August 2, 2010

Here we are. Oscar and I made it safely to Mother India and have settled into our Pune apartment. I’ve registered at the Institute, actually saw Mr Iyengar and am now ready for a class on Monday at 7am. More about that in a minute.

Chronologically, we arrived in Mumbai / Bombay on Thursday evening. One of my Iyengar teachers had described the Bombay airport as overwhelming, smelly and generally intense. Fortunately, that was not my experience. The whole airport was well-organized, easy and really relatively painless. That was great since the flight had a crying baby for the entire 15 hours of it!

We were met at the airport by a driver from the hotel and taken straight there. The hotel was great, had a beautiful view of the bay and proved a fabulous idea for the transition. We slept for 12hrs Thursday night and then explored a bit of the area around the hotel. I was hoping to get to Elephanta Island, where there are elaborate Hindu stone carvings, but we woke up too late to make the ferry schedule. Hopefully, we can add that to the other end of the trip. So instead, we walked to the Gateway of India (see picture) and the nearby streets, fearlessly crossing streets at will. We tried to have an Indian lunch at a restaurant recommended by the hotel but couldn’t find it and when we asked, we were directed to an Italian place instead. I guess we’ll have lots of time for Indian food :)

The Gateway to India provided my first direct experience with the dilemmas of India. There, a young teenage girl asked to tie a jasmine wreath around my wrist. I resisted and she persisted. She won. She said that she didn’t want any money for it. Then a few minutes later, after following us around the monument, she asked if I would buy her food from a street vendor, explaining that she was not allowed to buy the food herself. Her friend came to advocate as well (see pic). I ended up not buying them food, giving them some money instead and feeling guilty about the whole interchange. For some reason, this girl made her way inside me and I am still wishing I had bought her some food.

On Saturday, Jaya, the woman who owns the apartment in Pune, drove us from Mumbai to Pune. Well, she hired a driver and the 4 of us came to Pune. Our driver was great, which meant that he was fast, made quick decisions and didn’t give in to the swarm of traffic, knowing that hesitating would cause problems. Jaya and I were in the backseat and Oscar had full view from the front seat so he has an even more descriptive experience.

Jaya brought us to the apartment, settled us in, introduced us to the cook who made us lunch and then the driver brought me to the Institute to register. On the way in, Guruji (Mr. Iyengar) was heading out so I had my first encounter. I bowed and he returned the bow. It felt like an auspicious start to the Institute experience. I have my timetable and start classes on Monday. I will add my schedule later so you have the chance to see what the program looks like.

Jaya left and Oscar and I finished unpacking and made the apartment home. It was a blessing to have Jaya there. Pune seems more overwhelming than Mumbai. Jaya said Pune has experienced a tremendous population growth over the last 7 – 10 years and was not prepared for it. The streets are not wide enough for the traffic and there are too many 2-wheeled vehicles, which increase the pollution. Shall see what it’s like over the next few days as we develop our routine and get situated in the city.

So far, it has rained some everyday, but Saturday is the only day it really poured. The humidity is high but not unbearable. The temperatures are not that different from Montreal.  We are walking leisurely and sliding into a more relaxed pace :)

All for now…. More later.