Adventures of my life...

I know that I've been quite bad lately with posting on this blog but this one I just simply HAVE TO write about. The last weekend. It was simply and truly amazing! I was celebrating my Bday and 11 of my friends that I met last year in London came to visit.I havent seen them since mid July when I left London. I picked them up on Thursday evening at the airport and welcome them in traditional (bread and salt) and also modern way (czech beer). We went directly to Vaclavske namesti to enjoy 'Smazeny syr' (czech specialty that all foreigners LOVE). On Friday and Saturday I took them around Prague, showed them the most beautiful sights, we enjoyed excellent czech food and cheap and tasty beer. On Saturday we partied until 4am and then slept only 3 hours just to go to my home town to to see the snow. Some of my friends have never seen the snow before, some of them have seen only 1 cm in London...now, can u imagine, how beautiful it is when your great indian friend gives u her 'snow face', when your parents are organising the whole trip, dad is taking care of the transport, mum is cooking...how funny and cute it is when they put on the ski for the very first time and u need to take care of them like little babies, since they are not able to even stand...how much fun and joy we had that Sunday...I'm finding it hard to describe in words how it all felt for me....I would never dream of that these people would ever meet my parents, I was shocked and surprised by my parent's hospitality, warm and care...my dad came up with the idea and pretty much organised the whole trip. my mum took care of lunch and dinner for 10 people from 8 countries. My friends were very happy and excited....and I? I have to say that when we got back to Prague and had to say goodbye I had tears in my eyes...and when I got home and was telling my flatmate about the amazing experience, all the funny stories, sharing all the joy and happiness I could not stop the tears shadding down my cheaks....I'm so lucky to have friends from all over the world, to have so loving and caring parents...So thank u Urvi, Anne, Marcelo, Beyhan, Alma, Dan,Ramon,Carlos,Lucian, Joanna, Michal,mum&dad for making the last weekend unforgettable! Cannt wait for the next stops: Amsterdam April 2008 and Brazil for Carneval in Feb 2009!

Few pictures from my Goa and Kerala trip...
...sometimes words are just not necessary.

It's great to be a human being, it's great to feel, it's great to experience, it's great to cry, it's great to laught...I woke up today smiling and humming a beautiful hindi song. I sometimes wish I have the gift of expressing my feelings in a way to let my friends understand and experience but somehow sometimes it's just not possible and you need to experience and discover that yourself.

Last night I went for a very special meditation at Osho called AUM (awareness, understanding, meditation). After 3 hours of full emotions, of releasing anger, accepting love, being crazy child, shaking, dancing, laughing and crying I felt...hmmm....relaxed? reliefed? loved? being able to love?...I don't really know how to described that feeling, but today when I'm thinking about it, I realise that the experience really reminded me of being a human being, having feelings, expressing feelings, accepting change, overcoming fear, forgivining...yes, I think I'm somehow reliefed...I can let go few things, I can enjoy the beauty, I don't have to fight with something within me..

Maybe you remember how many times I've been talking about a 3hugs a day rule... yes, I'm still 100%supporter of that rule.I hugged so intensively many times last night and it made me so open, even crying...Also last night I experienced the most intense and beautiful hug...when I close my eyes now, I can still feel it, it's so real so beautiful...I felt like I can be standing there hugging and breathing like that forever...

Oh,what a crazy post,just felt like sharing with the world about the beauty of love

During a traineeship there are many moments when you wonder...'oh my God, this is really something I have never done before. What's gonna happend now?'..well I had this moment during the last weekend when I spend 1,5 days in Osho International Meditation Resort...I have to say that when I told local AIESECers that I joined Osho, they jumped 1 meter back and said: "Wooooow...are you sure? Have you heard the gossips about that place?". So in next half an hour I was briefed and warned how nobody really knows what is happening there, you need to do an HIV test before you enter, you were maroon ropes the whole day, there might be some orgies or something....blablabla...so my curiosity grew and grew and grew and on Saturday morning I was walking through the gates of Osho slightly worried, nervous but also excited.

I bought my marron rope and waited for all the new comers to gather for the so called 'Welcome Morning'. They took us to a empty room, closed the door, played some music and started to dance...I had a bit of a deja vu (in 2002 walking into my first AIESEC conference as a newie I was trying not to laught and joined everyone in dancing. (now I can really recall the newie feeling - what kind of 'sect' is that???)
Later we were introduced to some of the main meditations that are happening during the whole day and some other courses, programmes, meal system, orientation in the center etc. It started to be more and more interesting since I had problems coping with the 10 min taster meditation and could not imagine myself doing this 'for real'...anyways...the morning passed, I talked to several people...all of them had in common one reply to my question 'How was the Osho experience for you so far?' - 'It changed my life!' - 'What exactly has changed in your life since you start doing Osho meditations?' - 'Everything'- ...Hmm...alright, I thought....it should take 7 days for you to change according to Osho...so I thought...let's just experience it myself...and I went for my first 1 hour meditation...

How should I put in words my feelings after shaking, dancing, being still and jumping for 1 hour? Good exercise, feels a bit relax, how can I 'not think of anything', how should I feel now, what will happend next etc.etc.etc....I took 1 hour break and in the evening I joined for the so called 'evening meeting' It's a very special gathering when everyone needs to wear white ropes. It's starts with some dancing then there is some active listening, being present part etc. It was quite interesting, since it was held in a big pyramid which can gather up to 5000 people, so I had a feeling that there is really something happening with the energy there. What exactly I cann't say right now, but it felt quite good after the 2 hours....

In the evening there is always some event at the main Plaza. The party on Saturday was quite nice, I chatted with some nice people, danced a lot and then took a free shuttle home.

I came home super hyper, fool of energy and ready to get up early in the morning to go for the propably most famous meditation which happens from 6-7am - the dynamic mediation. The only problem was that I went to bed at 2am, could not fall asleep for like 2 hours (yes, that much energy I had and then got up at 5.30am!!!! When I got to Osho it was still dark. I was just asking myself "what the F... am I doing? Did I get completely crazy already?" So still half asleep I got to the big pyramid. Let me tell you a bit more about this meditation, cause it's really interesting. Maybe you can try it at home. For first 10 min there is intensive crazy really fast exhaling by your nose. This way you get a lot of oxygen to your body. For another 10 min you 'EXPLODE' which means that you basicly go crazy, through yourself around, jump, scream anything that you feel like. Next 10 min you raise your hand above your head and start jumping while saying "HOO HOO" (sound has to come from you navel and you need to land on your flat feet). Than you hear a loud "STOP" so you freeze with your hands still up in the air and you observe what is happening around you, you just breathe. (yes, it does hurt a lot to have you hands up for 20min!). In the last part you dance for 15 min to celabrate the new day and accumulate the energy. (yes, it was the most awaited dance that I have ever experience People say that after this meditation they have a lot of energy for the whole day, I say that if it's your first time you should not sleep only 2 hours before that.

What else I discovered on Sunday? I'm able to sit for 1 hour in silence with my close eyes, not to fall asleep and actually feel very good afterwords. I'm able to dance freely without any judgement without any barrier in the open air, enjoying both the rain and the sun, enjoying the sound of the bomboo trees, just being the dance....wonderful experience....

So to conclude...I will need couple of more times to undestand all the meditation techniques and practise them and see what changes it brings to your life. Definatelly, Osho is a mysterious place, where people from all over the world come and be themselves, be like little kinds, learn about them, be in silence, meet each other, discuss, enjoy....I somehow started to like this 'different world', it's so peaceful, so different...you probably really need to go and experience it yourself.

And about the orgie gossips? No, nothing like that (I guess my post would be much more interesting if I would saw anything like that actually happening...Well, maybe next time - haha

Sometimes I wonder how quickly your live changes the direction, what exciting twists and turns it brings. Last 3 months has been like a roller coaster and next 2 months won't give me much rest either. But I'm excited, I'm thrilled, I'm worried...I have 1 thousand feelings at the same time, but importantly I'm awaiting another great adventure of my life. I'm going to a traineeship to India.

Last months have been so full of events that I somehow forgot about this blog. But now, I guess it's time to bring it back to live in order to keep my friends from London and from home updated about my traineeship etc.

Saying goodbye in London was not easy. It felt so strange to leave people that I made such a strong connection to. I'm so glad that I have true friends back in London, I cherisch all the great moments we shared together during the last year, I look at our pictures and have a smile on my face...During last year many things happend, it was not easy at all mainly in the beginning, but in the end I had a terrific year in London, I learned a lot about myself, I learned from people around me, I found my work life balance, I reassured myself about what is truly important for me, I laughed a lot and I cried a lot,simply I lived a lot...and I grew stronger. Thanks everyone who has been part of this amazing experience!

On Monday I'm leaving my home town again after a brief visit of my family and a short trip to Prague to see my friends, and I'm heading to Vienna to catch a flight to Mumbai. I'm going to Pune for 7 weeks for a development traineeship. I will be working in NGO called Vanasthali (www.vanasthali.net). As I was told when you go working to India, you should never really expect to be doing what's written in the job description, so mainly I found out about the organisation itself and I'm still unsure what exactly I will be doing there. Here goes a short blurb about the NGO:

Vanasthali Rural Development Centre (VRDC) was established on the 21st Dec. 1981 with a specific objective to promote Pre-Primary education in Rural Maharashtra. Right from its inception it has worked assiduously on the message, “Back to the village”, given by the Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

VRDC observed that the dropout rate of students at the primary and secondary school level was alarming. There are many reasons for this but one of the impotent reasons was lack of Pre-primary i.e. Balwadi school, in villages. Thus, VRDC started with a definite purpose in mind, to work mainly in villages for the welfare of women and children. It has been working actively in rural regions of western Maharashtra, in approximately 8 districts for the past 24 years.

Its main target groups are:
1. Semi literate rural women:
VRDC has given top priority to the ‘Overall Personality Development’ of the rural woman. We have tremendous faith in her innate intelligence, her resilience and her zest for life.

2. Children in the age group of:

3 to 6 years - For Balwadi.

6 to 12 years - For Hobby class.

VRDC feels that ‘education’ is the only means, which will break the vicious circle of poverty and ignorance. Good living conditions will follow automatically . “A Balwadi for every village is our motto”.


So I hope to be able to help this NGO as much as I can to achieve their objectives. I might be travelling a lot in the rural areas of India, work with children and also with rural women. I hope to learn there a lot about myself, to challenge my world view and mainly to give some of my knowledge, skills and love to those who need it...Let's see how it goes...