MY TAKE; doses of Wild YAM : Emm

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Menolingering; Those Sweet Last Moments

I had said on Monday that I needed to get back up to spend some evening time with Emm. Part of the urgency of that was we wanted to try and photograph the sunset. There had been an absolute blazer at the weekend and we kept hoping it would recreate. It never quite made it, but we had fun anyway. (Emm has taken up photography as a hobby in recent years only, but is taking it quite seriously!)

This first image was my own attempt at the glorious one a couple nights before, but it was blocked, rather, by all the incredible foliage! The chances of there being another were slim. We put Remus on his walking string and off we went in search of the impossible.

Truth be told, we were about ten minutes behind what was necessary to get in place for a blazer. Never mind. On the way back we dawdled more and experimented in low-light snappering.

Back at home, I faced that final stretch of packing... Tomorrow, I will tell you about the return journey, but to finish today, let me also give you three other quite sunny shots.

Menoptimism; The Wedding Part Two

Saturday 11th May, Shali and Aruni's second function started at 4:30pm in one of the gardens of the Oatlands House venue - slap bang in the middle of a golf course. The "thwack-thwack" that I thought was the chopping of coconuts, turned out to be, golfers on the tee behind the poruwa...

Very little seating was provided so a goodly number of the 160+ guests had to stand for the 90 minutes. It was also, remember, autumn. I needed my shawl over my waistcoat over my three layered tops (including thermal vest). The Bride and her Maids, dressed in attire most of my readers would be familiar with, were practically bare at the top. If it had been sunny enough, we might have seen that they were turning blue. However, it was also dusk and getting darker - hence my photos were rather less and of poorer quality, as all had to be taken from the seat I pretty much commandeered.

The first part of the ceremony was the Buddhist one and was quickly followed by the third ceremony - the Australian-required civil ceremony in which signing of certificates and things took place. These formalities were actually over by 5:40pm, but we were forced to remain outside in the 5'C + wind until exactly 6pm, who knows why.

This was the nature of the venue, the timing and people management thing. Very different and altogether rather more 'commercial shark' feeling. The indoor function was again what many would be familiar with, in that there was a menu with 'choice' of three items per each of the three courses. It was okay-ish, but (for me at least) not a patch on the Wednesday feast!

This event was more to the choice of the couple and what disturbed a fair few of we older types was that the music was blaring from the minute we sat down. No waiting till the meal and conversation was over. The DJ was asked several times to turn it back a bit, but it just kept creeping back up to hand-signals only for talking. I appreciate that this is the modern way - but almost as my desert came before me, the sexy dancing and wiggling hips and flashing lights and even more decibels arrived.

I had to leave the room. Didn't feel good about that, but the chairs were also very bad for my back (no support whatsover, just metal spokes) and I was actually in quite some discomfort. I was most grateful that my friends who had picked me up to take to the place, were also ready to leave at that point and were able to run me back to the Train Rooms. I am very happy for Shali and his new wife, but it was as much as this ol' bod could cope with!!!

I spent the Sunday getting out of that room, by getting the bus down to Parramatta, the big centre West of Sydney and wandered the shops for a bit. Getting back, I packed and prepared for the early take-off on Monday. I was headed to Queensland!

Menoptimism; The Wedding Part One

One of the main reasons for coming to OZ at this time of the year was that of my dear

pal Emm's elder son (honorary nephew) getting married. I knew Shalindra from his 7th year and his younger brother Anook from his 3rd. Both are very fine young men now. Shalindra, now in his 30s took his time getting to this!

The venue was the Sargeant's Mess (name from the original use of the place from early days). Outstanding! There had been an elegant mandap (bower) set up, theme was pink ,white, crystal and gold. The day had dawned bright autumnal, with a strong, brisk breeze. Boats of all sizes plied the harbour in the backdrop and views to South Head and Vaucluse and Rose Bay were clear and fresh.

This was a morning ceremony and was in the Hindu Vedic tradition (Sri Lankan style with a hint of the Aussie). Proceedings began at 0930 with guests gathering and enjoying some delicious vegetarian bites and juices or hot drinks. The ceremony itself was held outside as the tradition includes a lot of flame (therefore smoke) and cracking of coconuts! Lots of prasaad food is laid out for blessing and delivery to various official members of the function.

During the first hour the pandit (priest) goes through rituals of cleansing and blessing of the groom on his own. Then a female member of the groom's family brings the bride to him (in this case it was Emm's sister, Ess). The pandit now does cleansing ceremony for her then goes through the initial stages of introduction and announcement (this comes from the days when the two would likely not have met beyond their matching date!), at the end of which he checks with the parents that they are happy with the match and arrangements. All applaud when the response is yes!

One hour over. Now the bride goes away with the female members of the celebrant group and is dressed in full marriage sari. during this fifteen(ish) minutes, guests can chatter and stretch and enjoy the music. The remainder of the ceremony is the actual bonding ritual, with exchanges of items, including floral malas, the talii (wedding necklace) and toe-rings. Then there are pranaams to spiritual teacher and parents and everyone moves on to feasting mode!

Seven coconuts gave up their auspiciousness throughout proceedings.

Ess leads Aruni to her man

Shali glimpses his bride

Swami-ji grins approval. Srikarananda-ji was my first teacher at the
mission and is very dear to us all.

Guests admire the bride

Brother Anook and his lady Lisa watch on lovingly

Things get going!

Emm and Enn looking a tad tired, but glad it is going well.

To my left is a dear friend, G, and behind me her hubby, also G. To my right is Mohini-aunty (who gave Emm to Enn at their wedding and is wearing the sari she wore then!). To her right, in the turquoise, is my pal Meena and to her right, Laxmi-aunty and Janvi-aunty. Behind Meena are Janvi's daughter and SIL and then - of course - the bride and groom. (All these relatives are from Enn's family)

(The above may not be in exact order of occurrence, but one of the 'joys' of working through the YAMroid is having it rearrange everything unbidden and then having to treasure hunt the things I want...sigh...)

The feast was full vegetarian, with savoury rice, five different curries, delicious sambals and chutneys and papadams. Sweets were creamy, choclaty affairs which I had no trouble avoiding - but did enjoy the fresh fruit. Then it was all over... for this one.

💑

Menojoustery - a bit of jiggery and pokery

The world over, politics has gone a bit... cartoon. No. Not even that good and certainly not that funny. As am travelling, am not able to keep complete tabs on things as I might at home, but I know all of you in the USA have your own 'soap opera' going on. Here in OZ, there are rumblings of an election but the righty PM has managed to delay the announcement - to stablise things for himself as it might be he'd actually get kicked out. Then there is... well... you know... that thing.

Politics is all about jiggery-pokery. I'll move on now, with other things fitting into the letter "J".

I was jiggling with ribbons and scissors. Part of the reason for this trip, as will become apparent later on, is to attend wedding ceremonies for Emm's elder son. Yes, plural. First the Hindu event then three days later the Buddhist/party event. Emm being Emm has been preparing a great deal of the accoutrements herself. Table decorations and guest-take-aways. Multiple dressings of these things involving lots of fiddling - or jiggling. So I paid some of my debt of 'keep' by taking on the painting of table numbers in gold paint and the cutting of ribbons of two different widths into appropriate lengths for the tasks ahead - 800 snips in total. That tried out the sore wrist, let me tell you!

It was good to feel productive and useful though. Now, a few images to prove the jiggling took place.

A total of 11 hours work. A goodly contribution. I felt my mega salad for lunch on Monday was Justified!

MenOZiscences - reviewing the Down Under Parts

On the matter of critters, this little fella turned up on the kitchen window one hot day...

It is a Peron's Tree Frog and is a familiar voice here-abouts. A loud 'laughing' croak, which is sometimes mistaken for cicada or cricket.

Due to being in the bright light, most of it's colour had drained - but you can see the deep emerald markings if you look carefully. Another defining marker is the cross of the iris. Only two frog species have this formation of the eye - and the other is not found up in the hills.

I moved him along into the pots under the bougainvillea, where it was much cooler and a tad damper. There was also a snake one morning. I didn't see it, Emm did. The way she described it, I think it was this fella. It's a happening place, the suburban Sydney garden!

All images © Yamini MacLean

Menoracular; On Higher Teaching pt 8

As mentioned earlier, 17th and 18th January were (sort of) free days and then on the 19th, there was a very auspicious event, which was the handing over the 'baton' of leadership for the organisation from Guruji to Mukhya Swamiji. It is not a complete retirement - but Guruji will now not travel outside of India.

It was a big deal and a lovely ceremony. I did not take pictures - there are many of those on the CM website if anyone is truly interested.

The situation itself was of particular interest to those of us from the Antipodean and Far East countries - and the UK - as Swaroopanandaji has been our head of sector for so long. We feel just that bit more blessed that he has been elected the overall head of mission.

On the 20th there was a more light-hearted 'farewell and welcome' presentation by the ashram permanent staff. A true celebration, in music, dance, poetry and reminiscence.

Then classes resumed until the 25th, but this time they took a turn to the practical - how can anyone even begin to think they might be able to live the life divine whilst intermingling with the world? Pointers and suggestions and things of 'not to do' and 'what to do' were given. Guruji clearly had felt the lift of leadership from his shoulders as he sometimes spontaneously popped behind the sales counter and blessed goods for devotees. Swamiji, on the other hand, already began to look sleepless! He is well-versed in administration in addition to his erudition on the scriptures, but this is a big challenge.

Before we knew it, it was time to pack. Emm and I were leaving on the same flight on the 27th, though not arriving in Sydney on the same one - she taking a much more immediate connection. Poor dear, she had a nasty cold and slept the whole of the 26th... it can't have been fun travelling with that.

...and there it was over. Quite an intense month, but one I am glad to have participated in. Landed in OZ, there was a bit of business to attend the first couple of days - but then the infection hit me! It acted differently on my system than on Emm's - and possibly it was a different virus altogether. Whatever. It laid me flat for the best part of a week and affected my lungs, triggering the asthma a bit. Oh well.

To be fair, whilst there were folk to catch up with, I didn't press hard for visitations either. Three weeks is not that much time and I needed the rest. Met up with a few pals for lunches and dinners, but really, this was more about me just getting some heat in my bones... and boy was there heat! Record-breaking temps many of the days. There were much more delicious days to balance it out though. I loved it. Will write up about a few of the outings...

Tomorrow, some more photos to round off this bit re India.

Menoracular; On Higher Teachings pt 3

From Monday 9th to Monday 16th there followed a pattern of class at 0730 with Swaroopananda-ji and then a study group at 1030 for one hour, then Guruji classes at 4:30pm - 5.30pm and again 7pm till 8pm.

Emm and I were assigned to the study group of Brni. Deepa Chaitanya, a most delightful and clear-thinking teacher who regularly serves at the Secunderabad centre in Andhra Pradesh. We benefitted greatly from her clarifications and summaries of Guruji's talks - particularly in the first five days, when the offerings were very high indeed. Both gurus actually began high, but gradually each of their teachings came to a point where all could latch on again, plus the union between one and the other became very clear. Mukhya Swamiji's morning lessons were on the Narada Bhakti Sutra - an often visited text but one which needs constant revising, for there is much of practical use in it. Bhakti is the path of devotion. Jnaana (Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Sutra and such) is the path of Knowledge. There are those who would argue the two are opposed. Gurudev always called them the two wings of the spiritual bird, and one without the other was crippling. Guruji and Swamiji furthered and deepened our understanding of this fact... so subtly and suitably did they do this, actually, that it was not until about two or three days before close that everyone started going, "oooh... ahhhh... got it!!!" The light in folks faces then was something to behold.

It took some time though, because the early days challenged us. Even those of us who had been through the rigours of the gurukula. Guruji threw in a couple of 'checks and balances' on us and turned a couple of things around. Not in a way that destroyed or spoiled the knowledge, but in a way to ensure that we all had our intellects working as they ought. If we weren't questioning, then why were we there?! To discover, then, that the slight shift of thinking only added further and detracted nothing to our existing knowledge was exquisite.

Around this fitted regular days; 4am rising bell, ablutions, saadhana (morning prayers etc), 8:30 breakfast; 12:30 lunch and for those who needed more food, dinner served at 8pm. Chai was on hand morning and afternoon. As this was a public camp, many participants being local residents, there was also lots of promotional material with texts on sale and logo gifts. What institution doesn't have that these days? In between, there were auto trips to the shops and restaurant and a fair bit of contemplation.

On Monday 16th, things changed pattern...

Me-Now-Views; Less Speak More Peek

A handful of Sandeepany Sadhanalaya - all images copyright. I did not carry the Fudge with me. It would have taken me over my hand luggage allowance. Instead, I am carrying what used to be my mother's little point-'n'-shoot 8mp Canon. It only has a zoom up to 5x on it. Bird shots are going to be few and far between!