India and back by Polina. Part 1.

From the Beetles to Leonardo Di Caprio, from that hipster neighbor of yours to many people who do or don’t have any yoga background, all of them were drawn to mysterious India. I wasn’t an exception and I do love yoga. I’m also a yoga teacher and it finally felt like the right moment and right place to continue my education.

After an extensive research, long hours of looking up schools, reading reviews, deciding between beaches of Goa, cool and fresh mountains, south or north, I finally chose Rishikesh as my city to pursue 300 hours Yoga Teacher Training. I mean how could I not? Rishikesh is known as the birthplace of yoga. It’s surrounded by majestic mountains that hide giants - wise elephants, it’s kissed by the sacred waters of Ganga river, it’s relatively small but yet full of history and life. In a blink of an eye before me was a carousel of events: applying to school, buying tickets, getting an Indian visa, arranging things with work, seeing a doctor to get recommendations for traveling to a country that presents plenty challenges and finally packing for 5 weeks.

Long 14 hours. And so it was, after a month of waiting and preparing, my friend Ayden and I were at JFK waiting to be checked into our flight to New Delhi. Even though we were flying from New York, you could count on one hand the non-Indian folks in line which already made me feel almost fully emerged in the culture as I was looking around. There were Sikhs wearing colorful turbans, women who wore traditional Indian tunics and those who dressed in western fashion, most of them speaking Hindi along with other dialects that all sounded like music to my ears. Before we knew it, we got situated on our colorful chairs and were greeted by a beautiful flight attendant wearing sari, a traditional Indian dress. Two hours later our first meal was served. Lunch options were a vegetarian one that included rice, curry and some lentils, or you could pick fish or even chicken. All meals came with a non fat yogurt, bread and a nice cashew desert. Maybe you already know, but around 70% of Indian population (according to some research) are vegetarian. Surprises didn’t end there. It was fascinating to find out that a plastic cup that would normally be used for deserts or yogurts contained...water. Truly, each time I travel, there is always something new to be discovered around the corner. My legs are getting numb and the chair is feeling much less comfortable seven hours into the flight. I get up, walk around and do some easy yoga poses and it all feels like a true blessing. What is another reason to be grateful is dinner that is hot and fresh. This time we are once again offered vegetarian and non vegetarian options. Chicken was cooked in a curry sauce and accompanied with colorful rice and steamed okra. If I had to name my favorite airplane food it’s probably safe to say that Air India would take the main prize, the runner up would be Air France. Both, chicken and fish were cooked perfectly and yet remained very tender. And oh my goodness, all the spices and sauces! As the food settles in my stomach, I can once again look around me. Our neighbor on the flight is this beautiful old lady with a light peach color scarf gently wrapped around her neck, glasses pushed almost to the end of her nose and her Indian dress really complimenting her skin. I notice that some men stare at me, it’s slightly uncomfortable. We meet an Indian guy from New York who is doing a pilgrimage to Himalayas, there are pregnant women on board, young children and some new borns crying. Between melatonin in tablets and Dramamine, I snooze off. The airplane starts descending and when I look outside the window, I see...