Focus Yoga

This may not be a great shot of Sylvia at bat during this
Game of cricket, but it's easily the high point of this
Trip for me, so I had to include.

The interest goes both ways.

Okay, today was the best day yet.

The past couple of days have been more quiet. In a way. A couple in our group got married in a Vedic ceremony in the sacred grove. Some local farmers brought camels here to the ashram, and people could have rides. There was a havan, a fire ceremony in the sacred grove to mark the auspicious bathing day. There are several of these throughout the four months of the Mela, and if it wasn't crowded and energetic before, all stops are pulled out for this.

Unfortunately, the crowds led to some unfortunate events. There was an accident at a train station, and also a bridge at the Mela collapsed. These accidents created over 30 deaths; I think some people were trampled in the crowds.

Because of this, the police are trying to reduce the crowds and get people out of the Mela, and an event we had planned for today, to go to one of the camps to hear a spiritual teacher, a swami speak was canceled. Fortunately, we do have the good fortune of having Sandy Anderson and Rolf Sovik here, and I just finished an asana with Sandy, and will do a meditation with Rolf soon.

However, the real high point, of my whole pilgrimage really, so far, was this morning. Doug, and girls and myself signed out and headed off the ashram grounds for a walk. We walked along the Ganges for a while. There were people bathing along the shore. Some women were very friendly and offered to let us join their bathing group (I'm pretty sure that's what they were saying) but we politely declined. Sometimes it's nice that there is a bit of a communication gap.

Sylvia had lost a tooth a day or two ago, and she wanted to throw it into the Ganges. So, we did. I told her to say a little prayer as she tossed her tooth in, as an offering to the Ganges. She has left a bit of herself in India.

We turned in and followed a path into the prairie. We saw the farmer grazing his two camel. We saw the herd of antelope-type animals (I don't know how to spell it, but sylvia told me they are called "neel-guy". I'll figure it out later.) Then we got closer into the village.

I think that a lot of the village stayed out of sight when our group came through a couple days ago. Things were really bustling today. It was laundry day (although maybe everyday is laundry day, judging by what I've seen). Of course kids were all over us. As we stopped to admire the paintings of Hanuman and Shiva on one house, an older boy came up to us. He lived there and could speak some English. We talked a while about the paintings, the shrine that was built outside, how the house had been his grandfather's. Then he invited us in the back to sit and have tea. I was thrilled to sit, but was afraid to do the tea. We went back into his yard and he pulled out three plastic chairs and a little wooden bench so the four of us could sit down. We did and a big group of kids and older boys gathered around to stare at us. We admired a young cow that was in the yard. He said it was three months old, but I have to wonder about the translation there; it looked like three weeks or maybe days to me. It was tiny. We did the kind of chat thing for a while, then we indicated we needed to go. He was adamant that they were making tea for us. I so, so, SO wish we could have felt comfortable taking tea with them, but the day before I was as tethered to the outhouse with a GI issue as this little calf was to his post, and tomorrow we have a several hour bus ride. I just didn't feel I could risk it. But, that is my biggest regret on this trip so far, that I didn't feel I could risk a cup of tea with these wonderful people.

The boy didn't seem too offended, and followed us down the road a while longer. A nice crowd grouped around us and accompanied us as we walked. We ran into a man that spoke English and got directions to the next village.

As  we entered the village there was a group of boys playing cricket in an open space. They seemed to be inviting us to join in. This was one invite we were eager to accept. Doug was the first at bat, then we all got a turn. As we played, I could see small groups gathering off in the distance watching us. Over time (yes, we played for quite a while) they came over to watch. There was a bit pile of sand, and I sat down on it and some women in their saris and kids sat on the top. It felt just like home: little league moms watching from the bleachers. At one point I turned around and said "good game, huh?) to one of the women, who had no idea what I was saying. I cheered at totally inappropriate times, and am still not sure what the rules were, but I'm pretty sure I'm good at cricket and impressed them very much.

After handshakes (and we've been teaching high-fives also, which is one thing that seems to catch on quick) we left.

Later in the village we asked directions back to the Ganges and two boys took us into a "side street" path, some got to see a little behind the scenes. An old man bathing under a pump. Two little toddlers taking a bucket bath, and fighting when one splashes the other.  The villages are really quite beautiful. Earthy, natural.

We never walked far without picking up some company, mostly young boys. Two followed us as we hit the river again. We didn't ever really talk to them, except to clap as they showed off a little and jumped over a particularly large ravine. They stayed behind us as we walked. Suddenly I heard them calling "good-by!" and we turned around to wave and yell back. They called  "good-by!" and "thank-you!"  to us. I. Loved. It.