WHICH MANIPAL?

An acquaintance once accosted me, “Whenever you are asked where you belong to, you always mention Udupi-Manipal. I have been there. They are not one place. Udupi is one town and Manipal is a distinctly different town.”

“Because my house is so located,” I replied. “It is under the jurisdiction of the Manipal Police Station. Shivalli, our village as per revenue authorities, has its office in Manipal. The heart of Manipal, the famous Tiger Circle is barely a kilometre-and-a-half from my place, whereas Udupi Bus stand is almost four kilometres away. When I board a Mangaluru bound KSRTC Volvo bus from right opposite my house, the conductor issues me a ticket from Manipal.”

His impatient interjection: “If that be so, why don’t you just say you are from Manipal? Where does Udupi fit in?”

My triumphant response: “Because, the postal address is Udupi. We are served by the Kunjibettu Post Office, PIN 576102, whereas Manipal has a different post office, PIN  576104.”

I did not add that the geography of my residence had given me the privilege of flaunting both Udupi and Manipal as my hometown and I would be damned if I did not use every opportunity to show off my connection to the famous temple-town, also well known for its cuisine and to the equally famous university town.

But I was reminded of the confusion this had once resulted in.

Many years back, I was the lone officer in an isolated post. Other than the 130 odd troops with me, there was almost no one for miles around. Those were the days of no internet, no mobile phones and no private TV channels. Not even Doordarshan in our post. We depended on small generator sets for electricity. One of the pastimes, during the evenings, especially after the generators were switched off, was to talk to the other post commanders, on our Army telephone network. Getting through on such networks was one part of the battle. The more difficult part was to hear and be heard - at times a bane and at times a boon. The standard practice for youngsters like me was to keep saying, “Nothing heard, Sir,” when our Commanding Officer was on the line from the regimental headquarters hundreds of miles away, yelling at us for any perceived shortcomings. Whenever I got through to him to request for leave, he would shout back, “Nothing heard, Timmy.”

Coming back to our pastime on lonely evenings, a similarly placed post commander became a close friend, though we had never met. During one such tele conversation he asked me, “Timmy Sir, where are you from?” 

“Udupi-Manipal,” was my reply, as always.

“Wow, Sir”, he said. “You people have pretty long names, right?”

I was a bit surprised. “Not really,” I said. “But yes, my own full name - Kodethoor Thammayya Udupa can by no stretch of imagination be called anything but long”.

“Ha, ha, Sir. You people have real long names.”

Just a few days later, when we met each other at a conference in our brigade headquarters, I could discern some disbelief on his face. But he quickly recovered, “Let me introduce you to your country cousin, Captain Nongthongbam Ibochouba Singh. See, he too has such a long name.”

It was his turn to see the disbelief on my face,“Sir, aren't you from Ukhrul in Manipur?”

When we later dissected the matter, it turned out that he had never heard of Udupi-Manipal (not very surprising in the early 1980s) and had assumed it to be Ukhrul in Manipur. We had a hearty laugh and found a convenient scapegoat in the poor telephone network.

With the Manipal education brand spread far and wide, we would have noticed that some other places are also referred to as Manipal. In September 2011 a massive earthquake jolted Sikkim. In one of the TV reports, a reporter asked a young woman from Rangpo about the earthquake. She mentioned that she was on her way to “Manipal” to get her child treated when the quake occurred. The Manipal she was referring to was clearly the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok.

If you happen to take a cab or auto-rickshaw for any place on the Old Airport Road in Bengaluru, do not be surprised if the driver asks you for directions, with reference to “Manipal”. The Manipal he has in mind is the Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru.

I haven’t been there, but I guess Jaipur would also be having its own Manipal stories by now.

If I permit myself some crystal gazing, there are many, many more Manipals all over the world. Two guys meet somewhere in some corner of the world and realise they have been nurtured under the Manipal umbrella. 

“Which Manipal” asks one. 

“Manipal Tonga Islands. And you?” 

“Udupi-Manipal Manipal.” 




(Thanks to ManipalBlog.com for publishing this piece on 06 April 2019 https://manipalblog.com/which-manipal/ )

21.1 KM OR 42.195 KM - MARATHON MUSINGS

It was the prize distribution ceremony of the XYZ Marathon. I had participated in the Half Marathon category and was relaxing nearby. 

I had this genuine doubt, not just that day, but many a time earlier, as to how such running events get their name. There are so many running events where the races are over 5 km, 10 km or 21.10 km, but are called Marathons, even though the actual marathon, a race over a distance of 42.195 km is not a part of the event.

Today, there are many such events in India. It looks like every self-respecting panchayat, mohalla, town or city would like to host nothing less than a marathon.

My reverie was broken by the local politician who took the stage. I was surprised to know that he too had a part in organising the event. At least, he claimed to be an organiser. As is the wont of most of our politicians, the moment he had a mike in his hands and a captive audience in front of him, he just took off. He claimed to be the person who had organised the first edition of the event many years back. 

And then it clicked - no wonder it is called the XYZ Marathon, even though the main category over all the years has always been the half-marathon (21.10 km). Isn’t it a typical trait of a politician? Delivering only 50% (or even less) of what is promised?

Later that day I went through the annual calendar of running events in India, say for example on https://indiarunning.com/marathon-calendar.html (there may be some other such sites too). It had listed a whopping 939 running events in India for 2019. Out of these, a staggering 136 events had the word Marathon as part of the name but did not have the 42.195 km event. 

Some of these non-marathon events had very impressive names, like Mighty India Marathon (5 km race), NextGen Marathon (8 km) and Corporate Marathon (10 km).

As a matter of interest, I felt I must check how do the other countries fare in this regard. I could not find the running calendars of our neighbours, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

So no comparison possible with our neighbours. Let us spread the net wider. 

In the running calendars of Malaysia (https://www.justrunlah.com/running-events-calendar-malaysia/  ) and Singapore (https://www.runsociety.com/calendar/singapore/ ) I could not find any event with the word ‘marathon’ in its name, if it was not having a 42.195 km race.

So also Australia (https://www.runningcalendar.com.au/calendar/running/ ) and the United Kingdom (https://www.runbritain.com/races  ).

This is the website of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and here too the word ‘marathon’ is used only in those events which have a 42.195 km race:-

http://aims-worldrunning.org/calendar.html 

If what I have inferred from the above data is correct, then this affliction of calling even a 5 km race a marathon is an Indian speciality. 

Does it say something about us as a society? Why call an event a ‘marathon’ if it does not have a 42.195 km race? Why call a 5 km or 8 km or 10 km race a ‘marathon’? If it is a 5 km race, there should be no shame or loss or prestige and dignity in naming it accordingly.  For me an ABC City 5K Race is more respectable than ABC City Marathon if the main event is a 5 km run.

Since such events attract school going children in large numbers, what would be the message to those impressionable minds, that any run is a marathon? 

I do not wish to sound like a sceptic, but is it not symptomatic of our propensity to show off, our ‘chalta hai’ attitude for detail? How cool it is to post a selfie on social media, duly captioned “After participating in So-and-So Marathon” and to start counting the likes and the ‘Wow, so cute’ comments which are soon to follow. The actual distance run, would be anything but a regular marathon. Maybe a half-marathon, maybe 10K, or 5K.

I have had the satisfaction of being instrumental in changing the name of one such annual event.

For five years, February 2012 to February 2017, I served as the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM I).

Every year, as part of the Foundation Day celebrations, IIM I conducts one such event on 02 October. In 2012, my first year at IIM I, it was called the Indore Marathon. A student from the second year of the Post Graduate Program (PGP-2) was the Coordinator of the event. Though he functioned under the Chair Hostel & Student Affairs (H & SA), a faculty member, the event was entirely student driven. The route, the distance, the sponsors, the administrative arrangements, the prize money, everything was planned by the students. 

As the CAO I got to interact with some of the members of the Coordinator’s team when they met me to facilitate their requirements of manpower, transport and support from the civil administration.

As a keen long distance runner, I was very eager to participate in an event organised by the students of my Institute.

Though it was called the Indore Marathon, an actual marathon was not part of the event. There were two events:-

• The major event was a run which started from Dussehra Maidan, in the heart of Indore city. The finish line was at the Institute. Total distance about 11 km.

• The other event was a three km run within the IIM I campus. 

I took part in the 11 km event and noted a number of shortcomings, in the execution of the event, as seen through the eyes of a participant.

IIM Indore 02 October 2012

In 2013, when I got an opportunity to have a discussion with the coordinator and his team for the 02 October event I suggested that they have a rethink about the name of the event. Calling an event a marathon and doing only 11 km was an act of deception, I told them. But they pleaded that they had already done plenty of spadework and that the sponsors and some other stakeholders would need to be taken into confidence to carry out any change. To cut a long story short, they just did not have the will to make any changes, their underlying philosophy being “Why shake the apple cart?” 

So, it remained Indore Marathon in 2013 too. 

IIM Indore 02 October 2013

So also in 2014. 

IIM Indore 02 October 2014

By any standards, the Indore Marathons which I saw in IIM I from 2012 were not very well organised. 

The foremost reason was that though such events were under the Chairperson (H & SA),  it devolved solely on the students to organise the events. The committee would be headed by PGP-2 students. They were the ones who would do the planning. They were the ones who conducted the event. Of course, they sought help from their juniors, the PGP-1 students, who did exactly what they were told to do. Period. The day the event ended, the core group closed shop and pulled down its shutters for the year. There was no system of obtaining feedback, there was no system of recording lessons learnt and there was no system of incorporating the lessons in the next year’s event. There were occasions when they would not honour commitments made to the sponsors or other stakeholders and would just switch off their mobiles and become incommunicado. The exasperated sponsors would then call us up and we had to get involved in the firefighting. The next year a new team would be in place with no one from the previous year’s team. They would start from scratch and nobody would know that last year amongst a host of other issues, the CAO had pointed out about the name of the event, about the chaos created by the traffic from the opposite side at Junction X, the rampant use of shortcuts by some participants and so on. The same glaring shortcomings surfaced year after year and the event suffered due to the lack of continuity in the students’ committee.

In late 2014, the authorities from a well known academic institution nearby visited me with some of their students to invite me as the chief guest of a marathon which they had planned. When I learnt that their idea of a marathon was a 6 km race, I requested them to change the name of the event. They were taken aback. They heard me out but expressed their inability to change the name at that stage. I then politely declined to be the chief guest.

I narrated this incident to some of the student members of the organising team in my efforts to get them to change the name of the event. Ultimately my persistence did pay off. The IIM I annual event on 02 October which was hitherto fore known as Indore Marathon was finally rechristened Udaan in 2015 and the credit for this goes in no small measure to Professor Rohit Kapoor, a very enthusiastic and dynamic faculty member who had taken over as the Chair H & SA. He also felt that there was merit in what I had been trying to convey to the students. 

IIM Indore 02 October 2015 - No more Indore Marathon, but Udaan

Udaan 2015 - During the prize distribution

Udaan 2015: A proud moment for me, giving away prize to one of the
winners in the Armed Forces category - to someone from my own Regiment

Udaan 2015: With the members of the team which
had come from my own Regiment to participate in the event

In 2016, the event underwent a total transformation. There were three events held that day:-

• A half-marathon (IIM I to Dusshera Maidan and back).

• A 11 km run.

• A 3 km run.

The Institute formally dissociated itself with the name Indore Marathon and allowed the organisers of an Indore based runners group who had been organising a proper 42.195 km run to use the name thereafter.

IIM Indore Udaan 2016

Udaan 2016

Before I end, a pleasant incident from a running event in which I participated recently 

I had recently participated in the Manipal Marathon (Manipal Half Marathon would have been the correct name) held on 17 February 2019. Soon after the event I was standing near the Finisher poster when an official student-photographer volunteered to take my picture. He told me that he would give me a hard copy of the picture in half an hour, at the same place.

When after even more than an hour there was no trace of him, I sought the assistance of another student-photographer, who directed me to a merchandise booth nearby. There yet another student did his best to look for my picture, but to no avail. I decided to return 

Manipal Marathon 2019

When after even more than an hour there was no trace of him, I sought the assistance of another student-photographer, who directed me to a merchandise booth nearby. There yet another student did his best to look for my picture, but to no avail. I decided to return home, but the persistent youngster was not willing to let me go empty-handed. Finally, we struck a deal. He promised me that he would look for the picture personally and somehow get it for me. I came back home with his contact number. He kept his word and the next day I received the picture.

Later that evening he sent me the following message:-

I was not aware of the so-called public domain that he had mentioned. But I did send him my thoughts.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this:-

https://manipalblog.com/when-manipal-runs-manipal-marathon-2019/

OUR VIPASSANA JOURNEY

A few years back Mr Ganesh Nayak, owner of M/s Jyothi Cycle & Fitness, Mangaluru (http://jyoticycle.com , https://www.facebook.com/Jyoticyclemangalore/ ) had told me about Vipassana, Igatpuri and Shri SN Goenka Ji. He had recommended that I attend the 10-day course to learn meditation. He had attended such a course and he felt that it had made a very deep impact on him and that he had become a better person as a result of learning Vipassana.

I became interested in it only after he had assured me that Vipassana has nothing to do with any religion and does not involve any rites and rituals.

I visited www.dhamma.org, the official website of the organisation connecting Vipassana, Igatpuri and Shri SN Goenka Ji. (The Hindi version is available at https://www.dhamma.org/hi/index .) From the website I learnt the following:-

• It is an organisation for “Vipassana Meditation - As taught by Late Shri SN Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin”.
• It is not some kind of yog asana, but a type of meditation.
• Since it is spelt “V-I-P-A-S-S-A-N-A” in English, I had been pronouncing it as “whip-aas-anaa’. A chance visit to the Hindi website told me that it is pronounced “Vi-pash-yana” (विपश्यना). (pashya - पश्य in Sanskrit - to see.) Vipassana means - to see things as they really are.

Shri Satyanarayan (SN) Goenka was born in 1924 in Myanmar into a business family which was originally from India. He learnt Vipassana from Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Due to some circumstances he had to visit India and he started teaching Vipassana meditation in 1969. Dhamma Giri, at Igatpuri came into existence in 1976. In 1985 he established the Vipassana International Academy (VIA) at Dhamma Giri. Over the years many centres were established, not just in India, but also in many countries the world over. He passed away in 2013. 

I decided to undergo the 10-day course. But somehow, for more than five years I was unable to work out a suitable 10-day time slot to do this course. Finally, in November 2018, I told myself that there would be no more dilly-dallying and no more finding excuses. When I told Sandhya that I was planning to undergo the course, she also evinced interest in Vipassana. When we checked on the internet, we found that the centre nearest to us would be the one in Bengaluru. 

But we decided to go to the place where it all started - the VIA in Igatpuri, a small town near Nashik in Maharashtra.

The earliest course that we could sign up for was to commence in March 2019. Registrations for the courses generally open up online three months in advance. So, in December 2018, we filled up the online registration form (available at https://www.dhamma.org/en/schedules/schgiri#normal )

The application form generated as per details filled up online

After we sent our applications, we received an e-mail which mentioned that the status would be  intimated approximately two to four weeks before the start of the course.

The acknowledgement from Dhamma Giri

So, there was an element of uncertainty. We were not very sure if we would actually get an opportunity to be there. We were in a dilemma - do we book our journey tickets now, or only after hearing from them?

Nevertheless, we decided to go ahead and book our tickets even without waiting for the confirmation message. Though the course was for 10 days - 07 to 16 March 2019, as per the information on their website (https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/courses/search ), we learnt that we were required to be there for registration by 1400 hours on 06 March 2019 itself (Day Zero). We also learnt that we would be able to move out from there only after 0700 hours on Sunday, 17 March 2019 (Day 11).

It had been a very long time since Sandhya and I had travelled by train. And we had to jog our memory real hard to recollect which was our last train journey together in India. So, without batting an eyelid, we opted to travel by train.

We decided to take the Mumbai bound Matsyagandha Express from Udupi to Thane, a distance of 1081 km. From Thane to Igatpuri, a distance of just 103 km, we decided to travel by the Gorakhpur Express.

At last, on 09 February 2019 we received the eagerly awaited e-mail from Dhamma Giri. We were confirmed for the course. We were required to carry with us a hard copy of the registration form and any document to prove our identity.

The confirmation from Dhamma Giri

Off to Igatpuri

We left Udupi on Tuesday, 05 March 2019 by Matsyagandha Express, at 1530 hours. Travel on the Konkan Railway is always a pleasure. It is always very soothing to the eyes to see the rich greenery through which the train passes. Every time I travel on Konkan Railway, I doff my hat to Mr E Sreedharan for his commitment and outstanding leadership which has given us the gift of such a well planned and well executed railway project. Konkan Railway is one of the most difficult railway projects to have been successfully completed in the world.  

The next morning at 0600 hours we were at Thane, well in time for the next leg of our journey. The 103 km long journey from Thane to Igatpuri was a very short, eventless journey in the Gorakhpur Express. The only thing which caught my attention was the rampant burning down of trees which had taken place near Kasara. The countryside, which had been rendered barren and black was quite depressing to see. 

We were in Igatpuri by 0915 hours. We had a light breakfast at the railway station itself and then set off to Dhamma Giri. It is barely 1.50 km from the railway station. Though a number of auto-rickshaws were available there, we decided to walk since we did not have much luggage and it was very pleasant that morning.

At Dhamma Giri

We were at Dhamma Giri by about 1015 hours. 

We had already known that during the course men and women stay separately and that there is absolutely no interaction between them. And, the first thing we noted on reaching there was that we were to now go our separate ways to our respective reception areas.

The moment I stepped in to the reception area meant for men, one of the persons there guided me to a place where a baggage holding area had been established. He advised me to deposit my luggage there and pointed to one of the many long queues there. I was required to join a queue with the hard copy of my registration form and a proof-of-identity document.

The registration process was quite time consuming. There were long queues at different counters. And, promptly at 1100 hours it was lunch time at Dhamma Giri and the registration activities came to a standstill. By word of mouth amongst the people in that general area I learnt that all of us waiting there could go to the Dining Hall, even though we had not yet formally registered for the course, and have lunch. 

At lunch, in the Dining Hall for men, I had my first taste of the food served at Dhamma Giri. 

The process of registration recommenced after lunch. In total, we were required to stand in five different queues opposite five different counters, one after the other.

I found the registration process a bit slow and inefficient. But otherwise, in most of the other aspects there was no faulting the administration at Dhamma Giri. 

More About Dhamma Giri

Let me digress a bit and say a few words about some relevant aspects of Dhamma Giri. This covers not just the registration process on Day Zero, but also the other days in Dhamma Giri.

There were more than 300 men and around 225 women to attend this particular course. While most of us were first timers, there was a sizeable number of old students too. Old, not necessarily in age. In Dhamma Giri, an old student is someone who has already undergone a similar course at least once earlier.

The administrative arrangements were very well looked after. There is negligible permanent staff. All others who run the well-oiled system are volunteers, or Dhamma Sewaks, who are people who have already attended one or more such courses and come over to render free service.

The entire campus is well-partitioned in such a manner that once the course commences, there is absolutely no interaction between men and women. The men and women have different dining halls, meditation halls and living accommodation.

The food is very simple vegetarian fare. Absolutely nothing fancy. But the nutrition content is well taken care of. It is provided hot, in unlimited quantity. The timings laid down for the dining hall are very strictly adhered to. There is no possibility of getting in even one minute before time. Breakfast is served at 0630 hours. Lunch time is from 1100 to 1145 hours. 

The last food intake of the day is at 1700 hours, the snack time. On all 11 days we were served very mildly salted and spiced puffed rice (मुरमुरे) and a helping of fruit for snacks. The old students were expected to have only lemon water.

The accommodation provided is neat and clean. Again, nothing fancy. Very simple, basic stuff. They have single rooms as well as sharing ones. I could not make out as to how some of us were allotted single rooms and some had to share rooms.

VIA has invested considerably in setting up solar panels. They are therefore able to provide hot water on tap for about an hour and a half every morning in every washroom. 

The students at VIA can avail of the the services of a washerman. The turnaround time for the clothes is one day. He charges Rs 12 per item of clothing. An advance of Rs 250 is collected during the registration process and the balance amount is refunded, very systematically on Day 10. The clothes, duly tagged with the identification tag provided to each student, are to be deposited at a specifically demarcated place near the dining hall between 0630 and 0745 hours and are to be picked up from near the Course Office the next day. The washerman service is available till the ninth day.

As part of the registration process, the students have to deposit all their valuables, including all mobile phones. These are put into an envelope and sealed. The envelope comes back to you on Day 10. Since the e-mail of 09 February 2019 had clearly mentioned that cell phones were to be deposited for the duration of the course, I decided not to carry my mobile phone from home. I would be without a mobile phone or any sort of electronic connectivity for nearly 13 days. No phones, no laptops, no internet. No radios. Nothing. Is this what some people refer to as digital detoxification? When I handed in my envelope containing my cash and my credit/debit and identity cards to the concerned Dhamma Sewak, he felt it from the outside with his fingers and raised his eyebrows and patiently asked me to put in my mobile also. When I told him that I was not carrying a mobile, there was an initial reaction of disbelief not only in him but also the others standing in the queue behind me. I am sure some of them must have felt that I was lying and had hidden it somewhere, while a few others must have felt that here was a relic from the stone age.

As part of the registration process, each student is allotted a “Group”. This is like a “section” of a class in a regular school.

The Registration and Settling Down

Now, back to the Zero Day and the registration process. As already mentioned earlier, I had to stand in five different queues. Most of the queues were quite long and waiting in line helped in observing human behaviour. There were the usual smart alecs who had no qualms in queue-jumping. But most of the persons seemed to be patient and well-mannered and willing to help each other. Was this normal behaviour? Or, was this the effect of being in a place where we had all gathered to take lessons in what was supposed to make us better human beings? 

At the end of all the queuing, the good news was that I was formally signed up for the course.

My registration number was MN-487, I was allotted Group 3, my Washerman token number was 88 and the accommodation allotted to me was J-17.

My card giving out all details.
The lower, tear-off portion with name, group  and accommodation was kept in the slot under the seat cushion

I collected my luggage from the baggage hold area and moved to the accommodation allotted to me. After a quick bath, I rearranged my personal items in the room to make myself comfortable for the next 10 odd days I was to spend there.

In the evening when I went to the Dining Hall at snack time, I was able to meet Sandhya, because the common areas were still open. We compared notes on the activities that we had carried out since the morning. She informed me that a very young lady, Ms Isha Gulati, who was our co-passenger in the Gorakhpur Express and had alighted with us at Igatpuri was also here as a student. During the train journey we had no idea that she too was heading towards Dhamma Giri. I had seen a number of young men too registering for the course. This dispelled my notion that the Vipassana course is meant only for the not very young.

It was now time to say goodbye to Sandhya for the next few days.

Now let us see what was in store for us.

Orientation, Noble Silence and the Dhamma Hall

At 1830 hours on Day Zero an orientation briefing is carried out. The venue is the dining hall. The person physically present there to conduct the briefing is also a Dhamma Sewak. But he has not much to do. He switches on an audio system and there comes the voice of Shri Satyanarayan Goenka Ji. I was to realise very soon, as the course progressed, that it is a totally one man show, the show of Shri Goenka Ji, often referred to by old timers there as Poojya Acharyaji. 

Shri Goenka Ji’s lessons are in Hindi and English. There is, thus, no language problem for most of us Indians. I am given to understand that in other centres the local language is also used to teach meditation. 

After the orientation starts the Noble Silence, called Arya Maun (आर्य मौन) in Hindi. Now no more talking to anyone till Day 10, except to the Assistant Teacher of the Group, during teacher-student interactions. No sign language, no eye contact, nothing at all. Oh yes, you may also talk to the Dhamma Sewaks in case of any burning issues. It is, thus, the beginning of a rare experience of total silence. The focus is now only on learning meditation.

We were asked to step out of the Dining Hall as per our groups and the Dhamma Sewaks escorted us silently to our Group Meditation Hall. 

The Meditation Halls, called Dhamma Halls have arrangements for seating of all the students on the floor. On Day Zero when we were escorted there, the Dhamma Sewak on duty in our Hall guided us to our specific seating places. The seating is on cushions placed on the floor. The seat thus allotted was to be our  seat for the next 10 days. Under the seat cushion, there is a slot into which a tear-off portion of the registration card with the student’s name and room number is inserted. 

Any one who has a back problem and/or is unable to sit on the floor has the option of sitting on a cushioned plastic chair, provided this is mentioned during online registration. 

During the 10-day course, one is required to sit on the floor, mostly cross-legged, with back and neck upright, for almost 10-12 hours each day. It is a huge challenge. I recommend anyone planning to do such courses to sincerely practice sitting on the floor for a few hours each day, and for as much time as possible it should be cross-legged.

Group 3, the group to which I was assigned had almost 60 students. 10 were old students. They were all seated in the first row, closest to the Assistant Teacher. Out of the 60, only six were seated on chairs. All six who had requested for chairs were new students.

Now, let us see what happens in the Dhamma Hall on Day Zero. 

It is about 7.30 pm now. Once the Group has settled down the Assistant Teacher takes over. Again, it is the audio presence of Shri Goenka Ji which actually conducts the session. The Assistant Teacher has mostly a limited role of switching on the audio system and passing specific administrative instructions. 

Shri Goenka Ji introduces us to the first step, the Anapana meditation. The session ends at approximately 2100 hours and the Day Zero comes to an end. Off to your rooms to sleep. Lights out at 2130 hours.

It has been a very long and exciting, activities filled day. 

Daily Time Table

For the next 10 days the daily routine would be as under:-

Time (hours)	Activity
0400	Morning wake up bell
0400-0630	Meditation
0630-0715	Breakfast
0715-0800	Rest
0800-0900	Group Meditation in the Hall
0900-1100	Meditation as per Teacher's Instructions
1100-1145	Lunch
1145-1300	Rest
1200-1230	Interview with the Teacher
1300-1430	Meditation
1430-1530	Group Meditation in the Hall
1530-1700	Meditation as per Teacher's Instructions
1700-1730	Snacks and Lemon Water
1730-1800	Rest
1800-1900	Group Meditation in the Hall
1900-2030	Discourse
2030-2100	Meditation in the Hall
2100-2130	Question Time in the Hall
2130	Retire to own room and lights out

Let me now describe the above activities one by one.

The morning wake up call is the sound of a huge gong somewhere on the campus. Since getting up at 0400 hours is not something which many people are used to, some Dhamma Sewaks were entrusted with the duty of walking in the students accommodation areas ringing small hand held bells, the type which are used by priests in Indian temples. Remember noble silence? There is no talking. This is a cute way of sounding an alarm.  

At 0430 hours the first meditation session would commence in the Dhamma Hall. The Assistant Teacher enters the hall around 0530-0540 hours. Till  then we would be on our own. I did note that a handful of students would skip this session. Around 0600 hours the Assistant Teacher would switch on the audio system and till 0630 hours we would hear Shri Goenka Ji chant some verses. 

This was followed by breakfast. This was also the time for making use of the washerman facilities, which I have already described earlier.

At 0800 hours would commence the first Group Meditation session of the day. In all there were three such sessions each day. Group meditation sessions are sacrosanct. There is no question of anyone skipping these sessions. All group meditation sessions would commence with Shri Goenka Ji’s instructions which would take up about four to five minutes. Complete silence thereafter. Then after about 50 minutes his voice would be back. There would be some chanting followed by his blessings, “Bhavatu Sabba Mangalam” thrice. This was the signal to us that the session had ended. 

One important instruction that was communicated on Day 4 during the session when we were introduced to Vipassana was of Adhiṭṭhāna (अधिष्ठान adhisthana). Till then during the meditation sessions we would sit on the cushions on the floor in any manner as we felt convenient. For some time, it would be cross-legged, some time it would be with legs opened, sometimes with the feet tucked in and so on. If we felt tired sitting in one posture, we changed to another. We would move our hands and occasionally even open our eyes. But during the session when the technique of Vipassana was introduced, the concept of Adhiṭṭhāna was also slipped in. It meant that for all group sessions thereafter we were to try and remain sitting in one position for the full one hour, without moving our hands and without opening our eyes.

During the session from 0900 to 1100 hours, the Assistant Teacher would be present for a short time. Thereafter on some days he would pass instructions that we could either continue to meditate there in the Hall itself or we had the option to return to our respective allotted accommodation and meditate there. On other days, the student-teacher interaction would take place, right there in the Hall. He would call students in small batches of around eight to 10 each and discuss any problems in assimilation of the instructions, while the others would continue meditating.

The first post-lunch meditation session, that is the one from 1300 to 1430 hours was exactly like the first session of the day from 0430 hours, to the extent that it was to be done in the Hall and the Assistant Teacher would not be there. 

This was followed by the second Group Meditation session from 1430 to 1530 hours.

The session from 1530 to 1700 hours was quite similar to the one from 0900 to 1100 hours. The student-teacher interactions from the morning would continue for the remaining students, if any. Or else, there would be the option given to either continue meditating there or in the rooms.

The third and final Group Meditation session of the day would be from 1800 to 1900 hours.

Every evening from 1900 hours there would be a video discourse by Shri Goenka Ji. Those of us who opted to listen to his discourse in English would move to another Hall. 

The discourses in English, it was very easy to make out, had been recorded when he was conducting the course somewhere abroad. 

Each day’s discourse would commence with a very brief summary of what had been taught that day. Then he would take us through various facets of the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, who gave the world the technique of Vipassana. Finally he would lead us to the next step to be practiced and end with the customary “Bhavatu Sabba Mangalam” chanted thrice.

We would then return to our Group Dhamma Hall for the last session of the day, from 2030 to 2100 hours. This session was basically to put into practice what had been just taught during the discourse.

You would have noticed two other activities mentioned in the Daily Time Table. Interview with the Teacher from 1200 to 1230 was a time slot for those students who wished to meet the Assistant Teacher for any administrative issues. Question time in the Hall, from 2100 to 2130 hours was the time to meet the Assistant Teacher for any issues related to the techniques being taught.

Anapana Meditation 

The practice of Anapana introduced on Day Zero as the first lesson in the Dhamma Hall, is carried out during all the sessions on the first three days and during the pre-lunch sessions on Day 4.

Then, after lunch on Day 4, there is a slight rescheduling of the sessions.

The first post lunch session which on other days is from 1300 to 1430 hours is curtailed by half an hour. The Group meditation which is normally from 1430 to 1530 hours is rescheduled from 1400 to 1500 hours.

Vipassana

At 1500 hours on Day 4 starts the first session on the actual Vipassana meditation. Since this is the first exposure, it is a longish session and goes on right upto 1700 hours 

Thereafter, till the last day, during all meditation sessions, Vipassana is practiced. Day by day Shri Goenka Ji takes us through the various facets of Vipassana.

As you might have noticed, I have not touched upon the techniques of Anapana and Vipassana. I have done so, deliberately. 

If you already know the techniques of Anapana and Vipassana, it does not make sense to write about it here.

If you do not know the techniques of Anapana and Vipassana and have no interest in learning them, it does not make sense to write about it here.

If you do not know the techniques of Anapana and Vipassana but are keen to learn them, I feel it is best to attend the course and learn directly through the words of Shri Goenka Ji. 

Day 10

On Day 10, from 0900 to 1000 hours, there is a session called Metta (spreading goodwill towards others). After this session, the noble silence comes to an end. But the students are not expected to touch each other that day. 

No sooner did the Metta introductory session end, all the students made a beeline towards the course office to take back the valuables deposited on Day Zero. The washerman also returned the balance amount out of the Rs 250 deposit collected by him. 

The common areas near the main offices were opened and the gents and ladies could now meet each other, though the specific areas of the opposite sex were still out of bounds. 

The counters for donations were also opened for those who wished to make any monetary contributions.

Some of us were sent a message that if we had any feedback points, we could meet the concerned official and convey the same to him. I decided to utilise the opportunity to convey my opinion of the registration process on Day Zero. However, I found the entire exercise unprofessionally carried out, very ad hoc in nature and overall quite disappointing.

With Sandhya on Day 10 after the end of Noble Silence
(Picture clicked by Ms Isha Gulati)

On Day 10, after the noble silence came to an end, we had only the Group Meditation sessions (1430 to 1530 and 1800 to 1900 hours) and the Discourse from 1900 hours. The other sessions were done away with. There was a short visit to the central pagoda in Dhamma Giri. It is a huge, magnificent structure, the architecture of which reminded me of some of the Buddhist monasteries existing in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. Inside the pagoda, there are hundreds of cells where students may meditate individually. We were informed that when Teachers give the option of meditating either in the Dhamma Hall itself or in the allotted living accommodation, there is also an option of using the cells in the central pagoda. However, while our course was in progress, there were massive repair and maintenance activities being carried out in the central pagoda. This deprived us of the opportunity to use the pagoda cells for meditation.

At the end of the day, we were invited to see a very short video documentary, MITRA Upakram. MITRA Project is a joint initiative of Government of Maharashtra, Vipassana Research Institute, Igatpuri and a few Vipassana Centers. MITRA stands for  Mind In Training for Right Awareness. The objective of MITRA Project is an all round mental, academic and personality development of students by improving their awareness and concentration levels through regular practice of Anapana Meditation.

Day 11

The last video discourse by Shri Goenka Ji commenced at 0425 hours on Day 11. It was to share with us his own journey and also to encourage us to keep practising Vipassana even after we were back home. This was followed by the final meditation session in our Dhamma Hall. 

We had our last breakfast in Dhamma Giri that morning.

It was now time to bid goodbye to VIA and to Dhamma Giri.

There was a sense of achievement in most of us. It is certainly not an easy course to do. Some of the factors contributing to the toughness of the course:-

• Firstly, no talking to anyone. 
• Secondly, no dinner.
• Thirdly, meditating for almost 11 hours per day for 10 continuous days.
• Fourthly, Adhiṭṭhāna. Sitting on the floor for 12-13 hours per day is in itself a very tall order. But if we add the requirement of adhering to Adhiṭṭhāna - no changing of the posture while sitting and keeping hands locked in one position - the degree of difficulty gets exponentially multiplied. 

No wonder, there were some dropouts. 

But there is tremendous joy in learning the techniques of Anapana meditation and Vipassana. It transforms you as human being. The 10 days there help you to pause, reflect and look into yourself and step out with a resolve to be a better person thereafter. The two very important  words which we keep hearing during the course are Impermanence and Equanimity. 

No wonder, on Day 11, while I was waiting in the common area for Sandhya to pack up and reach there, I noted that the face of each and every student stepping out from the gate radiated serenity and composure.

Co-Travellers

There were almost 60 students in my group. We were spending almost 15 to 16 hours per day in each other’s company for 10 days yet we did not know each other till the end of noble silence. 

In the limited time that we had thereafter, I was able to interact with a few of my group mates. From each of them I learnt something good and interesting.

Amongst the old students was Mr Baburaya Pai. He is a retired banker from Mangaluru. When I asked him if this was the second course that he was attending, his answer dumbfounded me. This was not his second course, neither the third nor fourth. This was his 16th (yes, sixteenth) Vipassana course. Truly inspiring.

One old student Mr Debajit was to join the 2019-20 batch of the PGPX program at IIM Ahmedabad in April 2019. His career profile is extraordinary for a young man of his age. But his priorities in life are very clear. He wants to have a life of true happiness. He is not in the rat race which has the potential to cause a fast burnout. 

Another old student, a native of Ireland knew more about Udupi-Manipal, Mangalore and Gokarn than I, a native of these parts do.

Amongst the new students, the youngest, Mr Praveen Shetty is a budding film editor from Bhiwandi. 

We had a young, smart doctor straight out of medical college, Dr Bishnoi from Navi Mumbai. I tried to motivate him to join the Army Medical Corps (AMC). Hope he does. 

Mr Piyush Agrawal had just completed his MBA from IIM Rohtak. He was to go back there for his convocation. He was already placed through campus placement. 

We had a Sessions court judge from Mumbai. 

Mr Jitesh Medh is a young, dynamic IT professional from Mumbai.

Mr Kalita is from Guwahati, Assam. Mr Kalita has a ponytail which is so well maintained that it would give inferiority complex to most of the well-groomed young ladies.

Mr Krishna Algave, a retired academician originally from Dhamtari who had studied in Raipur and had served in Gondia and Nagpur, now settled down in Mumbai was the senior most person I met in Dhamma Giri. 

My neighbour Mr Jaideep Varma was also in the same batch. He is a film maker and writer, originally from Chandigarh, now based in Mumbai. A few of the feature films made by him are Hulla, Leaving Home - The Life & Music of Indian Ocean and Baavra Mann. He created Impact Index a statistical index widely used in cricket nowadays. On Day 10 in the evening when we were waiting outside our Dhamma Hall, we were discussing Indo-Pak relations. He brought out that he was quite hopeful that with Mr Imran Khan as the Prime Minister of Pakistan there would be some positive developments in the days to come. He told me about an article he had written. Here is the link:-

https://www.gulf-times.com/story/603391/Unparallelled-Imran-Khan-is-perhaps-the-greatest-a 

I met an ex-serviceman who had served as a Naik in the EME. He was not in my Group. He had done a 10-day course earlier and had also served as a Dhamma Sewak. 

I also met a youngster from Aurangabad who is very keen to join the Indian Army. I wish him tremendous hard work and unparalleled success.

Another interesting person I met was a young lad who wanted to know how I maintained my moustache. He told me that he is from a family of barbers. He was very keen to share with me the name of some compound which would help in maintaining the moustache but its name slipped from his mind and he just could not recollect it.

Through Sandhya, I also got to meet Ms Isha Gulati, our co-passenger from Thane to Igatpuri. 

And to take me through all this, the Assistant Teacher Group 3, Mr Mahendra Kolte. A very soft spoken person, he was always a picture of utmost peace. His demeanour radiated tranquility and equanimity, always.

Fees and/or Other Charges for the Course

What about the fees, charges to be paid for the course? Well, actually it is zero. Nothing is charged by VIA for the course. The basic philosophy is that it is a charity done to us by earlier students, who have made donations. If you feel like it, you may also make a donation, so that some students can take the course in future. There is absolutely no pressure or subtle/not subtle hint or any kind of coaxing to make any donation. When you donate, nobody asks you to donate this much or that much amount. Students do not even discuss how much they have donated or if they have donated. Since people from all strata of society attend the course, there are many who do not have the means to make any donation. The organisation is perfectly OK with it. Since we were standing in a short queue at the donation counter, I noted that there was a person who donated Rs 1050, another Rs 20000. So it is all as per one’s ability, conviction and desire. The donation is made in the name of Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust. Donations can be made either in cash or through debit/credit cards. There is provision to make online payment too. 

Dhamma Sewa and Teachers

Some people feel that they are in no position to donate, but would like to serve the cause of Dhamma. So they volunteer to sign up as Dhamma Sewaks for future courses. Of course, even if one has made a monetary contribution, one may sign up for Dhamma Sewa duties. There are many responsibilities which they are entrusted with, ranging from service in the dining hall, to maintaining the meditation Dhamma Halls, to general upkeep of the campus, and so on. 

The Assistant Teachers are also not there on full time basis. They have been trained and selected by Shri Goenka Ji himself and they come over to coordinate and run these courses. 

The Campus

The Campus is full of trees. In March when we are there, it was green all over. Whoever has taken the pains to plan so many trees and plants, whoever has nurtured them over the years - my salute to them. The general area in and around Igatpuri seems quite barren. There is hardly any vegetation. But the Dhamma Giri campus is in stark contrast to what is seen outside. It is rich with flora and thus, a natural habitat for many birds. 

All through the day, we would be silent. Our silence accentuated the chirping sounds of the birds. It was a very soothing experience. I am reminded of the third group meditation sessions, from 1800 to 1900 hour every day. It would be the fag end of the day. Observing Adhiṭṭhāna it would become difficult to concentrate on meditation after about 35 to 40 minutes. Time would seem to be at a standstill. But as the minutes would be ticking by, outside, dusk would have been setting in. And suddenly, around 1845 hours or so, there would be much needed relief brought about by the vigorous chirping of the birds returning to their nests on the trees around our Dhamma Hall. I never got to see them, due to our timings, but from the sheer volume I guess there must have been at least a thousand or two of them. This was literally music to my ears. It was music even figuratively, because it meant that there were just a few more minutes to go before the azaan from a mosque nearby which would be followed by Shri Goenka Ji’s voice bringing the session to an end.

The students are forbidden from plucking the flowers or the fruits from the trees on the campus, which I feel is a very good idea. 

While we were there, construction activities were taking place in full swing. I have already mentioned about the repairs in the central pagoda. A entirely new building was under construction close to our Dhamma Hall. We had no respite from the noise and sounds of the various construction activities. Many of us got used to it as apparently there was no other option. One of the students from our Group tried his best, by first conveying it to the Dhamma Sewak and then to our Assistant Teacher about the difficulty in achieving the desired level of concentration due to the construction activities, but they expressed their inability to do anything about it. Probably in the spirit of Vipassana, we were to take it in our stride with equanimity and convince ourselves about its impermanent nature.

It is a very big campus and we were confined to a small portion. I read somewhere that the longer courses (there are courses upto 60 days long) are held at a different part of the campus. On our way out, I saw some buildings which gave the appearance of a compact housing colony.

There are a few other pagoda like structures in the campus. These are prominently seen even from the trains. 

Somewhere, in some pagodas, there are the gongs which signal the commencement of the activities as per the time table. I have already mentioned about the wake up call at 0400 hours every morning. I have also mentioned that we could not enter the dining hall earlier than the laid down time. And how was the correct time indicated? Of course, by the gong! 

Dhamma Giri to Igatpuri and back to Udupi-Manipal

From Igatpuri to Thane we were to travel by the Manmad-LTT Express leaving Igatpuri at 1025 hours. We would be in Thane by about 1220 hours, well in time for our connecting train, Matsyagandha Express at 1545 hours. Since there was nothing much to do, Sandhya and I had decided that we would leisurely walk from Dhamma Giri to Igatpuri Railway Station. Ms Isha Gulati, who was to travel by the same train told us that she too would love to walk.

We were in no hurry and around 0815-0820 we moved out from there. We stopped by at some places to admire the gardens and the greenery. After all possible pictures had been clicked we crossed the Myanmar Gate, the main gate in Dhamma Giri around 0845 hours. 

A park within the Dhamma Giri Campus
(Picture clicked by Ms Isha Gulati)

Near the Main Gate of Dhamma Giri

The visitor's reception area near the main gate

Near the main gate

We strolled into Igatpuri Railway Station by 0915 hours. We made ourselves comfortable on some of the seats on a platform close to the one where our train was expected. 

We saw some of our Vipassana course mates there, apparently waiting for the same train.

Someone drew our attention to an announcement being made that our train was cancelled. On checking with the railway authorities we learnt that it being a Sunday, a railway bridge near Asangaon station was being taken up for repairs, due to which our train was cancelled. 

Very quickly, we conferred with some of the other course mates who were there and we decided to hire an appropriate vehicle and move by road. We went out and struck a deal with a cab owner and seven of us, Professor Krishna Algave and his wife, Mr Kalita, Mr Jitesh Medh, Ms Isha Gulati and the two of us were on our way to Thane by about 0950 hours. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable drive. The cab owner dropped us at Thane. The other five had to go to other places in Mumbai. So we bid goodbye to them and took an auto rickshaw to Thane railway station.

We were there by about 1200 hours. 

Good old Matsyagandha Express was on time at Thane. But next morning we were almost two hours late when we reached Udupi.

We were home by about 0830 hours. 

Sandhya and I have become big fans of Vipassana, Shri Goenka Ji and Dhamma Giri. We are already planning for our next 10-day course. We have reworked out our normal daily routine to include the practice of Vipassana meditation twice a day. 

The title of this piece is "Our Vipassana Journey" and here I am at the very end. I have put down each and every word which has any connection to my journey. Has my Vipassana journey come to an end?

No, no, no, no, no! Actually, my Vipassana journey has just begun. There is a very long way to go. But the great news is that I am positive it will be an exciting, pleasant and happy journey.

I have already recommended the 10-day Vipassana course to most of my acquaintances. 

How about you? Oh, you have already done the course? You are lucky, aren't you?

What, did I hear you answer "No"? What then are you waiting for? Why not register for the next available course?

“May all beings be well and safe, may they be at ease. Whatever living beings there may be, whether moving or standing still, without exception, whether large, great, middling, or small, whether tiny or substantial, Whether seen or unseen, whether living near or far, Born or unborn; may all beings be happy. Let none deceive or despise another anywhere. Let none wish harm to another, in anger or in hate.”

Jai Hind!