Dining Out

If you’re not the cooking sort, or too tired after a long day at the shala, here are a few places where you can find lunch and dinner. Most places mentioned (except for Green Hotel) cater for yoga students, so you can be assured of healthy, balanced, sattvic food, cooked with love, with prices starting from Rs80.

Shaila’s – 1015/A 9^th Cross, 3^rd Stage, near Doctor’s Corner. Call in advance to let her know you’re coming. Mobile : +9886653001.

Shaila’s place is nearest to the Yoga India shala. Also known for her fabulous cooking classes, this amazing cook whips up buffet lunches from Monday to Saturday. The buffet serves 2 different salads, 1 or 2 cooked vegetable dishes, dhal, rice (plain or mango rice when mangoes are in season) and chappatis. You can also order banana or sweet lassi, lime mint juice, or her delicious Indian sweets (or desserts) to end a lovely meal.

Serves : Vegetarian

Gokul Chats – Contour Road, at KRS Road.

Serves : Vegetarian

Rishi’s - #188 9^th Cross. Also an internet café.

Delicious buffet lunches including 2 salads, 2 cooked vegetable dishes, rice or rotis and lime juice, from Rs80.

Serves : Vegetarian

Anu’s Rooftop Café - # 367 2^nd Main, 3^rd Stage. Also an internet café. Tel : +821 4288120.

Anu’s serves incredible lunch and dinner buffet served at 1 pm and 5 pm respectively, every day except Thursdays. The buffet usually includes a soup, 2 or 3 salads, 2 cooked vegetable dishes, dhal, rice, chappatis and an Indian dessert. In addition to the buffet, you can order grape juice,

ginger tea and the very popular, vegan chocolate banana cake! Anu also teaches cooking classes, which can include printed recipes with advance notice.

Serves : Vegetarian

Sri Chakra House – 104 7^th Cross. Typical menu items include omelettes, tofu scrambled with spinach, tomato and potatoes, fried rice, noodles and weekly specials.

Serves : Vegetarian

Tina’s Café

Although a bit far to walk from the Yoga India shala, Tina serves very affordable lunches (although you might find the menu somewhat less creative if you eat there more than 3 times a week). During high season, she also serves breakfast or brunch at her own home. Ask Tina or her dad Mr Kushal who are often seen at the café.

Serves : Vegetarian

Nalpak – I don’t’ have the address for Nalpak, but it’s about a 20 minutes walk from the Coconut Stand on 9^th Cross. Nalpak has great idlis (rice cakes) and affordable thalis (full meal served in a tray filled with rice, dhal, cappatis, vegetables, curd and a sweet/dessert). Expect a large crowd on weekends when families dine out.

Serves : Vegetarian

Green Leaf Restaurant - Kalidasa Road, Vani Vilas Puram, Mysore 570 002
Often visited by students residing in nearby Gokulam, the Green Leaf has a large menu with lots of choices.

Green Hotel - Restaurant & Bakery - Chittaranjan Palace, 2270 Vinoba Road
Jayalakshmipuram. Tel : (+91) 821 425 5000, 5001 or 5002.

Green Hotel has a lovely outdoor restaurant, overlooking their beautiful grounds. The food is prepared from locally produced ingredients, where appropriate, and their portions are very generous! Expect to pay USD5-8 for a full meal.

Serves : Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian

Green Hotel also has a bakery, where delicious cakes and fresh breads are baked daily. Check out their lemon drizzle cake (my personal favourite) and their wholemeal loaves.

Renting A Room

Finding a room to rent during your yoga course in Gokulam is not difficult. Most, if not all households in Gokulam speak English.

There are a few ways to go about looking for a room in Gokulam :

1. Ask your yoga master Bharath Shetty (Yoga India) when you meet him for your course registration

2. Ask Tina (Tina’s café) when you go to the café for a meal
3. Ask Needs Travel (Murthy at +91-9880265622) for recommendations
4. Call Shaila at +91-9886653001 – she has a room for rent, but I think she prefers only female tenants

5. Call Mr Ventakesh at +91-9448492414 - he has 4 rooms at his place for rent.

6. Walk around Gokulam, and look for houses with extended premises (either a separate wing, or rooftop

rooms) : these homes usually rent out rooms to yoga students. All you have to do is simply knock and ask!

The key to living comfortably in Gokulam is simply by asking around. Many of the foreigners are repeat yoga practitioners to Gokulam and know all the ins and outs of the area: the best restaurants, home-stays and home-cooking, tailors, internet cafes, supermarkets, etc.

Renting a room in a house (“paying guest” is the Indian term) will cost about Rs3500 and up, depending on your requirements (usage of kitchen, internet, cleaning services etc).

Depending on where you stay, and your requirements, the rent can vary a lot. However, as the course at Yoga India starts at a really early hour of 5.30am, you’d want to live within a 5 minute walk from the shala.

I stayed in a 1-room ‘apartment’ which was adjacent to the landlord’s home. The apartment was fully furnished, and had a huge living room, fridge, kitchen with cooking utensils and water heater. The rent was Rs7000 – a bit steep, but as I was sharing with a housemate, we split the rent (although one of us had to sleep in the hall, on a mattress).

Sometimes your landlord will package in home-cooked meal(s) as part of the rental. This might be a good idea, as after a long tiring day at the shala, you might not be fussed to cook your own meals.

Whatever your budget and requirements are, choose wisely - it's important to get plenty of rest and peace of mind, especially if you're doing your Teacher Training.