“This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before” – Maya Angelou
Everything was perfect about this morning.
I made it to the yoga pavilion 5 minutes earlier and did my practise for 10 minutes longer. Somehow today I felt relaxed, fresh and rejuvenated. At the end, when I was in final relaxation, as usual the temple had its daily prayers going on, I even heard the church bells and their prayers. I closed my eyes to absorb it all and just then, at a distance I heard birds chirping. A voice in my head said – listen to the sounds around you, hear it all, accept it all and relax!
I had requested for a special breaky today with Ragi dosa and hoped they would be able to make one extra one for me, as my friend eats it daily as a part of his diet plan and I was tempted to try. Just before, I went to the consultation room for my weight check and met Dr. Bhavana who asked me about the Rubik’s cube after exchanging morning wishes. She taught me a trick to weigh myself so I avoid adding extra gms (every gm mattered 🙂 ), it was by simply clicking a picture instead of trying to read it yourself. We sat on the bed that’s used during the consultation and she explained how much she knew till now, apparently she had been up till 1am practising with a Malayalam YouTube video. I explained to her that I am not sure of the technique used there and shared with her a link to the one I used that helped me succeed. We walked together for breaky where she made me even more happier with the presentation of Ragi dosa, the extra one as requested.
There was a new lady joining so today in the room we were 5, this only meant one thing – more conversations. I was done early as my treatment was earlier than scheduled and I wanted to ensure I have enough time to digest the food with regular walks around the gate area. I also wrote down some few more questions for the doctor.
While I walked out, I saw Jyothis busy talking to another guest holding the Rubik’s cube. A part of me wondered if Vishnu had given up on it. Up and down walk near the gate was comfortable for me, in the shade after breaky and security guard also warmed up to this daily routine. Earlier, he used to step out of his security hut to ask if I needed anything every now and then. I continued making notes as I walked up and down for the next 20 minutes or so.
As I waited outside the consultation room to have Dr. Bhavna check my BP before starting the treatment as always, a new therapist crossed me. She returned to introduce herself, her name is Ashlih and she asked my name too. Within seconds, she called me and after saying the prayers we started the routine. When there is someone new, I am a little hesitant as it feels I have to share my aches and pains again, but that always fades off here as they already are well briefed. Ashlih not only massaged well, but also had new touch points for the head and hair. Before starting with the main treatment, she tied my hair beautifully in a plat I never thought would suit me. It didn’t show the length of my hair so I was intrigued and asked her to take a picture to see. Soon after, Anu joined and they started the synchronised treatment. My thoughts at this time? Still about the questions to ask the doctor as my mental list was increasing and I wanted to list it down on the phone before I forgot.
Once treatment was over, bandages were done on the knees and back, I went to the room where Vishnu had kindly left ginger tea for me as per his promise yesterday instead of carrot juice. The consultation was longer as doctor patiently answered my questions about the initial discussion with pulse, tongue and eyes check. I mentioned about the back ache and hip alignment which he checked during our time and shared his feedback on how to work on strengthening it. After fixing a time for the final consultation in the afternoon with suggested medicines for the next 3 months, I left for lunch as it was a late start today and a long meet for me.
Lunch today was surprisingly more traditional than usual, on a banana leaf served to us by all present including some Male therapists, in a ritual form, called ‘Sadhya‘. Wow what an experience it was! I forgot how it was to be served and frankly, felt shy. After lunch, I met the doctor who carried a sack full of medicines with papers to explain the summary of all that has been done until now, in the past 21 days as well as the next 3 months course of medicines and application. We covered all elements and he explained each part very patiently.
Afternoon treatment was also my last one and this time I took some pictures of the room for memory. All went well, with an hour before tea time I started packing and felt am still missing some stuff. Just then, the lady Doctor knocked on the door to ask what else was I missing and soon after, I had it during tea time.
I resumed packing to be done with it and later heard from Dr. Bhavna that the part 2 session of last night was in few minutes, at 5.45pm. I saw the watch, it was 5.30pm already and I needed to wash my hair to remove the oil. Hurriedly I managed to wash it through and make it to the conference room, this time with a pen. We discussed 3 main topics, the tastes and each Dosha even more. Early for dinner, we all still turned to the dining hall where it was all set. We guessed the soup of the day as carrot and pumpkin, hoping am half right and I was as it was carrot and drumsticks. Shortly after, everything changed. The board suddenly reappeared with a farewell message, doctor appeared to make a speech, Dr. Bhavna appeared with a beautiful yellow bunch of flowers, all of this to wish me well. It was very touchy and to make it even more memorable, Jyothis sang a Malayalam song that is about love and closeness. How sweet!! I took videos and pictures, later Jyothis and I went to place the flowers in the setup next door that’s their shrine and thanked each of them for this amazing memory. I returned to my room hoping and praying I haven’t forgotten anything, with the weighing scale to measure the weight tomorrow morning. Today Vishnu called out to say that today there was no medicine for the night 🙂
