Jag Therapy, settled into Mysore, learning and living.

After my weekend trip to Coorg, I stopped for the day at one of the largest Tibetan settlements in India where I visited the Golden and Sera Temple, it was a great side trip and a beautiful area.

There were a couple of monks graduating which is the reason for the ceremony.



I am based in Mysore for about a month and half, this is my home for the time being, along with my scooter in the back ground.
This is Vicky and Sumathy, two of my good friends who work at the clinic with me, except Sumathy just moved to New Zealand.

A weekend outing with Vicky, we saw this guy making a roof from these branches. Vicky wanted to lend a helping hand.
Lazy cows and buffalo hanging out in a beautiful setting.


This is Jag, the youngest doctor in the history of India. Actually this is his grandson. Jag is the one who is being treated. This is who I have been learning from and shadowing for the last 3 weeks. Seeing endless patients come in, he has treated body pains (muscles, joints, tendons) to stomach problems, heart problems, those who suffer from cancer and diabetes. He has acted as a Gynecologist, a Pediatrician, a depression counselor and all sorts of random ailments. He has 19 clinics around the world, is not shy to tell the patients exactly what they need to change and although he helps them, in the end it is they who need to help themselves. It is a mix of so many different types of healing and medicine, but a big focus comes down to is preventative. You are what you eat! I am loving learning this stuff and it would take years and years to know what he knows, but I feel so lucky to have this chance and am learning things that will stick with me forever.

This is his grandson, now my good friend, Anjin. So much energy he has!

A great sign that I read daily at the clinic say:

May God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Levels of Management, mountain air.

Just wanted to post a quick blog while it is fresh in my mind.
I took my scooter for a weekend trip out of the city to a hill station in Coorg (coffee plantations, hills, beautiful scenery) Since I am working on a south Indian golf tour, I went to check out the Coorg golf course. It is called a natural golf course. Built by the British (and hasn't changed much since) It is in the middle of nowhere, beautiful, simple, with holes interlaping each other. There is not much of a clubhouse (you can get tea, what a suprise!). They don't even have the maps for the holes (they claim to be making them, but not to worry because the caddies will tell you where it is, and each hole says the yardage luckily). It is really a unique experience and you can't go wrong golfing for about $10 which includes your caddy.


They are really working on improving roads throughout India. Today, I watched as cement was laid and the work of making this road was done. If any of you recall or reread my day working as an extra for a bollywood movie, you will see how the many directors had many different ideas which basically led to a free for all and a lot of yelling. Road construction works in the same way. There is a main guy, who I watched yell at 3 other guys (all dressed up). These 3 guys-together or seperately yell at a group of about 5 younger guys (also dressed up) (dressed up=no physical labor or getting dirty). These 5 guys yell to about 6 guys what to do, often with contradicting orders. These 6 guys already heard the 1st guy tell the 3 and heard the 3 tell the 5, but due to orderly rules, they had to wait to be directly told by the 5 guys, which by this time, the story may have changed a bit. Since these 6 guys have done this many times, they basically move a little to make everyone happy, but do what they have always done in the past. It was really enjoyable to watch and made me really want to yell to someone to do something, but nobody listens to me and if they heard me, they would have just asked me which country I was from and ignored my yelling. (See picture above again and you can picture the whole story, notice how only 2 guys are working and there are about 20 people standing around; some of the yellers bring their friends to watch them yell, maybe for encouragment)

On the other side of the coin, I came across this cow while driving in the hills. He couldn't have cared less about the birds eating their breakfast (had to have been lunch since birds rise early to get the worm) right off of him.

Some people love hearing themselves give orders.

Some people love not listening to orders.

In India, everyone wins!

Food for my belly and for the mind.

Somehow other picture I posted here got erased and I don't have the patience to deal with the India internet system at this point to put them up again.
However, these get the main point across.

What have I been doing? eating, eating, drinking, reading and more eating.

In my life, I have been called fat, a pig, an American! But this is one of the joys of traveling and being in a different country. Oh how I've missed the fresh fruit juices, the fruit carts, the south and north indian meals, snacks and curries. I now feel like I have caught up and can begin to eat like a normal human being again.

After visiting Sandra in Auroville (picture disappeared), I headed towards Bangalore to see my people I consider family in the South; Kiran and Vibha (picture missing, but you can see pictures from last years visit on previous posts).
After a few days there and checking out golf courses (I'm working on a south Indian golf tour), I headed south to Mysore where I will spend the next month.


This is one of the fresh juice stands that I happily gave them money to make my belly smile.

South India is famous for Idly and Dosas. See above. I have been attacking these things.

Street food comes in all shapes and sizes, many that I don't even know how to say or pronounce, which in the end becomes a lot of pointing.

Panipoori, Masalapoori, Aloopoori. This is one the carts that these are created in. And, yes, they are as good as they sound!


This is a crew that are children of friends that I have made in the past while in India. As I approached the gate, the few that recognized me called out "Stu uncle"(that's me) and I felt welcome once again.

Once again I have been treated too kindly by the families that live here and I can't thank them enough for their help and kindness. I have started volunteering at Jag Therapy, a clinic that I will explain in the next blog.

It has been nice to be an a reading marathon and catch up on books that I have wanted to read for some time.

Freedom Manifesto
Story of Che (pronounced Shay-which I didn't know) Guavera
King Dork

Asking directions to this internet cafe, the guy told me to go to the "down circle"
Now if you are India and this comes up, make sure you know which way is down. Down means down the road, you just have to figure out which was he means.
Oh, and circle means a roundabout sort of thing; but since people don't actually follow the roundabout rules, it just becomes the downcircle.
I then asked if it would be on the right or left side, before or after. After about 8 seconds of heavy contemplation, he said I should ask someone when I got to the downcircle. It worked like a charm...obviously.

Also, I don't mind when some of the fresh, new foods go right through me. Since I enjoy eating, I just figure it makes room for more food. Also, I don't mind squatting, they say it's better for your system and I figure I'm getting a workout in at the same time.

Down with McDonalds, ahead with fresh fruit juices and foods we can't even name!