Third Eye

It was a three-year wait before Cedric Taylor could leave England to come down to the Iyengar Institute in Pune. I have been practising...

It was a three-year wait before Cedric Taylor could leave England to come down to the Iyengar Institute in Pune. 8220;I have been practising yoga for five years now and our institute in London has close connections with the one here. Yoga is a cure for mind, body and spirit,8221; Cedric lets us know as he tells us that he left a publishing job to come to learn yoga and also travel.

8220;Pune is a crazy place. It is very polluted and the smoke from the two-wheelers seems to cloud your senses. The streets are busy too,8221; says Cedric shrugging. He is amazed that the people here have time to relax and 8220;look at the world go by.8221; 8220;I have been to the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum and Sinhagad, which was lovely, but I hadn8217;t thought that Pune would have so many places to visit,8221; adds Cedric candidly.

8220;Poverty is tragic. But the people who live in the slums seem to have a family life and friends, despite it all,8221; observes Cedric. He adds that in the West, people are quite unhappy despite their wealth, which just goes to show that there is no exact correlation between happiness and wealth. 8220;But this does not mean that India is a spiritual answer to the miserable souls in the West. True, India has a rich spiritual heritage, but that is all there is to it,8221; he says smiling.

8220;I like Indian food a lot. I have tried everything and even went to a cooking class here. I learnt to make palak paneer and chappatis, which are really tasty. I like batata wada and lassi a lot,8221; he continues. Cedric maintains that Indian food is quite popular and universal now. 8220;I heard that there are more Indian restaurants in London than in Chennai!8221; he exclaims. And like many foreigners, he is quite comfortable with the spicy food and has refrained from eating meat here.

8220;I was a little scared when I first came here. But once you are here, all your fears vanish. I find the people friendly and have had no problems,8221; he admits. Cedric seems savvy enough not to have been taken for a ride by the auto-rickshaw drivers here. 8220;I pay by the meter but if it is a little extra here and there, I don8217;t begrudge them because of obvious currency differences,8221; he continues. Cedric has not had too much opportunity to see the city or experience its culture. 8220;I saw some Indian musicals on a flight earlier, I also liked Hyderabad Blues a lot,8221; he adds enthusiastically. He now plans to tour the South and the West coast. 8220;India is such a big country and there is lots to see. I will have to come again to see it all8221;.