GPS vs NPS

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

We rely on people and wilderness for direction. It allows us to connect with shepherds in the middle of the forest, a lone farmer plowing his field, or people from a nearby village. We are learning to recognize and name trees. The directions here are like: take a left after you find a banyan tree, walk in the direction of the rising Sun, and 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 colorful cloth flags as signboards. We feel so grateful each time we see them in long stretches of forest. We look around for footprints when there are no signs. Sometimes animal excreta also gives up 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 nigh,t 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 definitely get lost. We were thinking: what is the use of having an iPhone, a GPS, or a Master's degree when we cannot understand the basic sounds and signs in nature, like bird calls, footprints, wind, 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. For the past two days, we have been walking through a forest. And the forest will continue for a few weeks.