Igatpuri- Vipassana Meditation Centre

This is the meditation hall where I spent a good 9 hours a day practising anapana meditation to still and focus the mind (this involves focusing on the area around the nose, noticing the sensations on the surface of the skin. We did this for 4 days until our mind had become very aware, focused and atuned) and vipassana meditation in which we focused on the sensations on the entire body, starting from the top of the head and moving down the body. After 2 days of this I felt waves of vibrations all over the body. At this point we were taught to move our awareness in a sweeping motion from top to bottom and bottom to top of the body. At times my whole body shook (some people are said to actually jump on the spot and shake violently), I had strong fevers while meditating and sometimes strong emotional reactions. I likened it to a mind detoxification.
Some amusing side effects were songs that stuck in my head, to which I knew all the lyrics including Spandau Ballet, who I've never actively listened to in my life. I also had a day when I got ideas and images for a novel which I really do plan to write (a historical sci-fi, a cross between Margaret Atwood's 'A Handmaid's Tale' and Harry Potter?!).
Not talking for 9 days was a pleasure, I didn't find it hard at all. In fact, having to talk on day 10 was one of the most traumatic events of my life. Also I didn't have any cravings for any missing foods, drinks, fags etc. By day 6 I had halved my appetite and was only needing about 3 hours sleep a night (quite common in regular meditators apparently).
My compassion rates soared: on day one I was close to killing all the women in the room who 'disturbed' my meditation by coughing. On day 7 or 8, when one of the loudest started spluttering I thought, 'That poor woman sounds really sick'.
I would recommend one of these 10 day courses to anyone interested in the way their mind works, the relationship between mind and body (mind and matter), anyone who has difficulty living with their thoughts or who suffers from stress, depression... I haven't changed in some dramatic way into the calm, happy, tolerant and non-irritable person I would like to be, but I do feel somewhat more at ease with the thoughts and feelings that sometimes bother me. I think I'm beginning to allow those thoughts to go on in the background and to realise that they are not really 'me'.
This is the gong that summoned us to the hall at 4am and at intermitent periods throughout the day until 9pm.









This is my cushion- I sat on it for many hours and experienced quite a lot of pain on it. One day my mind convinced intself that my thigh would actually break if I didn't move (we had to sit entirely still for 1 hour, 3 times a day which was a challenge. I managed it 4 only times).

This is R block, where my little bedroom was. Very comfortable it was too- with hot buckets baths available every morning.

The view from the path that I spent my free time looking at:

Mumbai February 2009

I had an interesting time in Mumbai walking around and taking taxis, being accosted by eunuchs and chatted up by Bollywood wannabes. One particular day stands out: I hired a driver who took me round some of the sights of the city which I probably wouldn't have known about or found on foot. Paul (my guide and excellent driver) was very professional and knowledgeable and I'd highly recommend him for an air conditioned tour of this fascinating city (You can find him and his mate GA Kundar hanging out in the morning near the Gateway to India- Gateway Travels mobile 9821005838/ 9867472989).
Some Mumbai signs:

Don't forget your stetson if they do a bad job!

The Gateway of India.

The Taj Hotel where I snuck in for a beer (which was all I could afford on the weak pound).

Some Mumbai residences in an old Goan quarter. It looks pretty peaceful down this back alley but up the road is one of the busiest and noisiest streets I've ever had the misfortune of being lost on.

A lovely example of Catholicism with Indian characteristics at Saint Theresa's church.

Lots of art deco buildings along the Marine Drive where I had a really nice walk in spite of the smog.

One of my favourite places in Mumbai- Mahalaxhmi Dhobi Ghat, a small village next to the railway tracks where the laundry from much of Mumbai is washed, dried and ironed in huge quantities every day.

Loser!!

No blog about travelling in India would be complete without a little section on Delhi Belly. It is with great regret that I must admit to losing the bet I made before leaving UK last year that I wouldn't fall victim to a bout of Montezuma's Revenge. 6 months of eating ice-creams in dodgy restaurants, brushing my teeth in the tap water and asking for ice in my drinks had no effect on my iron constitution. However 2 samosas on a train station platform somewhere between Mumbai and Bangalore was all it took to make it all go hideously and explosively awry! I have now been ill for nearly 2 weeks and things only seem to be getting worse. I have lost weight, can't eat anything but plain rice and feel sick quite a lot. I'm waiting for the results of tests at the mo- will it be salmonella or an amoeba or...???! Gladly my doc has ruled out Hep A and Typhoid! Yippee.

Homeward Bound

As many people know, I have had to come back to dear old Blighty for a while as my poor Pops had a minor heart attack on the 23rd of Feb. I was in a small, one horse town on the border of three states in southern India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala) when I heard the news. Luckily I was with a family friend at the time who was ace and helped me buy plane tickets, get cars and even accompanied me the 6 hours to Bangalore airport. It wasn't all hell on a stick either- I got upgraded to business class for my BA flight back to London and took full advantage of the free Pouilly-Fume (don't you know) to calm my nerves and wipe out all the good I did on the meditation course. Anyway, Pater is back home, up to his usual tricks involving red wine and being a grumpy old man and we're not too worried about him anymore. After 18 years of wasting my driver's licence and claiming to be the most rubbish driver on the planet, I've been chauffering dad around (he can't drive for a month) and haven't knocked down any buildings yet.
I'm sure everyone is dying to see my photos of my last couple of weeks in India (!!?) but I'm afraid you'll just have to find something else to occupy yourselves with for the time being. My dad's computer is virtually a fossil and if I even attempt to upload photos onto it, it will no doubt freeze for eternity and put me in a very bad mood. Watch this space though 'cos a new computer in on the horizon...