Om Shanti Om!! Updated with Context Link

While I generally love the pace and excitement of my job, I was starting to miss my Yoga sessions. And I recalled longingly the feeling of peace and total relaxation I had had with my one meditation session in Kerala.
With the long weekend approaching, I told my niece Dhruti, that I’d like to really go away to a place where I could learn to meditate. This was approximately the experience I was going for http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj-DWJE7Y2Y&feature=related .

She said if I went somewhere that was also fun, she’d go too. One thing led to another – and the 4 of us – Dhruti, her mother, Anjali and I landed at Chennai airport on Fri morning en route to Pondicherry.

We were greeted by lightning, thunder and buckets of rain………. the temperature a balmy 23 degrees and a perfect cloud cover. My spiritual advisor Rama informed me that rain on my birthday was a very good sign…

And so I went to Pondicherry convinced I would find serenity there.

It took some work to find a Yoga school that also offered meditation lessons – and this particular school insisted I take 3 lessons as a minimum. So I scheduled one on Sat morning, one in the evening and one on Sunday morning before we were scheduled to depart.

The first session was great – and I liked how I felt. The second was even better – they were practicing carnatic music downstairs and it sounded serene and heavenly. God Bless you Dhruti ! You have done well with organizing this trip.

That evening, roaming the streets of Pondicherry, we happened upon a Café.Com that offered among other things – a beautiful home theatre. A large beautifully appointed room with a giant sized screen and a projection TV / DVD. We decided that while the rain was pleasant enough, watching a movie here would be far more fun. So we looked through the available titles and settled on – by pure coincidence “Om Shanti Om” the new blockbuster starring SRK (ShahRukhKhan - reigning king of Bollywood for you foreigners) . Here's a you-tube clip http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=kOkMIBCuT2M We had a grand time – including some impromptu dancing with our silhouettes being superimposed on the screen.

On Sunday – I rose early and rushed to the Yoganjali Natyalaya for my final lesson before departure. More carnatic music – and an even better ambience. We got to the Om Shanti Shanti Shanti part – and all my mind could think of was “All hot girls put your hands in the air…..Om Shanti Om!!!!!!”

So much for meditation . Will I ever learn ? Will I ever find my Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ?