Dear friends,
Welcome to my new website, yogashraddha.org. It is a very small step for mankind, indeed, but a biggish one for me. Let me share with you how it came about: On the Mussoorie Express night train from Old Delhi railway station to Dehradun, I was lucky to share the sleeping compartment with Swati Mishra, a young woman who occupied the top bunk as her boyfriend made sure that she had everything she needed before they bid goodbye.
Swati was on her way to Rishikesh for a month-long yoga teacher training and I was on my way to the Yog Ganga centre in Old Rajpur, outside Dehradun. As the train pulled jerkily out of the railway station, our conversation veered as conversations tend to do when you’re sharing a compartment on the Mussoorie Express, from life in general to love, change of career and yoga. Swati is an English literature major and has a lovely way with words. She wanted to complement her job as a web-designer and content consultant with something more, and yoga was her choice.
In the morning we woke up to a lush green landscape of countryside railway stations and people in colourful clothes going about their everyday duties of milking a cow, hanging laundry, watching the train pass by, preparing for school. Swati gave me the thrill of showing that by opening the door of the carriage as the train was meandering through the fields and forests and one could lean out into the warm wind.
We parted in Dehradun. Our respective schedules didn’t allow for us to meet in Rishikesh, but we kept in touch and on my return to Europe I asked Swati if she would construct my website. And here we are. Via zoom and mail, (I made a huge deal of having phone conferences with New Delhi, which made me feel really cosmopolitan) we came up with this, which I hope you’ll enjoy.
As for Swati – if you happen to be in Goa, March 16-18, make sure to look her up and join her class at the beach at Happy Panda Beach Shack! You can follow her on Instagram @swatkaforever.
Warm greetings,
Emily