Expect the Unexpected - 30 Aug

Landed in what looks like new airport in Bangalore just before midnight. I had the option of a 4 hour taxi ride to Mysore or spend the night in Bangalore and then take the train to Mysore the next day. I choose the latter.

Initially I had booked the hotel through a hotel search engine. However, it turned out to be an adventure finding the hotel. Went through empty streets flanked by 1 storey shops. It was quite bizarre - although the streets was empty, we would come across small groups of people walking or talking in a huddle every few blocks. Almost like a scene off the Twilight Zone.

We finally found the hotel in a quiet section of the city, after calling for directions no less than 4 times. Turned out my internet booking was no use as the guy at the reception just looked at my booking slip blankly ( I had a feeling he would rather continue with his sleep). I looked around and saw no signs of a computer in the vicinity. Luckily he had a spare room after I agreed to pay the rate listed in his brochure.

I woke up early the next morning, partly because I became concerned when I asked whether it's easy to get to the train station and all I got was a good night wish and a head wobble. There were still no signs of other guests when I checked out. The hotel looked great, though. I'm pretty sure if I had checked in at a reasonable time, I would have a better impression.

One More Day!

Tomorrow is the day I finally leave for India. Panic has already sown their seeds. "What else can you tell me about Mysore?" I questioned my wife again and again. Any macho image that I have left has surely left me by now. Someone else teased me - "Isn't going for yoga trip a very gay thing to do?". And this is from a gay guy. Now, paranoia is starting to sow its seeds ...

Indeed, I have gone through many mental checklists of what to bring. I even caught up with my best buddy for lunch just now. I'm only going for 2 weeks! Still, the fact that I can't find my backpack doesn't bode well. The past week, I've been reading up on Mysore blogs. I have now a clearer idea on what I'm going into. Unfortunately, questions like the following has also emerged - what is this novice doing, mixing together with seasoned yogis?

I better start packing - time to pack the doubts away, time to look forward to meet the source of ashtanga yoga and to a new adventure ...

One Week to My First Mysore Trip

One week to go!  It's finally dawning on me that I'll soon have to leave my comfort zone and see how I cope with 2 weeks as a yoga student in Mysore.  

Why Mysore?  To get an opportunity to see the man who started this system of yoga called Ashtanga Yoga.  (See www.kpjayi.org )  Shri K. Pattabhi Jois is now 93 years old and apparently still teaching.  Though I'm not learning from him, I'm going to spend 2 weeks learning from his daughter, Saraswathi.

My existing yoga practice comprise 3 times a week at classes that are scheduled either around 8 in the morning or in the evening around 6.  This trip to Mysore will mean a daily practice (albeit for only 2 weeks) and will start at 7.30am.  My intention is to try the yoga student life and this meant also being vegetarian.  Two weeks should be fine, right?  As the time draws nearer, panic and doubts are starting to sow their seeds.

This is also my first attempt at blogging.  Ha ha.  It's one of many firsts.  Hopefully this will be a transformative event ....