Rishikesh; May 17

Photo: Room with a view... Ganga Ma from my balcony at Sant Seva Ashram

in Laxman Jhula...

After our final night in Haridwar we met on the roof of the City Heart Hotel for breakfast. Sunny morning and the promise of a hot, humid day. We took final photos of the view over Ganges. Raja met us for breakfast (bread, some fried things like donuts, and lots of fresh fruit).
I arranged a taxi to Rishikesh (about 700 Rupees) and the others waited for their taxi to Delhi. Raja was headed right back into the mountains after dropping our crew off in Delhi and meeting an incoming group of Irish climbers. We felt a bit sorry for him… he seemed very tired and a bit down… Dr. B. was going to stay in Delhi for a few days, after finding out that he couldn’t get an earlier flight to the US without paying some exorbitant change fees. I had invited him to try the ashram but he was completely cold to that idea… so off to Delhi he went.
I was happy to get my stuff into the taxi and set out on a solo adventure to Rishikesh. That was a welcome change to the close proximity of the prior four weeks… the ride is about ½ hour. When we got to the taxi stand on the West side of the Ganges at Laxman Jhula I found a porter to carry my heavy duffel bag across the footbridge to Sant Seva Ashram, for about 200 rupees.
I checked into the ashram and got settled. Chose a non-A/C room, but one with a balcony on the Ganges. The cost is about 400 rupees per day and this excludes meals and yoga. Sant Seva is very much like a hotel with yoga classes. There is a restaurant overlooking the river. I had not realized that there was a 100/class charge for the yoga. So, this is a relatively expensive ashram in that sense. It felt much more like a hostel/hotel. There was an STD p[hone and internet available at the office.
Went to intermediate yoga class at 4PM. There were only 4 others at this class. Here’s what it was like… I dropped my mat and stretched out a bit… only one other person, a young woman named Marjolaine (schoolteacher from France) was there. I asked if she’d been to class there before and found out that she too had just arrived that day. The instructor walked in and without a word rolled out a mat and started the class. He spoke English in a soft voice with a very heavy accent… he announced a pose, told us to ‘observe as I demonstrate the pose’, and then, ‘now you take the pose’. He also told us in a monotone, mechanical voice the benefits of the pose. He was very good at the poses and obviously had a rigorous formal training. The asana was gentle and we held poses for several breaths. The entire 90 minute class was about a dozen poses, with a lengthy Savasana at the end. No pranayama - just Ujayi breathing during asana. We did chant OM numerous times in closing. It was a quiet experience. I enjoyed it. I would later see the instructor hanging around the office/TV at the ashram and eventually we’d have a light conversations.
The ashram was pretty vacant. I saw only a few other people there… including the two women who had been there the day before.
After yoga I showered and walked over to the German bakery across the footbridge. This is a Western café scene… the first concentration of non-indians I had seen since the trek to Seema. I could overhear all kinds of inane banter… It was a bit jarring and I did not hang around any longer than it took to get some light dinner (and some bread/peanut butter for the next morning’s breakfast).

I enjoyed meditation on the balcony that night, listening to Kirtan chanting from both the temple next door as well as one across the river. This continued until about 10PM. I slept several hours.