Phool Chatti Ashram, Adventures with Jaguars, and a Hidden Side of Rishikesh

I have taken some truly kick-ass pictures, but alas, these public computers don't want to play ball with my uploads, so I am currently working on improving my tech set-up. Stay tuned. I'm at Phool Chatti ashram now, where I'm gradually getting used to doing a week-long yoga retreat. Its a quite serious thing, where you really cut yourself off from the world, stay in silence, and stuff like that. If there was any place in the world to cut yourself off at, it would be this place. The beauty and serenity of this location, 7 km from Rishikesh, and a hundred years from the rest of the world--just blows the mind. I woke up this morning and watched the sky lighten between two mountains that rise straight up out of the ground like teats. The triangle of sky between them gradually turned blue and pretty soon the immense greenery around me emerged. The turquoise of the river, the many shades of the leaves of trees in the Phool Chatti orchard, the lilly ponds, and then the green of the cover crop in the farmer's fields next door. Their hut sits in the middle of this green field with a color so bright and rich you want to eat it. You want it to be a flavor of ice cream. The farmer's wife comes out in her bright sari, hangs some clothes on the line. Some school kids in their uniforms dash off to school in the distance along a path lined with lush, overhanging trees. I could watch them live their lives all day. A perfect entertainment.

But last night was a different story. You know they have jaguars here, which I knew already, which is the only reason I had some idea of why this adventure befell me. What happened was at dusk I decided to take a walk. I'd been writing for hours so I needed to stretch my legs. Well I went out the main gate, along a path, wandered around the side of the building and toward the back, and down to the river, checked out the view, then reluctantly realized I needed to get back, as it was getting dark. Well I tried to come in the back gate but it was locked. Locked tight with steel doors and a padlock as big as my fist. I was wearing my all-white serene and groovy ashram garb, but had to sneak through a barbed wire fence to get into the yard. So much for serene and groovy. There, I discovered that the inner gate was also shut and locked tight! Night descends around me! I start to see boa constrictors and pythons in every shadow. I think about climbing over the wall, but see that it is topped with spikes pointing out, like a prison yard! Only one thing left to do! I run all the way around the building, back to the original path I had been on, then all the way back to the front door, chanting "don't panic! don't panic!" The massive steel door is shut, but luckily not locked, as someone on the ashram staff had seen me go out. If he hadn't seen me and locked the door, I don't know what would have happened. I probably would have just had to make a fool of myself banging on the door until someone came. Or, alternatively, simply become a jaguar snack. One or the other. Anyway, that was my ludicrous adventure at Phool Chatti so far. So I'm going on retreat now and probably won't be blogging for a week, at which point I will probably be in or on my way to Nepal.

This trip is too short. I realize now that it takes a while to get your courage up to do stuff, that's why trips like this need to be longer. Like I farted around in Laxman Jhoola for a week, exploring various roads and paths and things and just allowing chance to have its way with me, but always thinking I should go into Haridwar and check out the Kumbh Mela. But really not having any idea how to do it. After some time I talked to some people and got an idea of where the bus stop might be if I have a lot of energy to go exploring. But alas, too late. I'd say every location needs an extra week of courage-building time in order to be able to do actual planned excursions as opposed to wandering-and-letting-fate-do-its-thing excursions. Anyway, that's it for now. I wish all you, my loyal readers, could come and see Phool Chatti. It really would give you a new lease on life.