THE BEST-LAID... PLANS

Last night P and I walked around the tank and then drove up Chamundi Hill on the motorcycle but it was cloudy and the moon was nowhere to be found……This AM I got up at 4:30 to do the 5:30 practice (it's led on Sundays, as opposed to self-practice) and halfway to the shala I realized I'd forgotten my mat! So I went back to the lodge, did Nescafe Nauli Kriya (ie; had some really great instant coffee and did enough abdominal exercises to cleanse thoroughly) and then had a rather excellent practice at 6:30. Much sweating, a great standing forward bend adjustment from Saraswati AND I held myself up the whole time in Utplutith (Sharath again led the 6:30 practice). Then Miss Y and I watched the intermediate people, which is a real treat. They float.

I'm about to head out w/ P. to some religious mela or get-together 20K away; he wants to shoot some video and I'm just curious....

LATER

After getting *home* I realized I forgot to pay Bick for the tiny coconut I had after practice. Apparently it's one of those days; my throat is sore and I'm not 100 percent (about 70, actually) so we didn't go to the mela after all. Instead I had a nap.... I drempt my stepbrother was lying on top of me (we were fully clothed, thank you) about to kill me but then put the gun into his own mouth and fired. It made a huge mess and he weighed a ton. Then I woke up and went to the bathroom and mended a hole in my bag.

P and I wound up seeing "Angi" (a name for Hanuman, the monkey god from the Ramayana epic; also the name of the moustachioed hero), which P. pointed out was basically Raiders of the Lost Ark with a magical Shiva Lingam in place of the ark. It had everything -- the sound was *amazing* and the not-too-lean, mean hero could dance! The fight sequences weren't overly drawn out, the choregraphy was amazing (lots of phalluses throughout) and, w/ one Fly Girls-with-Blueblockers-meets-Dhoti-Guys exception, the costumes ruled. The kids got some magic powers and beat up the bad guys (who killed an innocent granny and a dog and tried to kill a girl with glasses, after stepping on them). The heroine was a Miss India (again) who wore glasses and piloted a helicopter. Kick *ass*. And it was in Kannada (local language, very vexing but not so much as to ruin the fil-um).

Afterwards there was a conference with Guruji. This consisted of everyone sitting on the floor of the shala -- some 100-odd people, ridiculous -- and listening to Guruji talk about some sutras. (In the old place he would read the paper and about 30 people would watch and sweat -- it was inevitably during a power outage or "load shedding" -- until someone would ask him a question, like the favorite, "During pregnancy yoga OK, Guruji?"). This time Guruji talked quite a bit and Sharath translated. Suffice to say God is in everyone but to realize him (her!) you have to cleanse yourself... by doing yoga. Some people practice in the shala; their bodies are there, but not their minds. Cell phones kept going off, and a garage door kept opening and closing. The overhead fans were still. "You take practice... long time.... after practice, pranayama. The body is the foundation," seemed to be the gist of what Guruji said after that. Sharath translated; You can have money and spend money but life is precious. Pray to see God, to realize God.

We also learned that there's a new AYRI-approved DVD (not sure what but I think it features Guruji and Sharath) on sale for Rs. 1000 (+/- $22.00).

After the half-hour talk, Lino told Miss Y and I that we have four days off mid-month. Not sure where to go /what to do. Last time Sean and I took the scooter to Kodagu (the mountainous coffee district formerly known as Coorg). I do know that I don't want it to be a major expedition w/ a ton of people and all of their competing needs.