It's no fun at The Kev Inn in Mysore, India
I originally drafted a reluctant complaint about this guesthouse on Saturday. And then I decided to stew for a while, to ruminate, to chew some cud and ponder whether I actually needed to complain online about a place in Mysore or not. Decisive is something I am decidedly not. It's been three days, all long not because of the situation I'm about to describe, but because days are interminable here without my missing partner. In three days, this is the complaint that I have drafted in my head. You may notice that sometimes I am a better communicator when I don't give more than a minute's thought to my thoughts.
So, it is with great perseveration and some hesitation that I write this complaint. Here goes. I'm going to start. Now. Okay, okay, I had a horrible experience at the Kev Inn.
I am one of the few, the unfortunate, the foolish, to have spent one-half of my month lodged in his house. I did it because I didn't want to be bothered searching for something better, and because, frankly, I wanted the filtered water and organic veggies from his garden. I also understood that I got to eat the food provided. I had seen other unnamed guests eat it. I thought I could eat it too. I can be a follower like that. I follow rules and do what other people do sometimes.
On Saturday, I found that I was locked out of the refrigerator. After eating from the refrigerator in front of the owner and operator, for two weeks, believing that this was a right and proper thing to do, and never being told otherwise, I learned the hard way that I was cut off. And I want to make clear, being cut-off was no big deal because in two weeks I had some bread and fruit, and in India, that means about, oh, US$5.00 worth of food. I can afford to get that food on my own. I just thought I was allowed to share in the food available.
I left a note for the owner and operator, who is often elusive, hiding away upstairs and watering his plants incessantly, often to the great annoyance of his cafe guests who are sprayed by his ineptitude with a hose. He didn't respond. I asked to talk to him and learned that I was in breach of the house rules-- rules I learned only upon finding I was in violation. Whoopshere! I hate that.
The most obvious question that I asked is the only one I will bore you with: "Why didn't you tell me when you were in the kitchen watching me make toast?" He told me that his yoga practice leaves him "shattered" and incapable of interacting with people and that just made me sadder than a clown. Really, who wants to do yoga to lose all contact with humanity? I hope he finds a new path. And I write that sadly as well.
I will add that he returned almost all of the money I had prepaid covering my last two weeks. He subtracted almost 1500 rupees for some reason or other. Whatever, right? At least he gave it back. I have another friend suckered by the prepay requirement who realized she could stay somewhere more pleasant, moved out, and was told by the owner and operator of the Kev Inn that he didn't have any money to refund her. So she is forced to eat off a 6000 rupee credit. That's like eating 60 really good meals in India.
Yesterday, a friend actually commented that my energy is better since I am no longer staying in that house. While yoga students may say things like this lots because, you know, we like to chat about energy and bliss and stuff, this particular friend is someone who really pays attention to happiness in the faces of those around her. And my face is now much happier. I would post a picture of myself being happier but that would give me away, wouldn't it? In the great scheme of things, the owner and operator will have my 1500 extra rups and I will be happy. Ha.
So the lesson that I learned and that I hope others may also share through my experience, is that paying more than 5 times the going rate locally per day for accommodation apparently means that I was entitled to much less than any other yoga student staying anywhere else in this small, lovely suburb. So, you can see that it's not just for my benefit that I write this; it's important that folks know that housing around Pattabhi Jois' shala is plentiful, cheap and clean. Stay at the Green Hotel for a night, visit Shiva or Anu's Internet cafe, and whammo-bammo, you'll have a nice room for about 4000-6000 rupees a month. If anyone wants to know other reasons not to stay there, I will tell them when asked.
So, it is with great perseveration and some hesitation that I write this complaint. Here goes. I'm going to start. Now. Okay, okay, I had a horrible experience at the Kev Inn.
I am one of the few, the unfortunate, the foolish, to have spent one-half of my month lodged in his house. I did it because I didn't want to be bothered searching for something better, and because, frankly, I wanted the filtered water and organic veggies from his garden. I also understood that I got to eat the food provided. I had seen other unnamed guests eat it. I thought I could eat it too. I can be a follower like that. I follow rules and do what other people do sometimes.
On Saturday, I found that I was locked out of the refrigerator. After eating from the refrigerator in front of the owner and operator, for two weeks, believing that this was a right and proper thing to do, and never being told otherwise, I learned the hard way that I was cut off. And I want to make clear, being cut-off was no big deal because in two weeks I had some bread and fruit, and in India, that means about, oh, US$5.00 worth of food. I can afford to get that food on my own. I just thought I was allowed to share in the food available.
I left a note for the owner and operator, who is often elusive, hiding away upstairs and watering his plants incessantly, often to the great annoyance of his cafe guests who are sprayed by his ineptitude with a hose. He didn't respond. I asked to talk to him and learned that I was in breach of the house rules-- rules I learned only upon finding I was in violation. Whoopshere! I hate that.
The most obvious question that I asked is the only one I will bore you with: "Why didn't you tell me when you were in the kitchen watching me make toast?" He told me that his yoga practice leaves him "shattered" and incapable of interacting with people and that just made me sadder than a clown. Really, who wants to do yoga to lose all contact with humanity? I hope he finds a new path. And I write that sadly as well.
I will add that he returned almost all of the money I had prepaid covering my last two weeks. He subtracted almost 1500 rupees for some reason or other. Whatever, right? At least he gave it back. I have another friend suckered by the prepay requirement who realized she could stay somewhere more pleasant, moved out, and was told by the owner and operator of the Kev Inn that he didn't have any money to refund her. So she is forced to eat off a 6000 rupee credit. That's like eating 60 really good meals in India.
Yesterday, a friend actually commented that my energy is better since I am no longer staying in that house. While yoga students may say things like this lots because, you know, we like to chat about energy and bliss and stuff, this particular friend is someone who really pays attention to happiness in the faces of those around her. And my face is now much happier. I would post a picture of myself being happier but that would give me away, wouldn't it? In the great scheme of things, the owner and operator will have my 1500 extra rups and I will be happy. Ha.
So the lesson that I learned and that I hope others may also share through my experience, is that paying more than 5 times the going rate locally per day for accommodation apparently means that I was entitled to much less than any other yoga student staying anywhere else in this small, lovely suburb. So, you can see that it's not just for my benefit that I write this; it's important that folks know that housing around Pattabhi Jois' shala is plentiful, cheap and clean. Stay at the Green Hotel for a night, visit Shiva or Anu's Internet cafe, and whammo-bammo, you'll have a nice room for about 4000-6000 rupees a month. If anyone wants to know other reasons not to stay there, I will tell them when asked.
posted by your friend at Monday, October 10, 2005
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