Yoga, Meditation and Rain in November

At the end of November a group of 10 teachers went for the day to the SMART Ecopark for a day of yoga and meditation.  It was truly wonderful!

SMART Ecological Park

Last week we went on a visit to SMART Ecological Park.  It's about an hour and a half out of Mumbai and is the vision of a group of lawyers based on the dying wish of one of their mothers to invest in a natural place for children.  Over the past 8 years SMART has converted 20 acres of barren land into a rich biodiverse eco-park.

SMART Park provides an interactive learning environment for developing solutions to global problems like sustainability, global citizenship and coexistence. The park is designed for children from the ages of six to eighteen.

The Information Centre is made from recycled tetra-packs. I really like the Future-Nature panel which is about future technologies related to energy use and generation.  In the park are working wind and solar energy generation to demonstrate the practical application of clean energy solutions.

There are themed forests (including perfume, cosmetics, medicine and chocolate) for learning about the healing power of nature and natural remedies.  All the food served in the Eco-park is grown on site.  There is also an area called the Compassion Zone which has animals such as goats and cows.

On-site there is also a yoga ad meditation centre - we are planning on going back for a yoga and mindfulness weekend in October.

One of my favourite places was the Dream Catchers.  You can walk on raised platforms above the ground and sit in the middle of the metal sculptures and think.  Another of my favourite places was the peace gardens which had various themes such as perspective and balance.

In one of the gardens was a tree house.  You could climb up quite high and there were magnificent views from the top.

Tiger Safari

We went on 3 safaris to the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve.  There were around 10 different tracks around the park that we could drive on, and about 60 tigers in total in the park.

You had to be very patient, but we got to see this magnificent tiger in the wild.

A visit from Paul and Jan at Holi

March was a busy month!  It started with a visit from Jan and Paul, who had been travelling round south India since January.  We spent a day downtown (intending to go to a wine festival which when we got there had been cancelled due to bad weather!)  So we hung out around the Gateway of India and the Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill, with its view of Chowpatty and the Queen's Necklace (Marine Drive).

After this we went to Bandra for drinks as the sun went down, followed by a walk up Pali Hill and a meal at Pali Village Cafe.

That week it was also Holi.  As usual we celebrated this at school with lots of water and coloured powder.

Bandra and Juhu

We spent the last week with Rachel going to some local places such as Bandra and Juhu Beach.  We went to Joggers Park and had a walk around at sunset - then we went for some yummy pancakes at Crepes Suzette.

We also went to the Novotel at Juhu and had some drinks by the sea - unfortunately because of the elections it was a dry day - so no happy hour for us!

How did Rachel spend her days in Mumbai?  Mostly studying for her upcoming university exams and painting.

Rachel at Elephanta

On Rachel's second weekend in Mumbai we went to Elephanta Island.  Once again we took a taxi downtown and then took a ferry across to the island.  The caves are dedicated to Lord Shiva and there are many carvings of him and Parvati, and the three headed Shiva showing various incarnations, for example Shiva the dancer and Shiva the destroyer.

It was a long hot day.  The following day Rachel and I went to the pool at the Hyatt to relax.

Rachel in Mumbai in April

Rachel came to Mumbai for just over 3 weeks in April - what a treat for me.  Although we didn't go away, we did try to do things every weekend in and around Mumbai.  On our first weekend Rachel and I went downtown.  We visited the Museum of Modern Art and also several other galleries - the paintings were pretty weird!

The following day we set off for Marve - we'd heard that you could get a day ticket to the Manoribel where you could walk on the beach and lounge in hammocks.  We took a taxi to Marve and then the ferry across towards Gorai.

This was the beach at Marve.  It was sandy, fairly clean and fairly empty.  I spent most of the day lounging in hammocks under the trees.  It was definitely nice to spend time in somewhere green.