Wild Child

My wild child your home is the Sea Conceived on the waves She was the first you could see. Blue eyes like the water, expansive as the horizon, the world your oyster That’s my wish for thee. Now you roam secluded beaches, grassy planes, green hills and lush lands From coast to desert, plane, boat…

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Cocoon, no Rush

I’ve been watching our silkworms real closely lately. One day they crawl into a corner to spit out silk and make their cocoon that way. They’ll never eat again. They’ll never poo again. They’ll lie still in metamorphosis for a while and when it’s time to come out as a transformed moth, they mate, lay…

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From a burning country

It’s been quite eerie since I got back from India two weeks ago. Australia is burning like never before. In a chat with my kids today we realized that either this was going to go down as an unprecedented disaster in history, or, alas more likely, as the new norm for decades to come. Over…

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Peace. Gratitude. Joy.

My friends’ Sri Lankan hospitality has been nothing but humbling, heart-melting and all-encompassing. Today they send me off with a traditional farewell ceremony. When I bowed my red-ochre-dotted forehead into the rice, three rice grains stuck to it. Customarily this means I will have three children – and I do, and now that I’m sitting…

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Quilombo* in Colombo

The early morning drive to the airport feels surreal – my time  in India more like a dream. Once more I get the opportunity to observe traditional village life and routines from my taxi’s window: Old guys dragging themselves into the day wearing not much more than the traditional loin cloth. Guys’ conglomerations slurping chai…

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Varkala – India’s Bondi Beach

The conductor at the train station proudly shows us the 50+ year old equipment which allows him to manage the passing trains without interruptions, nor crashes. The five ancient phones on his simple office desk remind me of visits to my great-granny’s when I was a little girl and the round dials were still put…

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Amma’s Ashram

The 2.5 hours train trip from Thirandrum to Karunagappaly went almost disappointingly smooth. After all the adventurous and tumultuous Indian train stories I had come across, my awesome travel friend Cat and I were prepared for the worst – only to find ourselves with ample space, remarkably clean toilets and chai and sweets vendors passing…

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Excursion to the tip

Days in the bubble, aka our stunning yoga retreat centre, pass quickly and fluidly. One and a half hours yoga and Pranayam at 7am, breakfast thereafter. Then people flock off to do their things: Meandering down to the beach, getting a coconut or chai in town, reading, writing, meditating or heading in for an ayurvedic…

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