India - steam engines, horses, and boats

I've been made aware that an update is long overdue...
After hanging about the ashram for another week - seeing off the last of my seminar - I headed south on a 12 hr train to Ft. Cochin in Kerala. It passed quickly with some naps, some food, and some looking at the beautiful passing scenary. It wouldn't have been complete without two gawking men, or my process of understanding the importance of drinking water despite the fact that a trip to the bathroom was bound to follow.
Ft. Cochin is a nice town (on a small island off the mainland). It has a 500 year old Portugese Synagogue and what's left of the Jewish community that settled there once upon a time. Most have emigrated to Israel in the past decade or so. The synagogue is in the charming historic neighborhood of Jewtown. It's narrow colorful winding streets are filled with cafes, galleries, and shops full of crafts, arts, shawls, etc. The architecture is splendid and everyone who discovered my Israeli roots said Shalom!
My week in Cochin was spent sightseeing, reading in cafes, visiting galleries, and doing a backwater tour. A 7 hr small (non motorized) boat tour of the backwaters of kerala - through canals and by villages. It was absolutely beautiful and our stops at village rope and lime powder factories were fascinating. The weather was splendid, our village lunch was delicious, and the breeze, the quite, the water and the energy of nature was just spectacular. There were 3 French and an Indian couple on my boat. I experimented "rowing" the boat - with a pole of bamboo which you push against the bottom of the water and it moves the boat along.
I experienced the most important cricket tournament, India - Pakistan at the guesthouse owners home with his two sons, nephew, wife, and parents. The wife dressed me up in a sari and Indian jewelry... pictures to follow. A week in Ft. Cochin is a little long but a good friend I made there was enough reason to stick around a little longer.
From Kerala I headed to a place called Ooty in Tamil Nadu. Ooty is a hill station high in the mountains of Tamil Nadu. It's pretty cold here but absolutely beautiful. After a 7 hour bus ride (supposed to be 4.5) and 4 hours in the seediest hotel in Coimbatore I boarded a 5am train to Ooty. At 7am we transferred to a steam engine locomotive which took us up the mountain in 7 hours (instead of the 3.5 it takes by road). It was again - stunning - and quite an experience. I made an Israeli friend, the Indians in our car loved us, and I discovered that Indians can be rowdier than Americans...
Ooty has been nice - quite, peaceful. There's a lake, botanical gardens, a huge rose park (both beautiful by any standards) and tons of tea plantations. The whole town/city is on hills and the views from everywhere are incredible. I met two british girls, a danish, and a german girl... and this morning the 5 of us enjoyed a 3 hr horse back riding tour through the plantation covered hills and the villages of Ooty.
I;m thinking of doing a trek tomorrow and then heading out on a night bus to Chennai and from there to Mallallapuram - a small city 2 hours south of Chennai.
The past week and a half have been full of adventures. Both inspiring and frustrating. Being cheated by a rickshaw driver who took me to the wrong hostel and having the hostel owner tell me they simply changed their name. Finding this out the next night only when directing my friend to the road name of the hostel I thought I was staying at and realizing that the original hostel indeed existed on the right road. And I was staying somewhere different all together.
I'm enjoying the food... the people... the scenary and exploring.
love
Roni

India

So as you all know, I've been at the Art of Living Ashram for the past month. And since my last email I have been corrected as to the meaning of ashram in sanskrit : "Ashram in sanscrit means without effort, a place where you come to do no effort, or hence rest, relax and be with yourself." Which is actually much more descriptive of my experience here.
The 25 Israelis and I were surprised to find we were in fact only part of a larger group of approximately 65 Iranians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Saudi Arabians, Baharainians(?), UAE, Oman, Moroccons, and (3) Ethiopians. The Arabs/Persians were no less surprised to find Israeli's amongst their group.
What an amazing experience for us all. The month was amazing. Full of love, friendship, cooperation, compassion... my closest friends were Arabs, Persians, Christians, and Muslims. And there was no separation between us. I always believed in my head that people are so much more than their fears and their politicians, that people could create peace together... but now I experienced it in my heart. And we didn't ignore the problems between our countries. Some of the Lebanese lost family and friends just last year in the war with Israel and couldn't believe they found themselves loving, and hugging, and dancing with Israeli's.
You can't describe to someone who has never experienced the ocean it's power, it's wetness, its vastness, and its beauty. You can't describe love. I find it extremely difficult to describe this experience.
On the last day myself, two other Israeli's, a Moroccan, and 5 Iranians went to Bangalore to explore the city together. And when the two Israeli's left us for Goa, the Iranians were crying. And I asked them, did you ever think you would find yourself crying when parting from Israeli's. Often in my life I have parted from people in foreign countries knowing they live so far away I may never see them again. The difficulty for us here is that we are geographically so close... but huge political barriers make it illegal to enter one anothers countries. We're already speaking of a reunion in Jordan.
I don't want this email to be political because my experience was so beyond politics... it was the underlying factor of this past month, and such a tremendous life experience. And I have little to write about this past month without writing about this.
We took a number of courses - for those of you who are art of living - we did YES+, Part II, DSN, TTCI, and TTCII. I am now a YES+ teacher! :) We were graced by amazing teachers... Sangeeta, Vinod, Bahrat, Danesh, Nandini...
I had done some of these courses before and found such tremendous growth within myself from a few years ago. I found such peace, tranquility, and happiness. And I went so deep within myself.
You may remember that I lived in Bangalore 4.5 yrs ago for a month during my study abroad, I was amazed to find how much the city has changed, grown, and developed. It has become so western. Prices have skyrocketed. The IT industry in Bangalore has grown, and with it a surge of young urban techie professionals have flooded the city, demanding luxury and comforts... and so the city has moved to meet these demands, and the change is immense.
I'm excited to go off and explore the rest of India...tomorrow or the next day I'm heading south to Kerala to Ft. Cochin... an old portugese city on the south west coast of india. It's said to be the most progressive city in India. From there I'm planning on heading to Hampi, then mumbai, pushkar, jaipur, agra, jansi, varanassi, and delhi at some point. If youve been to India and have any suggestions please let me know.
The weather is cool and rainy. For those of you who are worrying about me... safta... don't... I'm doing well.
love
Roni
ps. I recommend watching The Secret... we watched part of it a week or so ago.
pps. The month wasn't without it's downs. Throughout the month I was plagued with fever, a torn ligament in my ankle, digestion problems of all sorts, a chest cough (undiagnosed), stuffy nose, runny nose... and yet I've never felt better. :) (I'm healthy now.)