Meditations on a Motorcycle

crazy perspective...

2008-05-08T14:47:18+02:00

just quickly....

www.breathingearth.net - this gives the crziest perspective on the variance of the world in terms of CO2 emissions, births and deaths by country. Compare India, China, Australia, the UK and the US...

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and back to india

2008-03-11T17:10:28+01:00

So Australia was a lot of fun.

After Byron bay I went and stayed with Roland. A friend of a friend from India, very wealthy, living in a beautiful place in Coolum Beach, just below Noosa in Queensland.

Roland was going through a big deal to sell his business of 100% water recycling plants for dwellings to free himself up of major responsibilities so that he could find new interests in sustainability, health improvement and higher quality of life.

I was able to benefit him by cooking health Indian (ayurvedic) based meals, and regular reiki sessions. In return he gave me a beautiful Leica camera, 4 years old but a fantastic replacement for my second lost camera. This last one, 10 days old was a replacement to the one stolen in Ganeshpuri on Indian independence day, drowned after a fall into the ocean while rock climbing on Australian independence day.... I must learn about keeping energy levels up when taking on spontaneous adventures.

I met another friend of a friend from India. This guy, Michael, is Australian and had made a lovely recording of the tribal children of Ganeshpuri village singing children's songs (see peacefulstars (http://www.peacefulstars.com.au/). We reminisced about India and went on several adventures together - my favourite Brays Beach (deserted beach near Byron and hard to access, hence the fall and drowning the camera; and Nimbin rocks; an area bought by a bunch of hippies in the 70s and now beautifully preserved. Said to be an ancient aboriginal sacred ground. Here I swam in a 'dam' (to me this is a man made water collection lake) with local children.

Then I caught up with an old friend Eddie, who lived with my ex-partner, Ian and I, for a while in England. He had just won a National 'current affairs' photography award for his picture of an Indian doctor, Dr Mohamed Haneef, from Brisbane connected and vindicated to a Scottish terrorist bombing. see http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/age-writer-photographers-take-out-walkley-awards/2007/11/29/1196037074775.html for photo..

then, at last I went to see, my Uncle Roger in Western Australia.

My Grandma (father's mother) , while alive (she died in 1998) had told me most of my life while growing up that one day I would get to see my uncle in Australia. And now finally I had made it (at the age of 35...)

The West side of Oz is much different to the East. Here, I preferred the ocean - well I would do - it's the Indian ocean; but here it was so clean; colder than the east coast but perfect colour and small waves I body-surfed in. I tried many new things I wouldn't normally do with my uncle - just for new experiences; .... A rotary club meeting where I heard all about a new mining venture; an international hockey game - Australia vs England women. Here we lost 5-0 and uncle roger said it was because our girls were all 5kg overweight!!

I visited Freemantle and went to see Deva Primal, amazing singer of Indian meditation music. It was a tough choice between the English cricket match and this; but I have enjoyed this singer for a few years, and didn't follow cricket...

Then Roger, his wife, Ann, and me left and went on a short tour to the south. We stayed at a delightful friend of Ann's for 2 nights; she was widowed for 10 years and now an international traveler and artist.

Despite the rough coast line, her house backed onto a calm sea. We walked along a pier that must have been a mile long. In search of surf we went to Margaret river twice but the waves were far too much and a girl has to know her limits so I didn't go in.

Plus I didn't have my Board as I left in Byron for the next time I visit (thanks Graham for looking after it) Australia. Maybe in a couple of years..

There are many many vineyards in the area; but as I hardly drink I was very pleased to visit one that had an organic farm and offered free tasting of their produce like pesto, raspberry coulis...yummy...and lots of inspiration for the Trust in Ganeshpuri.

then we went to Manjimap where Uncle Roger has been working with Green Tea trials for a number of years. He also has strong interest in truffles (!).

Here I climbed a 75 metre high tree (the bicentenial tree see http://farm1.static.flickr.com/40/83188948_f4b11a0ece.jpg ). And I got scared at about 50 metres, but focused on yogic breathing and full concentration and overcame the adrenalin rush for a successful ascent. Then I met a sweet young Dutchman at the top and after discussing high heart beats (mine was maxed out for sure) we came down together. I taught him a yogic mantra to help his concentration. Going up was harder than coming down. Then I had a lovely river walk and picnic with my Aunt.

On the way back to Perth uncle roger insisted going to Gnomesville. Here 100s of Gnomes have messages from all around the world. I'm glad to say I appreciate and recognise eccentricities in my uncle because they exist in me too...

After a wonderful send off I arrived back after a sleepless plane journey in Sydney. Then on my birthday I watched the Queen Victoria ship come in at 7 am and waved to my other aunt on board. 2000+ people on board and I spotted her! As I left my Japanese friend Miyoos house in Mosman to get the ferry to watch, helicopters were overhead. Then as the ferry came in the QV was being accompanied by many police boats. It was quite an operation! We met with my new cousin Tom (my aunt just married after 20 year relationship) and we went for a champagne high tea in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. (my aunt/uncle went to get her new wedding ring - platinun with 7 diamonds)...

Yes it compared very well to High Tea in Oxford at the grand Cafe. A totally different experience but very enjoyable. Amazingly I received cards from family in England and emails from friends even though I'm so far from home.

After my last night in Australia, spent at Alec's nephew 3 hours south of Sydney I took the plane to Thailand. Although I was only there for a short nights sleep; I met up with a man, Rory, I made in Perth and Uncle Roger's rotary evening; a Kenyan chap relocated to Australia but after 8 interviews and 4 months, needed a break and decided to go to Thailand, coinciding with my stopover. We both stayed in the same hotel and I met him at breakfast-time then he showed me the famous Ko san ? road. then I had to leave very quickly when I discovered that my flight was confirmed to Calcutta.

Thailand customs very slow and I only just enough time to grab a bottle of champagne to have in India as a birthday present from my sister.

So then back to India. Daniel met me in Calcutta. After seeing a few sites, a rickety (but charming) ferry ride, temple and gorgeous gardens we took the overnight sleeper to Varanasi. It took me a week to get over the jet lag. While there I helped him set up his silk business, attended lectures on yogic philosophy (kashmir shaivism), explored the city and attended a big music festival for a major festival.

Then after a 30 hour train journey, delayed by 9 hours we are back in Ganeshpuri for a few days, accompanied by some friends, Kashi (who I met before) and Alexandra, a Polish scholar of Kashmir Shaivism and Sanskrit.

Now we are leaving to go to see Janglidas tomorrow then to Pune on Saturday, then flying to Chennai on Saturday; where we'll do a one week organic farming course in Auroville;then take the train for a few days in Goa to stay at Phil's eco-hotel (yogamagic.com) and then back to Varanasi for Daniel to further his enrolment on his PhD and then finally to launch the Trust in April.

The proposal for the Trust is finished and if you want a copy please let me know. A website is currently being worked on by Phil who is coming to join us in April from the UK. This first version has been sent to only 18 recipients all over the world who are most strongly connected to the project, either those who are directly volunteering to do work for the Trust, or those that have shown enthusiasm in other ways.

We are nearly ready to start and I will let you know of our launch date in due course. Over the last few months we have been connecting to other Trusts around the World and in India, we are developing our logo and web-site (freely provided) and exploring funding opportunities.

Yesterday, finally, we received news from the landlord of the building we would like to refurbish for the offices that it is available to the Trust for the rest of the duration of the 48 year lease should we raise funds.

This is very exciting indeed as it will allow preservation and refurbishment of this historic building - the closest residency to Nityananda temple. Then, if we are able to relocate the offices to the Eco-village when it is constructed; the building could be available to selected individuals for rent as a yoga venue with 7 rooms (that could sleep double) for the future.

We have also agreed with Nitin Orion of the Learning Space Foundation http://www.learningspacefoundation.in to partner as much as possible where our activities overlap and compliment each other.

So as usual, life is full on; but I'm very happy and enjoying many moments; (yesterday 2nd sickness since being in India)... It's so hot now - two months ahead of schedule apparently.

Best wishes to all and another entry in two months! By then I may have worked out how to upload pictures...

Comments

Now in Australia

2008-01-22T04:32:13+01:00

Dear all

Once again so long since my last entry. Now I'm back in australia with a shiny new IBook laptop bought at Heathrow last Wednesday so writing will be a bit easier. I'm also finding out about the wonders of skype - an internet based telephone that is free to other skype users and fairly low rates to phones, depending on the country. If you get in touch with a new skype user with a built in camera you can also see them at the same time as talking. Makes the world even smaller. I'm going to test it out tonight. I've also found a website that tells me the time in all the countries I'm interested in- so for instance I know it's 13:43 here, 2:43 am in Northampton and 8:14am in Varanasi (India) where Daniel is currently enrolling onto a pHD which he will do alongside the work on the ECo-Trust.

It was wonderful to be back in England for Christmas, where I spent Christmas and New Year with my family and caught up with so many friends. I also generated quite a lot of interest in the two projects I'm now involved with India - the Eco-Trust and the eco-agri cultural products. I feel like lots of seeds have been planted (pun intended) and we'll see which ones sprout as time will tell. I ran a yoga workshop for my old students in the Coach House - it felt so strange to be back but with a definite sense of 'being home'.

I arrived in Australia at 6:30 am last Friday. This time with two very heavy bags and a surf board. But somehow I managed to find my way via public transport, a train, ferry and bus all the way to Mosman to stay with my good Japanese friend Miyoko for 3 nights. I was amazed with my first night's sleep but the next two were only a couploe of hours each and left me feeling extremely dazed. The craziest thing was that it was pouring with rain. And there's me coming to Australia and India thinking that I wouldn't need my brolly until I return home in June for a month. That first day I arrived I got soaked as I wandered around Mosman, stopping for lunch before finding an internet cafe. In my disoriented state and to avoid the rain I got on the wrong bus which I only realised was wrong after 20 minutes. A funny kind of way to spend your first afternoon in a new country... Getting wet and lost. Well I wasn't really lost, just in the wrong place.

Miyoko looked after me so well - cooking the most amazing (vegetarian) Japanese food and doing yoga together. She is now engaged to a guy called John and while I was there they decided that they would get married in Byron Bay instead of Japan, where John's family live.

On Sunday I took the train up from Central Station to the Blue Mountains to meet up with a dear friend I met last time - Kamala, a friend of one of my teacher's from London in the Sivananda tradition. Her husband is the local mayor and in a bid to dissolve some of the karma created between East Timor and Australia they are involved in a project to assist one of the towns there. In this place in East Timor the people have nothing - no services, no mail, electricity, no water. And the place is still in a state of unrest so any kind of improvements may only be temporary. Anyway it seems the Blue Mountains have signed agreements the town to help with the difficulties there. THe karma seems to have come about as East Timor helped Australia considerably during the second world war but Australia didn't help them when they really needed it 20 years ago.

It's so warming to now that in a world that often appears selfish and blinkered that there are people making a difference. Another friend, Mike from Oxford is also working on an African volunteer project to help the people of Malawi. So I think those of us that are in a position to do something in a world of chaos that often seems hopeless can work together to create the changes in a way that is really benefical to the local people - they work with us, we don't impose on them. And we learn the best practices from each other so that as many people as possible can benefit.

Our Trust received it's Indian charity number at Christmas; and since then we have been offered graphic design (logo, business cards and a web-site) all for free. I have written a comprehensive funding plan and three people (Vale, Tamsin (who I hope is safe as she crosses Mauritania on her motorbike to Timbuktu) and a lady who responded to a local ad for a volunteer fund raiser) will soon be working in earnest for fund raising. I worked out we need about £35k to get going - this includes accommodation and annual salaries for 7 western people (based on local wage); office (including equipment) and building refurbishment for the accommodation and a couple of motorbikes to get around on. Oh and the drilling of 10 borewells which really need to be in my June as the water table will be at its lowest. Imagine how much that lot would cost in the UK! I'm going to keep a separate diary on the progress of the Trust so we can see how it progresses. We have a marketing expert, administrator and some local people all ready to start work in April, so please keep you fingers crossed that we receive some funding by then. After the initial phase we'll need to raise about £1/2 million - to implement the organic farming project and create the eco-village dream. 3/4 of the money is for the extortionate developmental land prices; already parts of Mumbai are as expensive as some parts of London.

And then yesterday I met up with some very nice friends of one of my yoga students from Oxford, who picked me up from the ferry in Rose Bay, gave me tea, bought me lunch and then took me to the airport. More about them below.

At last back in Byron, well Mulimbimby to be precise, about 10 miles north of Byron. I was exhausted
yesterday, I guess from the jet lag and only 10 hours sleep in 3 days...

Still I had the deepest most beautiful sleep last night. I'm staying with an old friend, Graham from
Oxford. Of course he's working during the week, which is nice for me to have a lovely house to be in and catch up on rejuvenating from the journey and understanding how to use this computer, skype, my new sim card and new camera (I finally got the insurance money through from the one being stolen in India and got an upgrade at Heathrow). It was wonderful doing my practice this morning - a long asana practice after meditation, on the back deck with all these amazing plants around; I was forced inside after being
bitten by mosquitoes three times (but at least no threat of malaria here).

The town is in the rain forest and so lush and beautiful. I was welcomed into the house by a long
trail of black ants covering the kitchen sink - oh the joys of the jungle, reminding me of Ganeshpuri.

I had the most gorgeous lunch in town - went mad and spent £8 on a hulimi and squash salad served with masala chai. Then to the organic shop to try and buy things for dinner; only to feel completely overwhelmed with the amount of choice so came back here empty handed. I'll try and decide what to cook and then go back and be more focussed!

So I'll let you know what Byron brings in the next few weeks; i'll start a diary on the Trust and get myself a little bit organised!

Comments

Back from retreat

2007-11-01T17:11:15+01:00

Wow - it's been a long time since my last entry.

We arrived back after an arduous journey on the chaotic Indian roads. It was all going fine - we left Pune early and visted a couple of places before stopping off at a renowned yoga thereapy hospital and ashrm at Lonavla where we were given a lovely lunch and spent time with the head director - me explaining all about the yoga thereapy diploma I've just finished. They showed me some of their research - monitoring the effects on the heart and muscles when various postures are done with certain 'attitudes' - demonstrating clearly the difference between doing an movement as a physical exercise or with awareness and softly as a yoga pose.

I bought a whole lot of great books from there; then we were back in the faithfull Ambassador. We weren't the only ones rejuvinating during the yoga retreat, the car also had new pistons and suspension fitted by an excellent locl mechanic. This car is so great for India - the suspension has huge movement and the car itself is so sturdy; and sits comfortably at 70 km/h! so it's gear linkage broke after we left the ashram, but we managed with 4th and 5th gears and reverse and 1st (which we could get after reverese!) for two days; but it all proved to much driving around Pune and eventually we were able to find a mechanic and get it fixed.

After the ashram food (we had to follow special yoga diets for the duration of our programmes there) being in Pune was so wonderful. WE went often to the 'German' Bakery run by some Nepalese people; lovely healthy food, plus bakery, coffee etc; and we also managed to find a pizza one day too in 'Smokey Joe's'. It wouldn't have been my first choice but Daniel having lived his yogic life in the remote village for so long was very keen; I managed to ask for no cheese on the pizza and dressing on the salad, which confused the hell ou of our waiter!

While in Pune we visited some people who have developed a kind of organic fertiliser system for plants based on ancient Vedic principles; which has the most amazinf effect on plants- Daniel met these people several years ago when he was doing some research for the Trust and used their products; now two tears later, the products have improved even more. We also found an organic food suplier and Daniel bought so much stuff; the car was loaded; grains like bhadjeri and jawer; severl kg of flaxseed - essential super food for vegetarians (and a coffee grinder to grind it in; brown rice and al sorts of other things; ncluding the most amazing sunflower honey (Indians usually add sugar to honey - it's gross...)

So on our way back after lunch in Lolavna we decided to mke the connection between the Pune-Mumbai highway and the Mumbai to Nasik highway. Daniel had tried many times to do this, but described the whole experieince as hellish and difficult to find. so we stopped off the highway and asked in a fire station (!) a good move because these guys need to know their way around to put out fires. After 1/2 an hour Daniel was pleased to return to the car with a map that had been modified several times.

While he was gone I was reading from my new version of the 400 year old Hatha Yoga Pradapika on how a yogi should live - "...in a place free from insects; with cow dung plaster on the walls for insulation and with a fresh water well in the boundary". I read this with amazement as this is exactly how Daniel's place is in Ganeshpuri - but he had not read this text!

The Indian people are so helpful when it comes to wanting to give directions, but you usually have to stop several times to find the right way as there is no telling if the information you've been given is correct - 1/2 the tme it proves to be wrong.

So eventally we found the right linking road, but it was terrible. It was all broken and full of huge trucks; the air heavily polluted and no possiblility of overtaking. Amazingly we saw blue chip companies had built amazing giant glass building premises along this road; in stark constrast to the slums just down the road - where villagers have moved to in search of a better life than that of their homevillage in these suburbs of Mumbai.

Eventually we came to our next landmark on the map and asked some more people to check the right way. After another 1/2 hour of so of then going in the wrong direction we came back to the same landmark and found the right way. Then Daniel came off the Nasik highway too early and couldn't turn round as the police were there and it was enough being pulled over by them without causing more attnetion to ourselves by turningaround. We hastily asked for directions to the next town we needed and we were directed on the cross country shortcut (4km) instead of back on the long route (8km) on the good highway. Apparently foreigners can be taken advantage of by the police and often you have to pay a bribe to avoid a fine, so we carried on along the shortcut; this added anther 1/2 hour to the journey as we were back on the broken roads with the heavy trucks.

Soon we were close to Ganshpuri although with all the delays it was now pitch black dark. We were both so tired; I decided to meditate for a bit. Then suddenly there was a huge bang....

I opened my eyes to find we had been side-swiped by a big truck travelling in the opposite direction. Daniel calmly pulled over and checked the car. Of course the truck didn't stop. The driver's door the front wing and fender all heavily dented; but we both fine. So lucky the car is so sturdy....and only hit on one side... A definite reminder not to drive at night...

So now we're back in this lovely marble floored apartment where our washing is done and food is cooked. This moring I went to the hotel spa close by and paid 30p to have a huge private bath filled with the naturally hot spring water - it was so good... But although there is only a cold bucket bath at Daniles' the water is so soft and not freezing as it comes directly from the well.

Or intention now is to leave on the 20th November for a road trip to the South. After nearly 2 months in the ashram on my 'inner journey', it's time to see a lot more of India and go on an 'outer journey'. For the next couple of weeks we are going to write a business plan and presentation for the environmental Trust project. The charitable status is only days away now from being established; the last hurdle in sight - a notice in the newspaper announcing the set up of the Trust; we have had confirmation that the lady who is going to look after all administration is comng out in January from Holland; Also Vale will be here in 2 weeks time to get all the information she needs to start the fund raising effort back home.

After wrting the plan I then need to decide how long I'm going to Australia for after Christmas as I'll definitely be coming back here to be involved as the project gets going. So I'll be back in the UK for Christmas and then also in June for a month but the rest is currently up in the air...

Also Sam had her baby while I was at the ashram a beautiful baby girl 'Amily'...

more soon...
Kx

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update from first month

2007-09-13T07:01:11+02:00

Dear all

I’m having the most amazing adventure here in India. Although I’ve only been here a month so many things are happening here. As I’m going away for a couple of months for meditation retreat, I thought it best to write a long account as no entries will made for a while.

So after I left Yogini’s (see entry 'Arrival Mumbai from August) I went to stay with Daniel and we went on this trip to Shirdhi. Here we are on this trail of all the ancient place of yogic interest in this area of Mahasarata. We drove in his beautiful classic Indian car (Ambassador – originally these were made in Oxford!) literally bouncing along on tiny roads in rural Adivasi country. Jungle land with mountains and rivers all around. We passed through a few small chaotic towns and stopped for tea ‘chai’ causing much bemusement to locals not used to seeing Western faces. We then stopped for meditation at Trimbakeshwar, a famous pilgrim centre housing a couple of temples.

We then went to Nasik, passing vineyards and signs offering ‘dry grapes’ for sale. From Nasik we hit the crazy Pune highway which is busy and typical of the ‘free-for-all’ driving mentality typical to India. This consists of constant horn blowing, unsafe overtaking and smokey pollution.

We turned off onto a different highway towards another famous pilgrim town of Shirdhi. Now the landscape became much flatter, the land dryer than the luscious monsoon enriched jungle area of Adivasi country, with it’s curious pyramid shaped mountains which we passed through earlier.

We were made to feel very welcome at the ashram. ‘Foreigners’ are very much looked after as the view is that they have come from afar. We were shown to our bedrooms – clean and dry complete with fan and mosquito guards (there is always one mosquito that gets in though). Mine had a shower, but I prefer not to use it thinking I would conserve water and make do with one bucket for a bath. The water was very cold!

We were taken quickly to meet Janglidas. He is this amazing yogi who regularly does intense meditation – he is less than 5 ft tall, must weigh less than 100 pounds and is very sweet. He wears a white 2m bed sheet and goes bare foot constantly. He looks like a typical yogi with long grey beard and log hair, and no-one really knows his age. Some say 60, some say over 100…. His practice goes right to the depths of yoga so very interesting to learn from him. As ‘foreigners’ we are given lots of direct access to him – always invited on excursions and to sit and meditate with him.

We were taken for breakfast at one of the local farmers houses and taken to see their organic farm, growing local grains like bhajari and jawary. Very happy cows in the cow shed which I got licked by a couple, reminding me of my time growing up on the farm in Northamptonshire. The farmer also runs a beer bottle recycling business where the bottles are cleaned and returned to the drink manufacturers. Seeing this tiny yogi in his bedsheet in this environment reminded me of a scene in the film about Gandhi, very surreal..

While staying at the ashram of Janglidas we visited the Shirdi Sai Baba temple twice. This saint died 100 years ago yet you may still queue for 4-10 hours to get in. Daniel knows a special way in for ‘foreigners’ so we are allowed in within 10 minutes. We also visited the ashram of Upasini mahraj – he was named as the only formal disciple of Shirdi Sai Baba and the ‘guru’ of Maha Baba (another famous deceased local saint). His wife was Godavari mata, a beautiful girl 55 years younger than him. She stayed there until she died and became a saint in her own right. It is now a beautiful ashram for women, who regularly chant the ancient 4000 year old Vedas. They have a beautiful goshala with very happy looking cows and calves.

A few other Westerners were staying at the Janglidas ashram, a couple from Holland and a beautiful ethiopian girl - a radio/TV advertising producer in Germany. She later came to stay for a few nights in Ganeshpuri. Also a visiting German ‘Sadhu’ (wandering spiritual seeker) who has lived for many years wandering through India without money and is always looked after. Amazing. His sister is with him at the moment and has to live like he does. She must have been like 55 years old, but seemed completely up for the experience.

Janglidas has a huge schools programme in the area with thousands of students. The children get a much better education than through the poorly attended (by teachers) state schools. We were taken to visit one of them and they seemed very bright and happy. Wrestling is also popular here and in one part of the ashram, a hall, where maybe 20 boys live, with a gym, ropes and a 20 ft pole which they shimmy up and balance on and do all sorts of yoga asana. Completely fearless. I was able to get some photos from the Ethiopian and Dutch girls so will add these at some point. My camera went missing during my first week.

Anther time we were taken for lunch by Scorpio (the Indian equivalent to a Landrover Discovery - and believe me you need it here – the roads are broken from heavy Monsoons and there is no etiquette of traffic - it is complete chaos). Our host had recently funded a new building at the ashram. His business is trading in John Deere tractors, operating a petrol station and a huge vineyard for eating grapes. On the way back we got stuck for ages as a lorry carrying a large drum the width of both sides of the road so couldn’t move!! Nor could anyone else move in either direction. The whole country is chaos! And logic does not exist. Eventually he pulled over and we could get by. I am constantly amazed by the chaos and then curious to see how order takes over. But it’s subtle and easy to miss. You can never expect anything to happen or plan a time to do something by. Neither can you trust anyone. A long way from the civilized society of England, but I knew that before I came.

So India is extreme. In every way. But I’m entertained and interested in this and am slowly recognizing the order in the chaos.

Staying at the ashram was great – lots of deep meditation and yoga practice. Because of my quest to deepen my experience and knowledge of yoga we’ve decided to return for a 2 month intensive programme which I’m very much looking forwards to. This also means the Himalayan adventure is postponed. I’d been advised the time of year was not the best either. But I’m thinking I’ll cut my Australia trip short and come back here next year so will do it then.

We returned to Ganeshpuri last week to make preparations for the 2 month intensive. Daniel is a great guide to all of the places I wanted to see and do in the area. It’s like having a insiders guide to India. But there is still much more to see after the intensive.

So I have this friendship with Daniel – we compliment each other very well with our yoga and meditation practice. He is really looking after me and with his 5 years experience of living here knows how to get things done. He’s a real yogi and lived in solitude for much of his time here, looked after by his cook, Reika, and his odd job man, Mohan, a very loyal guy. Daniel’s apartment is right next to the famous Nityananda temple in Ganeshpuri. Each morning at 4:30 am large drums, bells and conch bellow out from the temple as a ritual takes place (this ritual is reported to generate positive energy); repeated at 6 am, 12 pm and 8 pm. Also at 6 am and 7 pm there is this deafening chorus of jackdaws celebrating the coming or end of the day with dawn and dusk. So it’s essential to sleep in ear plugs! I’m very grateful for the advice of James that I brought them! It’s a jungle village so there is constant noise. No wonder the yogis go to remote mountain caves to meditate! During the day it’s the excited chatter from the villagers and birds as well as noise from the temple. Then there are crickets and all sorts of other wildlife sounds. Staying here, you get used to the constant battle of trying to keep the jungle out of your bedroom. So I’m constantly making sure the door is closed. When we returned from the ashram I found ‘Chewer’ (rat) droppings on my bed. After all parts of the room were checked the conclusion was that it was coming through the drain. Nice!

My bathroom consists of a squatting toilet, bucket and tap. I have a handy cover for the toilet and then I sit on a small stool to take a bath with bucket and jug. Daniel has the only borehole well in the village so the water is clean and drinkable. Yesterday Mohan brought me a bucket of hot water direct from the local hot spring kund. Ganeshpuri is famous for its hot springs but you wouldn’t want to bathe in the local public ones as all the locals bathe there and they are full of bacteria. So this was my first hot water bath in a month and was lush! Doing yoga in Daniel’s apartment is a real treat. You don’t need a mat to do practice as the floors are beautiful polished marble…soft to touch and not at all slippy. Currently I’m doing yoga at 4 am for a couple of hours, then sleeping then getting up again for meditation at 8 am. We have been eating a mainly rice based diet. Breakfast usually consists of fresh papaya, spiced chai (Daniel has filter coffee – he’s found a place 25 miles away where you can buy it) and then brown rice, coconut and raisins. Or it may be the chapatti (made using the local grains) and a banana. Lunch is usually rice and dahl and dinner a feast of panir, two vegetables, rice and chapattis, followed by curd and fruit. Choice of fruit and vegetables are limited, but it all seems delicious to me. We even had pasta one night – Daniel went to Mumbai to buy us some new clothes for the retreat – white kurter pyjamas, and picked up some pasta. I decided not to go and the cities ad towns are too overwhelming…

I have done lots of reiki treatments and given a few yoga sessions since I’ve been here, a bit of yoga therapy and several massages. Everywhere you look it seems people are suffering on some level. This is an extraordinarily complex society.

Regarding the environmental project I spoke of before I’m already helping write documents and finding help in the UK for fund raising. Vale who is coming to join me in October has left her publishing job for something new and has agreed to help on this project. This is the kind of thing she’s been looking to do so will be fantastic for gaining experience. I’ll put more details on th eproject when I come back from retreat.

So I’m now off on this retreat for a couple of months so I will write again when I return unless I’m able to get on-line again but it means going into town and that definitely breaks the calm...

In the meantime all the best to Sam who is due to give birth next month – I’m definitely thinking of her lots! And best wishes to everyone reading this.

Comments

Back in Ganeshpuri

2007-09-03T12:23:48+02:00

Every day here is like a new adventure.

Today I went walking in the jungle close to Ganeshpuri. It is so stunning: Mandakini mountain, the Tansa river and four water buffalo and a calf covered in mud in a big water hole... Didn't see any snakes - this time!

I'm finding out lots more about the environmental project Daniel is involved with, so more details later this week. Lots of potential for carbon reduction and supporting the social and economic development of this beautiful Adivasi country area in a sustainable way. I'm looking to get involved and do what I can to help. Although working on a environmental project was one of my original ides for coming to India - I dropped the idea; now this has fallen straight into my lap, I'll do what I can at the same time as deepening my knowledge and experience of yoga in the time that I'm here.

We have also been invited back to the yoga ashram of Janglidas for a couple of months to undertake a programme to really deepen our knowledge and experience of yoga. This will be a retreat so I won't be updating the blog for a few months after this week. It's a great opportunity.

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a new adventure starts today..

2007-08-21T04:37:38+02:00

Wow it's all happening here. I asked Daniel (a contact of Mukunda's) if I could rent his spare room as it feels very peaceful at his place.

we are now leaving for Janglidas ashram today - it's close to Shirdi. Then we'll stay there for a week or so. His ashram sounds hectic - there are some 5000 schoolchildren there - and he has schools all over the area.

Daniel is also going to take me to all sorts of yogic interest in the area - Then we'll come back here by the end of the month.

I spent yesterday afternoon at Daniel's place and found out there is so much potential in this area for al kinds of environmental and social projects, also linked to the village school project that a friend of Muknda's set up. An NGO Trust was created when the School was set up by a clever western lawyer which means that various tough Indian laws on agricultural land are non applicable to the organisation. As Daniel has lived here for 5 years he has so much local knowledge and contacts he could easily make things work with the right level of funding. So i'm going to use some of my UK contacts in the environmental area to see if they can back some start up projects, that promote organic farming using solar pumps which by doing so, at the same time will prevent deforestation.

I have to be careful not to get to carried away, but I think this trip is going to be very interesting...

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Arrival mumbai

2007-08-16T11:41:52+02:00

The flight left Heathrow at 10:50 pm and was pretty non descript. Mainly Indian people on the flight and it was overnight so I tried to sleep but it was that kind of weird half state that's not quite sleep and not quite awake.

My legs really swelled up and I was worried it might be an infection from the ankle blisters that made it idfficult for me to run. They went down eventually when I was rested in Ganeshpuri.

I was slightly apprehensive as to whether I would be met at mumbai although Vale (who offered to help with anything - bless her) had already confirmed by text that all was in order. After the craziness of leaving England to the chaotic perception of how India would be I guess I was amazed to find that the driver was waiting for me and took me in less than 2 hours to the picturesque jungle village of Ganeshpuri (70 km north east of Mumbai).

The road was so bad - there is one month left of Monsoon and the main road was in bad state of repair.

THe house I'm staying in is really comfortable. It is the house of Yogini Kakar (tel: 00 91 2522 261349) and very much a welcome soft landing for India. I arrived not knowing what to expect and she was there to greet me with a fresh green coconut to drink and a delicious meal. I then went to rest for a while. I'm going to stay in the area for a while to feel more settled. Today we've come into town as there is no internet in the village.

The room at Yogini's is very comfortable, and she feeds me very well - delicious food three time a day endless cups of great chai (spiced) and cake. I prefer less food so I've spoken to her and I'll just have 2 meals per day. The room costs Rs 1200 per day but includes all of this food and hospitality and she was very happy to renegotiate when I reduced the number of meals.

She also looks after a disabled lady called Laxsmi - She has the most beautiful smile though and I've been able to do a bit of gentle yoga with both of them.

Yogini knows everyone in the village and has people over every day for afternoon tea. She seems to be able to pick up the phone and get just about anything delivered- amazing to see. I'm enjoying the experieince of being in an Indian house.

I've met a number of contacts of Mukunda's - really lovelly people. One of them, an author, Nitan, runs a small village school called Learning space and they ran a special programme yesterday for their 2nd birthday. Lots of dancing, acting and poems from village children aged between maybe 5 and 14. Lots of talent and so much energy - really vibrant. It's a tiny building and I got way to hot, but really enjoyed the performances, especailly the 'rain dance' by 4 talented children.

It was also 60 years of India independance and thousands of people were on procession through the village - amzng to see.

So much to tell but my lift back with Yogini awaits...

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Departing England

2007-08-16T11:25:14+02:00

Hi everyone

Seems like a million years ago since I left England, yet it's only a week.

The village I'm staying in has no internet, despite my thinking everywhere has to be on line now; Ganeshpuri isn't.

It had been one big adventure since last Thursday. My firned Monique from Amsterdam was staying with me - our last day - we saw a lot of Oxford and took a slow walk home through the hidden rural lanes and parks that most people don't go to or know about which make you forget your in a big city.

Friday morning I went for my usual 7 am run with Tamsin at Shotover although this time we walked as my ankles were sore from bad shoes. I can't recall the weather even now it seems so long ago! Then got home and Monique made chai and my neighbour Leena and lodger Greg joined us. Then Monique left for France to go and record some of her amazing singing with an old muscian friend before heading to Tapovan in Normandy where she will work as an ayurvedic practioner for a few weeks before heading home and then to Costs Rica to run some yoga and ayurveda retreats- sounds awesome!

For me I quickly moved the rest of my things out fo the flat and met the new tennant and showed him the idosycracies of the flat like how to top up the boiler etc.

Then I realised I'd left a lot of the stuff from the house in chaos and needed to be really selective with my packing as i only wanted to take a modest bag for backpacking on a motorbike in India.

After a couple of hours Greg (my south African tennant) came home and we had lunch on table and chairs in th equarry at th ebottom of the garden. It was very surreal but lovely and so hot. After some discussion about the way of the world I realiser time was running out to leave! So I hastily packed and repacked several times, stored the rest of my stuff in th eroof space in Tamsin's bedroom, took a 2 minute shower and left for a last farewell with my closest friends from Oxford. Managed a quick 2 minute conversation with Dad at th ebus stop and then headed to th eGrand Cafe on Oxford High Street.

Such a lovely send off, but my calm had definitely gone. Lovely leaving presents including a hand fan with lights on from Sam (7.5 weeks to got before she gives birth), a notebook and very flamboyant pink butterfly pen and notebook from Tamsin and a lightweight photo album from Addy with some gorgeous pics of the family and Suneil...

So after a quick High Tea I left for my bus at 5:20pm. After 15 minutes of even less calm, I noticed a sign on th ebus stop declaring that the Heathrow bus was not going from there due to roadworks in St Clements. So Tamsin took my bag and Vale and I hopped on the Brompton (Vale is looking after) and sprinted up th eHigh Street. the clock on Carfax said 6 pm already - the time of the next bus leaving. Vale got off and saigd to go quick and she would walk to the bus station. I arrived, hot and bothered and definitely no clam left, to find it was only 5:50pm. So grateful to both girls for that journey. I caught th ebus and chatted the whole way to Terminal 4 to the bus driver, listeneing intently to his theoried of the worlkd, one of which that there will be a civil war due to the smoking ban and that it's actual;ly cheaper to have friends around than go to th epub anyway where they can smoke freely. Also amazed that hwe was 10 years younger than me - he works very long days, has bought a house with his newly wed wife in blackbird Lees for the bargain price of 160k which costs him nearly 1000 a month to pay whcih he'll be doing for 35 years...

anyway at the end of the journey I felt much calmer passengers gave me remarks such as \"that was an intersting conversation"!!

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You've got to find what you love

2007-07-24T18:21:19+02:00

Just had to post this - sent to me by Amanda Maffett to remind me why I'm going on such a long trip; vit was sent to her by her brother Piers, my best friend at college and a huge source of inspiration...

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

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high tea or pizza?

2007-07-05T20:08:57+02:00

Count down - only two more days left at work from now. Well technically less as they're shorter days - 7 hours on Monday and 6 on Tuesday.

Having been throught the mill a bit recently Tamsin (close friend and partner in the house) and I decided to go for high tea tonight at the Grand Cafe. Actually we decided weeks ago to go during one of our 7 am runs around Shotover park; we'd decided to go to celebrate the summer solstice, and dress up and be girlie;

High Tea at the GRand Cafe has become a Christmas tradition for us over the last three years so we thought it would be cool to do it half way through too.

The only snag was that Tamsin got the dates mixed up and was away in Romania doing her craziest enduro ralley on a motorbike yet: 40ft walls of death and big see-saw river crossings amongst the crazy challenges on this 5 day ralley. Check out http://www.enduronews.com/riders/TamsinJones.htm
for her story!! She's excited because the organiser of the Dakar ralley (which she's training to compete in in Jan 2009 and I'm planning to watch after my trip) had tracked her down at this rally to check out if she was good enough. She is also made some contacts for potential sponsors. It's very expensive and only one other woman from the UK has finished it, so she's everything to play for. She's meeting one tomorrow in Doncaster although she's not to happy about having to parade her skills on a moto cross track. So fingers crossed for her - she's put so much work in - and spends all of her free time working on motorbikes or training. Hence the need to be girlie.

However High tea was not to be today for some reason as they weren't serving food when Tamsin arrived. Best for anther day. I'm planning my farewell there at 4 pm on Friday 10th August. A very suitable leaving, high tea and then get on the bus bound for India!

So we went to another old favourite = Cafe Co-co in Cowley Raod where we had fizzy wine (my first glass of wine this year!) and a slice of pizza.

Ther we made plans to have some fun over the next 5 weeks. For some reason Tamsin has had the idea of getting a blow up dingy and going down the Isis (the Oxford stretch of the Thames)on it. WE also plan to go Mountain biking, finish the house drive and garden and go out lots too. We'll see- it's nice to dream...

I left Tamsin to race up to Derby to her dad's, go to Doncaster tomorrow for the sponsorship thing and then head to Wales where it looks like she may finally part company with her boyfriend of 7 months....

AS for me nothing quite so hectic for me (like who am I trying to kid?) this weekend...

Tomorrow shopping with 6 month pregnant friend Sam; then off to see my Dad (he loves Sam and I hope him seeing her will really cheer him up), then back and off to London to stay with a friend so I can do her yoga (shakti) dance workshop on Saturday, then go and watch the start of the Tour De France and then meet with some friends for some meditation and then come home and spend some time with another friend.

Phew... !!

My mate Nick from work gave me some tips today on how to write a blog, in order to keep it interesting. So I'm working on it. Let me know how it's going and tips to liven it up...

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count down - 6 weeks left

2007-07-05T19:12:41+02:00

Saturday, June 30, 2007

count down - 6 weeks left
Category: Travel and Places

Today saw my last sangha meditation group meeting and Thursday my last yoga class at Harwell. Yesterday I took furniture over to Dad's and my visa for India came today. Such a relief as there's anther postal strike and I was sure there'd be a problem - having not filled in the form properly or something. My computer broke last week so it's put me back in terms of getting my yoga thereapy diploma finished and my tax return complete. I've managed to retrieve an earlier version of the diploma from email and the tax retunr is currently locked on my hard drive. The guy in the computer shop very kindly removed my hard drive from my broken machine and popped into an external reader so I could access my files from any machine. When I tried I found they were locked, apparently some sort fo protection. So I took it round to a friend who is a computer wizz and he found straight away he could read them on his Apple Mac. He intends to burn them to disk for me so should get them back in a week... Phew!

So Dad's ill again and refuses to go to the doctors. This is the 4th recurring bout of diarrhea and not eating in a year. He says he doens't like doctors and doesn't feel ill enough to go. But if he did feel ill enough he would go. I am worried about him and just hope that it's not too serious or that I'm meditating in the depths of some mountain in the Himalayas if he gets bad and I need to come home.

I've only 10 days left in consultancy, then I leave for my 18 month sabbatical. It feels very strange, letting go of all that has grounded me for so long and still 6 weeks to go.

I also found out today that my dear friend Monique from Holland is not not coming over until after our next lot of yoga therapy training. THis does give me an extra week to sort things out and finish all that needs to be finished. I'm still deciding if to sell my car or not. A friend suggested ebay under the classifed or autotrader, but fiding a weekend when I'm home to allow viewings is also tricky.

I'm off on another yoga thereapy training day tomorrow, this time with a guy calle dDoug Kellar. I don't know much about him, but my friend Candy, who I met in the Himalayas had a spare ticket and I thought it would be a great opportunity to see her- hopefully she can straighten out my ywisted neck - it's still off since my fall on my mountain bike in Wales from February. It means I can't do the headstand, and when I demonstrate in class, it goes right off for a few days. I also think it would great to get another perspective on yoga therepay other than from my current teacher of 18 months.

So what's left to do? Finish work, finish diploma, finish tax return. Possibly sell car, pack up my flat; organise mini leaving do's; I think that's pretty much it.

So I had better get on then...

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Preparing for India

2007-07-05T19:11:46+02:00

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Preparing for India
Current mood: excited
Category: Travel and Places

Less than 3 months to go until my Indian trip for 4 months. Between now and then I have to finish my yoga therapy diploma, run the environmental awards ceremony with David Miliband, rent out my flat, do my tax return, do my Reiki masters course, perhaps sell my car, move all my things and plan the trip! Oh and get the visa sorted, the remortgage sorted etc. etc...

I've already booked my first weeks accomodation. I phoned India at the recommendation of my yoga teacher and am staying the first week in Ganeshpuri a renowned historic place of yoga - based on Swami Muktananda.

The lady, Yogini, in India sounded lovely. It's pricey by Indian standards, but that's ok - £12/day including two meals. It will help me aclimatise. Plus she is organising for me to be picked up from Mumbai (Bombay) airport. I paid an extra £70 for my flight to go with BA - it arrives during the day and is direct. I'm leaving on the 10th August and returning on the 16th December. I'm home for one month and then go off to Australia for up to 10 months, or less and Thailand/ back to India.

The trip is being funded out of savings, plus from the income from my flat. I had intended on buying a Royal Enfield here before I went to get used to them so that I could travel arround the Himalayas on them. After 3 weeks in Ganeshpuri I'll probably heade up to Delhi and hopefully meet my frined who is coming out from th eUK. We'll then travel up to Haridwar and buy motorbikes and then spend time in Rishikesh, Dharamsala (home of the Dalia Lama) and then up to Uttarkashi for yoga and Gangotri to trek to the source of the Ganges.

Lotsw to plan for, lots to do....

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