2009 11 12. Sunday.

2009 11 12. Sunday.

At breakfast today they had uttapam and thin noodles. Pretty good. I got a little of each and as I was sitting down one of the Indian men who takes care of the cows said "Why do the westerners pay for their food when we serve such good breakfast here?" I was in total agreement. I replied "The westerners are always scared about not getting enough protein. Its their obsession." He just waggled his head and went back to his breakfast. Its rather unusual for one of the Indian men I don't know so well to spontaneously speak to me.

On a tangential note, I realized that this Indian man was an Indian cowboy! I had to smile at that.

I was waiting at the head of the lunch line today when an old Indian lady came nearby. I motioned that she could get in front of me and she did. Soon about 7 other old Indian ladies came and bunched in front. I was in a good mood so I didn't mind. A minute or two later one of the servers saw them all bunched in front and started speaking to them in a strong and serious tone of voice. Then the old ladies grumpily shuffled away to one side. Apparently he was telling them they shouldn't get in front and had to wait till the usual people got served. The Indian servers here don't mess around when it comes to proper serving order.

While eating my lunch there was a young European guy next to me. Across from the European guy was an older very dark skinned Sri Lankan man and I often see this man and the European guy chatting. This time they were eating in silence which was great. I was enjoying chanting my mantra. After about 10 minutes the European guy interrupted the nice silence to say to his older friend: "I was supposed to keep silent today." I nearly burst out laughing. Of all things one could say to interrupt the silence that is about the funniest and most ironic!

After lunch I had a nice chat with Chirandu, an older gray-haired British man. He's one of my favorite people here. Funny, gentle and great sense of humor. Here's lived here a long time, about 10 or 12 years. He works a lot but is always quick to smile and crack a joke. He has a self deprecating humor that I resonate with.

At dinner I had a nice talk with Eduard, a dark haired young guy (about 22 years old) from Portugal. He's only visiting the ashram for a few days. He's been traveling to different places in India volunteering at orphanages and other places. He says his main thing is teaching music. He was very interested in my experience with spiritual practice and my connection with Amma. He was genuinely curious in getting a sense of my inner world when it comes to all this spiritual stuff. That is just the thing I like to find out about other people and I was happy to tell him all about my experiences. He had done a little meditation and was interested in learning about my experiences with it.