Beauty and Toilets

Feb18
After last nights intense walk, most of the group is feeling a bit worked as we arrive on our yoga mats at 7:30am. It doesn't take Desiree long to get us deep into the body, guiding us skillfully to open up for big fun energetic backbends. How quickly the contrast occurs! Although seemingly a big challenge for how we feel at the start, it is THE perfect thing to get us in the right frame of body for a very long day of travel.
Today is the midway point of the trip. The day we travel from South India to the North. Five people have left to go home and tomorrow we gain eight new members to the group.
The drive from Tiruvannamali to Chennai is four hours. On the road we stop at a gas station to use the restroom. The good news is that there is a choice between a squat toilet (the hole in the floor--which I have had to use once on the trip so far) and a commode toilet. Our guide recommends I use the commode as it is much nicer. Let me backtrack to the fact the standard of clean in Indian public toilet is far different from what I am used to and that in most Indian toilets there is no toilet paper. For this I am prepared. Public toilets anywhere can be rough. And I have deffo encountered some doozies here. Bavk to the gas station stop. A fact of life is, despite the condition of the facility, when you gotta go, you really have no choice but to 'go with gratitude'. What amazes me is I see Esther, our guide, emerge elegantly and smiling from the humble squat toilet, mind you dressed in full gorgeous silk sari. She wasn't all crinkle face, running desperately out of the stall, holding her nose complaining of the nastiness. Just another example of the lotus rising from the mud. A little bit later out of the window of the bus i saw a dirt hauling truck painted with beautiful vibrant images of birds and pretty flowers. Another theme of India... beauty in the dirt. Living harmoniously side by side. India doesn't pretend to be perfect. What you see is what you get. India does not hide her dark side. India embraces the stark contrast of it all seemingly with no shame. Not that I want to downgrade my toilet standards, but this is a great lesson to take home.
We have just landed in Delhi, supposedly one of the dirtiest places of all - where the lesson is sure to be of help. More to come from the North...



- YogiPod posting from India using iPhone

Location:India