So after 3 months in South India, we headed for Israel. My cousin Eric was getting married so we decided that it would be good to see the family and flew to Tel Aviv. It was a bit of a shock to go from India to Israel, the two countries having very little in common except for them both starting with I and their birthday being very close. We found Israel to be an amazing place, very modern, but yet quite traditional. Tel Aviv which has only existed since 1909 is a bustling place that very much reminds me of Sydney. The city is built on the beach and the people spend much of their free time on or near the shore. We arrived in a heat wave for Mid March, it being 35 degrees Celsius. In the first several hours, we were in the water and adjusting to the new climate. We welcomed the change from the Indian food and got stuck into the Hummus and falafel, which very quickly replaced the dosas and idlys that we had become accustomed to.

The pre-wedding activities were already in full swing as the night of our arrival, we attended the dinner with the immediate family of the bride and groom. There was no pause in activities with the next days lunch being hosted by Dana, the bride's, entire extended family. The food did not stop coming, it was really silly. The sheer volume of food that was served could have fed all of India. And the deserts: Halva both chocolate and strawbery, then ice cream, followed by chocolate cheesecake! I will stop there but there was more!

Then the wedding, which started at 7pm, not grate for the kids. It was an elegant affair at the Sheraton in the city, really great, they did a fantastic job. There were two rabis, just in case one was not enough. Again there was finger food first and then a sit-down dinner with two rounds of mains. A great wedding! Bride and groom were very happy!

We were thankful after the weekend's festivities to have some quite time to get back into out yoga practice. It can be a bit difficult to maintain the regular practice with all the travel and heavy foods, but we were trying our best. It was nice to be able to practice on the balcony of the apartment where we were staying, something special about saluting the sun in the holy land!

We were fortunate to attend an ashtanga class at Ella Yoga one of the many yoga schools in Israel. It was taught by a lovely man from Chile. It was not the traditional Mysore style that we had been practicing in India, but had a few vatiations. It was interesting speaking with the teacher after the class. He pointed out that Israelis are not into Mysore so much as they feel they are getting a bit ripped off, so he needs to change it a bit, kind of keep it interesting. We had become quite used the serious and the method and it was strange to do something a little different.

After 8 days in Israel, we again flew back to India, landing in Mumbai in the early morning. We came strait to the Iskcon Guest House in Juhu beach, about 20km north of the city. Iskcon stand for International Society of Krishna Consciousness. Here we have been staying amoung all the hare Krishna devotees, chanting the mantra and being happy.

I had heard from my old friend Mathew, that Willie Hirsh was living in India. He did not know where he was, but knew that he had been living at some ashram here for the past 4 years. He gave me Willie's email address and I had tried to contact him when we arrived in Mysore at the beginning of January.
Then the day we arrived in Kovalam, Willie finally returned my email informing me that he was now living in Varkala, which was only an hour away. He informed me that he had become an Amma devotee and had just gotten married and had a 2 month old baby. It took us about another week to make the 1 hour train journey to Varkala. We had a lovely trip up the Kerelan coast, admiring the palm trees and backwaters that separate the city of Trivandrum from the relaxed town of Varkala. Varkala is a very relaxed beach town, tending towards the backpacker traveler, rather then the European tourist, that seems to attract Kovalam. Unfortunately, the weather had turned rainy, as it seems the monsoon had appeared two months early.
After disembarking from the train, we found a rickshaw driver who transported us to Willie's house. As we arrived at the house, Willie was finishing practicing yoga on the roof of his villa. I embraced Willie, who is now known Lokeshvara, and we immediately got into a long talk of our similar paths pursuing the ancient teachings of yoga. I found it quite interesting that we had followed similar paths that have both brought us to India. He has embraced the path of bhakti to his guru, Amma, whereas I have been practicing more asana, which is more of a physical practice of yoga. In yoga there are several different path all intended to liberate the individual from the bondages of this life.

Bhakti yoga or devotion is a practice of fully committing oneself to a guru. It means that we become a devotee of the guru and base our life around serving that person. After visiting several known enlighened beings such as Amma, Sai Baba, and Ramesh S. Balsekar, it seems to me that practicing bhakti really is something that comes from inside, and certain people have a natural tendency to this practice and do it freely. The practice of asana, is much easier for the westerner to perform, as we are not used to bowing down in the name of something greater then us. Bhakti is about the practice of prostrating oneself to something else, whereas asana is practiced by moving the energy in the body, to open and move the eneregy in the body.

Willie and his wife, Vanessa, have had a beautiful little girl, and we had a lovely lunch with them and then went for a much needed swim at an ayurvedic retreat in Varkala. We unfortunatley had to cut the visit short as it was getting quite late and the last train back to Trivandrum was about to leave. It would have been great to have a little more time with them and also to talk about Amma, who definately is an amazing personality.

We we left Mysore and are now spending 10 days in Kovalam, a beautiful south Indian coastal town. It is nestled between the backwaters and the Ocean. We are staying at the beach and lake resort, which is about 4 kms north of Kovalam beach. We are required to cross the backwaters on an old wooden canoe, every time we want to leave, it is quite an amazing experience to be sandwiched between the ocean and the backwaters, almost like we are on a private lagoon.

we arrived to find that the whole area was in the midst of a huge Hindu festival called, where all 9 year old boys in the town are required to spend 5 days in the temple dressed only in a dhoti (piece of cloth). They are required to only take the food that is given to them and spend the time in prayer.

It turns out that the man who manages Beach and Lake, Mr. Sassi, is the grandfather of one of these young boys, so the resort is very involved in the whole program. This means that we are all involved as there is constant drumming and dancing at all hours of the day and night! There are costumes and incense and elephants galore, and it is all a great treat to the senses! Our little girls love it, being 3 feet from a huge elephant is a wonderful experience!

To get to the ocean, one is required to exit the resort through the back gate. Once leaving the resort, the scene abruptly changes to Kerela from 500 years ago with the ancient coastal Indian village coming to life. Children run to us and scream 'school pen' as they surround our little ones. We head through the coconut palms and past the old women weaving dried coconut fibre to make fishing nets, and emerge at the ocean, where the Kerelan fisherman pull on their fishing nets in groups of 30 chanting and singing all day long. This is the life they have lived for hundreds of years, pulling in nets by hand and working hard just to make a few rupees. They gather around as we head into the water and have a little swim. They keep warning me not to let India into the water as the rips are quite strong. We frolic and play as they keep watch and when we come out, they surround with a curious look. Many of the men have few teeth and their stares and smiles make it difficult to keep a strait face.
Today is Sunday, and the scene of fishermen has been replaced by a game of beach cricket played by the children of the men. Sunday is the day of rest, and today there will be no fish being caught.

Labels: kerela

During our 2 months in Mysore, we had the great fortune of befriending out rickshaw driver Krishna. He is a sweet man who become much more then our drive. He became the man to go to for everything from fixing Marley's cot to putting our girls to sleep when they fell asleep coming back from the pool. On our last day in Mysore, he invited us to his house and cooked us a beautiful dinner of lemon rice, dal fry, chapatti, curry and salad. It was amazing to see his house which was on the top of a hill about 20 minutes from our house. As we were finishing dinner, the power went out as per usual, and Marley ran up to Krishna and gave him a big kiss and cuddle as if to say I love you and I will miss you, pretty special for a 18 month old!

Krishna has told us stories of his life, how he fell in love with his wife who he met when they were dining at a local eatery 5 years ago. Pretty rare to have a love marriage in India as almost all the marriages are negotiated by the bride and grooms parents with a substantial fee being paid by the girls family. Krishna is so looking forward to having a baby and having him spending almost every day with us has definitely made those desires much stronger. They have been trying for several years but have unfortunately not been blessed with a little one.

The fact that people in India and in many other countries do not have access to IMF and other technological advances in fertility is quite sad, as there is very little they can do besides make pujas at the temples and pray for a little one. We constantly suggested to Krishna that he and his wife should practice yoga and take Ayurvedic remedies as these are definitely conducive to making babies, as we know from first hand experience. I also recommended acupuncture as this is proven to help in fertility in many ways.

A few weeks back Krishna came to us very distraught, complaining that his wife was having pains and was taken to the hospital. He needed $60 for some medications and the consultation, which he did not have. I loaned him the money and enquired what was wrong. It turns out that she experiences these pains every month during her cycle which from my experience that it is endometriosis.