Yogi Bahim Ashram
Trip Start
Jan 09, 2005
1
93
95
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
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Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
I woke up early the next morning and went out for a walk and tried to get my bearings. At this point I still had no idea where in Rishikesh I was and was anxious to find a new place to stay. I started to walk up the road and within 5 minutes found a sign that said Yoga Ashram. I figured this was as good a place as any to check out. The problem was the gates to the entrance were locked and there was no one around. I called out and didn’t receive any response so I decided I would come back later. Just as I was leaving the property I heard someone call out to me from inside the home. The man came out and invited me in for a chai.
As we sat in his home I immediately felt welcomed and like an old friend of this jolly man (who reminds me of an Indian Santa complete with the beard, round belly and joyful laugh). He gave me his best room which gets the most sun and even has a toilet paper holder in the bathroom. And the rest is as they say, history.
The first two weeks stay here I was joined by two women from Japan. Their yoga teacher in Japan highly recommended Swami’Gi (affectionate name for our yoga master, Bahim Yogi) and his teachings of the Pranayama- breathing techniques to get you in touch with your Prana (energy). They were very excited to be here and are so passionate about Swami’Gi’s teachings that they have already booked another trip to visit him at this other ashram up in Gangotri (where the Ganges River starts) this June.
We began every morning with a large cup of chai and then started our Pranayama and meditation. Once we finished that we cleared our sinuses with a nettie pot (something that took some getting used to for me). Swami' Gi would then go through about 5 different pranayama techniques to help clear the mind and get you ready for a blissful yoga practice. My new friends and I took turns leading yoga poses until we had breakfast.
After breakfast we had free time until lunch and then did another yoga session in the later afternoon followed by another cup of chai. Before dinner every night we did more Pranayama in the meditation room and Joyti (the nun living in the ashram that helps with the cooking/housecleaning) would teach us how to the play the harmonium (a tiny piano that works like an accordion). During our time playing the harmonium we almost always broke out in song and dance which always brought lots of smiles. After dinner we usually sat around and chatted or watched a program on tv in hindi followed by another cup of chai before going to bed. I really loved getting to know my new friends from Japan and hope to someday visit them.
Essentially that schedule has been my typical day for the past month, even after the women have left. Most days remind me of my time in Nicaragua where there is a lot of sitting around – sometimes talking, sometimes in silence. There were definitely many impromptu massages given and I was happy to share Reiki with everyone. Every other day or so Swami’Gi would go to the market and bring back a bag of fresh veggies and herbs and we would all sit around and shell peas, cut up the herbs and so forth helping to prepare for the next delicious meal. We all shared in helping clean and about once a week we would give the whole ashram a good once over. Every once in a while we would leave the ashram and go for a walk and explore the area. Sometimes Joyti would take us down to the Ganga and we would leave a prayer for the spiritual water. Mostly it’s been a very slow paced existence- one that I hope to continue to lead.
Experiences in Rishikesh:
Rishikesh- The town is cut in half by the great Ganges River with most of the towns people’s homes, the market, many temples, yoga ashrams, and many guest houses on one side and two large footpath bridges (that vespa scooters go on) connecting to the other side. The other side is essentially one long road (about an hour walk from bridge to bridge) with shops selling clothing, food or items for prayer (including plastic bottles for bringing home Ganges water). You tend to see the most non-Indian tourists on the side closest to the Himalayan mountain range, with all the shops and restaurants catering to foreigners. That said, since this is such a spiritual city (no alcohol is sold here), you see just as many Indian tourists on both sides of the river.
I’m not sure if it’s just Rishikesh or all of India, but this town seems to be under constant construction. Swami’Gi told me that when he first bought his ashram (home he shares with guests where they participate in housework and helping prepare food) there was only jungle around him. Now it seems like every day there is some new guesthouse or restaurant being built. I’m sure this is good business for the Indians- they have even started a huge new industry of taking people down the Ganges River river rafting and camping along the way- but it’s sad to see so much of the nature disappearing. The side effect of this is the wildlife is all over the place including many beautiful birds and TONS of monkeys.
After being here a month I feel like this place is a home away from home- I love how clean the Ganges river is, how gorgeous and sunny the weather can be here (as opposed to other places that are so foggy you can barely see the car in front of you), and how nice everyone is. I feel very safe here and other than the babas (the roaming priests decked out in orange) asking for donations, there are no beggars like in the bigger cities.
Ganges/Ganga- Since we are closer to the start of the river (it starts up in Gangotri from a huge iceberg) it’s still a beautiful turquoise color and relatively clean. People come from all over India to pay homage to this spiritual body of water and take some of it home with them in jugs. There aren’t as many people bathing in it as in Varanasi which is nice because that means there isn’t as much soap and litter. There are certain areas, like down by the market, where women and children sell beautiful boats made of leaves filled with fresh flowers, a small candle and incense that you can buy for 5 rupees and send down the river with a prayer. I’ve done this serveral times now and every time feels very special.
I’ve seen children on the bridges sell little bags of dried up chapatti balls for people to throw down to the huge fish swimming around below. There are also many babas that sit on the banks while their clothes dry on rocks and either pray, meditate or take a nap on the big boulders. As I mentioned before, there are about 5 or 6 river raft boats a day traverse the fast rapids. Besides rafting boats there are a two spots to catch a ferry across if you don’t feel like walking and it’s always fun to see the driver showing off going around in circles making big waves.
Puja/Ceremony- It’s been pretty fascinating living with a nun and a priest. I’ve been invited to all kinds of ceremonies that I’m sure I wouldn’t have if I weren’t with them. While the Japanese women were here Swami’Gi had a priest come and bless us in an hour long ceremony where we sat around a fire and threw in a special mix of rice, different flowers and a coconut. We tried our best to copy the prayers that the priest said in Hindi and follow along with all the various rituals. We were all given a special bracelet that we must wear until it falls off and the customary dot on the forehead (this time rice was also put on the dot). It was pretty special and I look forward to participating in another bigger one in February for the God Shiva.
Apparently at 5:30pm there is a regular puja where aspiring priests stand on tables on the ghats and perform an hour long ceremony with peacock feathers, candles, flowers and fans. Joyti and I were invited to join in once and we started off the ceremony at the river edge and threw in fresh flowers, touched the water, threw in rice and then little white balls and turned in a circle three times- it was completed with the customary dot to the forehead. We spent the rest of the ceremony helping out by lighting candles and passing items the priests needed to perform the ceremony. I will say it felt a little weird to be a part of something that foreigners were all photographing but I was more than happy to be included.
Joyti and I were invited to a smaller puja on another evening where once again we threw in fresh flowers and the little white balls and touched the Ganges water (every time I am asked to drink the water three times and I just let it fall back down and pretend I drank it). This ceremony was incredibly special to me as someone dear to me is ill and I was able to send out a special prayer for her.
Market- The market is cut in half by the main road with all the vegetables and fresh food in stalls on one side and the shops selling saris, items to use with worship and wholesale items on the other side. I love going down to the market for nothing else than to just take it all in. As in other countries, it amazes me that there can be so many stalls selling the exact same thing all right next to each other. There is a cacophony of people sitting cross legged on tables calling out all their items for sale. When we went to look at saris it was fascinating to see all the Indian women having the owners pull ream after ream of beautiful fabric for them to decide to have made into a sari. And of course there are the men pushing carts of food, fresh veggies, toys, even ice cream to be scooped out into sundae cups up and down the aisles.
Election time- It turns out that this state is having elections (apparently it’s not a country-wide thing but by State). This means posters plastering every wall, flags adorning all the shops representing their favorite candidate, and of course, my favorite, cars decked out in flags and the candidate’s gear driving up and down the main road (which we live on) blaring Indian songs and a message from the specific candidate. Interestingly, I have yet to see one ad on TV – it all seems to be local style.
Indian wedding- One night Swami’Gi’ said after meditation we were going on a trip. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing so I brought the essentials- purified water and my camera. It turns out we were going to an upper class wedding and it was phenomenal! The groom started in a procession over a mile away from the reception area with a huge band in an ornately decorated carriage being pulled by a white horse. There was also a huge group of men that danced along and set off firecrackers. It was quite the entrance. The ladies in waiting along with the bride were all back at the reception area all beautifully dressed in saris.
In the meantime, we guests were served by wait staff with hors’derv after hors’derv as we sat in a huge reception area that was extravagantly decorated. There was an area dedicated to dancing that could put some clubs to shame, a stage for the groom to sit up on once he arrived, tons of tables for the guests as well as beautifully decorated benches for people to sit in front of the groom’s stage, an entire wall area filled with different stalls passing out amazing small platters of food, and then my favorite, an entire auditorium size area filled with tables for the most extravagant buffet meal I have ever seen in my life. Needless to say, I had the most amazing Indian food I’ve ever had and it was non-stop. mmmmm
Eventually the procession made it to the entrance and the groom got down from his carriage and met up with his best men and all went over to the women. The band then played more songs and people started throwing money at the groom (who was decked out in a turban and a HUGE necklace made of large bills). All the ladies were given garland necklaces made of flowers and I guess because I was a foreigner they gave me one too. There was a huge entrance into the reception area and the groom made his way up to the stage.
I have to say I was very surprised that up to this point only teenage boys were dancing on the dance floor. I’m not sure if the women planned on joining in later in the night or not but I was sad to not dance at my first Indian wedding. I was also surprised to see that once the bride and groom arrived many of the guests left. It’s almost as if they came to eat and waited around for the bride and groom to show up so they could go home. Swami’Gi’ said that usually only close family stay until the very end…Needless to say I was more than overjoyed to have participated in such a beautiful wedding.
