Pune India Week II - Entering the River

India, the country that brought us Buddha, pajamas, bungalows, shampoo, Gandhi, email and is revitalizing our stale fashion and music sensibilities. India is cool... Daily exposure to poverty, death and disability; wealth, music and fashion; religion and spirituality, in a city that has grown, since my first visit in 2002, from 2.5 million to 5 million in population. The increased density is palpable. I thought it was crowded in 2002. A rapid and tumultuous river of life that I must bolster the nerve to enter daily... The cultural initiation is to cross the street without leaping out of your skin. One has to surrender to the slipstream like a fallen leaf and float across on the diagonal amidst honking horns and vehicles that come close enough to clip you if you hesitate.

The attraction to this well educated successful and densely populated city is the Ramanai Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. Ramamani was Guruji Iyengar's now deceased wife. She died in the mid seventies before the Institute was completed. On the same property as their home, now in the heart of the city, having been engulfed by the expanding population many years ago. RIMYI draws as many as 300 students daily to the practice of yoga. With morning and evening classes, open practice time - used largely by the foreigners, and five medical classes a week. The Friday evening class taught by Geetaji had 180 people in it. Our mats were overlapping!! I thought I had already experienced the maximum number of people doing yoga in a room but this was something new. In the Wednesday women's class we were told to stand two to a mat but when the German woman living in South Africa who was next to me stepped over to my mat I told her to get off :) In the end there were enough mats and space for all of us.

Due to circumstance ( a yogi friend and Professor at Converse Collage South Carolina passed through Pune last weekend with 14 eastern religion and yoga studies students and I met up with them) I was appointed by RIMYI administrator Pandu to give them a tour.  Inspired to do my research I can share with you that the Institute was designed on three levels representing the outermost to the inner most sadhana (practice), eight columns representing the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga and 88 steps for same. It is 71 feet in height 7 + 1 = 8. The 7 spaces between the eight columns symbolize the 7 kosas or sheaths of consciousness from the anatomical body to union with Atman. Pictures are not allowed to be taken at RIMYI or I could show you a metaphysician's private library not even Harry Potter sets can rival. The medical classes are fascinating, how I wish I could take photographs! In the evening I make notes and draw diagrams.

Students attending RIMYI are both local and international. Foreigners (that's me) make up the bulk of the student population. Recently I had tea with a woman from Italy, another from Germany and a fellow from Chile, such is the nature of things here. I am just grateful that English is the dominant language and ever humbled by the language skills of others. I know of 5 Canadians attending this month. There is always a large group from Russia and others from Germany, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Netherlands, England, Australia and the USA. This is just a sampling of the range. Classes are taught in English.

I have been assisting in Medical classes 5 days a week, attending classes 6 days a week and daily practice. I also volunteered to do some work on the archives so I have been spending as much as 6 hours a day at RIMYI. The remainder of the time I eat and rest. And shop, but not much time left in the day for shopping. India is exhausting and rest time is essential.

Guruji Iyengar, 93 as of this past December spends time in the morning practice session doing his own yoga practice (yup, no reason to ever give it up) and he is an inspiration to all. This morning he was giving a lesson to his grand daughter Abhi who is a teacher at RIMYI. Abhiji is in her twenties and is being groomed by Guruji to carry on his legacy in yoga. It is wonderful to watch this sacred transference of knowledge lovingly bestowed  How wonderful for them both and for all of us to have Abhi carry on the teachings..

I am staying with friends of ours. We met Geeta and Sunder Bhujwani here in 2002 and look forward to seeing them every time we return. John is not here now but her is joining me later this month. Last weekend I went to the Bhujwani's lake house 45 minutes outside the city. The air was much fresher and the view spectacular. They are across the lake from an ancient mountain fortress once belonging to King Shivaji. King Shivaji fought the British and is a much revered historic figure. We spent Saturday evening watching the full moon pass across the mountainous sky. where King Shivaji once ruled from.

Pictures to follow once I have the technology :) Shanti, shanti, Leigh