Indian Cinema and Day one at Prana Vasha TT

Yesterday was a completely full and wonderful day!

It started out with Chai at Sri Durgas with my good friends here in Mysore and they invited me out to the Cinema to see "Lucy" with Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson...
It was Intense to say the least and we All Loved it!!

It is actually my second cinema experience in India. My first one was seeing the movie "Rambo" with 4 Tibetan Monks about 6 years ago...



Don't ask.

Oh the fun I have had in my life!

Afterwards we scooted back to Gokulam as I had a date with some of my Facebook friends, one of which I had never met and one in which I had!
They are newlyweds who met 4 years ago on line and they are the most adorable couple and SO in love. Kamakshi and Harish. 
We met at the Coconut stand and had a coconut together when up walked one of my dearest friends here in Gokulam! Pavi from "The Green House". 
The really ironic part of the whole thing was that Kamakshi had wanted to go and meet Pavi and we had planned on going to see him..and he just appeared! 
It was crazy and wonderful!

We all walked back to The Green House, Pavi's little store on Shala Road and we had such a great visit, as we always do at Pavi's. He is a treasure chest of the most wonderful knowledge and I honestly could sit and talk with him for hours on end...and we did.

It's Monsoon season here in Mysore so we had intermittent rain showers so we sat and talked and learned things from Pavi and we ate home made Banana Chips from Pavis store and they were Sooooooooo Gooooooood, that I Had to buy a jar to take home with me!!
Seriously the Best I have ever had in my life.

It was late when we finally said our good-byes and I had a long walk home which wasn't bad, but it had gotten dark and I am always in by nightfall here.
I made it home safely and realized I had to get my bucket bath and get ready for bed and quick as I had to be up at 5:00 this morning to get ready for my first day at the shala with my teacher!!

Bright and early this morning my driver and good friend Raju was right on time to collect me for my class and off we went into the fresh, dewy Indian morning...me happily in the back seat of a rickshaw!

Saturday Morning and my days on an Indian scooter.

This is day three of my entry back into India and I have been BUSY!

To update you from yesterdays post..
my how things change and Fast!

Remember how I was just So Brave yesterday?

Ya, well, today is a Completely Different Story my friends...
I was So Brave for sure when I had my entourage Chris and Warren and I was sandwiched in between them on these quite crazy and confusing and dangerous roads...
but the very Second they weren't there protecting me..guess who got scared to death? 

Ya, you guessed it..This girl who has been riding a Vespa for about 6 years now and is Fearless on it...IN The US that is!!


I had a Very Close Call yesterday with a car and a rickshaw and I don't think I have to tell you that I trusted my gut and my intuition and I returned the scooter yesterday.
At least for the time being as I am living much too far out to even consider it again right now. 
Besides all the rain we have had and the Winds!! I do Not remember ever having winds this strong here before...
but to be perfectly honest with you..
it isn't the Rain nor the Winds that scare me.
It's the roads and the people driving on them..
you see the roads here are really quite unpredictable.
You have pot holes Everywhere and they range from tiny to HUGE and you don't know how deep they go and after my phone call to Chris yesterday telling him of my plan to return the scooter and mentioning the pot holes, his response was "Oh, tell me about it. Those pot holes have KILLED people" 
Need I go on?
He had me at Killed.

Not to mention the Speed Bumps (or Humps as they refer to them here)..
I don't think I have ever ridden over so many anywhere in the world I have ever driven..
they are literally Everywhere!

Then we have the rules to the road...
There. Are. None.
Do I need to continue?

I was a hot mess on a cloudy day in August yesterday and I have never felt such a sigh of relief as when I handed over those scooter keys back to Harish.
I felt as though a bad weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

So...this presents a new challenge..
Plan B on getting to my Yoga class at 7:15 a.m. 

Safer, more comfortable and protection from the early morning rain.
It's a no brainer for the time being anyway.
I start class tomorrow...
and I feel a sigh of relief.