Houston, Texas.
I had rushed south-bound on Ella Blvd. to try to reach the morning service aarti at 4:30am. The weather for me is fine, cold for the southerners. Amongst the attendees at our Houston convention was Partha Sarathi, a member of the U.S. Forces in Iraq. Partha, who has a significant number of high action/high motion tales to tell of his experience on the warring fields, has a mere six days to complete his term in the service. Already he is chalking put his plans for the future which entails recruiting human beings for the spiritual path. On a few occasions he mentioned that I was his hero for doing all these marathon walks. I on the other hand, have the greatest respect for him for the encouraging role he has played in boosting the spirits of his fellow fighters during their very difficult times. From the accounts he has given he has turned a lot of soldiers around to becoming people of improved character and giving them something to believe in.
I was equally anxious to bid my farewell to him before he left Houston as I was to attend the 4:30 pm chanting session. We hugged and said our good-byes.
My departing flight from Houston to Charlotte on U.S. airways had me seated right next to a marine. Mike was his name. He was curious about my robes and all affiliated with that. He addressed me as “sir” continuously which is I guess is equivalent to addressing a swami as “Maharaja.
In any event Mike the marine was nice and got really intrigued with long distance walking. I always appreciate monks and soldiers. There is something taming in the training.
10 Km
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