The Crowds are Gone

Yesterday...Saturday...was the last day of the Dasara festival here in Mysore. Mysore, a city of roughly a million people, ballooned to an estimated 3 million at one point during the 10 day gig. That's just a rumor...can't confirm it...but it sure seemed accurate. Anyhow, there was a big precession yesterday...with painted elephants, floats...the whole deal. And I think just about eveyone that lives here, and then some, were downtown to see it. You could buy tickets and have seats, or you could just go and find a place to stand. Since I didn't know about the ticket thing, I had thoughts of finding a place to stand and watch. So, I rode my scooter toward downtown, left it in a place where I knew I could find it, and started walking. Steadily, the streets grew more crowded...and soon, almost too crowded to even move ahead. Soon I realized it was hopeless...walked back to the scooter and rode back to Gokulam. Some students that had seats said it was nice, but after 5 hours of watching, had to have the police help them get through the crowd so they could get home. Maybe next time.

The weather has been quite pleasant...cool breezy nights...sometimes a little rain, overcast mornings, and sunny, warm afternoons. This makes yoga practice all the more pleasant for this pitta (one that is usually hot anyway, sweats easily, among other things). Wonder what it will be like when it heats up?

Now that the city is less crowded, I'll likely make more trips into the city. Will do more sight seeing, eat at different places, and check out the markets. The streets will still be full of people, but I think the energy will be different. I'll have more to share later.