Below is a (broken down) panorama taken from the main living quarters of our flat.

We wake in the morning to a massive bird symphony from the park next door.

Here, below is the view of the Institute from my bedroom window.
And a (broken down) panorama from my bedroom window:

A closeup view of a park in the distance from my bedroom window.

Below is a typical sight – areas where sidewalk or road construction is going on. There is no “safety first” motto here. These bricks are stacked up in the middle of the sidewalk, there is a ditch in the street, and pedestrians are expected to walk in the street (remember the crazy drivers…).

We’ve walked by this man every day. He’s set up on a busy intersection, shining shoes. Of course, pedestrians have to go around him and walk in the street to pass by… But not just around him, but around the rickshaws and motorcycles too.

Here’s a pretty busy street that intersects about a half a block from where we’re staying.

I’ve seen a few of these corn carts set up. On the back side, he’s got a big steaming hot pot of kerneled corn.

Pune Central – it’s a six-floor version of a Target or Walmart. To get to the grocery section, you have to take an elevator to the 5th floor.

Pune Central is a half block away (the corn guy was set up in front of the building), so now we don’t have to take a rickshaw to buy groceries!

Kathleen and I took a walk yesterday through the park. There are these signs. I’ll let you figure them out …

This is a Ficus benghalensis, the Indian Banyan, a large and extensive growing tree of the Indian subcontinent that produces propagating roots which grow downwards as aerial roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they grow into woody trunks that can become indistinguishable from the main trunk. You probably think I’m really smart now, right?

Today is 9:30am Asana with Geetaji, then 4-5:45pm personal practice time in the asana room.

We checked out of the Hotel Chetak yesterday & into the ninth floor at the Anugraha. We have a great view of the city, the park, and most importantly, the Institute. My room directly overlooks the asana building. View pictures will be on my next post.

The OBYoga water bottle was here. We’ll probably go back to the Chetak for chai and “toast butter jam”.

After checkin, we went (for the 3rd time) to the Ambience Hotel for a combination lunch/dinner.

Here’s Sharon, Kathleen (you probably don’t recognize her without her rhino face mask) and me at the Ambience.

View from the driver’s seat…

A fine machine, indeed. The pollution here is so bad that, especially when you’re in a rickshaw amidst the heaviest of traffic, you need to pull something up over your face. Even then, and after doubling the scarf, the pollution is overpowering.

We got “taken” for a ride yesterday… Kathleen and I flagged down a driver and asked to be taken to “Good Luck Choke.” A “choke” is an Indian version of a round-about intersection. When we got in, there was already an Indian girl in the back seat (there’s barely enough room for 3), so we squeezed in. He told us “30 rupees.” Ok, even though 2 days ago it only cost 22 rupees … This rickshaw driver was the worst (or best?) driver so far. He was really good at maneuvering through traffic (that’s good), but insane about it (that’s bad). I have no idea how we made it to our destination without hitting someone or something – riding in a rickshaw is most comparable to riding a bumper car, only there’s no bumping (I hope). He took this other person to her destination first, which was way far out of the way, then dropped us off at some busy intersection, pointed and said “Good Luck Choke that way.” AND he said “60 rupees.” NO way (even though 1 rupee is only .017 to one US dollar). We ended up paying him 40 and then ended up walking four blocks to get to our destination.

More motorcycles. They’re everywhere.

Merchants here seem to specialize in only one item. So if you need to purchase several items, you need to go to several different shops which are all about the size of my walk-in closet, with stuff packed inside. None of the merchandise is marked for price, so they randomly charge whatever they want.

Strictly flip flops.

Shirts only. You need pants? You have to go down the street.

Get your belts here.

Accessorize with a purse or wallet.

Watches.

Need groceries? I’ll save that one for a future blog.

Day 2 yoga itinerary for today… Personal practice time from 9-noon, and then Pranayama with Geetaji at 6pm.

The wifi at our hotel, once again, proved to be unreliable this morning. I spent an hour putting together my blog for the day, and the wifi wasn’t working. Now that it’s working, I find that my blog post draft has disappeared so now I have to recreate it. I’m telling myself to let it go, and satisfying that “letting it go” with a brief description of following photos.

Indian police vehicle (2 police passenger)

Hotel where we are staying now, but tonight will be our last night here.

This is Kathleen (my new bestie from Milwaukee…) sporting the wrap-around-the-ears face mask needed at certain times, like when there’s a lot of traffic (always) or walking past something really icky smelling (almost always).

The following are pictures of the exterior of RIYMI (Ramamani Iyengar Yoga Memorial Institute). Cameras aren’t allowed inside, and (after I took these exterior pictures) I learned photos aren’t allowed on the premises …

These are carvings of Guruji on the exterior of the building.

Random chicken cruising down the sidewalk.
A lot of people ride motorcycles here. It’s common to see 2, 3 and sometimes 4 people on one motorcycle (dad, mom, small child, baby), usually with no helmets.

Just down the street from the Institute, there’s a beautiful park that is very well maintained with locking gates for when the park is closed, so it stays clean.This bamboo is huge.

We saw Guruji and Geetaji today for the first time, and Guruji was practicing in the room with us during our practice time – long supported backbends, just like the pictures (over the horse, in the ropes, over the bench …), and giving directions to his regular student/teachers while he was practicing. He is truly amazing at 95!!

We have practice again today at 4pm, then tomorrow begin attending classes. I presented a note for Geetaji about my shoulder surgery, so I have yet to learn whether I’ll be attending regular classes or medical classes (or both). But practice is going well and I feel I’ve gained a little more mobility.

Ommmmm

… Indians take their shoes off before they enter their houses. The streets here are absolutely filthy. You don’t even wanna know …

We ventured out three times on foot yesterday to run errands. The above picture captures a typical Pune street. Cars don’t stop for anything (I think I mentioned that yesterday). About a half a block farther, I watched a momma pig & her 2 babies cross this street. I would have taken a picture, but it would have required me to reach in my backpack, taking my eyes off the spectacle. After that I kept my phone in my hand so I wouldn’t miss any more photo opportunities.

This is smelly.

We move to the 9th floor of this apartment complex that’s right next door to the Institute Thursday, the day we begin classes at the Institute. Where we’re staying now is about 1/4 mile away.

The OBYoga water bottle was here… We went to the Institute to register, and were given permission to attend practice sessions. We begin this morning at 9am. I’ll get more pictures of the Institute later.

Indian version of the short bus. Notice the ah hem “puddle” … You wanna avoid that.

Yes, indeed. True fact. This about sums it up for me.

We arrived in Mumbai yesterday around noon. Immediately upon disembarking, there was a very strong odor of humid rain & pollution. We went through customs, located our driver and were on our way.

Let’s just say the words “culture shock” don’t adequately describe what I felt driving through Mumbai. I took a lot of pictures, but after looking at them, they don’t do justice to what I saw. What the pictures don’t show is the stench, filth & poverty is non-stop for miles.

There are a lot of old apartment buildings that are a wreck, a lot of buildings that look like they’re under a perpetual state of construction, a lot of shacks people live in and/or work out of, a lot of trash heaps – big ones right on the road – and people walking everywhere.

After we began to ascend up into the hills it became green and lush with lots of waterfalls. It’s a cross between Tijuana and Hawaii. Seriously.

Then there’s the trash heap in paradise …

Considering there aren’t any “rules” to the road, except the occasional sign that says “Please Drive Safe”, our driver was pretty good. I suppose that driving with one hand on the horn & the other on the gear shifter is safe, and since the car we were in was bigger than a lot of the other cars on the road (except the trucks), he was able to honk, go around, squeeze in & cut off other drivers safely and with ease.

I was surprised, amazed and horrified while maneuvering through intersections. Vehicles come to an intersection (a LOT of them) and without stopping or slowing down, proceed to “weave” their way through the intersection.

Where there was a traffic signal, there’d be vehicles squeezed in at the front of the line, and our driver would go around & pull right in front of them. He was very good. Everyone’s honking begins before the light turns green. I suppose that’s to warn cross traffic they would be proceeding the minute the light turns green. Nice tactic. I think I’ll try that when I get back to SD.

If you’re a pedestrian, forget it. I’m not kidding. Vehicles do not stop. If a person begins to walk across the street, the driver will honk & keep going. It’s crazy.

Needless to say, we made it to Pune in one piece. Pune is like Mumbai, but it’s nicer, cooler & doesn’t smell as bad.

There were other adventures, like the rickshaw ride to go shopping to buy Indian clothes so I’d fit in & dress respectfully (& of course I bought some some stuff for Maya – they didn’t have baby boy clothes, but I’ll find something), and the rickshaw ride back in the pouring rain.

Then, last night, while walking (cautiously) to dinner, there was a huge pig with its head buried in a trash bag. When I stopped to take a picture, it lifted its head & grunted. I jumped back, and there was this Indian man watching, laughing & told me it wouldn’t hurt me & then offered to take my picture with it. I declined … but I did manage to get a really bad picture.

I woke up this morning to the sound of a big truck driving down the street honking its horn. Is it really necessary when you’re the only vehicle on the road at 3am?? But it got better when the birds started singing around 4am (it’s like being at the zoo). Right now I’m sitting in the (covered) outdoor lobby with a cup of hot chai & toast listening to all the birds, and it just started pouring rain. Very tropical.

Singapore Airport is beautiful.

Orchid Garden

This huge wall has plants hanging off it, and below is a close up of the detail of the wall.

This is the mall at the airport (at 3:30am, which is why nobody’s here)

Koi Pond, where I’m sitting charging my phone & having a decaf latte.

That’s Sharon trying to figure out how to use her new smart phone.

… In Japanese means “4th Generation.” This group of kids is from the LA area, headed to Tokyo to play basketball. It works as an exchange program. The girls live with a Japanese family for 2 weeks while there, then the next year, the Japanese girls come & stay in the US. I think they’re going to take up most of the seats on the airbus. YONSEI is on all their t-shirts.