Arriving at the Ashram

My arrival at the ashram wasn't what I'd quite hoped for - I had hoped to float through the front gates on a cloud of spirituality and half expected the receptionist to comment on my calm and serine disposition. Sadly a rather cheeky little rickshaw driver put paid to that idea. Rather than pulling up outside the front gates in a bubble of tranquility I actually arrived arguing with the rickshaw driver as he tried to double the previous agreed fare. Although I stuck firmly to the agreed price it meant the heated haggle left me red faced and irritated...and they say spirituality is hard - bet Gandhi didn't have this problem...but I suppose he would have walked anyway...

Now, I'd never been to an ashram until this very moment in time. I didn't have an expectation as such but one of the first things I noticed was the way everyone who works at the ashram greets you - Om Namay Shivaya which is the mantra of Lord Siva (don't you know). 'Om' (the first universal sound) on its own was also massively overused as was Om Namay Shivaya : 'OM can you pass me the pen, OM please be quiet, OM the loos are over there...' or to soften a request which on its own would definitely come across as terse 'Om Namay Shivaya can you move out of the way, Om Namay Shivaya only take one piece of fruit so there's enough for everyone, Om Namay Shivaya can everyone listen to my instructions carefully in the class'...you get the picture.

That said I nearly yelped with glee when I walked past a fellow ashramite as he put his hands in prayer position and said 'OM'. THEN he put his right had up to his heart, cupped his hand and offered it to me (a sign of love/peace)....I nearly wet myself with excitement as this clearly meant I looked like I belonged (arrival outfit was carefully thought out). Immediately wished I had 'fam-cam or mate-cam' so my friends/family could see some of the sights I was witnessing - sheer and utter quality!

Next stop was the dormitory - I was sharing with 32 other women. The dorm was divided up into four sections which slept eight, which was subdivided (by a shoulder high wall) into a cell which slept two. Naturally I a bit dubious about the whole dorm situ. I like my personal space so thought of sharing not only my space but showers, loos etc was pretty unappealing. Still I assured myself it was all part of the experience and besides I didn't have a choice - apart from leaving!

I needn't have worried - in fact I couldn't have asked for a better 'cell mate' and I knew immediately we were going to get on when she introduced herself to me, then hesitated and confessed it wasn't actually her real name. She'd recently decided to change it, the ashram was her new names first outing - and was trying her new name on for size so to speak (I agreed that I wouldn't mention her name on my blog ;-0). I asked if it felt a bit strange - my only point of reference to this conversation was the time I changed my name to Madonna but it only lasted for a morning due to public humiliation at school. She admitted the unease caused her to bottle out of introducing herself using her new name, to some people. Only she couldn't remember which name she'd used to which person and was acutely aware that some people were calling her by her new name, some by her old and she wasn't always responding to them so suspected they might think she had a hearing problem. Brilliant!

But that's not all - having two names was just the tip of the ice berg - after a while the conversation naturally turned to yoga and the usual 'how long have you been practicing for, what other types of yoga have you done' that sort of thing. Anyway, there I was thinking 'oh this is all very nice' you know an easy chat about the course blah blah when flippin 'two names' drops it into the conversation that she orgasms when she does leg lifts! Some people have all the luck.