mysuru

The Green Hotel

The Green Hotel, taken from the garden.

The British have a long relationship with Mysore. The Chittaraja Place, which is now the Green Hotel is a testament to that. Architecturally it is classic British Raj. It was built in 1916 by the Maharaja of Mysore for his sister. It has high ceilings and dark wood, windows with small panes of glass and wrought ironwork on the outside. It is spacious and airy. The garden is beautifully maintained. In the wonderful business of the city it is an oasis of calm (not quiet, it is right next to a main road, it is quiet-ish in the early hours of the morning).

Buildings like this are classed here as ‘heritage’ and it is a beautiful example of a different time. It became a hotel in the 1970’s and is now managed by a British charity called the Charities Advisory Trust. The hotel itself proudly maintains as environmentally conscious standards as possible. It utilises solar power, there is no air conditioning, the rooms do not have televisions, the water for the garden is recycled.  The profits from the hotel go towards a variety of projects including planting mango trees to support Dalit communities, funding towards a school and maternity hospital for tribal communities, promoting literacy and health in rural areas, to name just a few.

Basically, I’m staying here because I like the vibe. See what you think…

Front door.
Entrance way.
The garden, standing with the hotel front door behnd me.

These are pictures of the first floor, which will be my “office” for the next two weeks and the inside downstairs eating area.

Journey part 1

Journey pt1.

“ah, yes you couldn’t check in online because the first flight is cancelled so you won’t make the connecting flight.”

These were the words that greeted me at the check in counter at Zurich airport as I was about to begin my journey to Mysuru on Thursday.

“Right.”

(My go to when “What the Fu*k?” is not appropriate.)

“So what do I do then?”

Some might say this was an inauspicious beginning, in fact the extreme efficiency of Lufthansa had me rebooked and on my way within 20 mins just on a different airline and  different route. My wandering years (2014 – 2018), many of which were spent in India, taught me to ask for help, to trust that there is a solution, and to be open to the solutions that may be presented.  I am glad that even after 6 years living the land of organisation, timekeeping, and precision (Switzerland) I can still have faith in the process of traveling.

For me traveling is a practice of vulnerability. I will often be in situations I don’t fully understand, in places that are alien to me. I like to travel because it is also a practice in humility, I am in a different culture and I intend to try to be respectful and behave appropriately. Professionally I am used to being the person guiding or leading, when I travel I enjoy being independent, observing before acting, being curious about what is ‘normal’ here

I remember my first time in India, very quickly I became comfortable with being stared at, being other, being different. And I found that the simple act of smiling was almost always reflected back and all of that vanished to being just two human animals looking at each other.

When I boarded the first flight on Thursday I was smiling generally and happened to catch the eye of a teenager who was settling into her seat.

“Oh do I need to move?” they said.

“not at all,” I laughed “I was just smiling”

They smiled back and laughed.

Smiling is infectious, and when I am feeling myself it is something I do a lot. Luckily I am feeling very grounded in myself as I cross approximately 9000Km, taking a total of 22 hours door to door to see my teacher and come home to the land of Sadhus and Saints.

Notes: Shout out to the airline staff who didn’t have a vegan meal on-board and so gave me all the fruit they could find.