wanderlust wednesdays: India

contrary to popular belief, they are generous with their smiles in India.
this one right here brings me back to this amazing country each time.

wanderlust wednesdays: mcleod ganj, india

a young Tibetan monk runs free in Mcleod Ganj*

*up in the Western Himalayas (North India),
the Dalai Lama & the Tibetan government claimed asylum
after China invaded Tibet.

eat, pray, love

many years ago my dear friend chica said
this book made me think of you
after all this girl has been my friend for 20 years
a friend who's no stranger to my wanderlust
to my open love affair with italy
my desire to travel across india
and my dream to live in bali.
back then i had just gotten back from europe
where i had spent a month eating gelato,
tasting the best pizza
and losing myself in the streets of italia.
back then i was slowly getting deeper into my practice of yoga
and approaching my edge
as i was preparing for my trip to india
where i spent 3 months exploring the world within
and the amazing world outside.
where i studied & lived in an ashram
walked barefoot & taught kids yoga
connected with people, listened to their stories
& realized how similar they were to mine.
and by then i had long read this book
marveled in its pages
of truth clarity & love.
and so in the same year i traveled to bali
not to look for the medicine man
but to fulfill a teenage dream -
SURF every single day
and that's exactly what I did.

i may have done the same route
but her path is largely different from mine
yet the sameness resides in taking chances
when we are on the search
for meaning
purpose
happiness
& love.
it is this search which most of us share
which means we are connected
and that is why i love this book
not for anything else but
its ability to voice that longing out
& make us feel we are definitely not alone in this.
and that is why i'm prepared
to let myself go and
love this movie.

soon :)

wanderlust wednesdays: varanasi, india

i have a fascination for foreign doors, and as i was taking pictures of this particular one,
this man came passing through.

diary of an island girl in india

it's my last night in mysore and i wish i could paint the beauty that lies before me. photographs fail to capture the grace of the new moon rising against a pale young evening sky, or the scent of jasmine drifting in the air as a little one wraps a garland over a statue of ganesh. how can a photograph capture an old colonial mansion as it slowly comes to life, light pouring out of its windows as the dusk unfolds. or the wind on my face as i breeze through this charming little town on a motorbike, past cows that gently walk the roads as rickshaws whisk by, or the cool shade of the tree lined streets past temples that light up in the night. it is the ordinariness of things that makes these moments extraordinary, almost magical. india.

bliss

what can i say? i'm happy. i'm learning so much about myself and meeting people who inspire me. i'm doing what i love and i want to spend the rest of my life this way. i want to spend every second of each day pursuing what is worthwhile, that which feeds my soul. i do not want to waste any of it in trivial pursuits, running after temporary satisfactions and swimming in pools of negativity. i have always known what makes me happy and i want to spend the rest of my life discovering the world, discovering who i am and all the best i can be.


what brings me to the mat is the same place i want to serve from. this is my purpose. to heal people as i healed myself. through yoga. through watsu. through a better way of living. through love.

in the process there are things and people i have to let go. there is nothing for me to keep except my self. i've tried so hard to control when all i can really do is watch & witness all that is external. as i write this, say this, think this, feel this, i pray for courage. that i may let go with grace and love in my heart to prepare me for whatever sadness that may come.

but i will not think of that now, here in this space where i am. and i realized this when i started my journey to rediscovering myself, two years ago in the middle of a small town along the ligurian coast, that the life that i have always wanted is in me. because now i know, whether i'm walking on sand or on cobbled streets or in the hallways of an ashram... i am home.