First few days in Rishikesh

View from my room Saint Seva ash

These first few days in Rishikesh have been a gentle exploration of possibilities, walking the town, its ghats and bridges on foot. Peeping into ashrams, noticing things, an open curiosity.

Coming here meant leaving my comfort zone of south India, where I can relax with easy familiarity into several places: Auroville, Mysore, Goa and Kerala.

It's not so much that I wanted to challenge myself by travelling somewhere new. I was responding to the call of Ganga Devi, the river goddess who defines this town. 

And I wanted too to deepen my sadhana, my path of yoga. I wanted to chant and sing the holy names through mantra and bhajan, according to Vedic scripts, this is the dharma that corrects 'an ocean of faults' in this age of kali-yuga.

I’ve had a bit of a scattered experience and things are still pretty open. I stayed a couple of nights in Pamarth Niketan ashram and now I am further along the river, close to Laxman Jhula bridge in the Saint Seva ashram. 

Peacock feather seller, Laxman Jhula

It’s warmer than I thought. I came fully loaded with thick woollen socks, jumpers, hats and so on. It’s hot: I’m walking around in thin cotton garments and taking rest from the midday heat. I keep the fan going in my room for most of the day. So that’s the first surprise. 

Winter begins here in November, apparantly. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather, this morning gave a taste of that when the sun didn't break through until midday and I was able to take a good long walk down to Swarg ashram, crossing Ram Jhula bridge to check out the huge Sivananda ashram that dominates that side of the river.

The scenery here is breathtaking: emerald green, densely wooded hills surround Rishikesh. Goddess Ganga flows through, she is smooth and broad and fearless: sometimes calm and peaceful, othertimes powerful in movement. 

Ganga ma spoke to me as I stood gazing into her beauty at the side of Laxman Jhula bridge. Time stood still. You came my child, I called you and you came Was this real? I was almost in tears with the emotion of the moment.

I have met two wonderful women at Saint Seva ashram, where I am currently staying, both of American origin. Ruth is delicate, beautiful and sensitive. She is planning to travel south for the beaches. She will be moving to Saint Seva in a few days and has chosen the room next to me, so we might become neighbours.

Anita has been living in India for decades and is thoughtful and compassionate as well as a treasure trove of insider info. Indian men treat her with respect, referring to her as memsahib, a throwback to days of British rule That’s so funny as my husband is a lieutenant colonel she chuckled when I told her. Anita is based in Rishikesh and travels widely with her dog, Mister who is apparantly small and well behaved enough to be smuggled onto trains.

Mother and child

There are monkeys everywhere.  On my first day here a  large, grey senior male urinated outside my door as he held my gaze. I didn’t feel threatened; I don’t know whether he was marking his territory or just taking a pee because he felt like it. 

They sure are cheeky, upsetting bins, rummaging for food, running noisily across rooftops. I was in the habit of carrying a couple of apples in the mesh side pockets of my daypack, until yesterday, walking across Laxmand Jhula bridge I was pursed by a fierce looking brown macaque monkey.

He grabbed my leg with his small yet strong hand. I stuffed the fruit into the main part of my bag and legged it over the other side. I felt a bit silly to be running away from a monkey! 

I spoke on the phone with a close friend just before leaving the UK. She too was spending the winter abroad. We shared our hopes and expectations. What this helped me to realise that while I was excited and nervous about the new experiences that I could have, my priority was to take care of the inner being, to stay present with myself and gentle with myself.

Indians love to be photographed with foreigners

Currently this means checking in with myself several times during the day; how am I feeling? Allowing feelings to come through and be witnessed without necessarily naming or judging them.

Defending myself against critical thoughts or, noticing critical thoughts if they do arise and detaching from them, not making a story about what is happening.

Right now, I am feeling quite nervous and vulnerable and wondering what this time in Rishikesh will be. There are no clear answers, I feel that there are a number of options and I don't want to prematurely force an outcome for the sake of security.  Slowly, slowly, resting in the uncertainty, staying centred, keeping my ambition in check and allowing the adventure to unfold.

Gradually I am building my bank of local knowledge, good places to eat, where to get my laundry done, where to use the internet. Later today I will go back to the Sivananda ashram for Ladies maitri satsang -reading in Hindi and English in the Samadhi Hall, which I liked the sound of.

Thank you for reading and keeping me company

Blessings of divine love 

Jennifer