| 6th October 09: Travel to Haridwar |
|
Swamiji, Amma and Raghudasa arrived in Delhi at 5:30 AM this morning, with Amalananda and Varsha waiting to receive them. It was so beautiful to see them all coming from the airport. Swamiji and Amma had a beatific smile, they had been in anticipation of this yatra for several months now, in truth, several years. Raghudasa was limping a little bit from the pain of the blisters, but was in good spirits. The weather had just started to turn cold, and it had been raining today and yesterday. We all sat down for a cup of hot coffee. It was a very happy reunion. Later, we all went to Amalananda's friend's home, where Swamiji and Amma were received warmly. Carla, Greg and Avinash joined around noon. They were very touched to see Swamiji and Amma again, it was another happy reunion. We all started our travel around 1:00 PM, heading for Haridwar, in the state of Uttaranchal. The vehicle in which we are travelling together for the next 20 days is a Force Tempo. It is quite a big vehicle and can seat nine passengers excluding the driver and his assistant. It has a high roof which allows us to stand inside, all the seats are pushback, and it is quite comfortable. The driver, Raj Kumar, speaks reasonably good English and is very helpful. His assistant, Salim, is a bit reticent, but is very helpful to all of us as a handyman. As we try to get out of Delhi, we are caught in a chaotic traffic jam. It is a sea of confusion. There is no order of things in the traffic. Vehicles are backed up long distances in every direction at a three-way intersection. It is massive grid lock. Indian drivers have a very interesting way of occupying every single inch of road space, without concern whether that would obstruct the flow of traffic. The tempers of the drivers of the vehicles are running high, we all feel as though we are in the eye of a storm; everything around us seems to be moving except us. It takes us a good hour and half to clear through this traffic. And all the while, during this traffic jam, all of us inside are having a beautiful time. Swamiji and Amma are sharing with Carla, Greg and Avinash how this whole yatra came into being, how they received the divine guidance from the Divine Mother and Mahavatar Babaji, and how it all materialized fast in a very short span of time. It is a beautiful story which we hope to share with you some day... The journey from Delhi to Haridwar took a good 7 hours, which put the average driving speed at 30 Kilometers per hour (20 mph). While India is on a fast-forward track with technology and IT, the infrastructure is clearly lagging behind. We saw the sugar cane fields along the way. In some stretches the sugarcane molasses smell from the industries was overwhelming. We got lost on the way, trying to take an alternative route. It is a funny experience, asking people for directions. They never seemed to give the right information, and we spent some time going round and round :-) Finally reached Haridwar, and checked into a hotel. We were all very tired and straight away went to sleep. |
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
Quick Links
Please help Ekatvam in its mission. Many blessings
