The hotel we stayed in while in Benaris, was a pure eye opener. The air we breathed could be classified as a solid rather than a gas... the ash from the pyres swirled around us as we moved in our rooms. Breakfast was had to the accompaniment of bells - to waken the gods - and smoke drifting in off the river bank - to flavour the meal.... what an amazing experience. Being Burned on the Ganga River and Ashes fed to the Mother River, is a sure way to to stop the Cycle of birth and rebirth to these people. The destination of choice is Varanasi to those who are dying, old or infirm and fortunate enough to have the money to travel... Gratefully, we camp on grace.
Few people escape the fires... babies - innocent.
people with leprosy - they are deemed pure, the reasoning is that they cannot do harm, as they are unable to steal and run away - go figure.
And then there are those who die from snake bites - these are supposed to already be purified by the poison of the snake, which is a god too...
Then there are those who have already died to self. Renunciates too avoid the flames, as they went through a rtualistic version of the fires... they get tied to a flat stone, loosely tied mind you and get taken out to the river and dropped into it - fish food, honestly.
I just pass on what I learned, I don't claim to believe or understand this at all.
Work team finally got themselves into gear….. no not true, we have all been pretty busy. We just somehow feel as if we need to perform more, but we seem to tend to forget that God is doing His own work… in us! Ji ji ji, we know this with our heads, but the heart is another matter completely.
When any operation takes place, in a surgery for example, there is going to be some pain, but in the long run, things get fixed and are better…. Right now, some of us are under the knife in the surgeon’s hand, and pain is, well as pain is. To say that God is at work in and among us would be an understatement.
We are at real peace here in the Ashram though, and sometimes we forget that we are in Varanasi and as soon as we step out from under this wing, it hits us – hard! There is an incredible amount of peace around us, and a sincerity and gentleness in the people.
The view gets interrupted by death regularly. Corpses burn upon the smoking pyres outside our hotel day and night. Smoke sometimes stings our eyes, as we focus on the amount of love God has for these people. Dollops of dung decorate the streets as do bells on young girls’ ankles.
Chocolate eyes ringed in kohl, stare at us from babies faces. Red spit on the cobbles marks the time spent with friends, betel-nut is abundant. And in all this colour abounds. Singing prevails in the early morning air, while mothers dip their babies in the chunky waters of the River. Fathers lead their sons in ceremony as the sun rises above the Great Mother.
The train will be our mode of transport to return to Delhi…another “interesting” experience.Chai wallas and more sprinkle their wares along the compartments, the aroma of Tikka Mirche Alloo garam teases us from the passing platforms and all this breathes India.
The natives speak Hindi so well! All around me they spout off and with absolutely no effort at all! My vocab is increasing, sure, but I am no where even close to the youngest speaker in this country! A three year old speaks better than I do, sigh…
Diwali was spent at the Ashram with SwamiJi, and it was something to behold. Very interesting indeed. We needed to get outfits for the occasion, we were told the night before, and thought we would get something cheap and off the peg for the event, only to discover cheap and off the peg was not an option for these westerners. Our size has a lot to do with it!
Eventually, after a lot of running around, fabric seduction – silk which we graciously declined- we were measured and ready to go home….Home is a place on the Ganga River… where the ashes off the cremation pyres drift in through our windows, where monkeys fight with you on your balcony, where the neighbours sleep on their rooftops accompanied by goats and chickens… where firebomb crackers split the air at irregular intervals… and where the people are friendly…
Teamwise, there are some interesting dynamics taking place. We are able o see the hand of God at work. We are thrilled to be experiencing this country, even though the poverty and filth is so in our faces. What scares me the most is because there is simply so much poverty and filth and spiritual death around us, we could start to take it as the way things should be. The task being so huge that to change anything of real significance would be an utter waste of time, so then we might try to accept more easily what we see as being right…. Hmmmm, I wonder if this makes any sense at all.
Till next connection….and thank you for your prayers.
It is with joy that I write from home the of Biryani and chai, mango lassi and tandoori chicken, colour and dust. The contrasts in the space of two seconds is breath taking, not necessarily in a good way either. Open urinals litter alternate street corners, while a chai vendor shares one of those littered walls. Dogs lay around all day, their senses non existent, numbed by the hustle and constant noise. Cows own the roads, 'roads', like the word ‘hotel’ is freely thrown around. And has absolutely nothing in common with what you would imagine.
Spiritually we see the poverty, punctuated with the physical proof. The life here is ‘in your face’, one is unable to be unaffected by it. When beggars start tugging at you, asking for ‘one rupee – for rice’ or blocking your way as you pray whilst walking the streets, one is strangely human and shakes them off, trying to forget they are there, and thereby wondering who are you really here for? Who am I praying for? What am I doing here in the first place?
Deflated I start praying some more, praying that God would raise up honorable men, honorable fathers and leaders in their households.
...at 03h35...
yawn! What a trip, plane not too full from JHB to Doha....then we got what it feels like to be a sardine for the next four hours! India welcomed us with open arms, I could tell, as she hasm't used deoderant in a while....
Early morning as it was, the bustle had already begun for the day. the air already chewable and the assault om our ears relentless...
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Woke up and went for dinner, missed the final train of the night - tuk tuk amd nore sleep...
Two of us leave tomorrow morning, other team mates leave on Friday and still others leave on Saturday! Time are few, with lots to do. Rita managed to complete the year Financial Year End just in time. Granny celebrates her 84th birthday today, so we tootled off for breakfast this morning too. Jean-Pierre has a quick unexpected trip to the dentist and Rita a badly planned/timed hair appointment this afternoon. Sometime in between and / or after we need to consider the 'packing' thing!
