We’ve been in and out of New York this weekend in the blink of an eye. Driving from DC on early Friday morning, we spent the day rehearsing for our upcoming George Harrison concert at Hofstra University, then had an incredible evening at Ashtanga Yoga. It was my first time there and I was completely charmed by the traditional Indian opening-in-the-wall style temples and the sweetly smiling Radha Damodara deities, cared for by Kaustubha Das and his wife, Gitapriya.
The air was filled with frankincense, and ghee lamps in clay cups gradually lined the altar doorway, as we all offered our Damodarastakam prayers. Though we were all exhausted from the day of travelling, the mood was so special, that for two hours, I forgot everything and gratefully tried to chant and dance with full heart.
Today we did kirtan for a special yoga class at Exhale Spa opposite Central Park. The class was led by Kirtan Rasa, an ex schoolmate of Gaura’s, who was eager to share the full deovtional experience with his students. This meant kirtan, dance, meditation and most importantly at the end- strawberry halava!
Later we trawler through the Saturday evening traffic to hit up the world famous Donut Plant. I’d been told so much about this place by my friends that it had taken on an almost mythical status, heightened by the fact that every time I tried to go on previous trips to the city, something got in the way. Anyway, though they’d almost run out by the time we got there (even at the end of the day there was still a queue snaking out of the door) one Coconut Cream and one Creme Brulee later, I was well and truly intiatied. Let it be known- what they say is true, they are definitely worth the trek.
We ended the day with a kirtan evening at the Open centre before unanimously deciding to drive through the night back to DC. Tomorrow is another day, and we are racing the clock to be in Downtown DC at noon for a kirtan as part of the 9/11 Unity Walk.
Come Monday, we’ll be escaping the creeping cold as we travel to Australia for a two week tour. As an old Englishman once said, “It ain’t easy, but it ain’t half bad neither!”
