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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day #12

December 11, 2015

In the Ashtanga style you are supposed to practice every day.  There is one day off in a week (mine is tomorrow) and on ‘Moon Days (which was today).  Moon days are days of the full or new moon and happen biweekly.  The practice is so intense, that I feel that it’s good to have more than one day off every once in a while.

Once a week, we have what is called a ‘conference’ where Sharath addresses all the yoga students.  I’m not sure if he has a fixed agenda; sometimes it sounds like he is just rambling and going off on a tangent.  The tone is light hearted and he keeps these ‘lectures’ very interactive.  For me it is a chance to listen to an eminent teacher and get insight into philosophy.  And for most of the people who have converged here from different parts of the world it is a chance to interact with a teacher who they highly revere.  I can feel that reverence spreading through the room whenever any of the teachers walk into the room.  It’s a very strong feeling that pervades the room, it’s very palpable.  I could feel it today as well as soon as Sharath walked into the room.  All heads turned to him and conversation died down.  All eyes followed him as he made his way to the stage to sit on a chair.  He adjusted the microphone and almost looked like a king addressing his subjects.  He wore a sparkling white kurta, and his ‘throne’ was an ornately carved chair.  He scanned the room and then started to speak.

He started talking about Moon days.  He began by saying that Moon days are crazy days with crazy energy.  Last week he spoke about how he had an oil bath on a moon day, and he was a bit under the weather for 4 days.  (An ‘oil bath’ is nothing but Abhiyangam.  So an oil self-massage before a shower.)  Today he told us that the reason we don’t practice during moon days is because moon days are days of elevated energy levels.  This extra energy makes you behave uncharacteristically.  People go crazy, they do crazy things, say crazy things.   He said we should make an extra effort to relax on moon days.  Keep the body and the mind calm.  He was expecting crazy questions and told us we can expect crazy answers.

As I said, the conference didn’t focus on any particular topic.  He spoke about various topics.  He discussed where we should practice yoga.  He told us that the quality of oxygen is really important.  So yoga in the mountains is great.  A lot of people want to close windows when they practice in the morning because they feel cold, but Sharath advises us to practice in a ventilated room so that our lungs have fresh oxygen available.  He says that you should generate heat in your body though the practice instead of cutting off fresh air.  He also said you shouldn’t practice out in the open, or in the forest.  Also, he said, do not practice where other people can see you.  The practice is private.

During the Q&A, two students asked about the bandhas.  Ashtanga yoga is a very physical style, the asana practice is intense 6 days a week.  However, the asanas are done with vinyasas (breath coordination), bandhas and drishti (where you rest your gaze).  Since I’ve just started the practice, I practicing asana and vinyasa.  A student asked Sharath that he has heard about and learned the bandhas from various teachers and he wanted to know how he can practice the bandhas in the asanas.  Sharath reiterated that you must stick to one style and teacher because mixing styles can confuse you.  He said he never went to another teacher to confirm if what his grandfather was saying is correct.  He then said that when we practice we must put in our best.  The bandhas will happen on their own.  Another student asked about how we can tell that we are doing the bandhas right.  Sharath once again said you will know.  Just practice.  I suppose this is along the lines of Shri K Pattabhi Jois’s famous quote: Practice and all is coming.

After the conference all of us got together and headed for a quick snack to a café nearby.  What was supposed to be a quick snack turned into a three-hour long conversation about our practice, our inspiration, our lives, our students, our teachers, India…

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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day #11

December 10, 2015

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This morning’s practice was a bit different.  Saraswati walked around adjusting people while loudly giving me instructions from her location.  So she was essentially shouting at me from wherever she was standing.  I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed about being picked on or whether I should feel ‘special’ that though she was adjusting others, I commanded her attention more than anyone else in the room!  She reiterated that we need to go step by step through the sequence instead of randomly doing asanas.  And she ended with telling me that in the ‘led’ class this Sunday I can take two more asanas.

Lately, I’ve become increasingly interested in the philosophy behind yoga.  Not just traditional philosophy, but also the views and opinions that contemporary (and I use this word very loosely) teachers.  Yoga has changed over time.  And over the years teachers have understood the need for yoga to evolve.  Whether it is T. Krshnamacharya or BKS Iyengar or Pattabhi Jois, everyone has contributed to ‘modernizing’ yoga.  So for instance, T. Krishnamacharya started to teach women.  Pattabhi Jois has also categorically stated that now women can do all the asanas because now women are strong.  BKS Iyengar himself personally taught his daughter and granddaughter to carry on his legacy.  During my time here I’ve had the chance to meet and interact with people who are very deeply immersed in the practice.  Many are advanced practitioners and have been through a fair amount of yoga theory and philosophy.  It’s interesting to listen to their ideas. Yoga is evolving and there are many rules and conventions which are now obsolete.  It’s interesting to see how these young yogis are thinking and evolving and finding how to live their lives within the confines of the philosophy, yet by applying thought to it.  Here I find that people are endeavouring to find a way to live the most authentic life consciously by questioning and reasoning to conclusions.

As the year draws to a close, I’m wondering what lesson exists here for me to carry into 2016 with me…

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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day #9

December 8, 2015

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Today Saraswati helped me with the Utthita Hasta Padangushtasana and then asked me if I could do the Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana.  I said yes and showed it to her.  In her usual clipped style she told me, ‘Good.  Tomorrow new asana.’ So in her clipped style I asked, ‘Today?’  She responded, ‘Not today.  Today is Tuesday.’  I was confused but decided that they probably don’t teach anything on Tuesdays.  Later on I found out that they don’t.  I’m not sure why, but maybe the answer lies in the ‘Yoga Mala’ which I’m waiting to get my hands on soon.

Since we didn’t have chanting class today, a bunch of us decided to go to the Lalitha Mahal Palace.  It’s the second largest palace in Mysore and situated on a small hill.  The architecture is very British and I think it was actually used by the British resident of the state of Mysore at one point.  It has sprawling gardens on all sides and a great view on all sides.  The building has been renovated, but the colors they’ve used on the outside of the palace are kind of tacky.  I wish the interiors had been done up better too.  The furniture is shabby and the upholstery, dirty.  They’ve painted ghastly religious figures on some of the glass work on the first floor.  The life-sized portraits are of the kings of the Wodeyar dynasty, but the pencil sketches are all of the fall of Srirangapatnam and the surrender of Tipu’s sons.  Some of the furniture is really nice though.  They have huge tables with intricate carving on the side panels.  These have just been pushed into corners with obvious disregard.  We saw a wooden chair that I liked so much that I would’ve brought it back with me if I could have snuck it out.  The most comfortable wooden recliner ever.  For some reason it had two sets of arm rests, one of which could swivel out and around to the front and across the chair.  We put our heads together but couldn’t figure out what the chair was for.

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There was another curious looking piece of furniture pushed against huge dirty French windows.  It was too high to be a table, and besides there were not carvings on it.  I went closer and saw that there were hinges on the surface and that you could actually open this box on 4 legs.  Alexa helped me lift the lid and this largely ignored piece of furniture was a grand piano.  And you could still play it.  Feedback for the Ashoka group:  try and preserve the character of these heritage properties when you take over!12325025_10153135417542461_1327757027_n

Once we were done wandering around we sat down for some tea.  The hotel staff started to ‘politely’ clear away our cups by the second hour of our conversation.  The sun had set and the lights of the hotel had been switched on.  We took photos.  We stopped by Bombay Tiffins Annexe  to pick up some Mysore Pak and then Dose Corner for dinner.  Tomorrow I will be up bright and early for the new asana that I have been promised by Saraswati!

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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day #7

December 6, 2015

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Today was my first ‘led’ class.  A led class is basically one in which the teacher leads the entire class through the usual routine.  The class started promptly at 5 am.  As usual, by the time I got to class, most places were taken.  (And I get to class at least 15 minutes early!)  However, I was happy that I found place.  Some people end up practicing in the changing rooms!  The nice thing about a led class is that it allows you to explore asanas that you may not have done in your daily practice.  So I actually went beyond the Parsvaottanasana.  And also, while I haven’t done any of the finishing postures, in today’s class I did quite a few of the closing asanas as well.  I’m assuming that I will be able to practice all the ‘new’ asanas in tomorrow’s practice session.

Sharath and Saraswathi have different off days.  While mine was yesterday, a bunch of students had their off day today.  So a lot of people were in the weekend mood.  And where does that mood take you to in Mysore?  To the palace of course, to see the lights.  The last time I saw the palace lit up was 10 years ago.  Over the years I’ve tried to plan day trips form Bangalore to see the lights, but somehow the trips never materialized.  I was really eager to see the palace lit up (for some reason more eager to see it lit up, than during the day).  For some reason I had assumed that it would be really crowded and noisy.  I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t too crowded.  We were able to walk around without having to elbow through a crowd and were able to see the palace from different angles.  And we took the obligatory pictures.

After the palace we headed to Mylari, a dosa place which I’ve only just heard of, but which is very popular.  They only have plain and masala dosa on the menu (Rs. 35).  The dosas were fresh, soft and delicious.

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Incidentally, Mylari closes at 8 pm, but our cab was on its way at about 8.10 pm.  When we suggested that we wait outside, the owner and the waiters told us that it’s ok if we wait inside.  We decided to find out a bit more about Mysore from the owner.  We found out that Mylari has been around for 75 years and is named after the man who started it.  Currently there are 2 Myalri hotels in Mysore.

Remembering my quest for RK Narayan’s house, I asked the young owner of Mylari if he knew where it was.  He seemed taken aback by the question and said he doesn’t know.  Well, at least he knew who RK Narayan was.  When I asked him if he knew who Shri Pattabhi Jois was he said he didn’t!

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I simply love the colors in this photograph.

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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day #6

December 5, 2015
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Can you spot me?

I came to Mysore for the first time on July 25th 2005 for the coveted Infosys training.  Little did I know that I would be back on Dec 1st 2015 to train at the prestigious KPJAYI.  In fact, in 2005 we were a bunch of trainee software engineers who thought Mysore was about masala dosa, the Mysore palace, Chamundi hills, and of course Infy.  It seems inconceivable to me now that I didn’t know that yogis from all over the world were converging to this sleepy town…and that Shri K Pattabhi Jois was also in the city!  I tell myself that everything happens in its own good time, but that’s small comfort.

In 2005 I didn’t know about the Jaganmohan palace.  Why it caught my attention this time is its large collection of paintings and artefacts, including paintings by Raja Ravi Varma.  Also, the Wodeyars (the Mysore royals) used this palace while the Mysore Palace was being built (their old palace had burned down).

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And strangely enough, there is a yoga connection too.  In the Yoga Makaranda I read that the Ashtanga yoga classes were conducted on the grounds of the Jaganmohan palace before moving to the Mysore Palace and then to the current location (Gokulam 3rd Stage).  While walking around the palace I tried visualizing how it would look without the commercial enterprises that have sprung up all around it (sari shops, food stalls, souvenir shops).  Basically trying to visualize how T. Krishnamacharya would have seen this place when he was teaching.  How a young Shri KP Jois and BKS Iyengar would have seen it.

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The palace hasn’t been maintained very well, but I wasn’t expecting otherwise.  There seems to be no order in which the artefacts and paintings have been placed.  There is hardly any security and no security cameras.  In fact, if someone really wanted to, they could actually walk out with a small cup or dagger.  The brass and copper items such as ashtrays and decorative plates are in wooden display cases with cheap metal padlocks on them.  I’m sure these locks are easy to pick.  There are no metal detectors at the entrance of the art gallery.  They did ask us if we had cameras and asked us to deposit our phones only because they spotted them.  No one checked our bags.

On the ground floor there are old pictures of coronations and durbars, which I really liked.  I wish we could’ve had a better look at these photos.  Some photos are placed at an angle where you can hardly see them.  The first floor had paintings by several painters, including ‘Lady with the Lamp’ by Haldenkar.  This painting is definitely awesome, but I wish they had done something about the lighting.  The surface of the paintings reflected the light, making it difficult to see the details.  I crib for I was there only for the paintings!!! In fact, I had to squint a lot and walk back and forth in front of the Ravi Varma paintings until I was finally satisfied.

The Ravi Varma paintings that stand out in my mind are called ‘Draupathi’ (I think they meant ‘Draupadi’) and ‘Galaxy of Women’.  The woman in ‘Draupadi’ is depicted in a beautifully draped pink sari with a golden border.  Her hair is loose.  In one hand she holds a brass plate with a small jug on it, and with the other hand she appears to be wiping away her tears with her pallu.  She is climbing down the steps of a large stone structure (temple? palace?).  I love the way the sari seems to blaze forth in the largely muted background.

The ‘Galaxy of Women’ shows a bunch of women, every single one of them dressed differently.  Each is wearing different styles of jewelry (even their nose rings are different!), and different styles of clothing (there’s an English woman among them too!).  Some of them are playing instruments, some are standing and some are seated.  The detail that stands out in this painting for me is the rug.  You can actually see the folds and creases on the rug beneath the women.  This little detail seems to bring the women to life.

Once done with the palace, Alexa and I decided to walk around a bit to see if we could find a place to grab a bite.  I’ve been missing south Indian food a lot so I was looking forward to dosa.  A receptionist in one of the hotels pointed us to the Raj Bhavan hotel and we had a nice lunch there.

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Now I’m wondering how to track down RK Narayan’s house ….

 

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