Mysore day 4 … I think
Its now almost been a week since I arrived in Mysore and I’m starting to feel a little more at home, probably because I was finally able to wash my hair using two buckets of water, which ofcourse I heated with a coil. Speaking of the coil , let me take a moment to explain how this contraption works. Its literally a metal coil attached to some rubber handle which has a cord that you plug into the wall, so yes there is electricity going through this thing, but unlike other electronic items that are plugged into the wall, this one does NOT say “keep away from water”, it should say only put in water though. I heated this thing up and hung it on the side of my bucket and within 10 mins I have hot water in a bucket , not a bad idea. However I also managed to burn a hole in the bucket because the water level went below the minimum required to use the coil … go figure.
I am beginning to enjoy the nuances of Mysore, waking up to the horns honking and the milk walla or almond walla walking around yelling in the streets. I walk the same path every morning to class and am see the same people. The little lady who has her cat walk walk as she rushes to where everyone gathers in the morning (haven’t yet figured out where) , then there is Mr. Dog walla who walks his two fluffy white pomerarian looking dogs every morning with a leash made from some fibers. Then there are the kids who say “hi” and giggle and finally I reach my class and stand outside with the other foreigners who have become a good support system. The people at Mahesh Prasad Hotel now know us and even what we want to order and occasionally joke with us. Today it was 3 idli and sambar and a small chai … please.
The thing about mysore is that the people are genuine. I attempted to walk to my music class today and got real close and then stopped to look around in a confused manner. I asked an uncle walking across the street for directions, basically using sharades and broken hindi. He immediately called up my teacher and got directions and then his friend was pointing to go straight so I thought… okay I walk straight… what he meant was , jump on the back of the bike and I take you there… oh okay . So I did. Here I am riding around on the back of a motorcycle dodging cows and autos and people… only in India.
What I am also learning as I write this is IST does exist ! I had a lesson at 1pm and purposely arrived at 1:30 and it is now 2pm and still no teacher. Haha… perhaps tomorrow I come at 2pm.
Can’t wait to see what another week holds.
