Retreat to Rishikesh

The rest of last week moved pretty slowly. Monday, we met with Vimala to plan and finish writing our facilities survey, I stayed home on Tuesday, recovering from a cold, and Wednesday we finished up our interviews with the RMPs (Residential Medical Practitioners – those “local doctors” that everyone goes to, who are really just playing doctor, but without whom there would be nothing, so who can complain?). With our next steps being contingent upon other people’s schedules, there wasn’t really anything left for us to do. And there was a 5:30 train Thursday morning to Rishikesh…so, we took it.

It was an adventure, as any impromptu getaway should be (we literally decided to go at 11:30 Wednesday night…5 hours before we had to leave). After guiltily waking up Prem to get the taxi driver’s phone number and tell him we were leaving, we threw our stuff together, slept two hours, and headed to the train station without actually knowing if we would be able to get on the train. We had been right in the middle of booking our tickets on the slowest, earliest train (the only one still available) when the India Railway website closed down for the night. But we figured if we couldn’t book tickets, neither could anyone else, so we’d just show up at the station booking office in the morning and hope for the best. It turned out just fine, and seven hours later, we arrived in Haridwar – “the Gates of God,” where the foothills of the Himalayas meet the great and holy River Ganges.

After an impressively inconvenient and confusing process of booking our tickets back to Delhi (an hour of being jockeyed from line to line for this form and that, literally fighting to keep our place, and then still only ending up with one confirmed seat on the train…the booking officer told us that he’d pray for the other two of us to get a seat), we headed for the green, serene hills of Rishikesh – yoga retreat capital of the world.

The Beatles came to Rishikesh during their heyday and helped put it on the map as the place to go to practice yoga and meditation with the masters. Today, it’s full of ashrams, yoga schools, Ayurvedic massage parlors, and guest houses, and it’s generally known for its peace and quiet. As luck would have it, we picked the wrong month for that.

This is the month of Shiva, and Rishikesh just happens to be a major pilgrimage site for hundreds and hundreds of Hindus, coming to honor Lord Shiva and be blessed by the Ganges. The kaniwaris, as they’re called, come in an endless stream, groups of men walking or running together, many without shoes, all wearing orange and carrying water containers to fill with river water and take back to their families. There are some children and some women, but mostly it is men. They travel long distances, from all over India, sleeping and eating on the sides of the road – you see them everywhere as you drive from Haridwar to Rishikesh – in devotion to Shiva.

It was absolutely insane – with all those people, getting anywhere took an exerted determination, and as three white girls among all those men, it also took a tremendous amount of fortitude at times. There were some unpleasant encounters and it was generally exhausting just dealing with it all. It was, however, also an incredible thing to witness and I feel really lucky to have been there to see it.

We did try to relax as much as possible, though, enjoying the quiet of our little enclave of guest houses on the hill. We would spend part of the day in town, watching the river of orange flow to the Ganges from the coffee shop and then wandering around in it, shopping for souvenirs, crossing the long bridges, dodging people, mopeds, cows, monkeys, and cameras (there were a lot of photo requests, and far more stolen shots, this weekend). Then we would retreat to the hill to read, nap, and enjoy the gorgeous view. We treated ourselves to Ayurvedic massage, freshly baked pastries, and as many mango lassis and lemon-mint drinks as we could handle. And, of course, you can't go to Rishikesh without doing yoga. It was just what the soul needs.

Two nights, we went down to the river for the aarti – the evening worship at the temple. It was beautiful, with all the candles, drums, and chanting, facing the river all lit up by the sunset, a shining statue of Shiva, and the glow of flower boat prayers floating past. We bought one to send down the river…we fumbled with it and probably didn’t go through the motions right, but people seemed pleased that we were participating. And then we put our feet in the great Ganges, erasing 100 lives from our karmic record, just like that. Not a bad deal. It was my favorite part of the day. I would go every night of my life if I could.

By Sunday, we were both sad to leave and anxious to get home. It really was an incredible weekend, refreshing and draining in equal parts. I would love to come back some day…just not in July. The trip home was a bit stressful. We were already concerned about our “unconfirmed” seats on the train, and then became more concerned about even making the train when we learned of the massive traffic jams that were happening everywhere. The man who arranged our taxi advised that we leave extra early and pay an additional 100 rupees (to pay off the police) to take a “special” road around the traffic jams. We never saw any money handoff to any police, but our driver got us there safely and in good time. He did drop us off in the middle of a bridge, however, amidst the river of people, telling us we would have to walk another 15 minutes to the station. It was brutally hot, but we made it there with time to spare – and Ganesha was on our side because we got our seats on the train with relatively little fuss.

All in all, a very memorable getaway. Long live spontaneity.