Farewell Rishikesh – 9 November 2008

I had a good cry for about 5 minutes when I got back to my hotel room last night after Swamiji dropped me off and then it was over. I think that’s a record. I then packed most of my things. I needed to shop for some things before I left town and pick up my laundry. My luggage was full when I arrived and I had already purchased a thick book since then. I wasn’t quite sure if everything was going to fit. One if my anticipated purchases was a coat.

Now, I know I won’t need a coat down South, but I have a suspicion I’m going to take a quick trip north up into the Himalayas before I head to Amritapuri in December. It’s just a hunch at this point, but the coat is unique and I know I will want it in Seattle.

I had my last mala of Gayatri at sunrise this morning on Ganga Ma. When the sun rises through the notch in the ridge, it shatters into a million pieces of multicoloured light. I remembered the first time I saw and felt it and burst into tears. All the people from the first River of Sound tour were there with me in consciousness. Again, the tears subsided quickly.

Once I finished on the ghat, I changed clothes and rinsed off and headed out. I had my last breakfast at Amrita’s right on the ghat and a nice chat with the owner. He’s such a dear. Then I hopped the ferry across the river. I hadn’t even been across the river other than to go to Aarti one night and an Internet café when the power went out on the west side. I did the loop from Ram Jhula to Laxman Jhula, taking the “low road” for the first time. It gave me a good opportunity to take pix of Swamiji’s old kutir site and his new one. I like the new site a lot better, it’s much more private.

My list consisted of comparison shopping for my coat, buying a new crystal mala from the guy who was so patient about explaining rudrakshas to Jennifer and me and looking for another pair of pants with zippered pockets like the green ones I bought during my first stay there. The coat was in a very inconvenient location and I didn’t want to hike there. I got my pants and mala and a really good deal on a calendar of the style I love where the days of the week go top to bottom instead of left to right. I saw one shop that had similar coats, but not close enough, so off I went hiking up to the place and bought the coat. It’s technically outside the city limits, so they can serve eggs and meat up there. I had an omelette there a few mornings ago and felt so naughty!

Checkout time was noon and I was picking my laundry up at 12:05. Good thing people in India aren’t really uptight about things like time. I got the purchases and laundry packed, somehow. Miraculously, it all fit. It’s a lot heavier though, sheesh!

I checked my duffle and headed off to the Internet café with my laptop, looking to make that last purchase of a shirt that was illusive. I got it, too! Didn’t make any progress with purchasing my next tickets, but that is a good thing, as will be discovered later.

My plans were to take the bus to Haridwar for Rs. 30 and stay at an ashram that is dedicated to the Goddess Gayatri and the Gayatri mantra. It’s huge, thousands of people stay and I spoke to a nice man on the phone that said all I had to do was show up and ask for the Foreign Cell. There would be a brief interview and then I would be allowed to stay for 2 days free of charge, including meals.

That, my friends, is the subject of a separate post, so I’ll leave off here by saying I left the Internet café after an hour because a most annoying American woman was in there trying to arrange a private driver to take her to Delhi and Jaipur and was not letting the travel agent finish a sentence. She was going on and ON about Indian taxi drivers being cheats and how she’s a great photographer and she works so hard and she was so oblivious to anyone other than herself. I couldn’t even think with all the racket, so I packed it up and left. Some people are just so abrasive.