Applying Yamas on Bangalore roads!

[This is something I wrote in November 2014. I read it again to gauge its relevance. and feel it still holds good :)]

Oh, another yoga post you must be thinking!

No no. We are not talking about practicing asanas while travelling. This is not even about fun poses you can do in your car. It’s about applying yogic principles while driving on Indian roads!

Actually, correction – it’s about how excruciatingly challenging it is to maintain a serene yogic state of mind on Bangalore roads!

A beautiful thing I’ve learnt on the mat is that yoga is not about competition. I am not competing with my neighbour who lifts herself effortlessly into a neat handstand. I am not competing with myself either – understanding the limits of my body and doing what I can, enjoying the journey and patiently working my way forward.

Change of scene. The road is my mat (a real bumpy one at that!). The practice – my driving. A totally different ballgame. Think auto rickshaws that remind you of bad stalkers, wheedling their noses into even a millimeter of space available. Think 50cc bikers with Harley Davidson-ish attitudes and whose sole purpose in life is to find their way through the traffic maze at the signal to get to the finish line. Think Tata Indica and Sumo cab drivers (my apologies to the brands) who honk their way into the inner recesses of your brain and unleash deadly emotions you never knew existed! Yoga just got much tougher than I thought.

Yoga also speaks of Ahimsa (Non-violence) and Aparigraha (Non-coveting). Peaceful ideas. And like a sincere student I took them off the mat and onto the road. Again.

The other day I was driving out of my lane and onto the main road with a song on my lips. I had to get on to the other side of the road through the gap in the divider. I turned on my indicator and magnanimously allowed all the vehicles to pass by before moving on to take a turn. Suddenly, like a bat out of hell, a piddly taxi speeds down the road blaring its horns, while the burly driver glares at me as he passes by – violently pointing his hand towards me and hurling the choicest of abuses! I was temporarily paralyzed.

I had sinned. Why? I had violated his belief that the road belonged to him and also coveted a part of his smooth straight journey. Sarcasm aside, for a brief moment, I could sense my non-violent, non-coveting state fly out of the window.

Conserving energy is an interpretation of Brahmacharya – another Yama (ethical discipline) in yoga. I do that, while I wait at traffic signals. Taking my feet off the contraptions, I use the time to nature watch, pay more attention to the music playing or sometimes just breathe and rejuvenate. Sounds lovely. Just that the last time I was at a signal, I had the driver behind me honking endlessly, demanding me to break the signal and move on like the others around me had. There. My practice was being challenged again.

I could go on. Other Bangloreans will empathize with me I’m sure. Some others may say there are ways to sort these out. I’ve tried and I’m trying. A Munnabhai (Gandhian) approach where I smile and seem humorously peaceful in the middle of the chaos is met with idiotic dumbstruck looks (can’t deny that’s funny and yes, some people do get the humour so it does work at times). The other way that’s been effective is to just let it go. Yeah that’s harder. Takes a while to shake off bad civic sense when you are at the receiving end.

But that’s what a yogi does. Looks at everything objectively, with a sense of detachment, not letting them affect his peace of mind. And I’d like to work at being a true yogi – yes, even on the road. So I shall continue to explore ways of surviving on the road…including walking short distances, using the metro line, not stepping out in peak traffic hours and of course letting others drive me at any available opportunity!

That said, as an honest yogi, at this stage in my journey, I’d like to say: Some day I do want to send the bats back to hell.

Namaste.