April 2009 - Letter from India - It started with a kiss..

It started with a kiss, I never thought that it would come to this - as the old song goes (Hot Chocolate -1982).  Or in this case it started with a date.  Or a date stone to be more exact. As a result of which I have spent the last 3 months visiting the Seema Dental Hospital in Rishikesh.  About 15 visits so far and hopefully my teeth will be well and happy by the time I leave for the UK on the 23rd April. It must have been 10 years ago that I broke my tooth on a date stone and needed a filling.  Of course when I went to Sainsbury’s to complain that the pack of stoned dates in fact had a stone in it they pointed out the small print on the packaging – no guarantee that there would be no stones in the stoned dates.

But they did pay the £14 dental bill. So now, about 10 years later the repercussions filter through - decay deep in the tooth and in the adjacent tooth too, and the threat of root canal treatment. So now after numerous drillings and fillings and a minor gum operation it seems we may be coming to the end of a rather uncomfortable road, without root canal treatment (or rct as I now know it to be in dental-speak). 


Despite these frequent excursions to the dentist it has been a joyful 7 months in India (and Thailand where I spent 4 weeks learning how to teach).  I will be returning to India next January to continue working on a new project – building and operating schools in Himalayan mountain villages.  By the time I return our first school will be built.  We will start taking students (initially 4-6 years of age) in March when the school year starts. Our website is almost complete – www.anandarainbow.org  – just a few pages to add.


The last 3 months I have been staying with an Indian family – mom, dad, 4 daughters and a son. The “children” are between 18 and 29. I have 2 rooms on the roof.  They bring morning chai to my room, but the timing is unpredicatble.  Sometimes it’s 6.30 and sometimes after 8am. Breakfast (chai, chapatis and spicy veg) gets delivered to my room any time between 8:15 and 9:30. But one thing is constant.  Every morning the mother, Basu, appears on the roof with the dog, plays with him for a while and then sits quietly. Kisant her husband appears and they talk quietly or sometimes just sit in silence.  It looks like it’s “their” time.  Basu gets up and slowly walks around and maybe starts her chores –sweeping and washing the roof.  Or she’ll quietly prepare vegetables.  Or water the pot plants. What I notice is that there is a great deal of grace in the process.  It is calm and unhurried.  And I see this also in the mountain village where I stay with my friend Mahavir and his extended family. Here  the day starts early – especially for the young women!  Between 5 and 6 am. The cow is milked, the animal sheds cleaned out, the yard is swept, the cooking fire started, food is prepared, and chai is made, all with unhurried grace.  There is little discussion.  Everyone does what needs to be done. And these women are strong! Just try carrying a 40 pound load of hay on your head and walking up and down mountain paths for a few miles. I could hardly even lift a bundle onto my head. And most of these women are built like matchsticks!


That grace is one of the things I love about India. I don’t see it often in western countries. It is not everywhere in India of course, but it is common. Flowing with life. Doing what needs to be done.  It reminds me of that wonderful poem “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. This link gives the poem and some interesting insights into its origins.
 http://skdesigns.com/internet/articles/prose/oriah_mountain_dreamer/invitation/
 

I received an email from Bharat Cornell of Ananda Village in California.  He wrote of his own physical challenges a few years ago when he was quite unwell.  And he reminded us that these challenges are sent for a reason and we can deal with them more easily if we remember that Divine Mother is with us. He suggested a visualisation which some people have found very helpful.  You can read more in his article by clicking on this immensely long link. http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001G_yCfAcJQejzzEKszNa1H4JxUX9ZhEJBBO96shzcODcdQXJHAlzh-Y2yGGoTL2x2OI-cUoyTf2OYCZGqniQvG8L8SG0qVgMiad2zbVHmVwR4nOFfPYrMRaDH2wsIeGomBwLMC2L_DBE%3D
 

As for myself, I have spent a lot of time in the dentist’s chair visualising Divine Mother or Paramhansa Yogananda, and knowing that beneath all the discomfort there is a reason. And any discomfort is ultimately for my learning or benefit.  How often do you hear people say, after some trauma or illness, that they valued the experience, and that it was ultimately a positive experience for them, or catalysed a positive change in their lives.  Yes, isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!

You see, everything is in order.  Or, as someone once said to me "Divine Mother has got it covered."  It’s just that often we don’t know the big picture.


May divine grace flow through you
Stan