Roads for Prosperity!

That was the sign I saw as I bumped my way from the Bangalore airport to Mysore last night, traveling from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. India time. The drive from the airport had a surreal quality, as I was operating on disjointed sleep over 28 hours of air travel from Louisville. We went through the twisting, urban streets of Bangalore, which is one of India's high tech centers. Well, somewhere it's high tech, but not where we were driving. I kept being reminded of Ridley Scott's movie "Blade Runner" as we dodged our way through bumps, potholes, and three wheel vehicles.

I was greeted at the airport by a friendly, competent fellow who spoke no English but who had my name on a hand printed sign. I was pretty sure he was my driver, although a couple of turns down near-alleys in Bangalore made me wonder if I was the sahib with driver or the chump about to get mugged. He brought me to Mysore, where a cheerful Mr. Rao, the director of Yogic Supplies, met me to let me into the apartment and deliver a one man welcoming presentation at 4 a.m. He is a yoga entrepreneur, who provides support services to the students from abroad, arranging housing, food, transport to the airport, and the like. A reassuring, organized fellow.

Today, I plan to try to catch up on sleep, to get a bit oriented, and to register for yoga classes. All considered, I had a smooth if long trip; the near glitch was luggage. After flying a packed 747 from Frankfurt to Bangalore, I was one of the last half dozen people waiting for bags at the luggage carousel. I tried chanting an ancient Vedic mantra, "Maymybagbehere," "Maymybagbehere," over and over. Miraculously, it worked.

I have a tolerable if somewhat slow wireless internet connection in the apartment, which I count as a real advantage. I'll post more later, although I have some uncertainty whether it will competently support picture or video uploads.

Cheers.