ring ceremony

dressing up for the wedding

at my friend's wedding in Mossorie

self portrait

friends on Holi

the baba life

Mossorie and the Himilayas

feeding the monkey

don't feed the monkeys

Sadhu on yatra pilgramage

Shiva statue in Sivananda Temple

I refrain from taking pictures inside of ashrams and temples since no photos are usually allowed, but there was another Indian taking photos, so I figured it was okay.

huge and plentiful varities of lentils in a shop

"Lentil soup is mental fruit and ginger root is good for you" Dead Prez, vegetarian hip hop group hailing from Brooklyn

mascot in front of Chotiwala Indian Restraunt

colour in Rishikesh w/ Ganga backdrop

Sri Swami Sivanandaji

Vishnu the preserver

self portriat

under the cloak

I don't know the difference btwn a cloak or a hoodie like the hemp black hoodie I wear to stay dry or moist and not wet under the rainy Rishikesh muddy cow dung, blaring Bollywood sound track, dissiel smoke Rickshaw exhaling, begger bowl clattering, bull moving forward, soaked streets. I think a cloak is bigger, but I still like the word cloak and going incognito is a good thing sometimes.

another friend from Switerland

me and my friend Martin from Switerland

ban plastic

Iyengar classes where I am staying.....

think, work, and live...

inside a shop in India

Swami Muktananda

He has been a Swami for 26 years at the Divine Life Society and Sivananda's ashram in Rishikesh. He left a million dollar company in Canada to become a Swami. He is fluent in Spanish, French, and English. After my dosa and idli breakfast I go to his morning satsangs on most days.

at the Welcome center

My friend hailing from Grass Valley, CA over a game of chess.

on the banks of the Ganga

Nadhi the bull, Shiva's stead
Lingam and Yoni
Shiva and Paravati

outside Madras Cafe after dark

some of the guests at the wedding

on the dance floor

Indian Wedding

I went to an Indian wedding which was quite special since in India the wedding is the biggest event and costliest for the culture here. There was amazingly good Indian vegetarain food served buffet style, some of the guests feed me with their spoon and vice versa as part of the tradition. When you are done eating you throw the plate on the floor. There was much excitment everywhere, hundreds of Indians, and I was the only non-Indian Western so lots of people of all ages were coming up to me asking me what is your good name sir and where are you from, and are you enjoying yourself, come to the dance floor. The dance floor was like an on site Bollywood movie, loud music and dancing, I danced some and there was plenty of photo taking w/ the bride and groom. Groom on left, bride is in red on right. It was a fun evening and luckily I befriended a shopkeeper after making a purchase for a special someone in CO and talked w/ him over some chai when he invited me. I arrived home very late and luckily a worker outside let me in, so I didn't have to sleep outside by the Ganga w/ the Babas.

Time in India

Last night after getting my head shaved I ran into my friend staying at Om Karananda from Switerland. He also had his head shaved and similar experience from another barber and is taking Iyengar classes w/ me where we stay. We ordered some Indian sweets after using the internet at the Cyber Cafe, and were heading back. There is a 9:30pm curfew where we stay, so they lock the doors and you get locked out. Actually the man who runs it locks the door and goes to sleep, so you have to knock loud, wake him up as he says "Sir it is very late, you need to make curfew". There is no reason to be out late anyway here because Rishikesh shuts down at night unless you want to mingle and smoke hashish w/ the Babas. So we are walking toward the supsension bridge, but leisurelly. I look at my watch and it says 9:25, oh no we say and start running past the cows and beggars and shop keepers smiling and nodding their head side to side meaning yes, no, or maybe all the while. I ask my friend what time he has and he says 9:15. That is curious, so we ask an Indian walking with his son and he says is 9:10. It can't be, so we stop and ask someone else and he says it is 9pm. We both nearly fall down laughing at the craziness and take our time going back making the curfew barley as the night worker laughs as we walk in right at 9:30, such is time in Indian where patience is learned and the shop could open btwn 8 and 10am, or maybe 11am. The train could arrive early or two hours late, and you just have to sip a lassi or chai and go w/ the flow or go completly mad, just make sure to make curfew so you don't have to wake up the night worker.

the biggest bull I've ever seen eating news flyer

another shot, serious looking

clean again

So I had my head shaved and it was quite an experience. The barber to my left shaved it. He said it would be 35 ruppess less than one Ameirican Dollar for the face and head shave. He did an amazing job. The barber in Kerela just took a razor blade and went for it, no wetting the hair or anything and was a painful experience. This was quite different. He gave me a head massage used spray bottle of water, different lathers and oils, and afterwards he gave me a body massage shoulders, back, arms, neck and so forth of the course of an hour. It was quite an experience. After he shaved my head with two razors I said maybe keep the beard, and he said no French look, clean look is good look for you. I asked him how much and he said as you like, this is typical in India. I paid him 90 ruppees, 2 American and had some photos taken. I liked this one because it captures the outer crazyness of India that is okay here, but elsewhere might be percieved as weird.

International Yoga Festival opening

I was in the right place at the right time. I thought I missed the 21st International Yoga Fest advertised first week in Feb., I arrived here the second week in Feb. I attened the opening of the I.Y.F. featuring an eclectic array of political, spirtiual, and other names. Unfortunately the I.Y.F. is already full, so I can't take any of the classes, but still can gleam from other activities offered.
One of my hereos whose correspondence course I considered taking and whose books I read and admire... Dr. Frawley was there, along with Gurmukh and her husband who I spoke to for the third time in a few months i.e. YJ confrence, and Kripalu, a Swami aged 101, Sanskrit scholars, high level Iyengar teachers, suits, tarbons, saffron robes, and one presenter had a 3 by 5 card over his mouth, I thought he took a vow of silence, but he gave a 3 minute blessing. The young Shiva monks performed an asana demo where they put feet behind there heads, and did other jaw dropping poses that would make Jois's 3rd and 4th Series practioners proud. The highlight was chanting together, waving fire lamps, although a mosquitoe flew into mine, and the flames were coming close to my head, and putting the lamps into the Ganga. Listening to the keynote speakers such as Frawley was amazing. Frawley is the author of 30 books on Ayurveda, Veda, Jyotish and so forth, and is probably one of the leading people to bring these ancient arts to the West. He was very tall, married to an Indian wife, and speaks excellent Hindi. He runs a school in N.M.
http://www.vedanet.com/Biography.htm
http://www.vedanet.com/index.html