Up early for yoga. I went for the last walk of the Pemberley mountain loop with some of the new guests from the Ayurvedic retreat. Right after breakfast, I bid farewell to the other guests. We all became quite connected, as often we met in the sun in our bathrobes, waiting for our treatments. Made a good friend of Mary Brooks, a Californian lady.
We helped each other with navigating daily life at the retreat. It was fun meeting people from Germany, US, UK, Singapore, Indian guests etc. My taxi driver, Jagan waited outside the retreat for me, and drove me down from the mountains to Coimbatore. Driving down hairpins, is a uniquely Indian way, catering to many huge buses , trucks etc. I am quite trusting of regular traffic situations that would shock you.
On the road Jagan stopped so that I could take a pic of this lovely red flowering tree.
Jagan found me a very reasonably priced Coimbatore hotel, that locals would use. As I checked out of the retreat at 9:15 AM I stayed at the Sky Lite hotel for about 6 hours before going to the airport, which was literally five minutes away. I read and relaxed in my room, for a very very reasonable price. I decided to go for a walk for a change as lots of sitting was coming up. The main road was so busy, and I decided to just walk into the residential area close by. I always use my very basic Tamil to greet locals. They all love this when you try to speak their language. I took pics of guys removing broken concrete in small baskets. This is hard work in the heat of Coimbatore, no wonder these guys are not obese. Like most Indians I have met, they all love having their pics taken, and don't want to miss out, so more pics were taken!!
Further along the road I noticed a very garish pink house - see the pic. Standing outside was an elderly guy. I got into conversation with him, and he was ready to chat. We were going by his elderly neighbour who also wanted to chat to a foreigner. I found them really interesting. Both wore dhotis ( long white traditional wrap around ). Both shortened the ankle length wrap to a knee length one. They said both ways to wear the dhoti are cooling. The one guy was 76 and his name means"shining sphere, a religious reference. The guy on the right is Kannon, also a religious name. They told me about their families, who were successfully launched into careers and family. I so enjoyed learning about them, their way of life. Both were relaxed, just standing outside the pink house No evidence of western stress- they were certainly living " in the moment".
Above: Shining sphere on left, Kannon on right, both in dhotis.
I walked back towards the hotel and met an Indian lady in front of a nice home. She told me her daughter lived in Edmonton. So immediately we got talking. She invited me in, and we sat on her verandah. She is a professor of accounting, and most friendly and pleasant. We exchanged emails, and I will contact her daughter in Edmonton. Here is her pic.
Her name is Rajeshwari, and the home is really upscale. She has a servant, whom I met. She brought a pile of pink flowers that she had bought at the market, and was using green thread, and green leaves to make a garland ( mala ).
We talked about lots of facets of Hindu and Indian life. This is one of the great unplanned moments of travel connection that made this holiday so well worth it. People are fascinating. Rajeshwari took me into her home to show me her Hindu shrine. I took a pic ( below) The shrine is in a special place designed into her home.
Then she offered me food: lovely local apple juice, gorgeous local mango, an Indian sweet, and local crunchy biscuits made of dal ( bean protein) and rice, so spicy and healthy. She packed up more for me to take....so generous!1 took a second mango home to eat later at the hotel.
I noticed a very elderly guy, sleeping on a bed on her verandah. He is 87, walks 3 k daily, and is a devoted Hindu. He gave me a blessing. Note that he wears body paint and tickkas. He agreed to be photographed. She said he was abandoned by his children, and she invited him to live on her verandah. He never wears a shirt, except on colder days occasionally. Coimbatore is hot, but she said he won't live in a room as it is too stuffy for him. No blankets are used!! In the pic you can see the frame of the bed next to the car.
Above: making the malas. Very therapeutic making malas. Both men and women make malas.
I took a tuk tuk to the airport, 5 minutes away, but waited over 4 hours. We should have left earlier but there was so much rain in Mumbai, so it caused congestion there, and delayed us.
