Baba Ramdev’s Garden of Eden

January 2, 2017

The most spectacular thing about the Yog Gram Ashram is the number and variety of flowers that are grown in the gardens. I was pulled towards these beautiful flowers every day as I strolled around the ashram and the surrounding farms for my ritualistic morning walk. The flowers add so much colour to the place and are so pleasing to the eyes. They have a soothing and hypnotic impact on the patients. The greenery that surrounds the ashram gives it the much-needed oxygen, energy, and charge that revitalises broken bodies and bleeding souls. The various smells that emanate from them charges and reinvigorates the body and mind.

An army of gardeners and malis look after the gardens, the flora, and fauna which brighten up the ashram premises. It is an advisable and silent way to cure disease, eradicate stress and relieve people from the cities of their day-to-day problems and fears.

The ashram also has a nursery where different varieties of orchids and rare flowers are grown. Montu, who is the keeper in charge of Baba Ramdev’s Garden of Eden, took me for a stroll around the gardens and nursery as I interviewed him. He explained to me in great detail the therapeutic value of these flowers and orchids that litter the ashram and also their importance in the entire therapy that is provided here.

Montu, the expert gardener, said “This is nothing sir. You should come here during the spring and see the flowers they grow and bloom to their natural size. It is such a pleasing sight.” I, for one, have enjoyed capturing these beauties through my lens and can’t wait to feature them on my blog.

Pokhri is another village 300 km from here where most of the herbs and jade buti are grown which go into making the various medicines and herbs that are prescribed by the doctors of the ashram. I have seen the beauty of this place and the magical powers of her colourful flowers. They have done wonders to my health and really energised me. In the last 10 days, I have even lost 6 kg. I have been walking almost 8 to 9 km every day. This, for me, is truly Baba Ramdev’s Garden of Eden.

By adminin India, others

With Debbie and Hubby

November 14, 2016

I started my travelthon with a vision of meeting different people, absorbing their stories, learning from their diverse knowledge and understanding their culture. A year back, I was roaming the streets of Dharamshala chatting to monks trying to understand the history and fate of the Tibetan people. It was then that I bumped into a cute couple from Texas, USA. They were seated in a cafe having breakfast. I sat on the same table and started chatting. I found our conversation on God, fate, religion and spirituality. It was so engaging that I wrote it on my blog. I was not lucky enough to see the Dalai Lama, but Debbie managed to shake hands with the big man and also received words of wisdom from him. The chat in the cafe and our time together was very memorable for me as I explained to them the vision of my travelthon and the reason for travelling the world. Then we parted ways only in a hope that we will see each other again.

Fate, indeed, is a funny thing and destiny plays its silent, yet, sure part in our lives. Just a few days back I got a message on my messenger from Debbie that she was in Delhi. She had been following my blog for a year and had also been actively commenting on some of my posts. I was thrilled and it was great timing as I had just landed in Delhi after celebrating Diwali with my friends in Mumbai. I asked her to send me her number and the next morning, we decided to meet outside her hotel in Lajpat Nagar. Debbie was happy to see me as I took them for a tuk-tuk ride around New Delhi, India Gate and Connaught Place. We had a meal at the Kake Ka Dhaba where we dived into some delicious no-nonsense Punjabi food. Butter chicken, keema and roti were heaven as both of them relished the Indian food. We had ice cream at Naturals and I treated them to a special banarasi paan.

Luckily for me, a fan recognised me as a Bollywood celebrity and even took photographs with me. It gave me the added boost in front of my foreign guests. After all, they were being shown around the city by a Bollywood celebrity.

By the evening, we headed for their hotel where I thanked them for their company. Debbie invited me over to Texas when I decided to go to the USA. She even promised to help with the visas. Surely, I had struck a good friendship with them which will continue as I move forward in my travelthon.