Panchakarma Days 2, 3 and 4

This is probably not going to be a daily blog, as I have been SOOOO tired the last few days.  The karma in the pan is really getting to me.

Thus far, it has remained as interesting an experience as I could have hoped it to have been.  I've had the usual ups and downs of working to an Indian schedule, but not as many downs as one would have expected from a cleansing perspective (if you get what I mean?).

Where was I last?  Oh yeah, 1st day of the ghee.  I arrived on Sunday to take my second dose out of four.  Luckily the manager was there, and he was able to explain that unfortunately, the amount would increase every day.  I was now up to 35ml.  That was ok.  I could deal with that.  My sister had asked what it tasted like, so my aim of the day was to actually analyse the taste.

The ghee tastes like oily goat, that's all I can say.  If I didn't have water and gum to clean my mouth after the down in one, the milk that I had to take also tasted like this.  Well, not quite, it tasted like warm, oily, goats milk. Bleurgh.  I also found out the reason for the lemon: it wasn't an offering to the god of Panchakarma, whomever that might be! It was a sensational distraction to stop my body from rejecting said oily goat.  I must say, it does work.

On Monday, I arrived to no manager, and no aryuvedic Dr, as had been scheduled.  The new receptionist placed that days ghee in front of me.  The glass seemed somewhat less full than the previous day.  I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth:

"There's not enough ghee in that glass"

The receptionist looked confused.  He didn't say anything.  Not even a head shake which told me I was correct.

"How much is there?  How many ml?"

"Madam, please wait for the DR"

And with that he whisked up the tray delights and disappeared out of the office.  

I waited, and waited, and waited.  I heard people speaking anxiously on the phone.  Of course being linguistically challenged, I could not understand the full conversation, but the words:

'Ghee, DR, clinic, 500 rupees, Ghee (again), still here, Kerala shop, Ghee, 500 rupees'

led me to ascertain that they had in actual fact run out of ghee and had tried to palm me off with the dregs of the bottle. Pft.  Not happy.  I stuck my head around the office door:

"Where's the DR?  I've been waiting here 40 minutes."

By this point it was 11am.  I still hadn't eaten anything that day.  

I was distracted by a young woman wafting through the door.  I thought perhaps she was a client or a manager.  She was tall, lithe, young and GORGEOUS.  She was also the DR.  This was NOT what I had been expecting.  I was waiting for a serious, old, bespectacled, and wizened man with knowledge beyond normal human comprehension (and perhaps some interesting facial hair).  Not this.

I was called into her office.  We went over diet, what to expect from the programme.  She weighed me, and then presented me with my ghee (45ml) - she also giggled a lot.

The whole clinic came to witness the ghee drinking  - 2 receptionists, 3 masseurs, a hairdresser, the DR and the cleaner.  They all chortled as I gagged.  They all wished me well as I went out the door. This was to be repeated the next day (60ml). 

But what is it actually like?  The drinking part is over very quickly, the after effects last for several more hours -  vomit-inducing oily goat burps, and the feeling of the oil lying on top of my stomach - you know like after you've made a meat stock, but before you skim the fat?  I'm so glad that this part of it is over.  I'm sure you can believe it.  I have, however, lost 2 kg or just under 5 pounds - so it's all been worth it.  I haven't even finished my first week yet!

Coming Up..... The one where Jenine gets basted and pressure cooked.

NOTE:

After writing my last blog I felt pretty pleased with how I had summed up the situation, but something was bothering me about it.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  Then it came to me.  Funny as the situation was, I felt that how I portrayed the receptionist was wrong.  I've been living this life for 17 years now, and the one thing I have learned through out all the countries that I have lived in is that just because people are different - culturally, ethnically, religiously, linguistically - it doesn't make them wrong or stupid.  And it doesn't make me RIGHT because I see these differences.   I also want to note,  (I'll expand on this in future blogs) that I think Indians ROCK!  I hold my hands up.  I'm prejudiced.  Of those Indians I know and have met - from very poor and ill educated, right through to extremely wealthy with 3 million university certificates under their belts, I have never been treated with anything other than kindness and respect.  Something that is so ubiquitous here in India, is very hard to find anywhere else.  So when they all crowded round to watch me in my pain (through morbid fascination as is the thang here) - I thought, 'You know what?  I deserve this!' 

Guh! Day One Panchakarma

So there I was, up at the crack of dawn, and off down to the spa in anticipation of my first day of ghee detox.  It was shut (Indian time obviously 8am is 9 to 9:30 for them), so I decided to go and buy a diet coke seeing as I hadn't officially started my detox.  Mmmm fizzy, cold diet coke at 8:30 in the morning (on an empty stomach)!

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long.  The young man at the reception desk asked me to be seated and disappeared into another room.   I thought, 'Ooh, they're just setting up the massage room.  I'll have a nice oily massage and that'll even out the nasty ghee.'  Except there was no massage.  He came back with a tray.  On it was a cup and saucer (ghee), a warm glass of milk, and a lemon.

"Drink!"

"Is this the ghee?"

"Yes, madam."

"Drink it all?"

"Yes, madam"

"Then massage?"

"No, madam.  Three days ghee, then massage."

"Oh, OK."

With some disappointment, I downed it in one, gulp, BOAK!  Boak again.  Another boak.  Oh good god, it was as bad as I had expected.

The receptionist seemed surprised that I had elicited such a reaction.

'Madam, drink the milk'

I took a look at the warm milk and almost vomited again:  I remembered that once when I was in my teens and was having difficulty sleeping, that I had drunk warmed milk to try to help me get back to sleep.  It had been disgusting.  This time though, it was actually soothing, although it didn't take away the greasiness in my mouth.

"Can I have some water?"

Off he went. I had a sip of water and felt much better.  I looked at the lemon still sitting on the tray next to the remnants of the ghee, and the half drunk milk.

"Take the lemon, madam"

"What should I do with it?"

"Take it with you, madam"

"Should I do anything with it?"

"Take it with you, madam"

Oh ok.  I put it in my bag.

"Should I eat anything today?"

"No pizzas, fries or hamburgers.  Eat chapati at dinner time. Limit, madam, limit."

"Right, when will I see the DR?"

"After 3rd ghee, madam.  We will call her."

"Any special instructions?"

"Limit madam, limit."

"Ok, so see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, madam."

"Should I pay you?"  I haven't yet paid for the programme (maybe a good thing?).  He looked confused.  So I took my lemon and left.

Later on the family and I were driving into town.  I thought I would gain some insight from our driver, who's very own mother had had her broken arm fixed by an aryuvedic doctor.

"I'm doing panchakarma!"

"What's that, Jenine?"

"It's aryuvedic detox for the body, it helps you lose weight."

"Never heard of it."

"No?  I drink ghee every day and get a massage."

A confused look....

"But ghee makes you fat..."

Right then.

I've spent the day suppressing the memory of the ghee, and throwing off thoughts about tomorrow morning.  I have some hope though!  My horoscope in todays Bangalore Mirror:

'A karmic cycle of acquiring or selling immovable assets begins.'

You couldn't make it up.

New year, new me....

My journey thus far in India has been an interesting one.  As a family we've done a lot of travel, but not nearly as much as we would have liked.  India is a great place for travel, but when you have young children you really have to take care and more importantly take it slowly.  India is too in-your-face, with too many long car and train journeys to get from point A to point B to C to D and onwards.  When I moved here, I really wanted to share these journeys and have done so through my IOS photos on Facebook.  I am sure there are many people who have felt that my FB posts have been as much to do with boasting as they are to do with the travel, but the sheer excitement of the places we have visited and the fact that my 2 little ones always seem to embrace what we put under their little feet fills me with pride and makes me want to share what so many people have asked.

I can't believe 2015 has arrived; that 2 years have passed already; that we are most probably entering our final year here.  There were so many things that I wanted to do in India, and I suppose the emotional growth that I have waited most of my life for has AT LAST started to happen.  Mentally, I feel so much more on top of things than I have ever done, but there are still more things that I want to happen on a physiological level that I have decided to look into.  I have a year.  January 2016 will mark my 40th birthday (me? 40?), and I want to reach this age in the best condition that I can muster. If there is anywhere I can do it, it will be here!

Tomorrow I start Panchakarma, an aryuvedic detoxification, which has brought me back to this blog.  It lasts for 30 days, and I am unsure of the ins and outs (yeah, still throwing myself blindly into perilous situations).  What I do know is that I will have to drink warmed ghee (an indian oil) for most of the 30 days, and I will also have to have daily massages at stupid o'clock.  My initial idea was to go to a retreat, but logistically, it's not really possible given the fact that I have young 'uns.  So I have found a place nearby (I can walk), that I can get to for the treatment.  I hope that I'll be able to blog about the experience, because I do think that people will find it interesting, and I am SURE that given this is India, there will be some amusing insights to keep you entertained with.

So with some trepidation. I'm off for an early night, to get up at stupid o'clock, to go to some random spa, to drink warm ghee.  Will report in tomorrow!