Moonday, Temples and My Home

Today is a moonday, so there is no practice. During moondays we yogis don’t practice, so it’s like extra day off. Usually that day is needed, but today I didn’t feel tired, because the week has been so easy-going for me. But like they say, sometimes you feel energetic, but you are actually not. So I enjoyed my day off.

I met Ravi and we went to Chamundi hill by his motorbike. I love driving around. The traffic in Mysore is ok according to Indian standards. I think that the traffic works well here. When it’s a rush hour, you can see it, but if you know the ways, there is nothing to worry about. It’s like in Italy, it seems pretty bad, but after a while, you realize that it’s actually working. You just have to know the rules. Maybe later I will learn how to drive myself, but now I am happy to go around with Ravi. So we went to see the biggest temple nearby. Now it’s the beginning of carneval season, so the temple was busy. We drove up to the hill and walked around a bit.

After the temple tour, we went to the place called ”Lake”. It’s like a secret garden in the middle of the city. It seems that young Indian couples like to hang out there. They can be alone there and avoid the curious eyes of their parents. It was a beautiful place, mostly built up, but nice anyway. And I saw there white peacocks first time in my life! You could walk among the birds so that it was almoust possible to touch them. Pollution is here quite bad, so it was great to be in the middle of the nature and actually breath some fresh air. The park was very quiet comparing to Finnish parks. Maybe people didn’t really want to disturb the birds, like it was asked in the signs around the park…

I have already met many really nice people herein Mysore. I am renting my studio from an Indian family (mum, dad, grandmother, a little boy and a jumping dog) who lives downstairs. My home is about 5 minutes walk from the Shala. I love to live upstairs like I lived in Helsinki. There is a school next to my place, so I can hear children playing outside every school day. My Indian family has a little boy, 2,5 years old cutie, who already goes to school. My Indian family is extremely friendly. For example today, when I needed to see a doctor so that I could get the final shot of my vaccination program. The mother of my Indian family came with me to see the doctor, so that I didn’t need to go to a clinic, wait and pay more. I have felt so welcomen here from the first moment I arrived!