Coming (to another) 'Home'

In India I am in a perpetual state of yoga. Even as I sit scrunched on a public bus with audio blasting a ridiculous Bollywood film (that I don’t understand anyway) I am overwhelmed with love. It’s unlike any feeling I experience anywhere else in the world.  I know I’m so different from these people and yet, I feel such unity with them. That’s yoga!

We smile to each other often, and also often, we exchange words.  “What country are you from?” “What is your good name?” Sometimes our only conversation is transmitted through our facial expression or a simple smile that says “Hello. Nice to see you.” At times a gentle touch on the shoulder or the forearm says “So nice to meet you.”  Connecting is easy here like at the end of a Yoga practise when we clasp our hands together at our hearts, nod to each other, and say, “Namaste”.

When we came to India this year it was our intention to wrap up loose ends, say a longer good-bye to good friends and plan to not return for a while. Within hours of our arrival I realize that this might not happen. Life is good here. It is truly a place where I belong. Here there is a sense of ‘home’ for me.

“Will you live here in India?” asks a man standing in front of me in a bus line. “No.” is my immediate reply. “My children live in Canada.” But not living here doesn’t prevent me from feeling at home. Each time I come I understand just a little bit more.

I feel so privileged. People often stop to talk to me. I am an oddity as I wander the streets. I don’t feel gawked at. I feel embraced. Not a curiosity, but a visitor. Big smiles beckon me as I wait outside the government building for my friend who has business to take care of inside. Young girls on lunch break from school want to talk. They wave from far away. I wave back in a typical ‘open-close’ style forgetting that in India this means “come here”. They do. With big smiles and eager energy they come to talk. “Do you like our country?” they ask as our conversation begins. They too feel welcome! It is a mutual pleasure.

 We fly directly from Bangkok to Bangalore. The 3½ hour flight landed us earlier than we had expected. Our ride from the airport waits for us to drive the 1½ hours to the Gurukula. We’ve stayed here many times with our close friends Maa and her daughters and extended families. The Gurukula is very basic living with its main objective being to teach the lessons of Guru Narayana and his continuing lineage. The grounds are lush with growth of plants and trees and flowers. Pathways from place to place are cleared daily because, as Maa says “you need to clear your path so you can find your way”. On 10 acres of land, we are never far from the communal kitchen or the dormitory style rooms or the yoga platform or the shower and toilet, the library or the meditation shrine. 

The real activity usually centres around the communal kitchen. Cooking, drinking coffee and tea, laughing, talking, singing, that is where people gather. People come and go. Some stay for long periods of time. Some come for a meal. Friends often use the property for workshops and retreats. Maa, Manju and Henry provide the cooking. Everyone who comes here is considered family.

Maa is an amazing woman who has cared for the Gurukula these past 40 years. Here she raised four children who are married and living lives in the cities, except for Manju, her youngest, and her husband Henry who have recently returned to live here and help. There are 5 cows, 15 cats, 8 dogs, 20 rabbits, people coming and going, gardens, and land that requires work. There is cooking and teaching and building administration and general upkeep of life.

We feel like family here. I have become very close with Maa over the years. She and I, we joke are ‘the same, same, but different’. She is the Indian version of me. I am the Canadian of her. We have wonderful times together, mostly working on the property, cooking good food, taking trips into town, and doing whatever has to be done. Work is hard and gratifying, and, often we get to stop and rest, engaging in serious or playful conversations. Being with Maa is simple and exactly what my heart needs right now.

 

Regular yoga, simple meditation, hanging around with visitors, playing music and cooking and eating food are highlights! Here is my Indian family and I love it!