Today's the sixth day of the retreat, officially the finally one. I say "officially" because as per the original schedule, tomorrow is travel day with no yoga classes. And sure enough, tomorrow I will be making my way back to Singapore, but given that I would be leaving the hotel only at 1pm, the teacher kindly offered to continue with morning lessons as per normal routine. I was so thrilled! One extra class! That really made me feel a little less blue about the looming end of the retreat.
Both yoga classes today, once again, proved to be challenging but incredibly fulfilling. My favourite part was when, to improve our backward bends during Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose, the teacher asked us to inch closer to a wall and to press our chests and stomachs against it as much as we can - this ensured that we were bent backwards beyond 90 degrees! It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I had no idea my spine could so quickly get to that stage!
I took the whole morning slow - just lounged about in the hotel, packed and read one more book, this time another of R. K. Narayan's work "Sampath, the printer of Malgudi".
After the second yoga class, I set out for my last outing around Rishikesh, not without a heavy heart at the prospect of it being the last one. I went back to Lakshman Jhula and visited a 13 story temple right next to it. This one adorns pretty much all photos of Lakshman Jhula, thanks to its height, beautiful architecture and strategic location right next to the bridge. It had several dieties on each floor, with many of them lined up in a row of shrines from one end to the other. Interestingly enough, in the lower 5-6 floors, it also had a lot of shops interspersed with the shrines that sometimes I would go and pray to one by mistake. Weird. But the top floors were really nice - with single shrines featuring one Shivalinga each and offering some spectacular views of the Ganges below, the lovely bridge across it, the mountains beyond, and several ashrams, temples and shops around. My most favourite part was watching many yogis and yoginis practicing with dedication on the roof tops of the yoga training centres around. I loved it! Again, except for the priest, I was the only one around. I guess few people want to venture up 12 flights of stairs, when there are plenty of other temples at ground level all around. I took the opportunity to sit and meditate in that perfect atmosphere.
Afterwards, I went back to the row of Tibetan shops we had come across yesterday. I wanted to explore them a bit further because I was so fascinated by all the unique stuff they had to offer. I walked into one shop run by a darling little lady called Dolma. She explained to me what the designs on some of the things meant, and I picked up a pendant that was designed in one of the eight holy Tibetan signs and conveyed "Never Ending / Infinite Love" and one that looked like a prayer wheel with a Tibetan chant on it wishing "Never Ending Happiness". I loved them both! I also caught her humming a beautiful melody as I was looking through her wares, and later when I asked her to sing it again for me, she was so shy and insisted to do so only with the accompaniment of the original song on her phone. The song she was singing was Nepalese, but she had no idea what it meant. She told me that they spend 8 months in Rishikesh every year but when it gets too hot, she goes to Bhutan. There was something so sweet and charming about here... I really had a great time talking to her!
By the time I was done shopping, it was already dark, so I made my way back to the hotel. But not before I picked up a few more books from that lovely little book shop. I bought more of R. K. Narayan and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and felt really good about it.
Even though it was dark, I made my way back to the hotel very, very slowly because I didn't want the walk to end. But all good things have to come to an end, so I just got myself to enjoy every bit of that last walk around.
One more yoga class tomorrow and then it is time to say goodbye to this wonderful, wonderful place!
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