Back to school

After we dropped off Zaki at the airport I actually planned to stay in Kochi for 1-2 days and than travel back down south to stay on Munroe island in the Backwaters of Kerala and to make a trip into the mountain area to Munnar. But ... if I learned one thing here it's not to make plans. Not only because things might not work out, but also because there are constantly new options coming into play.
The new option this time is that Monja and Sajesh not only came for the ceremony to Calicut but also for a project to equip a school with 10 new desktop computers. This projects includes finding the cheapest local retailers and also to set the computers up. The money for this was raised by Monjas non-profit social development organisation monyati (http://www.monyati.org). If you ever plan to donate money and want to see exactly what is done with it I can highly recommend this organisation. The school itself is funded by a Trust that is run by a Swami who we also quickly met at the ceremony.
So here I am quite undecided, but at some point I realise that this is a very unique opportunity and that I would be stupid not to use it :). So it's decided I will not only stay until the end of the ceremony but also help with the project, but first we have to drive back 4 hours to Calicut  (this time here feels like a never ending road trip).
The next days we juggle between attending the ceremonies and finding the right contacts to buy the computers for a cheap price. Luckily we got a contact of someone who puts us in touch with local wholesale distributers so we save a lot of money. During this process it once again becomes apparent how much the demonetization impacts the business. We hear from a lot of people how the sales went down recently as an effect of this. We also have difficulties to pay for the equipment but somehow we end up finding an ATM that let's us withdrawn 25x more money for each withdrawal than all other ATMs. It is difficult to find an ATM that is not out of money and that does not have an enormous line of waiting people these days. To find this ATM felt super unreal. People who went through this money problem phase will know how unrealistic it was to get that much cash out to pay everything with it. For us it was definitely a miracle and that ATM basically saved this project :)

After the last day of the ceremony we pick up all the parts, pack the car (it's amazing that we could fit 10 desktop computers including 10 screens into a car with 3 people) and drove to the school that's around 1 hour away in a more rural area close to Calicut. It is weekend and Monday will be a school holiday (the benefit of having 3 main relegions is lots of holidays ;)) so we have some days to get everything ready.

Except of the first night we stay in the Ashram very close by that is sponsoring the school and also a boy shelter next to the school. This Ashram is more basic than the one I first went to, which means again only cold water but also only wooden beds. The cold water I got used to but the wooden beds are something new. I made it a little bit more comfortable with my yoga mat, but it's still a little painful :D.

During the day and also into the night we assemble the parts, build up the computers and install the software. Sajesh is a real expert in this so I am almost merely a bystander and only help with some small stuff. We also upgrade the old computers and install the same software to make them all equal. Before only one computer had internet, now after setting up a network, all have. The computer room is very nice and looks pretty cool with all these new toys.

On Tuesday it's time for the first real test. Some time in the morning a bunch of kids flock into the room. At first they all squeeze around one single computer, probably because that is how it went in the past (they also did not know about the new computers before they came in), but then they spread out. It is super funny to watch how all the girls start paint to draw and all the boys play chess. It's a really good feeling to observe the computers in use and interesting to see how they are used.

Later that day we also have lunch at the school. We are invited to sit and eat with the kids in the classroom. This is also a sweet and very funny experience. So many new people and especially new foreigners are a big attraction :).

During this time we also meet a couple from England, Gail and John. Gail helps out at the school to give English lessons and John does the same at the boy shelter. They are staying here for a couple of months which is great for the kids because this way they have the opportunity to learn some decent English.
The next morning Monja and Sajesh leave for another project. I decide to stay one more day to make sure everything works and also to use the opportunity to take part in some English classes.
The power was out the whole night. It comes back sometime in the morning but still comes and goes. It is good that we also bought a new UPS (uninterruptable power supply) device but not so good that it's not working properly. This makes it difficult to use the computers. We temporary install the old one again until it's fixed, but this limits the amount of computers we can use.

In the afternoon I sit in with Gail's English class, which is a lot of fun. The kids really enjoy it and it is a great experience for me to see how this works out. Who knows, maybe I will give some English classes in the future too. It's definitely more rewarding than the work I did back home so far. Later I give the local computer science teacher a quick tour to show how to use the new printer and show her what kind of software we installed.

In the evening Gail and John show me around in the boy shelter. It becomes very obvious that it lacks lots of the basic stuff like decent furniture, fans, kitchen equipment, books and so on. The background stories of some of the boys is also quite tragic so it's a sad visit. Later we sit down with the boys to help them a little bit with their English since they have exams the next day. It's nice to see how motivated they are despite all.

The next morning I pack my stuff and take the bus back to Calicut to get to my next and this time touristy destination.

P.S. To read a little bit about the school computer project, you can check out this link: http://www.monyati.org/impact/kolathurindia.html

The spiritual side (Calicut and surroundings)

As expected this blog entry took longer. Actually  even longer than expected :), sorry for that. The days were really busy and I was too tired in the evening to write. Right now I am at a very chilled place with more time to write, so I hope I will catch up till new year.

(Dec 1st until Dec 5th)

At 8 a.m. I arrive at Calicut (Kozhikode) after the longest and most uncomfortable bus ride of my life. The bus I took was probably the most basic there is, next time I have to choose more carefully. Also there were no toilets on the bus, so you had to get stuff done during one of the 5-10 min breaks every 2.5 hours or so. Luckily I did not have to use that option. The bus also did not have any room for luggage. I mainly thought of Airplanes when I chose Carryon only, but it came in very handy to be able to but my backpack under the seat :)

I get picked up by car at the bus station by my friend Zagi from Germany, his german friend Monja, who currently lives in India and his indian friend Sajesh. We drive to the house of some friends who invited us for breakfast. From this point everything becomes very convenient, I don't have to worry about anything :).

After breakfast we go to the event, which is the main reason why we are all here and that will take place until Dec 10th. I will try to explain all these spiritual stuff to the best of my knowledge, but bear in mind that I also did not understand everything deeply and might get something wrong.
The motivation behind this fire ceremony also called Yajna or Yagna is to summon the energies of some hindu deities. Every day there will be a Yajna for a different deity, where the main Swami and others will sit around a fire and monotonous repeat mantras for over an hour and finalise it with food and other offerings into the fire. This will lead up to doing the Yajna for the main deity, who is Chandi in this case, during the last days. After each of these they will hand out Prasad (food from the offering, ofter very tasty sweet rice) to the devotees and also a full meal. This was incredible because they handed out these meals 3 times per day for free. In the last days hundreds of people participated most of the time, so we are talking about a lot of food. Partly they financed this by the possibility to donate either by just giving cash or by buying ghee or a coconut. The ghee was offered as fuel for the holy fire and the coconut was used to put all your problems and negative thoughts into it and then smash it on a stone.

Later we go to a house close by, where we will stay for the next couple of days. It's a big house in the traditional style of this area. A friend of Sajesh, who also took part in the organisation of the ceremony, got us this house and also stays with us there.

During the next days we regularly go to the Yajnas  (but not all of them). In between we meet a lot of interesting people who are not only well educated in Hindu or Vedic religion but also in areas of modern science or medicine. These people enjoy a high reputation at the ceremony so we often eat in a separated area with them. Besides that we also get invited to some people's homes to have breakfast or lunch. Since as foreigners we also had a certain fame we even made it to the local newspaper. No, I am not sleeping, I am meditating ;).
As expected it is difficult to put into words what kind of atmosphere this created. With all the stuff going on at the Yajna and with everything you learn from the very interesting people, it brings you into a different world, but that was only the beginning.

But ... before we could go on we first had to get some Amla Juice to clear our system. It won't be the last thing I tried to clear body or mind, but probably the last time I drank Amla Juice. Its super bitter and, let me put it this way, it's best consumed close to home ;). My face probably shows how good it tasted.

In between the Yajna we go to some other place not so far away but still a 4 hour drive (indian roads and traffic).
The 4 of us are invited by some local priest to get our own fire ceremony. I go along not knowing what to expect. We are in a rural area and we go to his house that also has a tiny temple area in front with 3 snake deities. The ceremony takes around 11! hours and includes different steps. Among them one is dedicated to do an offering to your ancestors, another one is to eliminate your negative thoughts. The one with the biggest impact, at least to one of us, is in the evening. I don't remember what it is for but it results in one of us not being able to move for some time. I watch how he is standing in the corner of the temple and than suddenly it starts to rain. I move to get some protection but he stays with his eyes closed. I am very impressed by his perseverance.  After another maybe half hour he suddenly tumbles to the balcony and lays down for probably another 30 minutes totally exhausted. Only later I find out that he could not move or talk while he was standing there. Unfortunately the priest also left before to start preparing a room inside for the last step.
The last step is inside in a very small room, we can hardly all fit in. A bed is put up to the wall. The floor is amazingly painted with colored sand and decorated with flowers and candles. It becomes very hot very quick inside but it's an incredible atmosphere. I don't remember all steps but it usually includes drinking blessed coconut water, offering food and flowers to a fire after moving it clockwise around your head or chest in multiples of 3 and eating Prasad at the end.
The whole day is amazing. The amount of time and effort they spend on us for the ceremony and all the food is just unbelievable. I feel bad because since my understanding of all this is so limited it feels like throwing pearls before a swine :).
It is too late to drive back, so we stay in a hotel not so far away.

The next day we drive to another interesting guy who is also educated in many science topics and the vedas. On the way we stop by a holy rock that has a temple at the bottom and on top. Also on the very top there is a huge bolder. There is probably a perfectly good explanation on how it got there but for the geological not so educated (so for me) it looks like it's in an impossible place. The fact that this place used to be frequently visited by Yogis kind of gave us some other possibilities how it got there ;).

After this we continue our journey to get educated in a different version of the evolution theory. The guy we meet looks completely normal, some would say why should he not, but what he will tell us and the stories about him are far from normal. I will only give you a short summary. I was hoping to read up on it on the Internet but I could not find anything. We all sit down on the front porch and then he tells us the story about how men lived on Saturn and women on Venus before they met up on Mars and then moved to earth. Right now we all have to develop some kind of a 7th sense to be able to move to Jupiter. Some are already there but invisible to us. This circle is already going on since 7 repetitions which is half way because there are 14. Yes, that sounds very far away from the evolution theory we learned at school. I can't tell how literally you are supposed to take this, but I can say they guy is far away from looking like a crazy person. The only thing I can do is to take all this in but of course I am also far away from taking it seriously.

Later we drive back to the hotel to stay there another night and drive back to Calicut in the morning. 

On our way here and back we always stop to get sugar cane juice, coconuts or other types of fruit or juice, very nice to cope with the long drive.

Some days later Zagi takes a flight back and we all drive to Kochi because I also want to stay there and go back down south to visit some places I missed because I went up early to Calicut.

P.S. All is one.

Summary (Ashram)

I stayed in the Ashram for 16 days and left on the last day in November to go to Calicut (about 400km north of Trivandrum) to see a rare ceremony not knowing what exactly to expect. I will meet up there with a friend from Germany, who only travels to India because of this, so I guess it's worth it.

I was lucky because an Indian girl who also left the Ashram today was sitting on the same bus from the Ashram back to Trivandrum. She helped me book the bus to Calicut which is still a big help at the moment. Right now I am sitting at the main bus station in Trivandrum waiting for my night bus which will take 10 hours to reach my destination, so I decided to begin writing a summary about the stay at the Ashram.

Religion
I probably mentioned before that there is a lot of praying and chanting going on, not only during the Satsang but also at the beginning of yoga classes and before food is served. I did not completely get behind it but it's mainly Hindu related, but some chants also include the "Gurus" of other relegions. The good thing is no one expects you to sing, pray, kneel down or anything like that. I was wondering though why so many non Indian people who where most likely not hindu put a lot of devotion into this. I assume it has to do with one aspect of yoga "Niyama" to practice your spiritual devotion. It was definitely one thing some people did not like but I did not really care.

Rules
Despite all the rules like proper clothing, attending all classes, only being allowed to leave the Ashram at certain times I assume it was a rather relaxed Ashram. Every Saturday there was a Talent show, where anybody could perform her or his talent in dancing, singing, acting, joke telling and so on. It was very entertaining and always made me wonder if I am really in an Ashram ;).

Also on some nights we had other shows like musicians from outside playing traditional music. On one night the TTC students (a little over 150 people doing their one month Teacher's Training Course and who we have to thank for having an extra Swami and all these special events going on at the moment) went totally crazy and one after the other startet dancing to the music. At the end half of the Ashram people were on their feet making the Shiva hall look like a night club. I guess they had to release some tension after all the studying. I also joined after a while - it was a lot of fun.

Yoga
Although I came for the meditation I really enjoyed the yoga classes. Of course we did not only do the Assanas but also meditation and pranayama but I especially enjoyed the postures and Assanas. I always kind of mix it up, but Yoga does not only stand for the work out part but also a whole world around it. After 2 weeks of 2 hours yoga twice per day I definitely made a lot of progress and plan to take part in various yoga classes during my trip.
I can definitely recommend it, but I have to warn you ... Yoga can be really exhausting. I am happy to be able to regenerate now, I even had to skip 2-3 classes because I had no energy left. Even if the work out part is the most fun a decent class should at least also include pranayama.

Services
The Ashram did not only have a Boutique and a library but also a very nice Health Hut where you could go after Brunch and Dinner to get some fruits, juices or even some chocolate shake, which is a rare commodity here. On special days they also had nice vegan cakes or power bars. It was like a bar and a nice place to hang out and chat or chill.

Most of the people washed their stuff on their own but you could also utilise the laundry service that was run by locals of the nearby village. I had some stains on a white shirt I could not clean properly myself so I gave them a shot. Sadly it was not my incompetence since they also failed at that task ;).

Free time
I mainly stayed within the Ashram but during the last days I went to the nearby lake with somebody from the Ashram to go swimming. In the beginning I was a little bit scared because there were stories about crocodiles. These were backed up by a couple of warning signs prohibiting swimming for that same reason. Yeah...In the beginning I also thought that the people who do it anyway are stupid or crazy and maybe that is true, but lots of people from the Ashram went swimming before and no one ever saw crocodiles. So we had some fun and I had some adrenaline :).

The other options outside the Ashram were a small shop nearby that also sold fresh banana cake at noon, visit the Dam recreational park or go to the next biggest town.

In the end I can recommend this Ashram to almost every one as long as you are OK with the rules and the religious aspects. For me it was a great experience although I am not a fan of rules or of religion :).

P.S. It took some time to post this because I don't have WiFi here. The next post will be either very crazy or rather short depending on how I will manage to put the stuff that happend here the last few days into words. So I hope I won't get your hopes up now and then disappoint.