Happy Birthday Leita!!!

Today is Leita’s birthday! It was

one of those days when periodically, I would say “Whooeee!! Life is

amazing!” I saw things today that I have never seen in my whole life and had experiences that are completely new and special and powerful.

We rented motorbikes to give us flexibility to go without having to hold back! I must admit I was a bit nervous in the beginning. I suggested to Leita that perhaps she would rather sit on the back of Paul’s bike instead of mine. I told her what our children used to say about my motorcycling riding. “No thanks, mom. Not until you

learn to stay off the sidewalks.” This is India though….come on!

The exhilaration I feel while riding a motorcycle with no one on the back makes me sing loudly. I do just that as I ride through the narrow roads of Hampi. As I pass people along the way, it is easy to smile broadly and shout, “Namaste”. I am reminded about my friend Margot calling me one day many years ago. She drove past me as I was jogging up a steep hill at Finch and Dufferin in Toronto. “You had the greatest smile on your face.” She said.”You look so happy when you’re running.” I am happy when I’m moving through space like that!

Our first stop on the bikes was the Hanuman Temple… The Monkey Temple named in honour of the Monkey God, a God of power.

We parked our bikes and trekked to the top of the mountain. The temple was beautiful in it’s simplicity and natural design. The views as we walked up were ‘breathtaki

ng’….literally, at times, causing me to gasp. Rice paddies, neatly organized in the fields, shared with small ponds and intermittent squares of soil. Occasionally a a building emerged, remnants from an old temple or a simple monument of ancient civilization.

The Indian people we met along the way greeted us with “Jhi Siri Ram”, a greeting that honours the name of a Hindu diety. Monkeys played all along the way. We bought bananas to attract their attention and to feed them. I spent quite a bit of time conversing with a whole family, taking pictures and talking to them all.

The motorcycle provided me with a way to interact with some of the village residents. One woman, walking along the path accepted a ride from me. As she climbed on to the back of the motorcycle, she asked gently, “Gentle?” I answered, “Sure, gentle. Come on. Let’s go! Whooeeee! I couldn’t believe how long she would have walked had I not picked her up. I was happy that she got home to her family way earlier than they expected to see her! And she was so much less exhausted than she would have been.

Another rider brave enough to get on the back of my bike was a young boy of about 8 years old. He accepted a ride from one ‘camp’ to the next. I was a bit worried that he was going somewhere that he shouldn’t be going. I kept asking him, “Where’s your mother? Is she there?” as I pointed back. “Or there?”, looking forward.

“There”, he assured me, with his finger pointing right past my shoulder. I was relieved when he asked me to drop him off. I made sure his mother was there before I rode on.

Our next stop was a visit with Kalli. Kalli is an old looking man living in one of the villages on our route. Leita said that she had stopped at his hut last year for tea. We were thrilled to be invited in. It is truly a hovel into which we were welcomed. We sat on the floor as we smoked bibbis (very small, thin cigarettes) and eating sweets that he had baked himself. We talked about the chanting necklaces he made from local kamal flower seeds. Each of us got a chanting necklace as we rode away on our motorcycles. “Om Na Ma La Shivayes” is a chant that I have heard many times in my Yoga practise. Now I have a personal, very dear experience

to relate to. Kalli is 50 years old. He is wise and only looks old.Our adventures then took us to the lake. We parked our bikes and made our way up. There we found a crowd of people on the top of the cliffs. People were jumping off the rocks into the lake, an approximate 8 meter jump. The waters looked beautiful. The challenge was tempting. I remembered Josh’s favourite place in the whole world, a River in Nanaimo where he takes us. There we fearlessly jump off cliffs (about 5 meters high).

I felt confident as I talked to the young people who were gathered around. I knew I could do this. Molly, a young woman part of the party hanging out wasn’t so sure. I was happy to spend some time convincing her how possible it would be…how gratifying. We agreed that I would go first.

I remember that breathing is everything. Just like when I used to go on the roller coasters with my children. “Breathe!” I would remind myself. “Breath deep.” I breathed…. and jumped! And once in the waters, I was there cheering as Molly did the same.

Sunset was phenomenal. Someone was playing a hammer dulcimer in the background. We watched from the temple as the sun, orange in it’s splendour, descended behind the temple mountain. Steven Spielberg would have been inspired! The brown and green background of the scene was highlighted by a bright orange-pink sun falling behind it’s vista.

Several times during the day I said, “I never want to leave India”. Hampi is a very trippy place. The day was completely magical! Happy Birthday Leita!