Joy in Samosas

Fried wheat and potatoes. Yum. I’m totally addicted to the samosas available at the small shop all too conveniently located around the corner from the house. I told myself that I would resist, that I know once I eat the wheat it generally means instant nap and that I was going to maintain my healthy vegetable diet with an emphasis on greens while I was here. That was, of course, before the Vita clay broke. A lame excuse for weakness in willpower. Absolutely. I tell you: those samosas never tasted better! Except for perhaps the potato wadas that I’ve become equally addicted to as part of my morning traveling ritual. I’m still waking up at 4am, which since I go to bed generally around 9pm, is not at all surprising. I practice my pranayama, write and then post this blog while surfing the internet in the dark garden. Then, if I decide it’s a travel breakfast, I catch a rickshaw to NCR Restaurant where my English speaking friend Nash works at his family restaurant in wee hours of the morning. I’ve discovered that the potato wadas, which are surely choked full of garlic, onions and chile, are ready at 7am, combined with my two boiled eggs, and hot lemon water, it’s a delicious breakfast albeit a long cry from the simmered fruit in the Vita clay machine that I had been making in the States and was planning on continuing while here. At least, I’ve kept the sugar to a minimum, no small feat in the land of chai and tempting sweets.


The morning class seemed remarkably small. The Iyengars are out of town and it would appear that several of the students followed suite. Today’s sequence from one of the Indian ladies (I don’t know her name), as best as I can remember it: Adho Mukha Swaistikasana, Down Dog, Uttanasana, Utthita Trikonasana, Virabhadrasana 2, Utthita Parsvokanasana, Ardha Chandrasana, Virabhadrasana 1, Virabhadrasana 3 (hands on floor), Prasarita Padottanasana, Sirsasana, Eka Pada Sirsasana to Urdhva Dandasana to Sirsasana in quick succession, Sarvangasana, Eka Pada to Halasana to Sarvangasana in quick succession, Viparita Karani or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (your choice).

My new friend Nash picked me up on his moped after the afternoon practice session. We went to my place where he kindly gave me a Photography 101 lesson so that I might figure out how to use my new camera. He was a successful professional photographer in the US for 10 years, before deciding to return to India where he now helps manage his family’s restaurant and is busy developing new and innovative ideas in Aquariums. Life certainly has its twists. Why did he come back to India? The isolation and the loneliness. Though it’s taken him nearly three years to readjust to India, he has many friends and family members here---a non-stop social calendar that he can participate in as much as he likes.

It would seem a common commentary on living in the United States. While we have incredible wealth compared to other places around the world, many of us in the United States suffer from this sense of isolation and loneliness. According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, all sources of malcontent come from “avidya” or lack of knowledge of God or the Cosmos or the Universal Energy or whatever you care to call it. We forget that we are part of this wonderful, pulsating energy that makes us a part of the magic of everything. We forget to tap into those subtle aspects of energy. We forget that when we open ourselves to positivity and light that it can come into our lives more fully. When we say to the Universe, “Yo I’m ready for change. I’m ready for a fulfilled, happy life. I’m ready to partake in life to its fullest. I’m ready for love”, then all of that can come to us. If I have moments of isolation and loneliness, can I change the way that I perceive this feeling. Stuart Wilde writes “the act of defining life limits your perception of it.” What a beautiful concept. Why box ourselves in? We are infinite, beautiful creatures—and if we can simply remember that, well then, life improves.

Remember when you attended your first yoga class and it felt like you couldn’t do anything that the teacher was asking you to do. With perseverance, determination and practice, slowly the yoga poses and the breath became easier to manage. The same can be said of our attitude towards life. Today I feel isolated and lonely. Can I practice feeling infinite and beautiful instead? Can I feel blessed to be alive and happy for all of the wonderful people and experiences in my life? Then ring up a friend for lunch or for a hike someplace beautiful and share your joy.

Check out my first youtube photo gallery!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs3EUD-vUUo