Copenhagen (Denmark) - Feb 2019

This was a work trip otherwise visiting any place that high up close to the arctic in winters wasn't something on the plan. I took a day out to see the city of Copenhagen. I was 3 hrs away from the city and took the train to get there. I arrived at the central train station in the evening and by the time I got there it was already dark. Not seeing the sunlight for a full week wasn't nice at all. I had decided to take the bus from the station to the hotel but then I figured that you need cash to buy tickets in the bus. So I took a taxi (taxa they write!).  It was expensive and on top of that the driver who did not know english used my phone to navigate. It was only 2.5 km from the station and I would have definitely just walked there if I arrived before dark. I was trying to guess the driver's language but I wasn't sure. I think he was from Norway (ok a random assumption after thinking that his language didn't sound like swedish or danish so must be the other scandinavian).

After reaching the hotel, I put my stuff there in the smallest hotel room I have ever stayed in and then went out to get dinner. The hotel receptionist told there is an Indian (it was Pakistani actually) restaurant nearby but I decided to skip Indian food as I had a pretty bad experience in this region as they seem to eat more than usual salt in their food in the scandinavian region.  I was staying a few min walk away from Nyhavn area so there were a lot of restaurants around. I went to the nearest thai place as I had heard that thai or persian may be a better option in this region. It wasn't wrong! Food was great (and expensive!). After that I took a walk around Nyhavn and to the Magasin Du Nord department store and came back. It was so cold!

I decided to be out whole day next day and slept well. Next day, I packed myself in a few layers and head out in the cold and rain. I realized I didn't have an umbrella so I went to the store at the corner of the street to buy an umbrella. The danish old man in the shop was friendly and funny. I asked him how much the umbrella is for and he said 60 if its not raining and 80 if it is! (with a smile on his face). I said its not raining so just give me for 60 DKK. Then we had a chat, he asked me if I am from India or Pakistan. I asked him how long he had been living there and he started telling me more about what all to see in the city. I head out from there and walked to the car free walking/shopping street (Stroget). It was lovely to walk there with no pedestrian traffic in the morning as the stores were closed. 

The shopping street ends at the City hall. I had planned to take a walking tour from city hall at 11am but on my way there I noticed there is another tour at 10am. I was there at the city hall by 9:30am. I spent some time (and $$) in a souvenir store right at the end of the Stroget and then head to the tour. There were 2 separate tours - one in spanish and one in english. There were more people in the spanish tour!. While I was waiting for the tour to get started, a young female asked me where I am visiting from. She was visiting from London. We tagged along with each other through out the day from there. 

We head to one of the oldest street in Copenhagen - Magstræde. The tour guide was telling her 7 reasons why danish people are among the happiest in the world (some of them I believe do contribute to happiness). One of them was bikes (cycle) and how danish people ride bikes more than other modes of transport. Each danish person has probably 2 bikes - one for winter and one for summer. Even in that cold, they were going all around the city in bikes. I loved the picture below in an old street there. It was interesting to find a yoga studio in this old street.

From there we came to the Højbro Plads (High bridge square). On the other side of the canal we could see the Christianborg Palace.

We walked through the streets towards Kongens Nytorv (King's New Square). It's a public square from where the Stroget shopping street starts. There is Royal Danish Theater on one side, the Magasin Du Nord departmental store and the Hotel D'Angleterre on the other. This Hotel is one of the first luxury hotels in the world. Our guide told that its expensive to stay there and I just checked the room price which is around $800, more if you include a horse carriage ride!. We took a short break here for coffee. I decided to skip the long line at the Espresso House for coffee and go to another small place. I asked the guy at this place about any souvenir or general stores nearby where I could buy gloves. My hands were literally throwing out all my body heat and it was getting a bit tough. He suggested a few names which I didn't register in my brain and then he took out a pair of gloves from a shelf behind and said take these. I liked his generosity but I decided not to take his offer. I took the hot chocolate and came back.  

From there we walked towards Nyhavn. The building colors looked better in the afternoon even though it was raining whole day. We crossed the Nyhavn bridge and went towards the Kissing bridge. Its called kissing bridge as the bridge opens by pushing back its two sides inside instead of opening up. So when the bridge closes back, the two sides kiss each other.

After that we walked towards the Queens palace - Amalienborg Palace: home of the danish royal family. Royal family bought this after the Christianborg palace was burned down in their 1795 fire.  We passed through the Opera house in between.

At the palace, we just made in time to see the guard changing ceremony. It seems they change every two hours and the ceremony at 12pm is a big one every day. We saw the ceremony and heard a little about the queen and her sons. It seems she married someone from France and the king was very vocal and blunt and won't fail to tell the people of Copenhagen how Danish language is complicated. I totally agree with him as the pronunciation is usually different from how its written. I loved the way they say hello - 'hi' but not like typical american 'hiii'. Its just a quick 'hi'. To say goodbye they say 'hi hi'. 'Thanks' is 'tak' and 'and' is 'og' (pronounced only o - sounds close enough to hindi 'and'). 

Our tour ended at the church near the palace. 

After the tour we walked to the famous statue of little mermaid. It is based on the fairy tale of the same name by the author Hans Christian Andersen. I have definitely read some of his stories as a kid but forgot everything now - 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Nightangle', 'The Emperor's New Clothes'.
This was the last attraction on this side of the city. It was nice to finally see some sunshine after a week.

After this we decided to go find some lunch and then head to another walking tour showing the alternate side of Copenhagen. I finally found a souvenir shop to buy gloves. Huge relief. I also planned to go to my hotel room and add a few more layers on to me to protect from cold. Three weren't enough for me. We found a Thai place on the way and ate there. It was good. After packing myself more we literally had 20 minutes left to get to the city hall for the second tour so we brisk walked through the shopping street.

The second tour was an interesting one showing the other side of the city - the red light district, societal issues and the freetown of Christiania. I liked the morning tour more as I was just so cold in the evening and the places weren't something I was really interested in exploring much. Later in the evening we spent some time in the Magasin Du Nord store to find some souvenir chocolates and then had dinner at the same thai place where I had previous night. My tour friend had to walk back to her hostel in the night while my hotel was just a few minutes walk from the restaurant.

I bought these cookies and they remind me of some childhood memories. We had a similar box which we later used as the container for the needles and threads. We don't recognize these boxes as cookies anymore, but they are 'sui-dhage ka dabba' for us :) Next day, I took the flight back to San Francisco.

Until next time.....

Hrishikesh - Jan 2019

Jan 6 - Jan 13, 2019

The motivation behind this week long trip was to take a vacation in between my India vacation, do Yoga and Meditation and be close to the roots. I am not sure when the exact thought of going to Rishikesh came to my mind but it wasn't all of a sudden. I have been practicing Yoga philosophy for several years and it doesn't fail to amaze me how rich our scriptures and philosophies are or may be I should say how rich human beings really are since the philosophies mention nothing but the reality of human nature and its ultimate truth. This trip felt like the experience was custom made for me by someone! I didn't really do much planning other than booking my flight ticket. Throughout my time in Rishikesh I felt like I wasn't actually the doer, the planner, the thinker.

Going to write this post in terms of various experiences rather than day to day life there. Everyday had a bit of routine and then some that wasn't routine. Apart from the everyday yoga, meditation, lecture, I would get time between 10:30am - 12pm and then 1pm - 3pm. I made use of that time to visit other Ashrams and lectures. Waking up to the chants of mantras and wrapping up the day with the Ganga aarti was a unique experience in itself. This place definitely has a lot of positive and divine energy and a part of it can easily be felt in the people around. The ashrams, the sadhana of the great Yogis who lived here, the Ganga ji, the holy mantras, the hills around all contribute to it. 

The Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Ashram

I arrived Sunday and after having lunch, I decided to go see the town a little bit and then experience the Ganga aarti at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in the evening. I started walking towards the Lakshman Jhula to see the Trayambakeshwar mandir. I had to walk all the small lanes to get to the Lakshman Jhula. I stopped by couple of book shops as well. The temple has a place for many different gods. I went upto 2nd or 3rd floor and then came back. 

Lakshman Jhula from Temple

From here I walked through the market and checked a few shops. Everything was priced much higher and I did not see a point buying anything there. To my surprise, the hair oil (made in the khadi bhandar, rishikesh!) that we just bought a day before from another place outside Rishikesh had a higher MRP in Rishikesh market stores. I continued towards the Ram Jhula walking by the side of the Ganga. There were different kind of tourists all around - the foreigners who come with the hope to learn what yoga is, the other category of foreigners who come to just get a 100 hour YTT (Yoga Teachers Training) certificate and start making money, the young Indians who love to take pictures in different poses, the religious people who wanted to do ritualistic puja.

Before stopping at the Parmarth Niketan for the evening aarti, I stopped by the ashrams on the way, had tea and then at the Gita press and bought some books. By the time I reached Parmarth, it was drizzling a bit, the monkey family was jumping around the ashram and the ashram folks were shooing them away. People around were waiting to get to the aarti place. I spent some time inside the Parmarth Ashram and then came back out to be there for the aarti. Since this wasn't the peak season, it wasn't hard to get a nice spot on the stairs near the Ganga ji.

The sky before the aarti looked as if it was also preparing for it. The sun was setting and the clouds floating around to get themselves highlighted.

The aarti starts with the young kids from the ashram gurukul coming out and then chanting the Shiva mahima strotam before the aarti. Then hanuman chalisa and the ganga aarti followed by bhajans.

The shiva was standing tall behind the aarti. During the floods few years back the water came up to the head of shiva. After the aarti experience I walked back to the ashram via the Ram Jhula. It was quite cold to walk with the cold winds around.

Parmarth Niketan shining across Ram Jhula

The Ganga Bank Kids

I had to meet a friend (friend's friend) for lunch outside and I was waiting downstairs by the Ganga ghat enjoying the Ganga ji in the warm afternoon. When I was walking back, three kids came running to me with flowers' basket in their hands. These kids were selling flowers for aarti at the Ganga ghat in Rishikesh. I had a conversation with them. I asked them if they go to school and the girl said they go to 'sarkari' school and were having winter vacations. I asked them who buys flowers in the afternoon and they said 'angrejni'. They thought I was an 'angrejni' sitting there so they all ran to me. I told them that I am not an angrejni (I told them see I speak your language and also live up in the hills and the tall boy said pointing to the hill on the right, 'there?'). When I asked if they give the money to their parents, the girl smiled and said '5 rupee ki cheezi kha lete Hain'. The smile in the picture is after I asked them to smile a bit.

The Nirvana experience

Nirvana is the restaurant's name where a local friend took for lunch. I was hoping to eat at a small road side eatery to have the same old experience that we have been used to since childhood but then I didn't resist this. The place was nice inside and we could sit with our shoes off in the typical paalthi style. While we were eating some local flute player came outside and started playing the tune of 'bedu pako....' making the experience complete with the chai and momos.

This friend teaches Yoga at an expensive resort in Rishikesh. He was talking about how the rich people who come to visit the resort from all over the world, get surprised when they come to know the philosophy behind yoga. For them yoga is mainly just poses to make their body flexible. He also mentioned that he stayed at the Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) for 2 years and I couldn't stop telling him how I have been hooked to reading their Yoga magazines that are available online. These magazines kept me busy during the 16 hours flight from SFO to Delhi. While we were coming back, I mentioned that I was checking out few books from the BSY that I want to buy but found that the local book shops are charging more than amazon. He said he has a complementary copy of one of the books that I wanted and thought that he has found the right recipient for that since he didn't want to give it to just anyone. How could I say no! He gave me this book along with a few hard copies of the Yoga magazines and the yogi cloth! I felt nothing but grateful for his thoughtfulness.

The Chai Vale ji at the Ram Jhula

After the lunch we head out for another chai but at a road side chai shop on Ram Jhula. I really liked the chai as it had good amount of ginger and sugar. I also liked the way he would give the chai and take the money - with a sense of seva, putting his one hand on his heart. I had their chai multiple times. A few days I went in the afternoon to have the wonderful ginger chai. This chai uncle (he was may be in his 50-60s) would bow down with one hand on his heart while offering tea. His humility as well as the wonderful tea touched me.

The Dayananda Ashram visit

I visited the dayananda ashram before lunch at 11am. It took me 20-30 min by walk. I skipped the lunch and thought I will just eat at the Gurudwara in between. I visited the museum at the Gurudwara as I could not find the main hall. The structures inside the museums (depicting murders from the time of division) did not make me feel good so I just skipped finding the main guru hall and continued my walk to the ashram. I was keeping an eye on eating places so that I can stop by one of them while returning from the ashram. The thought of buying some sweet also came to my mind but then I put a check on my sweet desire. Reached the ashram at around 11:45am. Saw the Adi Shankaracharya temple and swami ji's samadhi. The bookshop was closed so while I was coming out, the guard asked did you have food? I told him that I am not staying here so I am not sure if I can have lunch here. He said go inside and just tell the manager, he should be ok. So I went and asked the manager if I can eat here today. He welcomingly said yes. There was still half hour left before the lunch hour so I just decided to go down at the ghat behind and sit by the Ganga. The next funny thing that happens - I see that they are serving jalebi during lunch. It felt like all the secret wishes were being fulfilled silently.

The Ghat boy

This was at the Ganga ghat behind the Dayananda ashram during my first visit to the ashram. This boy started asking me to buy flowers - 'didi didi fool le lo na'. I didn't want to buy flowers so I just started having conversation with him. My typical question - do you go to school and why are you selling flowers. He gave me his typical answer - 'School jata hun, chuttiyan ho rahi hain'. I almost bought the flowers but then he didn't have matchbox to light the diya in it. So I told him that he should sing a song or aarti or his school prayer. He said 'didi yaad nahin'. I scolded him for not remembering the school prayer. He said 'didi yaad thi par gaanv jake aane ke Baad bhool Gaya'. I asked him to smile in the picture and he gave the victory V :) After I came back, I was thinking if the boy was even a hindu that I was asking him to sing an aarti? Mind has its ways of projecting and making assumptions!

The Kailash Ashram visit

Kailash Ashram is one of the oldest Ashrams in Rishikesh. You can feel that from the structure as well. I was told that Kailash Ashram has some lectures in the afternoon so I walked to also check out their bookstore but the store was closed when I went. I talked with the care taker person. He asked around about the discourses going and told that there is one at 3pm so I should come at that time to also check the bookstore. There is a distinct peace in all these ashrams so I just walked around a bit, saw Ganga ji from far and came back. Revisited again at 3pm and listened to a discourse on Vivekchudamani then checked the bookstore. While I was heading out the care taking person saw me and asked if I could get the books. I said yes and thanked him for all the info he got for me. He then said 'chai pee aapne? chai pee ke jao'. How can a pahadi say no to chai! I went to get chai. One of the amazing ginger chai in total pahadi style (with extra sugar). I sat outside and sipped tea with the ashram folks and thanked the care taking person in my thoughts. He wasn't the first one to show the same small town hospitality that I have not felt in years. While coming back I asked him to take a picture for me. He was watering the plants while listening to some video lectures.

The early morning Sivanand ashram visit

This was a special 5am visit to Sivananda Ashram. 5-6am was spent in meditation and some mantra chanting by the swami jis there. It was pitch dark and I later realized that I was sitting in the men's section for meditation :-) There weren't that many people so it didn't make much difference. Nobody bothered about it. Later at 6am, went to the Vishwanath temple where the pujari ji was doing shiv abhishek. It was interesting to see. It was like giving bath to a small kid - he applied, haldi, oil, chandan and we were given the opportunity to do the abhishek with milk and banana mash. Later it was given bath and then adorned with the bhasm tilak and the white cloth. Then the Vasuki nag was placed. Later the aarti was done with damru and ghanta. I spent half an hour in the Vishnu Sahasranama chanting and then came back in time for breakfast.

The Dayananda Ashram revisited

This was my second visit to the ashram. I wanted to visit the book shop. I figured that there is a nice walkway along side the Ganga - Asthapath. So far I was going to ashrams through the main road which had lot of traffic. On the right side of the ghat in between there was a wall with a number of shlokas written. It took me 20 min to get to the ashram by walk. I took a book with me and sat in the ashram for couple of hours as the book store was only suppose to open at 3:15pm. The guard asked me if I would like to have the kheer which they had during lunch. I went to the kitchen and had 2 cups of kheer. At 3:15pm I was hanging in front of the bookstore so that I can quickly buy any books and then head back to be at the yoga class in the ashram on time. Unfortunately the person responsible for the bookstore was late so I was offered to have tea. I went and had a glass of tea and then bought a couple of books later before walking back.

The Neelkanth Mahadev

There was only 1 day remaining in my trip. The yoga teacher asked if I visited the Neelkanth Mahadev temple during our conversation. I wasn't aware of it but then thought since I have a day, I can try to visit it. So I went outside and asked around to figure out where to get a taxi from in the morning. I was told by a chai vala downstairs that I can find the taxis there early morning. I slept with the thought of heading out 5:45am next morning. I head out at 5:50am but did not find any taxis downstairs, after asking around I figured that going to the taxi stand on the other side of Ram Jhula is the only option. So I walked across Ram Jhula and asked someone where the taxi stand is. Since there weren't that many people going to neelkanth, we will have to wait till the shared taxi fills. After some wait there were 5 people in all so we could take one taxi. It takes a 45min to 1hr taxi ride to get to Neelkanth Mahadev. I was gladly offered the front passenger seat by the other 4 stranger young men I was pooling the taxi with. The way to Neelkanth was very scenic. There wasn't any crowd at the temple so we could easily get the shivling darshan and do jalabhishek. I was back by 10-10:30am.

The Bharat Mandir

Today was the last full day I had. I came back from Neelkanth mandir before noon so I had half day to myself. After lunch I went to see the Bharat Mandir in the market area. I had to take an auto to get there and then a little bit of walk through the market area towards the Ganga. The temple wasn't crowded so I spent some time there. Note that the Bharat here is not the same as Rama's brother bharat. Do read the shlokas and their meaning in the pictures below.

The Triveni Ghat aarti

After Bharat mandir, I took the Astha path towards Triveni ghat. My final destination for the aarti that evening. I reached around 4:30pm. Bhajans before the aarti started at 5pm. Aarti was scheduled to start at 5:45pm. This aarti experience was a bit different than the one at Parmarth but both were unique in their own way. There were bhajans after the aarti and the local folks were dancing with the bhajans. 

Epilogue

I went to my roots as a human, indian, pahadi and more.... After coming back home, I was telling my father about how one should go back to their roots (what ever one considers) more often as it constantly reminds you of your own uniqueness. Something that one often takes for granted and realizes and honors only after living far away from it all. These 7 days also made me constantly feel the uniqueness of the humans, the place, the people around and part of it which I have in me.

I bought a lot of books from Rishikesh. Knowledge is power supreme! (our college motto). Lastly I want to say 'गंगा तो नहीं नहाई लेकिन बहती गंगा में हाथ जरुर धो लिये' .... literally. I did not bring the Ganga ji (Ganga Jal) with me but I managed to keep enough from those 7 days within me that hopefully it will last at least for the full year.

May the light in me see the light in you and vice versa.

Until next time ........