We're on our way to Hoshiarpur where Gurudev will address the public at an event hosted by a local saint. We're driving on small bumpy roads in the middle of what can look like a jungle.
We have no idea where we are now except for the driver and volunteers of course. It's a great feeling not to plan anything and move with the heard! Total faith and being like a child moving with mommy and daddy ;). It's good we have these long trips so that I can take my time to write these notes. In half an hour we reach Hoshiarpur and Ralph is craving for Aloo parathas :)
It's 11:30pm and we only saw Guruji for a few seconds as he was visiting someone's home. We said we wanted to follow him to his evening event. He asked if we were hungry. We said no. Next thing you know we're out at a hotel having dinner. We did miss seeing Guruji at the event :( And now we're on our way to see him where he's staying tonight, some of us are tired, some frustrated, Bill is starting to recite a Rumi poem about failure and surrender.
We're on Day 3 and so far we've been treated like royalty, all the lavish places we've been to extraordinary food, we have our own driver and volunteers with us, we get front row seats; but no personal time with Guruji. I have to say that some of us including myself are starting to get disappointed and frustrated. We were invited by Gurudev himself as his guests but somehow the volunteers find a way to keep us away from him, or at leaf this is how it feels. Perhaps it's all a game, perhaps a conspiracy, perhaps it's all in our minds but to quote Jeff: "it's all a mystery", a great way to look at the situation and not try to fix, change or understand what's going on.
So today is Sunday October 20th and we're driving from Hoshiarpur where we stayed at Hotel Presidency, to Jalandar where we attended a Satsang at Guru Govind Singh Stadium.
Ralph said why don't you go up on stage and take photos. I didn't think it was possible until he said it so I went near the stage with my giant Canon and stood there until someone asked me: "Do you want to go up take photos?" There were no sweeter words. I was up on a huge stage right in from to Guruji taking snaps for an hour. I filled up 16 Gb of photos!! Most of them turned out amazing! Now we just arrived to another evening Satsang in Pathankot, 3h away from Jalandar.
Dr Manikantan and Richa Chopra have been hosting all the Satsangs on this your. They are just perfect signers, musicians and devotees. Guruji loves listening to them sing! So does everyone else. I got a chance to speak with Dr Mani in Chandigarh and got some interesting tips about flute playing.
There was a mini Satsang after a very successful event where Gurudev addressed the public on many issues such as alcoholism, female foeticide, and vocational skills training that Art of Living provides. It seems that these topics are on his agenda during his tour in Punjab. He was asked in Bangalore a question about people leaving farming and going to the big cities to get an education. It seems that more farmers are needed but also people want to secure their future with good education. He asked that people work together on this issue and find a solution.
Sri Sri also conducted his Punjab trademark meditation :) a beautiful meditation that starts with eyes open and ends with eyes closed with Om chanting!
Later on we went to have our dinner at another gorgeous house. Now I have to take a moment and describe what I mean when I say gorgeous houses. These are huge mansions with 5 to 10 bedrooms, beautiful antique furniture, amazing decoration, some are very modern and some old but the space in there is so big, high ceilings, and swimming pools, water fountains, rose petals everywhere and every house with its own outdoor garden. We often had lunch and dinner in the garden and slept in the house or someone else's house.
Right after dinner we followed Guruji while he just walked over to the next street where apparently there was a mini Satsang. He came in and sat and everyone as usual flocked around him like crazy; but this time it was different. There were tons of people sitting around him and behind him on a very small stage. It looked so intimate and sweet! He merged beautifully with the crowd. His whole expression and being changed. He was like a proud young man hanging out with his friends.
Pictures coming soon!
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