Whilst in India I have learnt 3 valuable new skills:
1) The art of yoga (and the ability to get myself into some quite uncomfortable positions)
2) Enough Tamil to utter random words on occasion much to the delight of the locals.
3) How to eat copious amounts of rich, stodgy, spicy food.
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| Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!! |
Ok, so number 3 isn’t technically a new skill, however I think my eating capabilities have reached new heights here! Any thoughts of losing weight in India were long forgotten when I was introduced to such South Indian specialties as idlis (small, round fermented rice cakes), dosas (crepe/pancake made from rice batter), parotas (round, flaky, layered bread), pani puri (balls of dough which puff up when cooked in oil - Indian fast food!), sambar (staple sauce usually made with lentils and vegetables) and chutneys of varying flavours (eg coconut, red chilli, mango etc) to mention but a few! All of course washed down with an obligatory bottle of the local brew, Kingfisher! Meals are usually served on banana leaves which makes washing up a little easier!
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| Chilling at the beach |
In a rather futile attempt to prevent the adverse effects of new skill number 3 and due to the weather being too hot to do anything more energetic I have been taking daily yoga classes for the last couple of months. It’s rather unbelievable to imagine that the girl who dreaded school sports day has voluntarily been exercising on a daily basis but I’ve actually quite enjoyed it (except when my teacher decides to push my limbs in ways that they really shouldn’t bend!). I‘ve learnt many different “asanas” or postures and noticed a definite improvement as I even managed “the Bridge” on Monday which I’ve been struggling to do for weeks! I even tried doing my class at 6am, however those of you who have been unfortunate enough to encounter me in the morning will not be surprised to hear that that didn’t last long (particularly as I actually fell asleep during one class and was late for work).
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| Meeting the locals at the park! |
After work, I have also been taking daily Tamil classes in an attempt to learn a bit about the culture and language. Learning a few essential words has helped me to communicate a little with the girls in the Bistro and the paper unit, as well as identify some of the comments shouted as I pass through town on my bicycle! The locals seem to appreciate it when I try to say a few words and my accent appears to greatly amuse people! I struggle a bit with the pronunciation as I tried to ask someone if they wanted some water (tanni) the other day and they looked at me quizzically since they thought I was asking if they wanted to be alone (tani)!
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| Dance performance |
In what remains of my free time when I’m not practising yoga, working at Sharana or attending my Tamil class, I have visited the hotspots of Pondy including the beach front promenade and Gandi statue, the botanical gardens and the government park (where I got mobbed by a gang of schoolgirls demanding to know every detail from my mother’s name to which shampoo I use – think it’s the closest I’m going to feel to being a celebrity!). I’ve spent a day at the beach, been to the cinema to see a couple of Tamil movies (I’m not quite good enough to understand the dialogue yet but the experience was great fun as everybody cheered and sang along to the songs!), attended two weddings (where I think I was the only white person which appeared to attract quite a lot of attention!), and been to watch a traditional Indian dance performance.
None of the above, of course, excuses the lack of blogging (sorry Katie!) ; )
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