October 30-31, 2008 – Panchakarma Day 7-8 – Just a Lazy Day and MORE IMPRESSIONS

October 30-31, 2008 – Panchakarma Day 7-8 – Just a Lazy Day

Yesterday was a quiet day compared to the few days which have just past, and I guess it was needed. I had my treatment, massage and sirodhara (oil on forehead) which I very much enjoyed this time, contrary to the first time. The doc gave me some tips about how to get the maximum benefit and pleasure from the treatment. Went to the internet as usual and then thought to go straight home to rest, but at the last minute jumped on a rickshaw and went to visit my friend Vivek who I hadn’t seen yet since I arrived. We had a pleasant visit, him showing me his new laptop (and lots and lots of family pictures) and his new digital camera with great pride. His family life is back in order and he looks happy and content. I stayed for awhile and then really felt tired. Went back home, had some fruit salad, and then rested the rest of the afternoon and evening. Reading, writing , playing games and finally, before going to sleep, watched a movie for the first time since last week. I watched “Ocean’s 13” which was pretty stupid but fun to watch and that’s all I needed. Slept well and I am now on my way down to today’s treatments but had a few minutes. I will not send this off today, but will combine it with today’s events in one post tomorrow.

OK…it’s later today but I will fill in the day up until now as it was an interesting one, impression-wise. If you remember,

October 29, 2008 – Panchakarma Day 6 –YESTERDAY’S MOTORBIKE ADVENTURE

October 29, 2008 – Panchakarma Day –YESTERDAY’S MOTORBIKE ADVENTURE

Just a quick note about my treatment today and then the story of yesterday’s second (and last, at least for now…Shevach has gone home) motorbike adventure

Today’s treatment was just a massage, some tea and kitcheri, but apparently it was a very deep massage, like the first one, and I’ve been pretty much resting the whole day.  Tomorrow is massage and Sirodhara (dripping on the forehead) again

Me the Biker

And now, to yesterday.  After Shevach had his Reiki treatment the other day, he said he would really like to take one last “spin” before heading home, and would I like to join him.  Of course I said yes.  First he thought of Hardiwar for shopping and puja, but as it was during Diwali, it would have been crazier than usual, and we passed.  I left it up to him to decide what we would do.  I really didn’t care where I would be going, as long as I was on the bike again.  I’ve taken a really good video (yes, I held the camera  while speeding along at 80-100 km/h on the back of a motorbike…all the pics in this post were also taken like that which is why they don’t look particularly good…the day was also hazy with almost no visibility so basically none of the magnificent mountain views could be seen when we got to the top…anyway
 

Me and Shevach

– I cannot upload the video until I get home, but the pics are here) 

OK.  So, he told me we would be going for a ride of about 2 hours up to the area of Uttarakashi to a Durga Temple at the top of the mountain range.  Sounded lovely to me…

 

October 27, 2008 – Panchakarma – Day 5 – VOMITTING!

October 27, 2008 – Panchakarma – Day 5 – VOMITTING!

 

A FUN EVENING WITH NEW FRIENDS –AND JOB OFFER

 

I am writing this 2 days after it happened as the last two days have been extremely busy and beautiful and I’m not sure I will remember everything but will give you some idea what has been going on.

 

To finish up yesterday’s day, After I had already posted yesterday’s entry, I went up to see Shevach and found him with another nice girl from Israel, and they had just gotten back from a ride up to Mussorie.  They said the town was nice and the trip was lovely of course…I was jealous that I couldn’t have gone with him, but of course I was not available in the morning when he went.  As we were talking two other lovely girls who were traveling together for 1 month also joined us, and then, Nandu, the owner of the Swiss Cottage who is very friendly with Shevach, came up to visit since he had invited Shevach downstairs but he didn’t go, so he came up and brought a bottle of whiskey with him. We began talking and he asked what my plans were.  I told him I was doing a month of Panchakarma now and he asked if we could beging working together at the spa afterwards, and I gladly accepted the offer.  I had already offered Shevach a Reiki treatment and Nandu told him I was really good and he should accept my offer. (which he did in the end)

The guys then began talking and in the end, the evening’s activity consisted of Nandu summoning his barber to come up to the room’s terrace where we were sitting to give Shevach a shave and haircut before he went home.  In the end he shaved

October 25, 2008 – Panchakarma Day 3 – MOTORBIKE ADVENTURE!!

October 25, 2008 – Panchakarma Day 3 – MOTORBIKE ADVENTURE!!

I woke up this morning feeling really good.  Headache gone, energetic and ready for anything.  I even noticed a difference in my joint movement during my yoga practice and this is after only 2 days of panchakarma.  Who knows what will happen after 28 days!

After breakfast, while waiting up at my room to go down to my treatment, the guy I mentioned yesterday, Shevach, came up to say good morning.  Said he was looking for me yesterday since he went on his bike to Hardiwar and thought I’d like to go, but yesterday I was really not up for anything anyway, so just as well.  But we made a date to meet today at 1:30 after my treatment and he would take me on his bike up to the mountains. 

My Driver

That’s Me

I then headed off to Dr. Arora, and today had again a lovely massage, by both Devi and Manju…seems to be the regular thing now…both of them working on me…and then a treatment I don’t remember the name of but a kind of herbal mask was smeared acrossed my lower back up to my kidney area and then hot oils were dripped over it and massaged gently in.  This was extremely comfortable and relaxing.  Then I showered, had my tea – no ghee today – and my kicheri.  While waiting for my tea and kicheri, Dr. Arora mentioned that he had a headache..didn’t sleep well at night…bad energies from dreams keeping him awake.  So I offered to do Reiki and he was willing.  After less than 10 minutes

October 24, 2008 – Panchakarma – Day 2

October 24, 2008 – Panchakarma – Day 2

 

I slept soundly last night after a dinner of steamed veggies and 3 chapatis (fairly boring as I am not allowed potatoes, cauliflower or cabbage, so all that was left was carrots and string beans!).  But is was satisfying with the chapattis and lots ghee and didn’t feel hungry when I went to sleep.  Watch and episode of “House” and fell to sleep early.  I felt a mild headache beginning but thought perhaps I didn’t drink enough, so drank more water and went to sleep.  I awoke at 3 AM…that’s when I saw the lovely moon in the pics I posted, as I was cold and needed to close a window.  Slept through till morning, woke with a headache still, did my meditation/yoga/pranayama, and went down for breakfast of porridge with my regular soaked raisins, prunes and almonds added.  Spoke to an interesting guy named Shevach and eventually found my way down to the clinic. 

Dr. Arora asked how I felt, and told him about my headache but also how extremely exhausted I was yesterday when getting home and he instructed Devi to

SOME PICS OF MY ROOM

I am posting some pics of my room here for those who asked.  I am not taking many photos this time as there is nothing new so far to photograph.  One day I will take the camera out and see what I can find.  I woke at 3 AM to close the window, and I saw this lovely crescent moon.  Not sure if you can appreciate it in the photo, but I tried. 

Again, these pics are small and if you click on the individual pic you will see it in full size.

Enjoy  

My special Corner

Crescent Moon in This Par of the World

My yoga meditation place

The sun streaming in each morning

October 23, 2008 – PANCHAKARMA BEGINS

October 23, 2008 – PANCHAKARMA BEGINS

 

I decided to begin panchakarma immediately as it lasts for 4 weeks and I prefer doing it before the weather gets cold.  It is simply easier not to have to be bundled up in layer sof clothing and then lay naked in a cold room as Idid last time.  It is also better not to do it in the winter, and Dr. Arora would not do it much later and I didn’t want to wait until February.  I am pleased that I began today and will be done before the end of November.  He has written out a daily program for me and if there is anything interesting to write about, I will, but will keep the coming posts general…more for my own reference than anything else.

 

Today I had a full checkup and according to Dr. Arora, I am generally in much better shape than I was last time he saw me.  This is true.  As a matter of fact, this is the very first time I have come to India (or returned home for that matter), without finding myself ill.  My general health has been good the past number of months despite changes in weather, moving to a new flat, working, hectic times with family etc.  And several weeks before leaving, I asked Verma, my Indian doctor in Israel, to prescribe something to keep me from getting sick from the pollution during my stay in Delhi.  He gave me something to take prior to leaving which seems to have

October 22, 2008 – OUT AND ABOUT

October 22, 2008 – OUT AND ABOUT

 

Today was my first day “out and about” without anything specific to do.  I still had items on my shopping list and found most of what I needed while out walking, but I was out for a full day, from 10 AM to 4, as is my usual habit while in India.  It was a lovely day and the feelings of joy kept arising from within, bringing me to tears several times during the day.  I it just about impossible for me to express here y feelings of gratitude over and over and over again for the wondrous way my dreams have become my reality.  I find myself just stopping to look around, gaze at my surroundings, touch something physical, just to prove to myself once again that I am not still dreaming.   Tomorrow I begin panchakarma, so do not know if I will be doing this on a daily basis, will try to do it as for as long as I can for I truly enjoy the leisurely pleasures of these long, mindful, walks. 

 

So, what did I do today? 

 

October 21, 2008 – MOVING DAY

I still have one last story from Delhi to catch up on, but will begin my writing about my days in Rishikesh and get to the other things at some later date.

Today I moved over into my “own” room, just next door, but there is a different feel to the room. I’ve rearranged the beds a couple of different ways and will decide how I best like the “feel” after a few days. I am still waiting for Amir to bring me a table for the room and then I will get everything finally set up. I did something which I’ve never done before in this room. Had an idea the other day while I was in the market in Rishikesh getting some stuff I needed. I never know what to do with my hanging clothes. I usually hang them from a string across a corner of the room, but don’t like the way that looks. I got this idea to use theback of the door, which is empty and does not interfere with the “look” of the room. I found hooks that stick on with adhesive (everything I bought in the market here…the hooks, the cleaning materials, the heating coil for heating hot water, an extension cord…are all MADE IN CHINA! It is really funny. Coming to India and buying all this really cheap stuff from China, same as I do in our local cheap shop in Israel. Anyway, I put up the hooks on the back of the door, and to my great pleasure, and surprise, they nicely hold several pieces of clothing on a couple of hangers each, without falling off. And everything looks so neat. I just made a final adjustment here and hung a longee over the back of the door so now you don’t even see the clothes hanging there, and it will also keep the dust off them. (See Picture below).

The "closet" behind the door

Oct 16-17 – MORE IMPRESSIONS, SHOPPING AND LIFE IN INDIA

Today is Sunday, October 19^th, but I am going to go back and filling the blanks for the last couple of days before I arrived in Rishikesh, where I am sitting now, on the roof of New bhandari Swiss Cottage, completely at peace and with no desire to be doing this at all. I Am only wirting up this post because I have no many more interesting impressions to share with you and if I don’t write them up, later on I will not remember (even though I have a few notes) and it would be a shame. It is really hard to concentrate on the computer right now, but I will do m very best to get this all down.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

When I woke up this morning, after having breakfast, Suman asked if I wanted to go to the market with her and she said it would not be for a very long time, so I agreed. I knew it would be interesting to shopping with an Indian woman, but I never imagined all the things I would see both on this trip and the one the following day as well…the only way to really know a society and a culture, is to see it through the eyes of a local person. A tourist is never more than an observer and nothing is ever what it seems to be as it is shadowed by our own prejudices and cultural awareness. I have been through markets before in India, but never “saw” what I saw today or understood some of the things I was seeing. So, again here, just some further impressions and interesting things I saw.

We took a rickshaw (bicycle) to the local market which is close to suman’s house and where she does most of her daily shopping as well as odds and ends for her boutique business. The first place we stopped was a fabric store, nothing unusual about it, until I realized that Suman had brought with her a bagful of fabric samples and what she was doing, was buying lengths of pure white chiffon type fabric (which I realize now is what ALL Indian women do regularly) so that she could dye them the exact color of the fabric she had made shalwar – kameezes from (they are actually called “suits” here, which is much easier to write and say as well!) to be used as dupattas, the scarf that is compulsory to wear at all times with these suits. It is as much a part of the suit as the sleeves, legs, etc. An Indian woman would be “naked” without one, but I never understood how each outfit ALWAYS has either a dupatta made from