Shiva Shiva Shiva Shambo...

The first real group celebration we had in India was Olivia's 19th birthday, which took place on the train to Delhi. We were living high in the AC Class for that train ride, compared to the non-AC we normally take. We surprised Olivia with an Indian favorite of chocolate balls made by a nice man named Papu from Varanasi, and shared the extra with the Indian residence in our compartment.
We arrived in Delhi to eat at the poshest restaurant we've been to so far, probably for the duration of the trip, except it wasn't Indian food, it was Chinese. But great Chinese food.
Back to the train we went after the meal to reach our next and more permanent destination for the next week: Rishikesh. The train took us to Hardiwar where, because the taxis and rickshaws were on strike, we struggled to find a cheap ride to Rishikesh. The next few days we had free to roam around the immaculate holy city--compared to Varanasi, very, very clean--walking through the popular street market, buying local fruit, strolling through the ashrams that were near, gawking at monkeys and miniature cows, and taking refreshing dips in the Ganga. The Ganga in Rishikesh is worlds cleaner than the downstream Ganga in Varanasi.
The high point of Rishikesh was the nightly pujas' the town had for locals and traveler's alike. Seated on ghats in front of a giant statue of Shiva, hundreds of people gather for the nightly worship wearing their traditional bangles, bindis, and being barefoot. It was a educational and spiritual experience to witness the Hindu worship surrounded by natives and the holy Ganga.
We had a few mishaps in Rishikesh--Maggie, reading alone our group-room, was startled to look up from her book and see two monkeys rifling through our garbage and eating Chelsea's cookies! Wisely, Maggie didn't do anything rash, and huddled in the corner behind her book. The monkeys' left the way they came--through our front door. Second mishap, Olivia went to puja the next night and, feeling so comfortable and at home in this welcoming city, was unaware that her shoes were stolen during prayer. Ironic! No worries, she found it amusing and had a nice walk home the way many Indians do--barefoot.
The most adrenaline-pumping activity we've had in India we did in Rishikesh: rafting the mighty Ganga. The rapids we much more intense then we expected, but luckily we didn't flip. Apparently we work well as a group--fancy that! But we had the chance to body surf through the minor rapids, and near the end of the ride we cliff jumped into the Ganga. They say that drinking Ganga pani (Ganga water) is the holiest of holy acts you can do to cleanse and absolve your sins, then we are all saints. Plenty of bathing and Ganga drinking went on that day. :)

From Rishikesh we went about 30minutes to the Phool Chatti Ashram for a 6 day, yoga-intensive/meditative retreat. We had a fairly strict schedule, but we all took the time we needed to decompress in this beautiful valley in the Himalayas. The ashram hugged the banks of the Ganga, and, constructed like a small compound, the ashram roofs offered a great place to relax and just think. We would wake up at 5:30am to meditate, chant, netti cleanse our noses, Ayurvedic breathing, and do 90minutes of yoga, all before breakfast. The meals were simple and so delicious. Just basic chapati, dhal, rice, chutney, and vegetables--this makes up what they call a Thali. We had mid-morning walks with and without the group to explore the Ganga beaches, the jungle around us and the villages near by. This was by far everyone's favorite part of the day. The nature around us was so vast and deep, it was like being a child again and feeling the wonder of new discoveries.
Ashram life grew on all of us, waking early, living simply, eating silently and feeling at home. Laleeta ji, our yoga and course intsructor, told many stories of Gurus and holy men. She tipped on how to tell true holy men and untrue holy men apart, something we were all wondering about. The swamis who are the head honchos of the ashram are like bishops in the Catholic church. We couldn't interact much with them, but when they were near us we could feel their wisdom radiating from their eyes. Except when Chelsea saw one ride away on a motorbike, his beard blowing in the wind. Who knew! Every night we would partake in the ashram puja and then chant around their fire pit, which seemed to be a, for the most part, ritualistically relaxing for the mind. We sang the song Shiva Shiva Shiva Shambo, Hare Krishna Hare Rama, Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram, and Om Ganga Mai Ganga. Repetitive but beautiful, because this is the ashram life: simple, ritualistic, and pure.

We're now in Chandigarh for a few days to learn about Sikhism and visit the famed Nek Chand Fantasy Rock Garden. It was constructed by one man out of an array of recycled items, making sculptures, fountains and other structures of art. We go to Amritsar in a couple of days and, speaking for the group, the Golden Temple has been something we've been looking forward to.

Shanti aur prem,
Olivia & Chelsea