SLOW NEWS DAY

Today I practiced sandwiched between Vance-from-Berkeley and Guy-from-NYC; behind me was Peter-from-New Zealand and in front of me was Rolf-from-who-knows-where -- all fairly well-known yoga teachers. Even Lino, whom I adore, was nearby.

The energy was good.

My breathing was excellent.

My dristi (gazing point/s) was also fairly focused -- although I did notice that Saraswati was wearing a white kurta (top) featuring tiny clowns dancing on elephants.

But my dropbacks were more like swimming frantically towards shore than floating.


***


This morning on the way to class I noticed that the dupatta (long scarf) worn by a woman on the back of a scooter was lopsided, and that the long end could easily get tangled in the rear wheel.

I pulled up beside her and honked and pointed wildly towards my neck and drew my hand back towards my rear wheel, and then gestured towards her neck. Then I hit the gas and pulled ahead.

A few seconds later I saw her in the sideview mirror, rearranging her dupatta.

It seems to me that people here tend to look after each other in certain ways; they are always telling me when I forget to turn off my headlight (which is often). Last year the boys at the Kaveri Lodge would notice that I left the key in the lock for the scooter's trunk and bring it to me. One time, they even re-locked the door to my room when my own padlock fell off. The Three Sisters always had advice when something went wrong, the coconut and flower sellers made sure I parked and locked my scooter properly; even the newspaper seller noticed when I didn't show up for a few days.

Having been raised by wolves, I was not used to being looked after like that.

Last year, in many ways, I felt like I got re-parented here.

This year, I feel like I can bring some of what I've learned back home with me.

Now that's yoga.

Photo = online image of a woman holding a dupatta. Because her top is short, it's almost more of a kurta than a kameez.