Guru-ji did indeed arrive last night, and his energy is FULL ON. We had already gotten the impression that he was a bit strict, but he was like a bulldozer ripping through the ashram pointing out things needing repair; problems, and tasks he wants completed asap. He kind of put us on edge when we first met him, as he has a very direct and demanding energy but hey, at least we know he’s going into silence from 10am tomorrow, for 3 months, and we’ll not have to worry about him after tomorrow.
Also, there’s finally an intruder in “our” ashram. She’s about our age, Russian but lives in Germany as a violinist… and she’s hating on the cold more than Verity did – I didn’t think this was possible 😂 The one benefit is, it’s shown Verity how pointless it is to be miserable about a situation that you can do little about, so it’s given her some needed perspective to pull herself out of her frozen funk… she’s back to laughing at herself (actually, she was laughing at herself the whole time that she was seething about the lack of heaters being offered, and frequent power outages… but now she’s witnessing it in someone else, she’s apologised for being a drama queen… I’m just sitting back with the popcorn laughing at them both).
The Russian met our great guru in Kerala during his recent travels and he invited her to come stay in his ashram, which I’m pretty sure he was regretting within a few hours. She was NOT prepared for the cold, but to add to her suffering, she was 100% not ready for ashram life… which Guruji keeps pointing out to us all, is not a holiday. It’s work, and it’s uncomfortable, and it’s not for everyone.
It’s clearly not for the Russian, as she’s been hiding in her room and only comes out dressed like an Eskimo with her puffer jacket hood tied up so close to her face it looks like she might lose circulation. And she sits at the dinner table (which is the cold marble floor, covered in a thin rug), with a miserable look on her face, begging Guruji to stop with his tasks and activities to spend time with her. She just looks at him with this love-sick puppy look, smiling, hanging on his every word. He invited her to join our daily yoga session, but she walked out after 5 minutes… yoga, evidentially, is also not for her (not sure why you’d come to a yoga ashram then). In satsang, she argues and talks over the gurus when they’re speaking and V and I just look at each other… respect the culture, and the place you’re at sis! Regardless, we just try to do our own thing and “leave her to her misery” as Guruji advises. Ironically, she’s chosen Verity as her partner to vent to about her frustrations, and ask all her questions to. I guess she can tell I’m not having a bar of it.
I finally get my Ayurvedic oil massage today, and it’s so relaxing – especially followed by a steam in some odd contraption that’s built for one with your head sticking out the top. Oil and sweat drip off my body, and the masseuse covers my head with blankets so I’m really cooking… as claustrophobic as it is, it feels so nice in the cold climate here.
belletakesontheworld 