As the plane started to descend, I took some deep breaths looking at the stunning view outside. The day unfolded with a streak of yellow and orange colors and with every blink, it became clearer and clearer. At every stage, I couldn’t help but take pictures as I love clouds and every form of it, they always tell a story.
So this is it, I said… The land of Ayurveda -Kerala, India. This is where I will spend the next few days learning the basics of Ayurveda and nutrition. I feel like I have taken a circle, being an Indian, born and brought up around these spices and now after all these years, I am traveling to rediscover them and their relation with us. Thinking in this way and ignoring the loud snoring of the person next to me, I switched on one of my favourite songs from Sivananda days ‘Jai Ganesha’; on my phone and went back to dreaming. It’s a 15-minute song that I listen to every time I am on a journey, whether it is a taxi, train, bus or flight as it relaxes my mind and mentally I chant along.
When we landed, I took my luggage and headed to the exit to see my name on a paper as I was being picked up by the centre. The guy greeted me and explained he had two more people coming and then we leave for the guest house that’s 20 minutes away. I sat in the car and watched the entrance of the airport where people were anxiously waiting to see their loved ones and once they came out, it was all hugs and smiles. Kids were sitting on the top of the luggage, enjoying the trolley rides, they had their own idea of the journey. Some were chatting, some were posing for selfies while some were still searching for their people to arrive. I love watching others as their priceless expressions says a lot even though I don’t know them. While still waiting, the guy who was driving me and I started chatting, since how long has he been here, what does he do here and more importantly his name – Tiku, something I got used to asking and remembering (thanks to my karma yoga in Sivananda Vedantic Yoga Centre few months ago). The people seemed happy, settled and the entrance wasn’t as crowded as I expected it to be in an Indian airport. In the meantime, I was passed on the phone to talk to a lady from the centre who wanted to know if I arrived safely and all was well, talk about personal service.
Since the others didn’t arrive even after half an hour or so of wait, we decided to drive out so I could be dropped off. My flight took off at 2-30 am UAE time and now it was 8-30 am India time, I needed to get some sleep. Once in the guest house, they call ‘Gandhi House’, (yup I am curious to know as well more about the name), I was shown my room that was on the first floor. This place was someone’s home, a cozy yet enormous place with greenery all over. I walked my way up along with Tiku and Suresh (house boy) and saw the place as one door opened to the other and to the other, man this place was huge. I saw two single beds and was soon relieved to hear all this floor was only for me ?
Then after switching on the fans (yup they have ceiling fans!) and unpacking in a cupboard that I hadn’t seen in years, maybe since my teens; I closed the partitioned wooden crafted doors and snoozed for an hour. My pickup for the centre as discussed with the lady (Reshma) was at 12-30 pm as I wanted to see the place before I started the course the next day. She was kind enough to offer me lunch, our one meal daily was organised at the centre at 10-30 am daily after morning yoga class. Sharply at 12-30 pm, I was picked up by a guy who drove me there and I watched the roads as we drove, any part of India it may be and the drive would remain the same. People coming from all sides, cutting into each other, honking like crazy, driving on the wrong side, overtaking and yet no accidents. This all looked so familiar, just a different version.
Once at the centre, Reshma greeted me with a smile as I introduced myself and I met her mother who runs the 7 year-old centre. After finishing the formalities, she served me lunch and later I joined the yoga class on the terrace with around 10 others who were a part of the ongoing Teacher’s Training course (what I did in Austria in September). The teacher asked me if I was already trained and I updated him about my recent qualification with Sivananda Vedantic Yoga Centre in Austria and learnt he too did his TTC from the same centre in Kerala (Sivananda). I spoke with few of the students and realised that two of the ladies were coming to the ‘Gandhi house’ with me. We chatted a bit more and got to know about each other as well decided to eat dinner out together, Suz was from Finland and Reiz from Germany.
At 6-30 pm, we walked to the nearest and preferred by all vegetarian restaurant and ate rice and nan with dhal and cottage cheese. This place looked like an inspiration from a train station and had compartments designed as seating area. Then we walked through some book stores before reaching back to the guest house. Next day we started at 8 am with our pick up followed by yoga at 8-30 am, breakfast at 10-30 am where we all sat in a line and Lakshmi served us food, with warm scented water. We had brown rice, a curry, some vegetables, pickle and papad (the last two soon were a no from the next day for me). By then I met Suzanne, the lady who was in this course with me and it was really only both of us keeping it semi private. We met Lakshmi our teacher (and another Lakshmi) who is also a doctor. She is young, educated in Ayurveda and also runs the home clinic. We had our theory material and started listening to her like two obedient students who wanted to know it all. As usual my curious questions came up and she patiently answered them. After an hour or so, we head to the kitchen for our first practical and the topic for the day was soups. Lakshmi and Lakshmi (our teacher) introduced us to the ingredients and what we could expect. We made 6 types of soups, from beetroot to dhal to carrots & onions to cabbage and potatoes, rice and green gram included. With every finish, our kitchen expert Lakshmi decorated the dish and with every setup, I was ready with my camera. Once all soups were done, we said thank you and concluded the day as there was no evening yoga session, the others were off on Saturday half day and Sunday full day. Since it was quiet, I decided to stay back for my first Ayurvedic massage and guess by whom? Lakshmi, the food expert, one lady did it all along with another lady Sheja.
The second day, we were the only two to come to the centre and as private can get, we had a semi-private yoga class in the balcony followed by breakfast. Once the teacher came, we continued our theory in Ayurveda and today’s practical was ‘puttu’. It’s a traditional dish made in a steamer called puttu maker that’s a cylindrical stand with base to heat water. We made a combination of rice flour, ragi and whole wheat, as well as mixed veggies like beetroot and carrot on the side. We also had a chickpea curry as a side dish. How fast this happened really surprised us and we couldn’t stop asking what we could feed the puttu maker. From healthy veggies to a combination of flours, I was already thinking quinoa and buckwheat as my ingredients. That day after the session we wanted to shop, original herbs, herbal coffee and tea as well as garments like shawls etc. So we were directed to few names, driven by someone from the centre one way only to realise the shops are closed being Sunday. Then we were dropped off to Pothys, for those of you who don’t know, it’s a 7-storey department store near where we stayed. So what can you shop? No no, what can’t you shop…. From sarees, to shawls, to dhotis, to cotton towels, kids stuff, clothes, supermarket in the basement and electronics at the top level. What was nice is that you can pay later, they give you a bill, save your stuff and whenever you are done, go to each floor and simply pay. By then, they have packed it well.
With smiles on our face, we walked out happy with a sense of achievement knowing what’s left on our list, the herbs. Come Monday, the routine was same as we went for yoga and breakfast together then our theory and this time we made rice, 6 kinds -coconut rice, dhal rice, lemon rice, cumin rice, tomato rice and curd rice. The plan was simple, taste some and take your favorites home for dinner. I must say, cooking is easy if you have the time but so easy when you don’t have the time? I was already sure what would be my lunch when I start working again. Needless to say, quinoa and buckwheat as replacements was still in my mind. Then came another yoga class at 2-30 pm with another teacher and this was an advanced class, from holding postures for long to extreme variations, we all surprised our bodies for the next two hours. In the evening, we wanted to go for herbs shopping however with the traffic on the roads and our physical exhaustion, we decided to go home instead. Did I tell you I finally saw the owner of the house Mr. Gandhi himself? One evening I came to the kitchen to take some water and saw a man cooking, in minimalist attire it was obvious he was the ‘king of the house’. We greeted each other and as he verbally introduced himself (as well with his appearance it was obvious), my curiosity to know the resemblance to Gandhiji grew. Not only was his house labelled as ‘Gandhi house’ and looked like one too with all the pictures, he himself had a lot of resemblance to Gandhiji. I didn’t want to ask then so kept this question to break the ice later.
So as later was now, that Monday evening I met him in my favourite spot amongst the mosquitos, at the porch of the house. We greeted each other and this time he was all dressed to step out. So while chatting with him, I asked the one question on my mind and it seemed to amuse him. Rightfully he has been asked before and it seemed to be his favourite topic as well. He explained how his habits have been so similar to Gandhiji, how he was born in April, same year as Gandhiji was assassinated in January, how their passions are similar, he went to Gujarat and walked on the same roads and visited same homes as Gandhiji, as well he read about Gandhiji at the age of 14 years. No wonder he looks like him, want to hear something else? He freaked me out when he said that when someone in his family took a picture of his face and narrowed down to his eyes, it matched the eyes of Gandhiji, it doesn’t end here… For 5 years, he has worked in a local hospital in Kerala and with his touch many have been cured, in fact the doctor used to ask him to come and visit the patients to give them moral boost. What does all of this mean?? I leave it to your imagination ?
On Tuesday, Suzanne my only colleague in the class and I had a plan, we wanted to finish the day after our morning Ayurveda theory and practical class and head to Kanyakumari for the night. After hearing about the famous Vivekananda’s rock and the surrounding area with breath-taking sunset and sunrise. So with no reservations, two adventurers made way to the railway station and took the next train available which was around 12-30 pm, left Trivandrum at 1-15 pm. Throughout the journey, we watched the scenes, banana and coconut trees, farmers working in rice fields and the rains that made their way to prepare us for the journey ahead. We reached at 3-30 pm, by then already praying that the sun would come up but really it didn’t, it was all shady and clouded. Once we reached kanyakumari, the speedy auto ride took less than 5 minutes to reach the spot and we went to the one hotel we saw on Lonely Planet – Tri Sea hoping for it to be available. They knew our purpose and showed us the room before we took it, right on the roof top facing the Vivekananda’s rock and Thiruvalluvar’s statue. Talk about knowing your audience! We took it and left our stuff there to head to the main spot. It wasn’t crowded with tourists as much as it was crowded with sellers. We started with a coconut water and went on to see what else is there. We read earlier that the stone was available to view until 4 pm so we kept that for the next day and after a visit to the local temple, we sat on a rock to watch the waves and basically nothing. It was beautiful, just hearing the sound of the water and sitting away from the crowd, listening to our thoughts and feelings the chill of the evening. After some time we went to Gandhiji’s memorial and enjoyed the views from there even more. After some exploration and few purchases, we head back to the hotel to finally rest and prepare for the next day. Our agenda was simple, see the sunrise from the hotel terrace ‘viewing deck’, go down to the restaurant where we asked the guy to pack us idlis for our journey by 7 am, check out and then head to the Vivekananda’s rock before heading back to the train station for 10-30 am train. As simple as it gets!!! Little did we know that the line to enter the ferry that would take us to the spot,, was cued till a km away and it was only 7-15 am, the place opened at 8 am. Who wakes up this early anyways? After my other conscious said ‘really!’, I kept shut and just enjoyed the last few hours in Kanyakumari. I just observed the families around, the people in the shops and those selling us what is supposed to be the ‘best product ever’ we have seen. I wish there were some nice postcards as we searched and browsed every pack we saw and to buy one or two we needed to buy the whole lot. As the line started moving, we realised how long it actually was, by the time we reached the ferry and to the spot, it was 9 am. Don’t panic, we will make it to the railway station, I thought. Once there, I got lost in the beauty, it was marvellous to see all of this and we felt so calm especially after entering the meditation room where we saw a big ‘Om’ in a green light and mild background sound repeating the mantra. We sat in silence for few minutes, I wished we could stay longer but we had to make it to the train. With a heavy heart, we left the place again praying the ferry would be ready to go and thankfully it was, we hopped in with our life jackets and went back the same way we came. Once we landed, we brisk walked our way to the nearest auto station and were dropped to the train station by 9-45 am. Luckily again, there was no line so we bought out tickets and finally sat to rest. Since this was the first destination for the train to start, it was already stationed hence we made our way to look for a sleeper and more importantly the idlis. All settled, we make our way back to Trivandrum for another day of theory and practical, we were still left with how to make dosas, curries and sweets.
The next few days just flew by and my list to shop kept increasing as now I had herbs, herbal coffee and some more gifts to buy. I remember the morning I woke up thinking this is it, my last morning here. Even though our course had concluded, I went to the centre for my last Ayurveda massage (considering I had been a regular by now and thoroughly enjoyed each session), my last meal, my last goodbye’s, last few hugs, smiles and chats. I was ready to go back as I was looking forward to putting all of this into practise, I was ready to cook (really!!) And ready to start my next chapter in life with the new job I signed up for. These past few months have been amazing, living every moment, leaving things for destiny to take care of and believing in the process.
The trip was worth the effort and given the chance, I would definitely return for more as I feel every day you can learn something new and understand life a bit more. Next time I want to visit the Sivananda centre in Kerala as well as I heard it’s worth the visit and stay. Thank you Kerala for having me and sharing with me the knowledge you possess, I stayed at a home and learnt the skills in the kitchen of another home, that’s how personal it was and will always be.
