Chennai RBI

Time: March 14th-15th, 2017
Place: Chennai
Company: Alone
Highlights:

Overview: One of the reasons for me choosing to head back to India for good was that I didn't've to go to Chennai for US Visa stamping purposes whenever I visited India on vacation! I was tired of preparing for the consulate visit, the countless documents - originals and copies, checklists, the booking process in the company, the approvals in the company, the list goes on and on. 

Now thanks to demonetization, I was left with few old notes that I had to deposit with RBI. Thinking happily that there was an RBI in Bangalore where I could just go and deposit, I was told that I had to go to Chennai RBI - and again with full documentation, checklists, etc. to prove how I legally owned the old notes and why I could not deposit in 2016 itself! And so Fate made me go to Chennai again!

Reached railway station on my TVS at about 6 and took the 6:30 am Lalbagh express hoping that it would be on time. If it exceeded beyond 2:30 pm, then I had to come back to RBI the next day. Thankfully, it was right on time. I reached RBI gates by about 1 pm (via prepaid auto) and although there was a queue, I was able to get inside the campus before the 2:30 pm cut-off.

Once inside, I had to go through the security and then await my turn. My token number was over 150 from the current counter and I had a huge wait time - almost 2.5 hours. So I refreshed myself with some snacks and water and read the book I had with me. My turn finally came at 4:45 pm and it was just a matter of filling up some forms and submitting my old notes just like in any other bank. Except that this was RBI and it was colossal! There were huge portraits of currencies traded in India right from about 10-15 decades ago which was awesome. I wanted to take pics but it was against RBI law to use phones inside the premises. So refrained. Anyways, once I deposited the old notes, I was free to get back to Bangalore. 

I took two buses (and walked a long way in-between) to get back to Railway Station. It was stifling hot and I was profusely sweating. By 5:30 pm, I was sitting in one of the chairs under a full-blast fan on the main platform waiting for my 9 pm Kaveri Express train back to Bangalore. Passed time by chatting with few folks (one Russian included), getting up to date with Whatsapp videos (!), reading some more of my book, munching, etc. and finally it was time to board up.

Train journey back home was uneventful. Slept all the way. Arrived Bangalore at 3:30 am. Against parents advice of not to ride a two-wheeler at such an odd time, still drove home and reached by 4ish. 

After a really long, long time - went on an outstation tour all alone. Tontu and wifey really missed me. Tontu kept asking if I will be back by night and I said I will be sleeping beside her when she wakes up. And so it happened! :-)

Hosur and Tirukkoilur

Time: Feb 28th - Mar 1st, 2017
Place: Hosur and Tirukkoilur
Company: Parents, wife and daughter
Highlights:

Preview: Parents had this idea of visiting Tirukkoilur since it was a long time. Since I was now back in Bangalore, they decided to pull us along! Coincidentally, this year's Saptaaha was held at Hosur between 27th Feb and 5th March. Hosur happens to be on the way to Tirukkoilur. So we decided to club the two in one trip. 

Day 1: Left on 28th at about 10ish and reached Saptaaha event place at about 11:30 am. Couple of religious discourses here, a little bit of homa there, some pooja happening somewhere else - all good stuff. Then, lunch. Bit of a water scarcity problem. And it was time to move on. Left at about 3ish and road didn't seem all that great to Tirukkoilur but it was not too bad either. Reached destination (Mutt) at 7ish, relaxed and retired for the night.

Day 2: Up at 7, freshened up for darshan of Raghuttama Theertharu. That done, lazed about here and there under the sun, with some cows, tender coconut, etc. waiting for lunch. Then decided we might as well visit the famous Trivikrama temple (as we usually do whenever we come here!).

Left in car, reached in few minutes. Good darshan. Although I have been here many times, I realized for the first time that this is Vishnu's Vaman avatar where he puts the 3 footsteps on Earth, Sky and Bali's head. Also found out to my surprise that the temple has idols of all of Vishnu's 10 avatars - but one has to go searching for them all! Headed back to Mutt for another round of darshan and pooja. Considering the Brindavan is all outdoors [Raghuttama Theertharu didn't prefer shelter; if the branch of a neighboring tree starts to give shelter on the Brindavan, it automatically withers away - and so it is believed], it was now scorching. But it was soon over, and delicious lunch ensued.

Soon after, we checked out and left Tirukoilur at 1:30 pm. Journey back was uneventful. By 6:30 pm we were back in Bangalore traffic. Reached home finally at about 7:30 pm.

Overview: It was a short trip but ample enough time spent at Tirukkoilur. Maybe if we had left early on Day 1, we could have spent more time at the Saptaaha too. The drive was mostly good except for a few patches of bad roads. Maybe the roads will get better in a few years' time. The fourth trip in fourth successive week comes to an end!

Isha Yoga Center at Coimbatore for Mahashivaratri

Time: February 24th - 25th, 2017
Place: Isha Ashram at Coimbatore
Company: Wife & daughter
Highlights:

Right about the time we decided to head back to India, we got the news of Adiyogi consecration on the Mahashivaratri day at Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore. We thought it is the right time to visit Isha. Only concern was our daughter was just 6 yet and we were not sure if her age children were allowed - since it was an all-night gathering. There were no concrete Yes or No from Isha volunteers when we enquired. So we decided to take a chance and take her with us. 

Train tickets were easy to get. Registration to attend was easy. And on the day of departure, we left at 5 am on our TVS two-wheeler from Jayanagar home to Majestic. It was cold. Caught the 6:15 train to CBE. Journey was uneventful. It started getting hot at around 11. We reached at 1:15 pm as per schedule and took public transportation to Isha Yoga Center. The bus was crowded. Unfortunately, we had to walk about a km back for the entry since our entry gate was far away from the Isha Yoga Center entrance.

Now, that walk was tough. It was blistering hot. Tontu refused to walk, so we had to carry her. The place was like a desert. There was food service but it wasn't all great since it was all open-air with no place to sit and eat, and the food was very spicy. Tontu was getting tired of it all. After lunch, we headed towards our bay and thankfully we got 3 seats to sit together, at about 5 pm. At the backdrop, was this huge Adiyogi sculpture that dominated us all!

Soon after, it got cooled down. Quite literally! PM Modi came, accompanied with Sadhguru. The big screens were super clear and there never was a moment of boredom. Isha Sounds churned out some superb music. Tontu started enjoying the event too.

Kailash Kher (KK) came on stage to sing the Adiyogi song and that was awesome. And just like that - songs and music and Sadhguru's speeches came one after the other to keep us all occupied. When there was music or songs, Sadhguru walked amongst the masses on a special dais that snaked throught he crowd and danced. This allowed the crowd to be closer to him.

Sadhguru asked us to perform some chants at 11:40 pm and it was awesome - especially because of the huge crowd reverberating the same Yogic words 'Shambho'. It affected some people and they were acting weird, due to the enormous amount of energy-flow. I myself felt rejuvenated at midnight. Despite such massively loud chants, Tontu slept peacefully. 

After that, Sadhguru started a discourse. Now, that made me sleepy after some time. I was almost dozing off when music and dance started again. And so it went on and on. At 2 am, it was really cold. Tontu woke up at about 3 am. We took a walk amongst the various stalls, just to kill the time. In the background, KK had come back on stage and was singing beautifully. The arrangement for the loo was just perfect too.

From 4 to 5, we all struggled hard to be awake. Yet, as Sadhguru had said, we were vertical, so as to benefit from the maximum positive energy. Around 5:30 am, Sadhguru reappeared and gave a final speech, thanking volunteers and all of us for being part of this great event. The crowd then started thronging towards the Adiyogi sculpture. It was huge. Some pictures. Also witnessed a great sunrise.

Then we walked to Isha Yoga Center. It was our first time. We saw the sacred pool of water where many were taking bath. We skipped it, since we were running out of time. We had to catch the noon train back.

The queue to Dhyanalinga and Linga Bhairavi did not really lead to D and LB. Because of the huge crowd, they were not letting the crowd to the sanctum-sanctorum. So we had to view from outside. This was a big disappointment. Because I really wanted to sit in front of Dhyanalingam and feel the positive energy that I had read so much about. Anyways, not meant to be this time. Sometime in future, perhaps. We saw the remaining sacred spots of Isha, sat outside and meditated for quite some time and it was almost time to leave.

Had breakfast right opposite the center and took the bus back to station. Everything was crowded - The Isha Yoga Center, the restaurant, the bus, etc. We reached the station at about noon. Relaxed for a while, and then caught the 1 pm train back to BLR. Slept most of the journey. Reached BLR on time and reached home back on our TVS safely by about 10 pm. 

Overall, it was invigorating experience no doubt. The feelings ranged from - 'What am I doing here?!' to 'There is no other place I would have wanted to be right now!' Tontu was extremely cooperative for her age - from the comforts of an American life just two months prior to the scorching sun of a Coimbatore day and the biting cold of the Isha Yoga Center during the Mahashivaratri night. 

The only real sad thing was having missed the Dhyanalinga. Next time...