week 5 logs

Day 29 may 22 Friday
Virudanagar, Madurai
NH7, NH49
52 kms
Jedi’s cold is full blown, not an allergy – those 2 days of riding in the cold rain. We pack our stuff – need to buy tarps. Whole plan of bypassing the rain has failed, though glad that we managed to hide in the hills most of the summer. post breakfast, we go to class and learn more on how to heal using prana, for diff ailments.– also learn distance healing, self healing and other stuff. Complete the course – still lots to learn and tons to practice, but is a good feeling.
On receiving our certificates, we pack and head out to Madurai for the 3 day advanced pranic healing and psychotherapy course. Once on the highway, we see clear weather and long open highways – after a month of riding in the hills at 30 kmph, a bit strange and unsatisfying to ride on the plains highways at 60-70 kmph. Near Madurai, we spot a huge rain cloud and its raining someplace – not someplace, but north and we are heading right towards it. Here and there, we pass around the rain, but as we enter madurai, its really close. We reach the place and call our contact who manages to guide us to the Center we are staying (for free again) just moments before the rains starts pouring heavily. Spend the evenng with the center head Mr. S. R. Ramesh Babu who is a karate teacher and also a pranic healer. Quite cool – heals both our auras which are congested. – feel lighter immediately. Have dinner.
Ramesh’s son is staying back and Jedi talks to him and finds a bundle of DVDs which he spends till 2 am watching and copying some stuff to watch later. Both ananya and jedi miss the Silence days this week.

Day 30 may 23 Saturday
Madurai
Wake up and do our kriyas and asanas – from june 1 should start all the practices – finishing a month on the road for mataozm – almost 3 for jedi – pongal for breakfast - 1st day of advanced pranic healing – learn to heal with colours – in the evening go shopping for ‘tumbler heater’ with Ramesh Babu, who picks up gift watch for his 10th boards super scorer daughter – watch shopman is attracted to jedi’s aura and on learning his name predicts that he is meant for great things and should become an advocate to help people with his powers of counseling/convincing and giving right advice though without proofs currently.

Day 31 may 24 Sunday
Madurai
Idiyappam breakfast at Bharma Ediyappa – steal seats from a baby – 2nd day of advanced pranic healing – more healing practice for serious illnesses like heart disease and cancer – our teacher Uddya is a clairvoyant - Chettinad and Karaikari dosas dinner – Krishna temple visit to hear Ramesh Babu accompany his musician friends on the tabla

Day 32 may 25 Monday
Madurai
Pranic psychotherapy class – learn of the psychological aspects of the chakras and how to improve relationships between people and help people quit smoking among other things – jedi and ananya are keen to start using their new learning, starting with family – Ramesh Babu gives Jedi a prosperity generator - evening shopping for tyre tube and rubbing alcohol (dirty energy cleaner for pranic healers) – looks like no one wants to sell alcohol to us (think it’s the way Jedi looks) – finally get it at a veterinary medicine shop and it’s called Surgical Spirit – pack to leave the next morning. Unsure whether to go to rameshwaram or kanyakumari. To decide in the morning.

Day 33 may 26 Tuesday
Madurai – Kanyakumari
238 kms
NH7
Leave the GMCKS Pranic Healing Centre in Myna Tippakulam, our home for the last 3 days – visit the Tirumalai Naick Palace which is being restored – far grander than what we imagined from outside, with the fattest pillars ever! – only 1/6th of the original palace remains and is being repainted in brilliant colours little by little – the court, theatre and the harem -

Tirumalai Naick Palace photos on Flickr

next stop Meenakshi Amman Temple – Madurai traffic sticks bumper to bumper – buy plastic sheets to rain proof our luggage – the shopkeeper is from Jodhpur – Jedi does some expert parking under very trying traffic conditions – the gopurams are gigantic and crazy colourful - the temple security think we are terrorists from Bangalore and examine Ananya’s swiss knife and camera, also forbidden to use phone inside – thousand pillared hall – Jedi taken by lady perched on peacock – the statues have boobs like orbs – poster showing visualization of emotions – the ceilings are covered with energy generators –
we sneak into the Shiva Temple that loudly forbids non-Hindus from entering, it’s the most crowded part and stifling hot - Meenakshi Amman’s hall has martian green pillars and murals of her doing cool stuff like flaying a sword or watching a dance performance – this is around the tank with the golden lotus that Shiva told us stories about - the temple elephant goes for a shit and nods his head once done – Jedi says it will take weeks to check out the entire temple complex -

Meenakshi Temple photos on Flickr

we set out for Kanya Kumari – mostly smooth highway so we keep zipping down – at a cool stop encounter a tiny orange super swift half snake half lizard – smog over a cement factory looks very hazardous for the people who work there - Ananya and Jedi are stung by the same insect while riding – she on her left ankle and he on his left hand – see the southern ends of the Western Ghats with fluffy cloud icing, Jedi says ‘it looks like a painting’, add to that cranes flying overhead - nearing the cape, windmills for as far as the eye can see (asia’s first largest windmill farm- must be 1000s ) – in Kanyakumari the first guy who approaches us promises a room with a sunrise view so we take it and the room is very much worth it with church and sea view and all – shoot some sunset panoramas on the non-sunset side – watch last year’s emotionally charged premier league final thinking it is this years – Ananya practices distance healing on her aunt and brother

Day 34 may 27 Wednesday
Kanyakumari
Wake up just in time to shoot sunrise from hotel balcony – inaugurate our tripod – Jedi has fever and chest congestion – Ananya does healing for him and her aunt – Aunt calls to inform to check if ananya had done healing as she is feeling much better – Jedi feels better too so we have brunch and take the ferry ride to Vivekananda Rock – the tri-sea is choppy – pay the usual visits to all the buildings on the rock – speculate on how and why Vivekananda came here and what it must have been like for him - do Shoonya meditation in the dhyana mandapam on the rock– check out book shop – super windy – take photos –
next, ferry to Thiruvalluvar statue – pose for photos on his feet – Jedi does headstand between his feet under extreme windy conditions – try to take panoramas of all 3 waters – ferry back – futile DVD shop search – nap – Jedi’s fever is back full force – watch TV, have dinner – more healing on Jedi. Jedi plays facebook mini prank saying reached rock bottom. Jedi keenly watching Aila path and aftermath. During meditation gets idea to visit neyyar dam ashram to buy yoga dvd – idea which by night becomes 3 day stay plan.

Kanyakumari photos on flickr

Day 35 may 28 Thursday
Kanyakumari – Neyyatinkara - Neyyar Dam
100ish kms
NH47
Another dazzling sunrise and we leave. Head to neyyar dam – weather is holding out – quite nice weather actually – the weather guys said 26th – today’s 28th! Good for us.
Jedi gets road rage – why do people overtake on curves? What is the basis of their angle and speed? Divine vision or too much EA Sports F1 in indestructible mode? Chants om 108 times to cool down. At one spot, a chicken truck has smashed into another truck of unknown cargo – chicken feathers and squishy stuff all over road. Jedi feels sorry for kerala- the entire state is one big city – just people, and traffic. Total urbanization. Also gold crazy – the biggest and most hoardings are for gold shops – josco, alukkas, and joyallukas.
Plan to have brunch in kerala but give up after marthandam traffic and stop to eat at Friends Hotel to celebrate the imaginary story based one-stop-all-shop near kaniyakumari (friends and co). eat brunch and ride on to see that we had stopped 50 metres before the border! Give trivandrum a skip and take neyyantikara route to neyyar dam –
Reach the ashram and check in – the yoga vacation batch is almost over, but it doesn’t matter – meet shreya’s sister who is doing work-study here – attend last moments of cooking workshop and eat seera. attend 4 pm yoga and get ass kicked – supper and satsang and crash. Tomorrow is holiday at ashram so not sure if yoga classes would be there.