INDIA: PANCHA KARMA, YEAR 3

Students at the Chinmaya Mission College for girls

I come back from this fourth trip to India more relaxed than last year. The memory of amazing smiles, scents and sights in my eyes fill my senses… 

Kilos lost and gained
… and many kilos of ayurvedic pastes, oils, tablets and medicinal ghees filled up my suitcase on the way back to follow up properly with my 3rd annual pancha karma
treatment. Since there was a tiny bit of space left in it, I added a couple of tubes of saffron and vermillion paste, and a herbal face cream called Vadanamritham.

Two amazing ayurvedic doctors.

At the other end of the spectrum, am very happy to report that I lost a little over 1kg after three weeks. Quite a feat for my ayurvedic doctors and my body given Lascita's and Lissie's delicious and plentiful, non-pancha karma meals. (Lascita's chutney and curry recipes are in the March posts of http://thebookoftaste.blogspot.com).

Vata, Pitta, Kapha

I am grateful that my high Pitta condition from last year was finally mastered with only a few milk shirodaras, coconut oil massages and a fantastic series of eye treatments. My young practitioners were then able to address the needs of my Vata constitution with massages with sesame oil and other treatments over the next two weeks. Dr. Swapna, the owner of the clinic, told me I would have to come back next year since my body was not quite ready to handle kapha balancing treatments. Oh well, life is so rough; it looks like my agenda is set for February-March 2015.

Kannur in the fast lane

These treatments, added to Bhuvaneswari's slow-strectch yoga while overlooking the sun rise over the beach at 6:30, swimming in the ocean before breakfast, daydreaming and haute cuisine eating requested a lot of rest.

The most fun part was to eat with our hands.

So I rested, a lot. And then came an invitation to our friend, Dr. Swapna, for the last week of my stay, so I had to start shopping for a saree. That was not too tiring, especially with a few visits to the dates and cashew nuts vendor, to the spice (cardamom and chili) and incense vendors. Then once started, I remembered that I needed a bit of jewelry and a pair of shoes to go along with the sari, then a night gown and a few more white cotton pieces to replace old ones. Had to try more than one tailor. The first one was located 2 minutes away from the miles-long sandy beach, in a 10x10 cube-like stall minus the front wall. Whenever he looks up from his work, he see huge trees in bloom and San Pedro cactus.

A not-so-silent retreat

Divya and yours truly.

Of course I had to learn from Lascita how to wrap the saree. Took about 15 lessons, first by myself, then with nine friends who practiced the art with me to attend a traditional feast organized by the owner of our resort for a photoshoot for their website. Of course, his wife Divya, Lascita and Lissie took care of the menu and food presentation. Our now long-term friend, Krishna, took care of the flower arrangement. We were magnificent! By then, Lascita volunteered to  make sure I would put on my saree properly the morning of the wedding. The night before,

Bhuvaneswari bought especially fragrant strands of jasmine for our hair. Have developed and addiction to this feminine traditional form of vanity, especially after a vendor gave me a rose one day as a compliment for wearing jasmine in "such a creative way".

Wedding Day
The tuk tuk ride to the wedding was an adventure in itself, with four of us sardined on a not so bumpy, hilly country side road. The bride was gorgeous with her pure complexion, jet black hair shining and bound with jasmine strands, henna patterns on the hands, bedecked in her

Bhuvaneswari and Swapna

deep red and gold saree, and wide shy smile. The stage for the ceremony was covered with flowers and various traditional accessories and all kinds of modern photo and video equipment. First thing we knew, it was over and another meal followed, served on a banana leaf.

By then, time to purchase goodbye gifts for family and friends. Then there were the goodbye dinners, for example a group candle light dinner at a nice seaside restaurant where my apéritif was a fresh, fizzy and salty limonade.

Unexpected highlights

Asoka employee
makes a medicinal
churna (tonic)

• Visiting the factory Asoka Pharmacy, a 100-year old ayurvedic family business, where I got an iron tonic and a fabulous face cream--everything there is still made by hand, even the pills 
• giving a facial on the dining room table of our hotel with fresh local bananas, yellow cucumber and rose water
• meeting a multi-lingual tuk tuk driver passionate about English grammar
• having a Kerala Indian cooking class (oh, those chutney's!)
• learning about the meticulous techniques of traditional mural painting complete with demo. The artist travelled 3 hours by train to come to us

  

  A few meters from Durga's feet:
  the sandy beach.

• tasting my first fresh cashew fruit with the nut well attached underneath
• being invited to a small community puja for Sai Baba
• having a root canal treatment and paying only 3500 rupees for it--that is about $75. Talk about lucky, and it was done before the tooth started hurting
• attending the students talent show at the Chinmaya Mission College for girls
• getting so many tips on beauty, health and even fertility issues, e.g. cardamon for hair care and lack of iron as a cause of insomnia.

And you should see and touch my skin now!

Want to book an ayurvedic facial or treatment? Contact me know at info@facetograce.com.