A walk around an ashram

Recently, my husband and I visited an ashram near Bangalore. I have always wanted to visit an ashram merely for the experience.

‘Ashram’ as the word indicates is ‘without effort’. Living in an ashram, therefore, meant living without effort or effortless living.

With such preconceived notions, I visited the Sri Sri Ravishankar ashram. I knew about its existence through neighbours and friends.

The drive to the ashram was effortless. We parked our vehicle at the designated place. We were offered a vehicle ride around the ashram which we refused. A little walk, we thought, would do well to our urban bellies!

As we turned around the corner of the lane, the view was breath-taking. It was huge, green and well-maintained. The forest cover was left largely untouched and the cement structures added elegance to the greenery.

The largely untouched forest cover mesmerized us...

A huge open air amphitheatre invited us to explore the place further. As we walked through the ashram, we saw shops that sold books, CDs, T-shirts and other utility items. But it was the Ayurveda products that attracted our attention. After picking up a few of the items, we continued our walk.

A mild drizzle and pleasant weather made the walk absolutely enjoyable. The sight of a cafeteria made both of us realise the familiar hunger pangs. Being ultra-modern in our lifestyles, we wanted to choose the healthy food available to make up for the fatty sins that we had committed during the past weeks!

Yet we were convinced by the person at the counter that ghee, made from cow’s milk, added to the ‘good’ cholesterol which was more of a necessity than a luxury.

The idea was sold as was the pure ghee dosa!

After spending more than an hour walking through the rich green expanse provided by Mother Nature and maintained by the volunteers at the ashram, we went to a lotus shaped meditation hall. After spending a silent and peaceful ten minutes there, we traced our footsteps back to our vehicle.

The lotus shaped meditation hall stood majestic against the darkening firmament!

Our drive back home was not so effortless, as the rain had intensified by then and the lack of road lights made driving difficult. The experience at the ashram seemed effortless for us, but to maintain the place, the volunteers were putting in immense effort.

The view from the lotus shaped hall was breathtaking!

That brought me to ponder if the word ‘ashram’ was, in some sense a misnomer.

But perhaps to the volunteers, serving others makes their own lives seem effortless! The served and the serving perform their parts effortlessly and in that sense, it probably was an apt name.

A bump on the rain-lashed road quickly brought me back to reality. Many questions began bothering me during the drive back home.

A brave attempt at capturing tranquility through the lens...

The potholes on the roads and the crumbling infrastructure have been crying out to us for long. They were in need of ‘effortless servers’. When the ratio between the ‘serving’ and the ‘served’ is skewed, living becomes a very conscious and tedious effort!

Divided by families, united by a scorpion!

Three summers back, two of my friends decided to visit us. The mothers and the children reached Bangalore and the three of us took the five kids and ventured on our own.

I had booked a cottage near Kanakapura, at a place called Anandhama. I was particular that the resort management gave us three different bed rooms, though each one was big enough to accommodate all three families.

Since I was the host I wanted to ensure that we all had our private moments with our kids.

We hired a tourist’s vehicle to reach us to the place. The youngest kid was a little more than 2 years of age and the oldest was about 11 years.

We had fun all the way and when we reached the place, the trip organisers had arranged for a night jungle walk! Though I was tentative, my friends wanted to try their hands at everything. We carried the little one in turn. The rest of the kids were enjoying themselves, though they stuck together.

The trek was quite enjoyable and when we reached the cottage we were all tired and exhausted. We hit the dining hall straight as the kids would have otherwise had each other for dinner!

The food was good and the kids ate well!

Before getting back to the cottage, my friends reminded me to check the sleeping arrangements. I promptly went to the reception and once again, reminded them that we needed three separate rooms.

The person in-charge asked us to have a stroll, while he got the rooms ready. Once he came back to tell us that we could occupy our rooms, we dashed off, kids in front. Just as he opened the door to let us in, the youngest kid made a quick dash. The kid behind her, let out a scream, as he spotted a huge, black scorpion.

All of us backed out while we kept the screams going! Very soon, few of the men rushed inside and hit the unsuspecting creature with their footwear before driving him out of the cottage!

As soon as the black arthropod was safely out of our way, the rest of us went inside picking the baffled child up. We were all so shaken, that we did not realise how tired we were. Finally, we decided that it was time to sleep and the lady in-charge asked us if we wanted anything more.

Gingerly, she began, “Call me if you need anything more. Usually scorpions live as a colony. And the tiled roofs are their favourite hiding place,” she concluded.

All of us looked up at the same time. As the lady was about to leave one of us began, “Do the bedrooms have tiled roofs?”

“Not sure, we need to check,” she said as we went inside to check.

Except one bedroom the rest had tiled roofs!

“Can you move all the beds to one room?” I asked.

“Are you sure? You were insistent on different bedrooms,” the lady did not let go of the opportunity that had so conveniently presented itself!

After she arranged the beds, the lady left. The three of us burst out laughing at our own plight!

The next morning, we debated on whether we had to pack our bags and head home or stay and enjoy the rest of the trip. Finally we decided to enjoy the vacation and what a vacation it turned out to be!

Jawhar – A windy wonder

This happened when my kids were still young and my words were their world! 

We decided to take a break from our hectic work schedule. But as always, we were the ‘last minute’ creatures and did not find any decent place to go to. As I walked back home from the bus stop, I cursed myself for not managing my affairs more meticulously.  I was nearing home, when I saw a travel agent’s shop and walked into it. We could still make the most of whatever was available.

The hotels were all booked and I told the guy at the shop to look for accommodation in a ‘place less traveled’!

After several attempts he suggested that we drive to a place called Jawhar.

Situated about 150 kms. from where we lived in Mumbai this place, the guy told me, was an underrated tourist destination. I was willing to take any place that would give me decent accommodation and went ahead with the booking.

As I was reached home, one of my friends called me to find out if I knew of any place that would give his family a last minute accommodation! I asked him to disconnect and assured him that I would call within 5 to 10 minutes. I called the travel agent and asked him if I could rent one more room and he obliged!

Sometimes, destiny works against you, so that your life can be more interesting and fun filled!

The next day, both our families set out to explore a place about which we knew close to nothing!

On reaching Jawhar, we gingerly checked into the hotel. After a quick breakfast, we set out to explore the place. What greeted us is still fresh in my memory!

Vibrant, colourful, educative are the words that best describe Jawhar! We saw a long forgotten fort, built by Chattrapathi Shivaji. The fort was strategically built allowing a 360 degree view of the entire place.

Jawhar - A windy wonder!

The whole location was a windy wonder! After spending most of the time in tiny homes, such wide expanse of soil and sky was heaven for Mumbaikars like us.

Swings tied to mango trees, Warli painted walls, green grounds, ever expanding blue firmament and the breath taking view from the windy mountains refreshed our body and soul alike!

Heritage walls - The tribal art work called Warli adorned every wall in Jawhar!

I made the children sit atop the rustic remains of a structure built in memory of the Maharaja of the mountains. The three sat there one with his eyes shut, the other with his ears and my daughter with her mouth closed.

“Gandhiji’s three monkeys” I told them as I clicked away to glory!

It is always fun when there are three monkeys to give you company...

It was a short trip and we returned to Mumbai the next day, richer by the experience.

Today, seven years later, when I narrated this to my children, they listened to every word.

“I bought a book that taught me the warli art and used it to teach you kids the basic shapes and introduce you to tribal art”, I told my daughter.

“Right” my daughter concurred before she continued.

“And if we ever visited Jawhar again, I will make you sit with your eyes, mouth and ears closed. You are very innocent and I don’t want you to see the evil deeds, hear the evil words or speak evil words, Amma” she concluded.

From timetables and Math tables, I now face time turned tables! I relished being on the other side of the table and gradually I am enjoying being on this side too!