Sunday, January 27, 2019

Gratitude to the forest

Bowing in reverence to Lakkadkot Forest.
Few days ago, our shelter was a temple in the middle of a forest. From here we had to walk a stretch of about twenty km that was without any human habitation. This was the first time when I was walking in the middle of a forest and I was in the awe of the tall trees, water streams, colourful chirping birds, setting sun, the wind, the rocks and the twinkling stars.

While observing all of this I felt I was a guest here. Guest to the age old trees who would be standing here from decades spreading their roots deep down while growing up high in the sky. Some of the roots were so huge that we were almost climbing over them. There were many of river beds that seem to flow during monsoons and were dry in this season and a few river streams that were still full with water. While putting our feet in those streams we could see the fishes dancing around our feet.

Every time we paused for a break we could hear the sound of the winds and during other times we were walking on a carpet of fallen leaves that were turning into the soil again. Dry leaves were happily falling down as if making space for the new ones to sprout in the spring. I could feel the presence of rocks that were helping me hold my feet. We kept seeing and hearing sounds of a variety of birds. One of them was this big grey bird. We felt like his presence was that of an old wise grandfather, still and silent.

Few animals had marked there presence by leaving their foot prints behind. We knew there were wild animals around. And I asked myself if our presence was an interference for them as I was walking in their paradise. But they made sure that we walk out safe.

A single unstable rock could have changed my experience but all that came our way was taken care of by an invisible force. As we stepped out of the forest, we took a few moments to share our gratitude to Mother Nature for the uninterrupted, wholesome journey with her.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

GPS vs NPS

I could so much relate to this weeks Awakin passage. So instead of GPS we have the NPS - Nature / Natural Positioning System. 

We rely on people and wilderness for direction. It gives us an opportunity to connect to shepherds in the middle of the forest or a lone farmer ploughing his field or people from a close by village. We are learning to recognise and learn names of trees. The directions here are like - take a left after you find a banyan tree, walk in the direction of the rising Sun, let the river always be on your right. 

There are times when there are no people for a couple of miles. What do we do then? There are flags. People who have walked before us put up these colourful cloth flags as signboards. We feel so grateful each time we see them in long stretches of forest. We look around for footprints when sometimes there are no signs. Sometimes animal excreta also gives ups hope and we feel we are not lost 😉😅. And sometimes we tune in with the birds and animals and they show us the way. At night the light of the moon helps us find our way. 

Today, me and swara were chatting about how when we ask people in the forest for direction, they tell us to take the highway instead of the forest route. They tell us that we will definately get lost. We were thinking, what is the use of having an iPhone or a GPS or a Masters degree when we cannot understand the basic sounds and signs in nature like - bird calls, footprints, winds and the list goes on. 

We are in Sita van (Valmiki ashram) the place where Sitaji gave birth to his two sons Lav and Kush. Since two days we are walking through a forest. And the forest is going to continue for a few weeks. 


Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Little Guiding Stars

Rohit with the little kid he is taking care of. 
When we reached Ram mandir at Sulgav we saw a teenage boy holding his grandmother's hand and gently taking her somewhere. He saw us entering the temple and quickly ran to get a plastic sheet for us to sit on and rest. He is then busy answering questions of other pilgrims. He makes quick runs to a nearby shop and gets things for pilgrims. He takes us to the place where lunch was being served. In between he is also playing and taking care of another kid younger to him:)

His name is Rohit and is in class 7. Swara calls him and asks about the grandmother. He said she is blind and she wanted to go to the temple so was just helping her out. We asked him how about serving all of us, why do you do that? He said, you are doing something good. You are serving river Narmada and I am serving all of you.

This little tot was in his school uniform so we inquired what was his daily schedule like. He said "Before going to school at 10 am and after returning from school at 4 pm, I am at the temple. I will be late at school as the person who takes care of the temple and pilgrims has gone to the market. He gave me the charge to take care of everything till he is back. I will tell my teacher the same thing." :) As soon as the temple care giver came he took his school bag and ran off to school.

It was so amazing to see this kid tuning in with everyone and everything that was happening at the temple. We were struck by his gentleness, prompt response, mature conversation and his inclination to serve with so much love.

In the evening we met eight year old Shyam. Before responding to any of our questions he would
Shyam my little teacher. 
take these little pauses. We could sense his thoughtfulness and the genuine sharing. 

We were having dinner and he was partly sitting with us and partly watching television. I was telling Swara that the food was a little spicy for me. 

Shyam who was still looking at the screen told me as a matter of fact, “you eat what you get and some day if you don’t get anything you just eat a packet of biscuit and sleep, that is how it is when you are in a pilgrimage”. I did not expect anything like this coming from a kid, but yes my youngest teacher was telling me to just go with the flow. 😊

Kumbhar :)


We were in Dhamnod village where we met Bhagwan bhai. Bhagwan bhai is a potter. We watched him change a blob of clay into earthen pots.

Once the pot is off the wheel and just about to get into the kiln, the potter keeps one hand inside the pot as support and uses the other hand to tap the outer surface to make to strong and give it shape.

Reminded me of this analogy with relationships - if the hand inside is that of love the relationship can withstand many outer storms.

The round darts that you see in the picture is for the inner support while the flat darts are for the tapping. Bhagwan bhai shared that the weight of the inner darts is always heavier then the outer darts. Looks like the weight of love should always be greater :)

On a sunny afternoon when I am fetched a glass of cool water from a similar pot I know the amount of love and labor that someone has put in with a lot of gentle tapping.

@Ghaths of Maheshwar.

Monday, January 7, 2019

Rang Hai :)

We were walking the 20th kilometre our last stretch for that day. And, we saw a beautiful dome in the middle of few trees. 

The sun was about to rest and we still had to walk a few hills but I felt like walking inside the mosque. Thankfully the lines of religion are not that strong in villages. This might be my perception but I am happy with it as it helped me connect. There were few women cooking inside the premise and two children running behind a puppy. Part of me was hesitant to go in and so I asked a gentleman if I could go in and he showed me the way.

It was a tomb of a Sufi saint. As I bowed down tears started rolling down my eyes. My heart felt deeply touched. I could feel warmth in that space, it felt like I was resting on a mothers lap.



From Kali Bawde: Madhya Pradesh


Sunday, January 6, 2019

Antidote to Scarcity

When one is on a pilgrimage there is uncertainty. In such a state, the mind looks for certainty and sits as the gate keeper to raise red flags. On the other hand the ones who have walked this path before tell us to just have faith and you won’t sleep hungry and without a roof.

One of the rules for a traditional pilgrimage is "ask nothing and refuse nothing" which reminds us of Brother David. This means one has to have faith in humanity and trust. To step into this way of being takes time and this results in hoarding. Hoarding on to food, extra bedding for cold, the usual route and many other mind patterns. When we walk with all of this we start feeling comfortable and secure in the first few days. Slowly one starts feeling the weight of all that, alI that I kept storing for tomorrow.

In the first week my mind went through so many mental calculations that I stared feeling more tired of it then walking. There would be times when I won’t eat so that I don’t have to share my food. Finally we decided to just give it away. We stared sharing it with children who came running to us greeting Narmade Har. The smiles that they shared fuelled us and gradually the weight of my mind and my bag started reducing. It is in the giving that we receive as Nipun bhai says.

The design of the universe is crazy. As we stared giving, we stated receiving. We would give in this village and people would give us in the next village.When we walk in front of their homes they invite us for tea. When we walk from their farms they offer us groundnut and sugarcane fresh from the harvest. The oldies who are sitting out in the sun bless us. When we reach any where at lunch time, they offer us from their share. In the evening when we reach a village, a bunch of them arrange for a safe place for us to sleep. Some offer us money to buy food and the offerings are endless.

Everywhere around us we are seeing the abundance in nature. Tall trees giving shade. Birds singing songs. Cranes on the river banks taking its gentle flights. Small puppies licking my toes. Dew drops shining like pearls as the early morning sun rays touch them. Squirrels running ahead of us. Butterflies spreading their colour across the green field. Bells of the evening prayer. Night lamps far in a home helps me to connect with someone whom I don’t know.

It’s interesting how each day I walk to this new village, I sleep under a new roof, eat with new people, as things starts to get a little comfortable and certain, it’s time to move on:)

And as walked we were singing "We have enough we are grateful share the the blessings bodhi swaha" fondly remembering Rev. Heng Sure.

This design has taught me to trust. There is a higher plan which is taking care.

Transforming the M capital: Money to Math to Maitri

 At Nani Ambaji few children came to us asking for money. We did not want to feed into the Money capital so we thought of engaging with them in some conversation. The graph went from a little resistance to shyness to sharing. We had children from different classes including a special child. Swara knew some of their curriculum so after a few check-in questions, she told the kids that she would be available for the next two hours and they could come with their books if they had any doubts. And then in no time the number game started. It was interesting to see how in a few minutes we had so many children joining in.


We had a few chocolates and a packet of pencils that we had received on our way to give forward to children going to school. Before leaving we shared those little gifts and a lot of friendship.








Writing From Nani Ambaji  

Serving and Spiralling Love

After saying good bye to our grandfather we started walking to our next destination. The road seemed longer today and by lunch time as we were about to collapse we heard a sweet voice welcoming us. Arti called us in to her house, she had the most radiant smile. She pointed us to a room especially made for pilgrims and the very first meal that we got today was bundi and jalebi (Indian sweet made from chickpea flour). Looking at our food we remembered all our dessert lovers and with a big smile ate it all. We were so tired that we couldn’t move an inch, so with our stomachs full we slept straight for an hour. In my half-baked sleep I heard someone saying, don’t talk so loudly, they are very tired, let them sleep and take proper rest. 

Once we came back to our senses we saw Arti making food for us. We joined her in making some rotis (Indian flat bread) and later shared a meal with them. Arti teaches English in her village school. Her parents are in this profession for over 30 years. Interestingly this family serves jalebi and bundi to everyone who passes by their shop be it a pilgrim, a customer, a child or an animal passing by. We spent almost three hours with them and we saw constant people knocking their door but they kept finding space to serve everyone walking by with a big smile. 

Arti in her conversation shared how we should even meditate while we were doing the pilgrimage. She shared about different meditation courses that she has been through and now she is looking forward to a 10 day Vipassana course. There was so much to connect; it felt as if we were meeting our sister living in another village. 

With more intimate conversations we had special ginger tea made by uncle. Aunty shared how she worked hard so that both her daughters could study well and find better opportunities for their life ahead. 

While waving goodbye, Arti asked us if she could give us a bike ride till the next village. Because we are walking this time we said we will keep that offer for the next time. 

What a joy it was to connect to the family serving and spiralling love:)

Garudeshwar to Vagach via Boriyad

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Small Packets of Love

There comes a time during the day when the sensation of pain overpowers the bars of equanimity and the weight of the bag starts feeling double. In these moments what elates us is to be greeted with lot of joy, giggles and innocence. Children would come running to us as soon as they see us coming and will say Narmade Har in a very typical musical tone and that would bring a big smile on our face and ease our tired minds.

There are times when we cannot even see them but only hear their voices. And sometimes there is this unsaid game that they play with us where we keep repeating Narmade Har in various tones till the time we can keep hearing each others voices.

We are walking on a hilly terrain these days. By the time we have finished walking 10 steps, these kids run down the hill bare feet, waving their hands just to shower us with their love. There are stones, thorns, slope .. but nothing stops them.

People tell us that you will meet Reva (the other name of the river Narmada is Reva and it is a belief that during the some day if you will have faith, you will the deity of the river Narmada). I tell them I meet Reva everyday in the form of these little children who bring bucket full of happiness everyday.

The heart is the true kabba:)

Before we started our walk we went to  Brahma Vidhya mandir , Pavnar to seek blessings from the elders some of whom have walked thousands o...