I had a great medical class yesterday – another challenging pose added to my sequence and additional modifications to some existing poses. After that, I observed a beginner Pranayama class taught by Nawaz. Nawaz, an older Indian woman, taught the class with maturity, clarity and conciseness. She was a breath of fresh air (pun intended).

At all the bookstands in Pune, there are books written in English. A sign that English isn’t spoken much in Alandi is the fact that none of the books sold here are written in English.

A very common sight – women carrying goods on their head.

Interestingly, there’s a “gasket” used to pad the top of the head and make the carrying of objects easier. Those gaskets are used as yoga props for various needs and they come in different sizes. They’re quite popular in the Iyengar Yoga world, and hard to get. I’ve ordered a set for my studio, and have also been asked to bring two sets back for a friend in the states. Hopefully no one will want me to bring anything else back because I’m out of room in my luggage!

Now this was scary. You can’t see the Good Scarrier driver because he’s around the other side of the vehicle wrapping twine around these cans that go well past the bed of the truck. I’d sure hate to be behind him on a bumpy Alandi road.

These two boys road their bikes past us and then stopped and waited for us. They both learned English in school and the one on the right was quite friendly, following us around for a long time, smiling and practicing his English.

At the end of this walk, we came to our second destination – another temple, which I’ll share tomorrow.

This morning I had a short practice. Sharon and I are going to do some shopping this afternoon and then Pranayama class this evening.

I’ll leave you with pictures of what I indulged in yesterday with Kathleen and Aubrey – Chocolate Chip Cake and Chocolate Excess Cake, and of course, coffee.