A day in Mumbai and I move same time as Jupiter

The previous post in this series is here..

After coming back to Mumbai from Dehradun, we did a repack. Suitcases to and from US are 23kg, suitcases on domestic flights are 15kg. So my in-laws got our stuff to various points.

We reweighed stuff, went to the tailor for some “blouse stitching” for San. She was going to come here a week after I came back. Then we had a nice dinner with San’s uncle at an interesting place. The food was some kind of fusion food but I still had stuff to eat there. Mozarella sticks or an Indian equivalent.

Then we got some rest. The next morning we got up very early, went to Siddhi Vinayak, Mahalakshmi and then to Babul Nath temple. This was my first time visiting this temple. It was a wonderful experience. We ate a nice breakfast outside Siddhi Vinayak. We had lunch which my MIL made. Then we went shopping for tea and good quality jaggery to bring back. They fulfilled my last minute wish to eat at Sadhguru. So had an early dinner and got some sleep.

When I went to Mumbai airport in the morning, they told me my flight to Dubai had left. They had notified my cell but I did not turn on an international data plan. Emirates told me that I was not the only one who had this issue and all of us who thought we were on time but late were rebooked in the next flight to Dubai and will spend a day in Dubai. I almost cried. I had meetings to attend here Monday morning. Told them to get me on the last flight that day to Dubai to minimize my time there. It was not that far out. I just wanted to go hug San. So after some help from Emirates staff who had to check me out of the airport with the updated boarding pass, took an Uber and came back to Chembur. Just crashed. Then got to take a photo of MIL’s helper who always asks me nicely how I am doing on every trip. The smile on her face when I showed her the portrait, priceless! Ended up eating what was left and took a nap for a short time and returned to the airport.

Jupiter had moved I guess and he was taking me to a “new level”. Had left SFO with two suitcases and a carry on. When I came back to Emirates counter they said 2 suitcases and laptop bag was it. No carry on. Had to pay 85 $ to get the weight moved into the suitcases, stuff the laptop bag into the carry on to make it one piece in front of an audience. It was interesting.

Finally got to Dubai. They had no airport hotel, no chance to leave. They said lot of passengers stranded because of the flight timing changes. There were people sleeping at the gates. One nice lady said for 100 bucks I could rent a sleeping pod and sleep there with a blanket and pillow and use the restrooms and get water all included. So I rented the pod. It was nice but not quiet. The sound of 20 snorers was there. The looked at me and said “free earplugs”. Slept for a good 6 hours only to be woken by San who screamed “go to gate now. Just got a message saying your flight is boarding”. I pankicked. Not again!! So grabbed everything and ran to the gate. Lucikly Dubai was an hour ahead of Chennai. So I still had an hour. Missed using that restroom and water, tea etc. They obviously weren’t letting me back in as I checked out. Walked around the gate for an hour and finally realized why all these flight time changes.

There was war out there! The flight took the weirdest route to get to SFO. Not sure why they couldn’t have just gone via China to SFO. Went straight up and took a left and came all across the US to come down to SFO. it was a long long flight.

After coming home and unpacking felt a sigh of relief. Could get back to my normal routine at work. That tea and jaggery ended up being a lot more expensive than what I could have paid for at the local Indian store. A new lesson learned.

It was an interesting trip. I did get a chance to meet all four of my aunts in Chennai and my local cousins. Also got to meet my music teacher at his house and meet his family. Made a flying visit to Paadarivom Padipparivom and got to hug Nagubhai, the man who has made my life a lot better since COVID thanks to the music initiative he pioneered and kept running through really tough times.

Somehow after coming back, I lost my voice and motivation to sing. Just kept focusing on work. That helped. Now things are slowly changing. Jupiter is still playing tricks with my body and mind or maybe it is my dad doing funny stuff to my head behind the scenes. Won’t know. Have started singing again though!

Just wish things get back to how they were in March.

Here are the last few photos that make a cut for this post..

While I was on that long flight back, Kuwait airport got bombed and one died and 60+ were injured. In a way maybe things turned out good and I made it back home in one piece, sleeping in pods or not!

There is no travel in the near future given my health condition. Will be glad to write about music and hopefully sing more regularly. Need to get out of my current predicament with the knee and start squatting, walking, do yoga and get back to my old self! One can only pray for a quick recovery!

Guru

The word Guru means "remover of darkness", someone who lights you up with knowledge. The darkness in this case does not mean literal darkness but the lack of knowledge!

If you go to Wiki, you see that Westerners manage to take a very important word and associate a negative connotation to it. That is really sad!

In days when word of mouth was the only way knowledge was transmitted from teacher to student for generations, a guru was everything to a student. We are taught at an early age in India "Maata, Pitha, Guru, Deivam" or  "Mother, Father, Guru, God" to put things in perspective for kids. We are also taught

Guru Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwaraha

Guru Shakshat para Bramha Thasmaye Shri Gurave Namaha

which means "I salute my guru who is the embodiment of the Trinity of Creater, preserver and destroyer (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)"

Most kids in India that I grew up with would treat our teachers with deference. Teachers word was gods word. That helped a lot till the Ph.D started, at which point my thesis advisor promptly said "I am not always right. You seem to agree with everything I say. Your job is to question me and come up with answers on your own!" 

That was enlightening in its own way. Be your own guru?! Was that the message?

Once that phase was over and a new balance was achieved in taking your teachers word as gods word with an amendment  that said "the guru is always right except when the guru says otherwise"!

My teachers appreciate me obeying them implicitly when they give instructions that are to be followed as part of the learning process. Be it my Guitar teacher or a teacher in any training class or Yoga class!

Bikram yoga works using a dialogue. It is called a dialogue because the teacher talks and your body does what the teacher asks you to do with your body. It is a dialogue between the teachers voice and your body. So if there is one thing that is still pretty much following an oral tradition of teaching, it is Yoga. 

This weekend some of us got an amazing treat. A chance to spend the entire day with Jim Kallett, a senior Bikram Yoga practitioner and teacher who actually does the Teacher training. 

This is like meeting your thesis advisors advisors advisor! It was an amazing experience as he shared his experiences of learning Yoga from Bikram, his wisdom and "trusting the process". 

He took apart every posture in the series with clinical precision and helped those in the room  one by one! After doing Yoga for almost two years, I finally learned what the dialogue "relax your shoulders" meant. 

One thing with the oral tradition is that the teacher says something, your ear hears it, your brain processes it based on the sum total of its vocabulary and experience and different people will still "interpret" the dialog. 

Jim pushed, pulled and stood on people (yes, at one point he stood on my back to prove that my body could do a pose with external help and it was up to my mind to get there on my own.. wish I had a picture of that) to make folks realize one very important thing..

Your body is capable of doing things that you cannot realize are possible. Everything is in your mind!

Now there are pages of notes from the all day yoga session, little reminders that go a long way in improving the practice. Based on what Jim said, in another 4-5 years, things should be a lot better! 

The whole day was truly enlightening, a series of light bulb moments. For many of the questions his answer was " I am not here to give you permission to take the easy way out. If that is why you are asking the question, do not even bother! You do what it says in the dialogue, no more, no less and that is the only way!"

At the end of the day, after talking and demonstrating non stop, he got up and taught a class! Do not know how he has that kind of energy. He said after a few years of practice I will also have that energy and that is good to know.

Jim Kallett is a Guru in the true sense of the word. 

He did an awkward pose where he stood on the tips of his toes. I can stand on my toe and was proud of the accomplishment till I saw him stand on the tips of his toes.

Apparently that is what the dialogue says! Nothing more, nothing less.. 

When we were done for the day, I instinctively touched his feet to take his blessing. He smiled and said "Good luck to you and your family!". That made my day!

Now Jim has piqued my interest in meeting his thesis advisor, Bikram Choudhury! Who knows, that also happen one day..

Corruption ?

Read this post by Sree recently. Was reminded of my own post, just after I started blogging !!

Guess things havent changed much in two years!

This post is not just about those questions. It is about the reference to the movie Guru!

Mani Ratnam has made a great movie, a real entertainer and I give him credit for it.

If you have watched Aviator, you cannot help but wonder if a few scenes from Guru have taken their inspiration from Aviator. Would especially point to the one where Leonardo or Abhishek sit down in front of the panel and they take a good look all the whirring video cameras, or the ones where both of them say "do whatever it takes to get the contract". Leonardo offers prostitutes, Abhishek offers a veiled threat!

The jist of Aviator(Guru) is that Howard Hughes (Gurukant Desai) wants to be the king of the Aviation(textile) industry in US (India) and eventually the world, and he has to fight corruption at the Senator(Minister) level to be just that. In doing so, he faces the wrath of the govenment, stockholders, competitors, and the press, then goes through an inquiry comittee and finally comes out with minor damages! In short one man fights against a system that tries to hold him down when he starts firing on all cylinders!

Aviator is more of a biography that focus on Hughes and his disease while Guru is a love story for the most part! So the movies have a look and feel that is very very different.

What is interesting is that :
Howard Hughes - Mid 1940's!
Dhirubhai (Guru) - Mid 1970's!

I do not think things have changed much in the USA or India in regards to the system! The only difference in my opinion is people in the USA are exposed to these corruption levels only if they are multi millionaries, trying to become billionaries. In India even the poorest end up tasting the system!

To clarify, you cannot bribe traffic cops or building inspectors in the US. People who represent the rule of law that an average citizen would normally come in contact! At least I have not heard of any instances. We do get stories of corrupt politicians who take bribes in all forms almost on a daily basis when we tune into public radio!! (Cunningham, Abramof stories, etc. etc.).
I guess in the US, "A bribe too small is not worth taking!!". (I like the way that just came out. Should trademark this Gandhimadhi style!).

As long as sparrows have existed, so have sparrowhawks!! As long as citizens exist, there will be politicians, a goverment by the people, of the people, for the people, that also screws the people if they challenge the government in any way!