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In India, it's not always necessary to go to the store to buy things -- sometimes the goods come to you!

Wallas (vendors) of different types roam the street with their wooden carts of merchandise. Coconuts, vegetables, fruit, oil, recycling pick-up, nuts & puffed rice . . . so many things that get wheeled right past your door.

There are 2 wallas that park just outside the Iyengar Institute to service all the hungry yogis after practice. The easy and convenience can't be beat! There is the ever-popular coconut walla and (new to us this trip) a lovely woman selling vegetables and fruit.

Our daily staples included beets, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, daikon radish, methi leaves, peas, limes, papaya, pre-cut pineapple, and tangerines.

Indian Thanksgiving

Over the last 24 hours, in honor of Thanksgiving, we shared and exchanged our electronic vibrations of gratitude with family and friends. But one thing you cannot share over the Internet is food. (Brad and I decided that of all this holiday's traditional treats, we missed the pies the most!)

In honor of all the eating that has just concluded, we give you a few of the Indian delights that we have enjoyed in Pune:

1. Indian sweets - Jaggery and ghee are combined with other ingredients like milk, coconut, cashews, chocolate, and mango to create incredibly rich nuggets of sweetness. Our tolerance for sweetness has definitely increased over the weeks!

2. Fresh papaya - We've had papaya in our oatmeal every day this month and every one has been absolutely perfect! How are we so lucky, you ask? First of all, they are local and abundant. But the real secret is that I have help choosing the right one. I just ask the fruit walla (i.e. vendor) to pick a papaya that will be ready for the next morning. So far they've never been wrong!

3. Homemade samosas - One day our housekeeper, Kamil, was asked to prepare samosas for some guests from out of town. I'm not sure how old Kamil is, but she has at least 50 years of cooking experience under her belt. I've attempted to made samosas before and needless to say they did not come out looking anything like Kamil's perfect little packages. I marveled at how easily she rolled the dough into round circles in just a few strokes -- and how those circles were just the right size and thickness! We were very happy when she gave us a couple to try :)

Pune Central

Sometime since our last visit in 2006, a large mall called Pune Central popped up a few hundred yards away from the Iyengar Institute.

Malls still feel incredibly out of place in Pune, where most of the stores are on the street. But we read in the local paper that number of malls is expected to grow considerably in the next several years. And it's easy to understand why. In the mall you are sheltered from the noise and pollution of the street. It's clean. It's air conditioned. There is an ample selection of a wide range of items: electronics, appliances, clothing, shoes, and groceries. There's free wifi and a food court. And it's a place people can come to hang out.

Many of the people there are young and dressed in jeans and tshirts. They carry cell phones and guys and girls hang out together. You can see India changing before your eyes. They want a part of the capitalist, consumerist, Western dream and the IT sector has made it available to them.

When we visited today, there was a thumping sound system outside with a DJ playing. It looked like they were setting up for a band to play next. Pune Central is the place to be!

Gloria Jeans Coffee

We finally ventured out of our neighborhood on some errands today. On the recommendation of some of the other yoga students we decided to try a coffee place called Gloria Jean's on FC Road. It was very much like visiting a Starbucks: clean, corporate, modern, and located in a mall.

We drank a cappuccino, a macchiato, and ate a brownie while we watched the bustling street scene through the window and listened to an incredible (yikes!) mix of bouncy, booty, pop-techno. It was like being in a Western-themed fishbowl :)

Nice to get a little taste of the familiar once in awhile!

Chittranjan Garden

Next door to the place we're staying at in Pune is a sanctuary -- a public park. It's not overly large, but parks are scarce in this city, so it is loved by people and birds alike.

At dusk and dawn, hundreds of crows call as they wake up or come home to roost. Hawks, kingfishers, finches, and birds from the magpie family also share the vast canopy and add their voices to the bird chorus. There is a playground for kids and lots of sitting area for the adults. In the morning you can see men and women -- some in sweats, some in saris -- walking or jogging briskly on the park's maze of pathways.

Giant tropical trees shade the grounds from the intense sun and add some much-needed oxygen into the air. In the middle of the park, you can finally find some quiet space, away from the incessant honking on the road.

We're very thankful for the garden :)

Jaggery: Sweetness That Is Good For You

One of the things we've been enjoying since we got to Pune is using jaggery in our morning oatmeal. We like the distinctive carmel and flowery flavors that it adds. The other day we were investigating how it is made when we stumbled upon some surprising health benefits!

[From Wikipedia]: "Some consider jaggery a particularly wholesome sugar, since it retains more mineral salts than refined sugar and it is made without chemical agents. Indian Ayurvedic medicine considers jaggery beneficial in treating throat and lung infections; [and there was a study that] found that in rats jaggery can prevent lung damage from particulate matter such as coal and silica dust."

And we need all the help we can get protecting our lungs from particulate matter! Yay jaggery :)

The golden-colored, pressed form is the way you usually find it. Recently, we bought a bag of dark (darker means it's richer in minerals) granuals.

Essential Flavor

Chai infusion everyday at 2:30pm in the Chetak lounge -- be there or be under-caffeinated!

Timeless

Several things in Pune show signs of Westernization, but one of the things that remain the same are the lovely rickshaws!

Practice Makes Perfect!

We arrived in Pune on November 1st and got down to our yoga practice and study. The practice sessions seem especially full this month.

I guess we are part of a very enthusiastic group :) !

Study Time

When we weren't in treatment, napping, or watching movies on TV, we spent time at the library at the SDM College of Ayurveda, just up the road from the hospital. We had to get special permission from the principal to use the library, which had a small but good collection of yoga books.