The best part ( ummmm... may not be the best but certainly "unforgettable") was the travel. We boarded the Auto from my house to the station only to find that the Auto meter runs faster than Chetak of Maharana Pratap and when we reached the station just barely in time to catch the train, fate caught us in between the desire to hang on to righteousness of not paying the fare which was almost the double amount and the desire to just pay and board the train. A very unruly mob of about 20-30 auto drivers shouting at us at the top of their hoarse drones to pay up solved the dilemma. We paid the money and got into the wrong compartment of the train to discover that we had forgotten the ticket in the house itself.
Anger of being forced to pay double meter of Auto, getting into wrong compartment , no ticket in the hands and a moving train made sure that we were reminded that "Present moment is inevitable" and "Accept the situation as it is and take action".
Fortunately, the booking was done online so we just had to pay up Rs. 50 and be done with it.
Reached Hubli at 11 am the next day.
The 2nd Yes+ course in Hubli had just ended ( Apurva had managed to enthuse the young dynamos with the awesome energy typical of a Yes+ course). Many were there who were attending a Satsang for the first time but I could see it from their eyes that they were grateful for the knowledge the got and later on joined full-on to shake a leg or two with the volunteers. We also did a short meditation.
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| Saket, Me with the guitar and Pankaj on the Tabla |
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| Sanketh, Apurva (the organisers) and Me with a Strawberry. The unforgettable part was the travel back to Bangalore. Taking our own sweet time to have the Post Satsang dinner , we soon realised that there was no bus seats available ( yes, our faith was strong enough not to book the tickets till the last moment). After furiously approaching every Private Travels for 5 tickets to Bangalore, we finally managed to get it. The 5 seats on the last of a below Average KSRTC bus would be our home for what appeared to me as Eternity. We left at 11 pm, at 2 pm I woke up to find that there was a deafening silence all around, the bus was not moving and so were the other vehicles, everyone was fast asleep including the driver. After a furious attempt to catch a few kannada words from two people talking outside, I came to know that there was and accident some 2-3 miles ahead of us and the traffic would not move unitl 5 hours. It happened exactly like that. For 5 hours we were there. The Bus, motionless and still as an Ancient Relic provided as much leg space as that provided to the unlucky chickens at KFC poultry. And for those of you who have not travelled in Indian Buses for long hours, let me tell you that leg space is least of the problems. The concept of a loo is virtually non-existent. If you are lucky, you'll find by some furious searching, a small sign saying "TOILET" pointing to a dingy room with a hole in it. As it is evident from the description above, it is the perfect set-up for practising the Art of Living course points. All of it. And some more. We reached Bangalore at 3 pm after 16 hours in the Bus. But as I sit here in the comfort of my room, all that uncomfort seems so unimportant and most often very funny. I can laugh over it. But the joy of sharing some moments of meditation and knowledge of the Guru with others makes it all worthwile. Auguste Renoir was a famous painter. Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. One day a friend of his watched the elder painter working in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out: “Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?” Renoir answered simply: “The pain passes but the Beauty remains” Jai Gurudev, Love, Vivek |
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2 comments:
love, soo beautiful:-D
A very pertinent quote!
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