, I will My-sorely miss my friends here, my apt., this city I have grown to know so well, and...my beloved Guruji. I will come back to him. I know I will. Never have I felt so thoroughly understood and benefited by a teacher. I will carry on doing my practice in the best way that I can, always with him in mind, and always with the intention to come back and learn more from him. Not only will I miss his classes, but also his humor, his smile, his presence, and his fashion sense (stay tuned for a line of "Guruji Fashion" items)!!!