ashram whites and accommodating guests

Font: Microsoft Himalaya

Two discoveries: my ashram “whites” are no match for an Indian kitchen. In a flash they will be splattered with palak (spinach) paste or smeared with a rich coloured masala (curry paste) so look out! Ashram whites temporarily folded and stored, traded in for vibrant reds and oranges and greens for the time being.
My teacher is not even AT the ashram right now, which is about a four minute walk up the hill from here. He is in Canada. So i practice my yoga on the roof or in our room once the sun has come out and warmed the air enough to make it enjoyable. The roof which is our “patio” out the front door of our room looks out over the Ganga, as you can see from the pictures i posted. Laxman Jhula, the neighbourhood in Rishikesh where we live is a hot spot for yoga and meditation.
I am not sure I would even BE getting up at 5am to go to the ashram for 6am yoga class even if my teacher WAS here. But it is good that he isn’t, because now i don’t even have to think about it. It amazes me that there was a time when I awoke at 3 or 4 every morning, WITHOUT an alarm clock, BOUNDING out of bed to go through several cleansing kriyas, oil my body, shower, change, write and meditated before class started at 6am. It seems I’ve traded that in for lounging in bed until around 8 or 9 then clicking on my computer or the hot water and then stumbling downstairs for chai and a late breakfast around 10. Doing some washing up and then MAYBE stumbling back upstairs for a little mid- morning yoga before lunch.

Oh, hmm, ok, the second discovery of today is this: There is one very interesting and beautiful feature of the typical Indian household (based on my experience) and I apologize but the sociologist in me just can’t help but noticing....
In an Indian household, this is how it works: if there is a visitor or a newcomer to the family, or a guest, be it for one hour or one year, EVERYTHING will be offered to and shared with that guest that the family is able to provide, even if it means that the other members of the family have to go without or with less or have to bear some small discomfort as a result. For example: bedding. As i have said, we are a family of 8, including me. In our room we have exactly 2 single mattresses and 3 blankets. (I, admittedly, have been sleeping on one of the blankets double folded up underneath me for extra comfort). A couple days ago, a friend of Nakul’s brother came to visit, Raoul, from Delhi. This is the lovely friend who brought my bag with him when he came. Bless his soul. So Nakul and I had to give up one of our blankets for Raoul to use. Now, Raoul is sleeping on a double bed right now, made up of two foamies, if one more guest were to arrive, Raoul would then shift to sleep on one of the foamies, giving the other up to the new arrival, and a blanket would be procured from SOMEWHERE for the newcomer, from a friend of neighbour, or more likely from Nakul’s cousin’s family who all live next door to us (that is who came with us on the picnic yesterday) or one dug out of storage perhaps. But not, under ANY circumstances, would someone wanting to stay here be told we don’t have enough room, or blankets, or bedding, as we so often do in the west, especially if we didn’t care much for that relative or person wanting to stay with us, we would use some excuse, like we don’t have room. Never in India i think, or rarely.
Another example: food. I have argued and argued with Nakul to let me give SOME money for the beautiful food that i am eating every day and the gorgeous room they are letting me stay in, but no, absolutely not, no way. So, say if the family has an extra mouth or two, to accommodate the little extra cost of that extra food, we might cook a little less fancy food. What i mean is...EVERYONE would eat a little less fancy and share what we have, to accommodate however many people came. So this is just what i am learning and discovery subtly, over time. Because I don’t yet totally know WHICH are the luxury food items and which are the staples. Well, I DO know what are the staples. Rice and dahl are the staples. Chapati and vegetables are the next level up (which we always have lots of). Then after that i don’t know. I know that paneer, Indian cheese, is a bit of a special treat that we only have once in a while or if we have company. Chicken, also, on special occasions, like when it is someone’s birthday, they can request a special meal be made of what THEY like. Things like that. But we have all sorts of luxuries, cookies with our chai, Indian pickles, kheer (indian rice pudding) and so on. So, i guess what i am saying is that...no one is ever turned away or looked at as an imposition or a drain on the resources of the household. Everything, whatever is had, is shared. Even if it means that the level of what the existing members are getting lowers after the arrival of the guest. Guest is king.