Bangalore Airport

I'm huddled in lotus in a corner of the Bangalore International Airport secretly pluged in a power outlet that was hidden behind boxes. This laptop is sans a battery so I've got to be a little sneaky. My 2:25 flight has been delayed to 4 am and that's going to make this an even longer day. If I'm able to post this, sadly, it will be my last post from India. I did sleep for the 3 and a half hour drive between Mysore and Bangalore though, so I'm sure that will help 24 hours from now when I land in Detroit. I'll try to document some of the past two days here while I'm enjoying my delay.

I really over booked myself the last few days. Prior to jumping in my hired car to get here I went to the new moon pooja at the Ganesha Temple to say my goodbyes to the preists and the neihbors that I've gotten to know. They were all very sweet and made sure that I got extra prasad and that I ate it all prior to leaving. Their acceptance and assistance during my stay here has been really over the top.

Though I wanted to go into town and eat at the RRR Hotel for my "last" meal, the timing of my departure prevented this. Indian resturants, which are called hotels (hotels are lodges) typically are closed until around 7 pm or only serve chatts (snacks) prior to dinner. For sake of time and ease the Aussies and me headed to the Green Leaf where I had a masala dosa and a samosa chatt. The Green Leaf is OK as it's really safe to eat at but there are much better places. I wish I had discovered the RRR within the first few weeks that I was in town. They serve an intense veg thali on a huge banana leaf, there's no silverware and you have to just dig into it with your fingers. I'm really going to miss massaging rice and sambar and then sliding it into the mouth with my thumb. Thanks to Randy, from day one here I began eating with my fingers and due to this I've become quite apt at it.

After dinner the Aussies and I went to Loyal World as they needed to get some supplies and I needed to pick up Matthew's requested soapnut powder. I also rode by Tina's to say goodbye and drop off this weird and wondeful book called Middlesex from her library that was passed to me by Russell. It's by the same bloak that wrote The Virgin Suicides and is set in Detroit as well. I didn't finish the book but it kept me up a few nights reading intensely.

So, I'm loosing my focus here, I've been up since 5:30 this morning.

Saying goodbye to the Aussies was a bit rough. Over the past two weeks the four of us have been pretty inseprable, eating together, shopping, and cramming into rickshaws together. I've also really appreciated the "other" Aussies as well, the crew from Adelaide and Damian. I was talking to Randy about it when I was saying my goodbyes to him today. He said that the folks that he spent his first stint in Mysore with were still some of the closest friends he's made. For being an anti-social person back home I really came out of myself during the past month. Of course, with many thanks to the Aussies I did this without getting into the college dorm mentality that seems to underlie a great deal of the yogi community here. That being said, maybe I just fell into my own little click. Yeah, that's probably the case. I guess we all have our nitch. I'm happy with the click I fell in with though as they are all top notch folk who seem to be here for the right reasons, pratice and study.

Running about was the call of the day before dinner. I spent the afternoon with Mani and Sanji driving about getting everything that I needed to done. Sanji's been in Bangalore quite a bit in the past few days so I haven't seen him much but when he got back into town this afternoon he took over driving for Mani due to the Monkey attack (that's another story) and the three of us tooled about. I went to the Sitar makers house to pick up my Sitar and he was having lunch so I joined him in a badam milk and watched the India Pakistan cricket match together. Though he tried to explain it to me I still don't quite get cricket. To me baseball is boring as hell and cricket makes baseball look thrilling! He was quite into it though and I did my best to follow his lead. I've been invited into many houses since I've been here and I'm always thrilled to do so. So, after he finsihed lunch he brought out the sitar and did the final touches on it. He's a third generation sitar and veena maker. There's a photo of his grandfather up in the shop and he looks just like him. It took him a while to finish up due to watching the match at the same time. He gave me a pretty good deal on the sitar, what came out to about 100 US dollars. It's a small sitar and the quality is not the greatest but a the worst it will look good sitting in the corner of the living room and at the best I'll find someone to teach me back home.

Well, looks like were boarding. time to close this up. Maybe I'll continue in Paris. ~G