2009 06 07. Sunday.

2009 06 07. Sunday.

At the morning veggie chopping seva, I had to cut a stack of white bread into cubes. Wow. That white bread sure smelled good. I've got a bit of a white bread addiction and it was hard not to sneak some. I've haven't had any bread since I've been here and smelling it brought up some craving. If its not around its not a problem, but put it in front of me and the old cravings come right up. Mmmm! Highly processed food with no nutrition. Delicious! Probably kind of like the white rice I'm eating pounds of everyday...

At breakfast today they had doshas! Yum! Now that is a serious special treat. For those who don't know, doshas are like a tangy crepe pancake, fluffy and spongy when made properly. Delicious. An Indian specialty. I think they're made from rice flour. I was only going to take two or three, but the Indian guy handing them out was putting a stack of about 5 or 6 big doshas on each plate, so I just took what he gave me. Then the next server ladled some unidentifiable yellow curry on top and voila! Perfect Indian breakfast. Man, it was good. They're definitely having more special treats at the Indian meals than last time. I'm getting spoiled. After doshas it will be hard to go back to watery rice.

Now that I think of it, doshas are a little bit like the Ethiopian injerra bread that I also love. Hey Emily, could you put some injerra in the mail for me?

After the morning garbage sorting seva it started to get real windy and rain just as I was going to take my shower. And that means only one thing. A really cold shower. Brrr! Cold! That is a serious tapas! I thought that it would be summer time hot here, but the monsoons make it cool. Well, maybe a cold shower for an ashramite has its own wisdom.

Today's compost pile work was running a little late so, in front of everyone there, I skipped out early for 4pm chai. OK, so here's my side of the story: there were more than enough people there anyway and we were almost done, so don't give me that look.... As I write this I'm stewing in my big pot of guilt but sipping my delicious chai, so its all worth it. As I was heading out the lady in charge called out "You must have a real chai addiction!" What could I say? I just smiled and said "Yep, totally true!" She just smiled back.

As we were making the compost pile, on some of the layers we had to pour liquid cow dung / cow urine mixture. Just for fun I poured out a big smelly OM symbol. The Indians got a kick out of that. The brahmachari there said "Now all the worms will be blessed!"

OK, now done with my chai and time for another freezing cold shower. A sick feeling of dread and fear fills my being as my hand trembles and slowly reaches for the spigot. This better wipe out some serious karma. I hope I'm not putting myself through this for nothing.

OK, lets step back for a second and do a quick assessment. I'm sorting garbage in the mornings and layering kitchen waste and cow dung in the afternoon in the hot Indian sun (or monsoon rains, depending). And I'm paying them for the privilege. My Amma friends totally understand but I know this must seem crazy to my non-Amma friends and family. What can I say? When someone like Amma steals your heart and mind, you go a little bit crazy. It feels like a good kind of crazy. In any case, I'm surrounded by hundreds of people who are even more crazy for Amma than me, so maybe we're on to something. And sorting the garbage and making amazing compost is definitely very eco-friendly. I'm all for that and its certainly something the earth could use more of.