Saying goodbye to Pune - Land of Ganesa and Musaka!

As I pack my bags and ready for the 4 hour car ride to the airport, the time has come to say good-bye to India - at least for the next 6-8 months. Pune and the surrounding area is the part of India in which there are hundreds of thousands of Ganesa devotees and it is where Ganesa took birth. As a result, just about every street corner has a Ganesa temple or statute. And where there is Ganesa, you will always find Musaka - his mouse companion. Above is a statute of Musaka guarding the famous Ganesa temple in Pune. As people hurry home at night, they always time just a few minutes to stop and place their forehead on the back of Musaka, asking him to please deliver their prayers and wishes to beloved Ganesa.

Heartbeat

Last weekend a traditional Indian band from New Jersey performed in Pune. Over 3,000 people attended including our group.

Oh no, not krumis (parasites)!!!!!!!!!!!

Surprise, surprise - we all ended up with krumis (parasites)!! One day while at the farm house, we each took turns listening to each other's krumis through a stereoscope - talk about gross!!!!!

Two students relax over a chia break (picture to the right)

Ayurvedic Pune Class 2008

We finally managed to get a group picture of Dr. Lad (first row, second from left) and the students in his program. Ok, can anyone find me? First one to email with accurate identification - two free round trip tickets to the destination of your choice anywhere in the world :))

Ayurvedic Clinic in Pune

In the first Blog update sent 4 weeks ago, I shared many pictures of the Farmhouse where we go every Tuesday and Thursday. But on Monday and Wednesday's we attend Dr. Lad's free clinic here in Pune. To the left, students are signing in before going into the lecture room. Below is a very old, dirty and modest sign that hangs outside the Pune Clinic's door.

So this is what happens to my leftover food.....

To the left is a picture of Orna, a friend from England, and myself.

I must admit that I am a bit tried of eating Indian food and long for guacamole/chips/margaritas ...... Well, at least it is good to know that my leftover food is being enjoyed by the cows at the Farmhouse

Drinking sugarcane juice at a local market

To the right, we are taking a short break along the way to the Farmhouse to get a cup of sugarcane juice.

Below is a typical vegetable/fruit sidewalk stall in downtown Pune.

Sunday Brunch at the Taj in Pune

It didn't take us long after arriving in Pune to stake out a couple 5-star hotels for Sunday brunch! Needless to say, we have had to fore go such luxury since the Taj terrorists attacks occurred in Mumbia.

Dr. Lad - a palmist in disquise!

We all know that Dr. Lad is a very good Vedic astrologer, but we had no idea that he is also an excellent palmist!! Below Dr. Lad is reading Orna's (a student from England) palm. I'd say from the smile on her face that she is very happy with Dr. Lad's reading :))

Arkashala Herbal Plant

While in Pune, Dr. Lad took us to Arkashala - an herbal manufacturing plant about 3 hours outside of Pune. Arkashala is owned and managed by a high school friend of Dr. Lad's. Below, students gather in a meeting hall to be welcomed by the owner of Arkashala where we were also served lunch and chia. To the right, we are hearing about how various herbs are made at the Phamachy.

Arkashala Manufacturing Plant

The two women below are manually inspecting bottles of pills. Although there are a few modern machines involved in the process, it was surprising to see how much is still performed manually. The picture on the right are barrels of wine - well, herbal wines called Aristas. The fermentation of the herbs allows the herbs to immediately penetrate the blood stream. Aristas are often used if a person has nausea or is vomiting - in this way, their body will absorb the concoction even if they end up vomiting after taking the medicine. Lovely thought, isn't it :))

Preparation of Ayurvedic Bhasmas at Purva Nirmiti

At another pharmacy we were able to observe several of the processes involved in making bhasmas. Bhasmas are various minerals and gems that have been ground, baked, filtered through cow's urine - and well, about 100 other processes to make sure that the mineral is fine enough to be absorbed by the body. Bhasmas of emerald, gold, silver are a few of the more popular ones here in India.

The process includes putting the ground mineral in clay pots wrapped with a special type of cloth and covered with a very specific type of mud, then covered with cow dung and baked in open ovens.

Students listening to Dr. Godbole

The owner of Purva Nirmiti, Dr. Godbole, gives a brief talk on how bhasmas are made. You will notice that most of the students are in long-sleeve tops or sweaters - winter has began to set in here in Pune. A very welcomed change from the heat we've had here the last four week.

Dr. Lad's Farmhouse - Free Clinic

After about 18 days of travel through Northern India, we have finally made our way to our final destination - Pune. Here in Pune Mari and I, along with 15 other students, will study Ayurveda under Dr. Lad. The program consists of several hours of lecture each day along with 3 hours of clinical observation. On Monday's and Wednesdays, the clinical observation takes place in the city of Pune at Dr. Lad's free clinic. On Tuesday and Thursday, we take a bus a couple of hours outside of Pune to the quite and serene countryside where Dr. Lad opens his country farmhouse to the local village people. Below (bottom picture) is a picture of a few students walking down the tree-lined dirt road leading to Dr. Lad's home. And the top picture is of his lovely Farm House.

Students taking the Pulse

Ayurveda practices the ancient art of pulse reading - determining the health and ill-health of a person through the quality of the pulse. At the clinic, Dr. Lad encourages all of us to practice pulse diagnosis through taking the pulse of the patients that come to him. Below is a picture of two students taking the pulse of a local village woman. The other is a picture of Dr. Lad examining a patient that has come for treatment.

Patients from the local villages

Below are a couple of pictures of Dr. Lad treating some children who have come to his farm house. Many children show up alone, without their parents. The girl has bought her younger brother who has an ear and skin infection - she came alone. The other picture is a young boy who has parasites.

Our "Pharmacy" at the Farmhouse

As Dr. Lad's farmhouse if quite a ways away from the nearest pharmacy, he keeps over 100 different Ayurvedic herbs and preparations at the house to dispense to his patients. The students are responsible for keeping the pharmacy stocked and we take turns managing the pharmacy and filling prescriptions for the patients. It's a great way to get more familiar with the herbs!!

Lectures at the Farm House

The mornings at the Farm House is lecture time until Noon. Below is a picture off Dr. Lad lecturing (well, really discussing) Ayurveda and the other picture is of some of the students taking notes and learning Ayurveda.

Lunch at the Farm House

Ah, yes, and everyone's favorite time of day - LUNCH TIME :))

Rishikesh & Haridwal

From Leh, we headed south to Rishikesh and Haridwal - two very sacred towns which are about 8 hours from New Delhi. We arrived on Diwail - the Festival of Lights celebration in which Lakshmi is honored. We attended the arti (evening song and puja to the setting Sun) in honor of Diwail where many fireworks were lit through the evening and night!!

When we arrived in Rishikesh, we were told that our hotel has along the bank of the Ganga! After winding our way down a very narrow, curvy road, we then walked down a stairway of over 100 steps leading to our room. To our surprise and delight, our room was within feet of Ma Ganga! Every morning we would wake to see and hear the great Ganga - truly a highlight of our trip.

Oh, and right next door to our corner room was the small shack of a family of 5. Such a contrast - but so nice to see them going about their day washing in the river, cooking outside their tent, playing along the banks of the river.

Haridwal

Haridwal is about a 60 minute car ride from Rishikesh and also enjoys being on the banks of the Ganga.

One night I went over with our driver to walk the many streets and to see the evening arti. It brought back happy memories of being here 3 years ago with my niece Lori and both of us taking a bath in the holy Ganga.

Protraits of the People of Rishikesh and Haridwal

The Markets of Rishikesh and Haridwal

Welcome to Leh

Leh sits at an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountain peaks. We flew into Leh very early in the morning and could see for miles the snow capped mountains. Leh is known not only for its amazing mountains which draws thousands of trekkers each year, but also for its Buddhist monasteries.

Although we only had time to visit 5-6, there are over 200 monasteries in this region.

LEH

Leh, a mostly Tibetan village, lies on the northwest corner of India bordering Pakistan and Tibet. Early one morning we visited one of the Tibetan monasteries and joined in the daily prayer session which begins with the blowing of horns on the roof top of the monastery. Then all the monks, young and old, gather for an hour of chanting and prayer.

Street Markets

Every day we would spend a couple of hours just roaming the streets of Leh, enjoying the local sidewalk markets. The Tibetan woman would set up their daily produce of potatoes, carrots, onions, nuts and fruits.

In the winter, the potatoes are buried 2 feet underground and then retrived once the soil unfreezes in the Spring.