Ganesha is an important Hindu deity. He is the patron of the arts and sciences, and the removal of obstacles. (Warning: He sometimes puts the obstacles there himself...) You would recognize him because he has an elephant's head. There is an idol of him in the Quik-E-Mart, and a sticker of him on my front door. Several taxis I've been in had little Ganeshas by the windshield. Ganesha is particularly beloved here in Mumbai, where his birthday is celebrated for ten days. A multitude of Ganesha idols are constructed all over the city. Larger ones are set up in little tent areas where you can come in, pray to him, and make donations.
At the end of the holiday, the statues are plunged into the sea, whereupon it is said that his spirit leaves the statues, to return the following year. The Immersion is a huge event, and this year my officemate Frank and I went to Chowpatty Beach to check it out. Now we had been warned that this scene is ridiculously crowded, and indeed taxi drivers refused to take us there. So, we took a taxi to the Churchgate Train Station area, and walked about a mile and a half along the shore. Huge parades of folks were coming and going.
These are the seaside apartments. Check out the palm trees.
Off to watch the Immersion.
Large trucks housing Ganesha statues often had a crowd of young men chilling on the top of the vehicle, completely unafraid of falling off. They zoomed by too quickly for me to take a picture. By the way, I have yet to be in a vehicle with a functional seatbelt.
I should mention that on that day (Sept. 11th), we were still in monsoon season. Ganesha's birthday was no exception, and most of the time it was pouring down rain as. Nonetheless, when we go to the parade it was mostly dry, and the beach was full of excited people.
Every minute or so a family ran by escorting a little wagon with a little statue to the sea, shouting "Ganapati Bappa Moraya!".
Here is a video of a family about to send off their Ganesha:
But the main event was a big parade with a preponderance of large statues. Each statue seemed to have some kind of theme, and they were usually sponsored by some organization. Here are two videos I took:
Malabarista Ganesha was my favorite.
This went on all day, and had begun a few days before, even. At some point it started pouring down rain. Thousands of umbrellas opened up and it seemed like the entire crowd was "covered". A couple guys sidled next to me and shared my umbrella.
We walked back to the Churchgate area and took a taxi. The streets were filled with music and people dancing in front of more Ganesha statues, even in the rain. It was fun!
Two summers ago, I regularly juggled in the colloquium room of the Physical Sciences building at the University of Oklahoma. It was an air-conditioned room with high ceilings, so I had been using it as my own personal juggling gym, when it was empty. I had a key. One day I was in the middle of an intensive juggling workout, trying to achieve the elusive ७-ball cascade. Unfortunately, even though I had warmed up, I got a sharp little pain in my chest. Right then I decided it was time to start doing yoga, to take better care of my body.
There was a little Ashtanga yoga studio which I had often passed on Campus Corner on my way to a restaurant. The next evening, and pretty much every day for the next few months, I attended one of the classes there. I learned lots of delightful poses, like a baby finding his feet for the first time. Yogaing also added to the company I could enjoy at the nearby Earth Cafe. Eventually, I settled into 6:30am morning classes which were held freestyle; students ran their own program with the advice of the instructor, Jennifer. It was named after the Indian city Mysore, which evidently has yoga classes in this style. I got to know the Mysore crowd pretty well.
Come winter, Jennifer (and Mysore buddy Stacy) had left the States for a few weeks, to tour India and some other Asian countries. Using the internet, Jennifer boasted to me that she was learning to juggle there. This made me remembering all the fun juggling I used to do, and so I started to develop "JYoga". This portmanteau, coined by juggling aficionado K. Joy McKee, refers to the practice of yoga asanas which incorporate juggling. Here are some sample pictures and a sideways video of that, from the States:
Classic JYoga
AcroJYoga
I developed JYoga occasionally during Mysore classes, and eventually taught a workshop and added it to some public shows. It's a lot of fun, obviously, and I think it's a better direction to go with my solo juggling program than just adding more objects. Moreover it's a memento, to never forget my time in Norman.
Anyway I got seriously into yoga in Oklahoma. Of course, my Ashtanga friends were excited for me to go to India, and it was imperative that I continue taking yoga lessons, and that I tell them all about it on this blog. So here we are.
As DAI readers know, I had a false start with a "class" here at TIFR. I didn't go back to that. Instead I asked around, assuming that there had to be some yoga class in Mumbai for me. I was directed to Devika, a grad student whom I met earlier. I caught her during lunch at the canteen, and she told me right away that I should start going the next morning. You see, the next three months of yoga classes started the following morning, and so I needed to catch the 6:30 bus to go to the 7:00 class with her.
I went downtown that evening with my officemate Frank, to get some dinner and an alarm clock. (In the previous post I show a video I took during the taxiride back.)
The yoga class is part of the "Health Club" at a high-rise building called the "Maker Building". Many wealthy people live there. I've been there three times so far. After the bus we walk several blocks, past the "World Trade Center in Mumbai". Then we walk past some guards, into a pleasant room facing a grassy playground. There is a large system of ropes tied to iron rings on the right wall, a cabinet full of blankets and blocks, folding chairs, and a basket of straps.
This turned out darker that I wanted.
Any problem you face can be solved with props.
We show up about ten minutes before the rest of the class, who are mostly folks in their mid-40's and yes it's coeds.
Class starts with this mantra: That's right, to the King of All Nagas; we don't mess around.
The instructor's a big athletic guy who clearly loves his work. He goes into detail about the direction in which our flesh should be moving, and what our bones are doing. He chides us individually if we're not yogaing right, maybe slaps our limbs sometimes or taps them with his toe to show us the way. He has a pet name for me: "Baba" (pronounced like "Bubba"). He'll say for instance, "What are you doing Baba? You should be locking your knees no matter what."
The course is challenge, since I'm not used to keeping my legs so straight, and they hold their daily headstands for several minutes, sometimes with tortuous leg motions. They have an elaborate blanket origami which I don't comprehend, and tie themselves up with straps in particular ways. Today we were to lie backwards on an aluminum folding chair with blankets on the seat, put our legs through to touch the walls with our toes, and slide our arms through the folding chair leg parts in some fashion. That's Iyengar-style.
But it's fun. No matter where I sit, the other students give me tips when I mess up. They speak to each other sometimes in English and sometimes in local dialects which are not Hindi.
(Patience...it is not yet time to show them JYoga.)
That's Intention #7... What would you like to see next?
Well folks I've been here for about a month; let's check on my intentions from the first post:
1. I will never get sick of Indian food.
Well, I am getting sick of the canteen food. It's much the same each time, and I do find myself craving pasta and pizza and stuff like that. Sorry!
2. I will never get (seriously) sick, period.
This is the good news; my digestion seems to have adapted to the spiciness and the oils. I haven't gotten seriously ill. This may be because I built up my immunity by eating out at restaurants often before this. It may be because I take these grapeseed extract pills every day. It may be because I had the basic vaccines before I came. It may be because I was very ill as a child and so am immune to almost everything now. It may be that TIFR is perfectly clean and healthy. Who knows?
3a. I will learn the Hindi alphabet, and some Hindi.
This is coming along slower than I'd like. You may remember that earlier I might have taken some classes. Well, Dipendra later decided that the writing classes for the locals weren't appropriate for me. By the way, although Hindi is an "official language" of India, it's not a language that's particularly embraced by the state of Maharashtra, where I live. So I'm working on the alphabet, but this will take some time. Sorry!
3b. In this regard, I will limit the time that I hang out with expatriates.
I'm not doing so well with this one either. You know, they put us in offices together, and they're very friendly and in the same boat. Interestingly, the people who "look like me" here all speak German. One is Austrian, another German-born but working in England, another German-born but working in France, another German. They all appreciate the shirt from Berlin with the walk signal icons that my friend Jed bought me... Anyway I have made friends with some Indians. Mainly the math ones, since folks in different areas here tend not to mix. Let's say 50/50 for this one. By the way, here is a little video I took from a taxi, while hanging out with my officemate Frank. (The talking in the background is not narration; ignore it.)
4. I will find a local juggling group, if there is one, and try to get something going if there isn't.
Okay so when Volker and his son were here, at some point I volunteered to give the kids a juggling show. Well, that had to be arranged, and there was moving involved, and so my promise of an exhibition has been delayed. But it will happen at some point. After that, the word will get out, et cetera. It's been too rainy to do anything outside. Sorry!
5. I will see about being an extra in a Bollywood movie.
This hasn't happened. Sorry! On a related note, I figured out how my TV works. I have about १५० working channels. It's fun, in the mornings I can watch the "Little Krishna" cartoon, and there is news and movies. I watched a particularly ridiculous movie called "Robot", which featured a robot falling in love with his creator's wife. Lots of dance numbers and special effects. The robot was shockingly violent towards the police, etc. which were chasing him. Even though there weren't subtitles, it wasn't hard to follow, though, because there was enough English thrown in. I mainly stick to the six or seven music channels though. This morning Ludacris had a rap-battle with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar. I'm not sure who won. Also, Snoop Dog does the theme song to absurd action comedy series "Singh is King".
Okay, perhaps I'm coming down with Fregoli syndrome, but the same Bollywood actress seems to be doing as much dancing, singing, romancing, and shampoo-using as all other women combined. Can DAI readers guess who I'm talking about? I mean, she's sure talented and all, but it's weird. Anyway it looks like she's having a fun life.
6. I will be delighted if a monkey steals my groceries.
No monkeys yet, so N/A. There are lots of dogs and cats, and many crows, pigeons, and lizards around my apartment. I found a lizard one day in my bathroom, and it scampered quickly behind the water heater. It stayed there for several days; occasionally it would venture out when I wasn't around. I tried taking some pictures but it was too quick. I did get a video though:
7. I will take some yoga classes.
Yes! This will be the next post.
8. I will get a lot of math done.
This is happening, alright. Check.
9. Things to do: camel ride on Chowpathy beach; eat Indian ice cream; check out Elephanta and Ellora; visit Bombay University the main building, an architectural dazzle etc etc.
Sorry! I haven't done any of this yet. When I get a cellphone I plan to call up Ravi's friends and perhaps some of this will happen. Anyway I have all year. For now, here is me in front of the "Gateway to India", which is where you get the boat to Elephanta.
