2 Days short of two weeks, in a nut-shell, this has been my experience thus far...
I arrived in Jamnagar- as small city on the coast of Gujarat and was welcomed by the heat, noise and familiar smells (from my last trip to India- one cannot forget ;-) I caught an Auto-Rig shaw to the Ayurvedic University, International Hostel and welcomed by a VERY DUSTY room... Though my flight was 1hr late- it was also a holiday in Gujarat and therefore the cleaners were no-where to be found!! At this stage I met Dr Geneshwar- who has been here for 8 years and is presently doing his Masters on the Treatment of Diabetes aa well as various Techniques of Abhyangar Massage! FINALLY, when the cleaners did arrive- he instructed them to clean my room, Claire-style! During that time he told me a bit about this place, ordered me a regular “Tifin” of Traditional Gujarat food- rice, dhal, veg and Chapatti... Yumm! and shared his interest for the Art of Living... Immediately, I felt at home :-)
The following day I made my way to the International Office- arriving at 9:15- early in Indian time, as our Registration meeting was only at 10:00!! So, I sat on the Dusty steps and decided to ground my self in this whole experience... As per the “Official” Program we met the Program Officer and the other 8 participants- mostly from Canada and America, as well as the Director on the University, Dr's and Lecturers- that will be teaching and inspiring us over the next three months... We were then presented with our Folders and a posie of fragrant roses!
There were some “housing” problems to sought out- my taps leaked, the toilet did not flush and the overall look of my room was not appealing- though I thought that I could live with the paint chipping off the walls, I won't stick anything on them!! However, I had to bring it to the Officers attention and he gladly offered me the use of another toilet, in a vacant room! I posed the question- if it were vacant, could I not move in there? Certainly, he agreed that would be a better idea! So, I moved into my new room- though this one did not have a Kitchen and was content to eat fruit for breakfast and my “Tifin” twice a day ;-)
Guruji works in mysterious ways and suddenly my Sangha was growing too... Dr Ganeshwar introduce me his friend that attends Satsang and Kriya regularly- Bhavya and I go on a Thursday night & Sunday morning respectively! Roshni- a South African on the Course had moved in next door... She is also a Devotee!! She has a Kitchen in her room, however her Shower does not work... So, we negotiated Shower-times and enjoy Meal-times together (as well as Chai Tea and Hot chocolate)- just like an Ashram experience!
By this stage we were 1 week into our Course- had familiarized ourselves with the University and Hospital- using the free facilities and had a consultation each. It is Government owned and funded and thought they believe that they are not short of money- in our standards, it is very primitive and the place is literally falling down... The Danvandhari Temple is crumbling in Banquet Hall and we have been advised not to go to certain areas! India is a place of contrast and just across the road we have a BIG NEW Convenience store- where we can buy luxuries like chocolate and the most delicious Banana chips, as well as basic supplies like toilet-paper, Ghee, oats and Air-time (when the guy is not on his extended lunch-break ;-)
As for the Course- the Knowledge of AYURVEDA is soo vast- one of our Lecturers likened it to an Elephant- of which most of us have just been exposed to the trunk!! It's VAST all right and we have 5 lectures a day- ranging from Basic Principle, in which the History, Mythology and Science have been discussed, to Dravyaguna- Herbs and Rasashasta- Minerals! I have been “digitalizing” my notes, as the Lecturers come in and quickly present on either Power-Point or in the case of Evolution- on Projector ;-) I have already gone through one Note-book, a pen and counting...
