After yet another challenging yet refreshing yoga class in the morning, followed by a shower and breakfast, I set out on my first expedition out of Rishikesh - to the Vasishtha cave. The hotel had arranged for a cab to take me there and I loved the drive that was along the Ganges throughout. Every turn in the road offered more and more picturesque views of the mountains and the river cutting through it in a gorge below. The weather was perfect too - the skies were clouded, hiding away the strong sun, and there was a slight drizzle that brought down the temperature significantly.
I also enjoyed reading the various signboards warning against overspeeding of vehicles. There were the usual "Speed thrills but kills" ones, to more innovative "Licence to drive, not fly", to some stuff which I totally didn't get like "I am the mountain serpent (pahadi nagin), be careful with me"?!, to my most favourite one - the very straightforward, the no-nonsense "No need to speed". OK then.
In a way, I didn't want the drive to end but when it did, I was pleased that it was in a remote area with pretty much zero other tourists. I had expected the Vasishtha cave - an auspicious cave which is believed to have been where Sage Vaishtha meditated thousands of years ago - to be crowded. But when the car stopped at the entrance to the ashram which housed the cave, I saw no one else around.
From the main entrance where the car was parked, it was a steep walk downhill, made harder by the rain that persisted. Thankfully the hotel manager had thrusted an umbrella into my hands just as I was about to get into the cab, and even though many of its wires were broken and it looked like some modern artistic sculpture with no identifiable shape, it did help to keep me dry as I walked down.
There was the ashram on one side and a really tiny temple in front, which I realized was the entrance to the cave. I took off my shoes and stepped into pitch darkness. I had been informed that it is about 30 feet deep, so I walked in trying to make my way in the darkness, and was a bit startled when I realized there were fellow humans popping up along the walls of the cave. As my eyes adjusted a bit better to the darkness, I saw about 6-7 people sitting on either sides of the cave meditating. The cave ended in a tiny shrine with a shiva linga. With the help of the little lamp in front of the linga, I found an empty spot on the floor in between a friendly Indian lady who smiled at me and a totally unfriendly Indian uncle who looks terrible annoyed with me.
I sat down on that spot and meditated for a while. The only thing that seemed to break the pin drop of silence of that holy atmosphere was the sound of breathing of the few of us in there. It was just the perfect set up for meditation and I made good use of it. At one point in time, the priest of the temple came by, stood outside the cave but facing in, sang a beautiful prayer and did the puja and walked away. That was a very different experience - usually they are always turned away from you, looking towards the deity as they do the prayers. This was the first time I got to be in that zone between the priest and the deity with the chanting and the glow from the fires of the arati flying by right across me. Wonderful experience!
Once I had my fill of meditation and silent mantra chanting, I walked out and noticed that there was a path from that cave that led to the Ganga just a little distance. So I walked down to the river and just as I stepped outside the compound of the ashram, I was blown away by the beauty around! There was the might Ganga roaring away right in front with a beautiful sandy beach that leads up to it and magnificent hills forming the backdrop. It was continuing to drizzle, but it was my first time at such close quarters with the river - till now I have only been looking at from a distant height - so I took off my shoes and stepped into its chilly waters, cupped a handful of the water considered holy and sprinkled it on my head and for a very long time, just stood there taking in the beauty. The best part was that I was the only there - no fellow camera wielding tourists or pilgrims around. It was just me, the Ganga and the mountains!
After I got back to the hotel, I stepped out again immediately, this time to the market near Lakshman Jhula. I had noticed a few shops with in house tailors and I used the opportunity to get a few pants that were on sale to be re-stitched the way I want them . They were only too happy to oblige and didn't even charge me anything extra! As I waited for the tailors to do their job, I decided to have lunch at the "German Bakery & Cafe". This place is perched on the second floor of a building right next to the lakshman jhula with possible the best view in the area and every time I wanted to go there, it seemed to be over crowded. But this time I was lucky and I got myself a nice "window seat" and read my book as I had my fill of "Chilli Paneer" and Masala Chai. The chai was great and the food was average, but the view was spectacular and the constant din created by the monkeys that played around on the tin sheets right above, added to the experience!
I was exhausted by the time I got back - the yoga followed by the walk up and down to the cave and then again the walk up and down to market really tired me out, and I took a nap before the second yoga class for the day. The second class ended up being a private one for just me, because my two fellow yoginis got caught up somewhere else and couldn't get back on time. I enjoyed the class (as always!) and treated myself to a glass of sweet fresh lime soda and my book right after.
I took the rest of the evening easy - just reading, catching up with the hubby, parents, in laws, film crew etc. via whatsapp and generally giving my sore muscles some rest. I managed to finish my Vikramaditya book which I quite enjoyed (even though I have to say that I am rather annoyed with this nonsense trilogy trend - hate a story being incomplete in one book!) and started on my Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni book, which also looks promising so far!
Thus, yet another day in Rishikesh came to an end and am already at the half way point of this retreat, the thought of which is kinda heartbreaking. The good news is that this place has been shortlisted to be in my "retirement location" options. I have had the good fortune of travelling quite a bit around the world but I think this combination works best for me so far - it is in India and hence affordable, I like the weather so far (even though I need to come back in winter and see how it would be like) and with the thousands of yoga training centres, ashrams and temples there is much to do for a retiree. It is interesting because I had been strangely drawn to Rishikesh even in my first very short visit here, about 20 years ago. We had come on a day's trip from Delhi and covered Rishikesh, Haridwar, Agra and Vrindavan. And Rishikesh was the only place I wanted to go back to. Haridwar is only 27kms from here and I could go there if I wanted to, but I really have no inclination.
So yes, there is something that connects me to this place and I want to come back again, but for now I am happy that I got this opportunity to be right here, right now.
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