spring

monday was officially the first day of spring in india, celebrated with a festival called vasant panchami, when hindus wear yellow and the world is a brighter, happier place. i wore a borrowed yellow suit and welcomed in the spring by returning to rishikesh, the heavenly town on the ganges, which is surely hippy paradise. i've made friends with a charming man who runs a small restaurant/guest house on the banks of the river and is very discerning about the people he allows to eat/stay there. unlike indians everywhere else, who are always trying to intice you into their shops, he turns away anyone he does not like the look of; the lucky ones are welcomed with open arms and fine japanese/italian/chinese food (and splendid homemade spinach bread) and charged a measly rs 50 a night to sleep with the most fantastic view of the ganges. i wasn't even allowed to pay the rs 50 however, or to pay for my dinner, as i provided a couple of hours of violin playing instead. rishikesh offers yoga classes galore and every other person walking the paths along the river is a sadhu dressed in saffron, lending a very spiritual, peaceful air to the whole place. i took a great yoga class in a hall overlooking the ganges and was able to the see the lights of the pooja that takes place every evening on the river in front of the main ashram, listening to the drums and chanting as i attempted to balance on my head. pretty special.
as much as i love it, i am not going to move to rishikesh, as i joked to the pestalozzi director (who has already lost enough house mothers this year), but am certainly keen to return as often as my off days allow. meanwhile back in dehradun, the sun is shining brightly and it really does feel as if spring has sprung. the birds are tweeting loudly, the trees are blossoming, and the monkies are going mental. they stole one of each of three pairs of my favourite woolly socks from the roof. why didn't they just take a pair, instead of leaving me with three odd socks?