Chapter 3, The energies


What was that day in the village, I do not remember but by this time I was quite sure of my routine. I would get up early in the morning around 4-5 am to meditate for an hour. The whole atmosphere of the village had a different energy than that of the city. Everyone including children would get up early in the morning around 4 am, the kids would take their cows and goats around in the hills for grazing. They would come back, help their mothers in preparing food, would clean the house i.e. one room earthen cottage and also do the dishes. I felt connected with the energies so much so that I would always get up in the morning no matter what time I slept in the night. A distant sound of an old village woman singing in a nearby farm every day at the dawn was simply enchanting and added to the meditative mood in the morning. The energies of the place were seemingly affecting me and moreover, I was realizing how so comfortable I am mentally and physically in minimal available resources…like I didn’t feel the need for more than 2-3 pairs of clothing, more than 2 pairs of shoes. I felt very little need for soaps and essential chemicals for cleaning the clothes or taking a bath. I could do without hot water in the severe winter of Badanga, as I started taking bath with cold water in the morning. This cold-water bath was protecting me from the heat of the sun I was exposed to the whole day at the mountain. Moreover, I saw the people and children of the village were having a minimal pair of clothing and one or no pair of shoes but kids were happy and joyful, unlike city kids…this being one of my observations which I shared with the school teachers and kids in one of the gatherings. My time in Badanga made me wonder and realize a lot many things about how in our ignorant ways we exploit our ecosystem and its resources in the name of necessities and how in reality we need very minimal things to survive and enjoy the planet.


\

There was much I learned from my stay in Badanga that forever changed my perspective towards the concept of needs and necessities and towards ‘what people would think about it?’- the so-called peer pressure. In a way, much was being exchanged between us so-called outsiders and Badanga. The ancient hills were seemingly offering much more than I had ever expected. Personally, for me, It was a journey of revisiting my roots and consolidating my yogic practices.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 4, A dramatic day!

Image
                                                  working on the mountain                                                                                          Linh on the day of the exhibition                               Spending time on the mountain for my project...the mountain in return did give me some moments of strangeness and amusement. One of the days as I was packing my bag to go to the mountain, my roommate, Linh just came in and gave me a corn chapati prepared by her wrapped in a newspaper. This gesture surprised me in a much pleasant manner and I ...
Read more

An eternal symbol of seeking

Image
Given to the god of death- Yama by his own father in a fit of anger, child Nachiketa sat at the doors of the god of death for three days without food or water. When Yama found Nachiketa at his door, pleased by his sincerity, Yama granted him three boons. For the third boon, Young Nachiketa desired the knowledge of what happens to a being after death- for the wait and the disillusionment after the whole incident left him wanting to know the truth. Even after Yama insisted that he cannot reveal the sacred knowledge and that Nachiketa can ask for anything else in the world, he had to surrender before the determination of the child. image courtesy Kala Kshetram The boon was indeed granted by Yama and child Nachiketa became an eternal symbol of determination and seeking. The quest for self- realization and self- knowledge is ancient. Came many seekers in search of knowledge and prophets to quench the thirst for knowledge and still we find the dialogue lost in interpretation. For ...
Read more

If it matters

To experience the season that is passing through…is the only choice a tree has. For it's not the tree but the principles laid by mother (nature) that decide what the skies, the wind, the land will offer to its existence. While the tree engages in the dialogue with the passing season, and the transformation that takes place, happens as a response to the process it is going through. The clouds that cross the forest rain, the wind blows- as a breeze or as thunder, the cold, the sunshine…all part of the process. The process one’s existence is bound to follow as soon as the life in matter begins. For it's not the being in the matter (the tree) that decides what season it will experience…and how they transform it?  But it is for the cosmos to decide…(as if one life in matter matters that much?)  
Read more