A Day At Savusavu
Savusavu, Fiji Islands
You cannot believe the hospitality of the people of Fiji. The native folks have invited me for tea on numerous occasions during the more serious walking. And wherever I have been accommodated by the Indian Fijians for mealtime it is a stunning display and tasty experience. Try an entice of fifteen to twenty different vegetable combinations without mentioning the soups, rice, salad, roti. No dessert (the cooks know I don’t care for the sweets). It is never a monk’s meal of one prep nor is it ever slim pickings rather a love of plenty. The hosts wouldn’t accept anything less as a demonstration of gratitude for coming to their home.
At Savusavu, you will witness a piece of heaven – a vista of Pacific majesty. Radha Madhava and I were given a villa to stay at the top of a hill overlooking the absolute natural splendour.
Aside from all these blessed treatment for the eyes and the belly the real pleasure is the sankirtan public chanting. At the base of a mountain the single downtown street provided us fine chanters with a fair reception. Two of the voices, however, were loud but flat. At one point I found it to be unpleasant to make it a lengthy session. I believe the street public found charm in the sincerity despite the deaf-tone dynamics. I thought the best course was to cut it short. Devotion and musicianship is always the best. You can’t always have both. Devotion comes first though.
Our villa host Brij Narayan really seemed to enjoy the evening’s presentation of a dramatical reading and mime of, “Why Duryodhana Became Insulted?”, an episode from the Mahabharata story when a group of guests came to listen.
There’s a saying, “If you don’t read you can’t lead.” How true! It’s hard to give guidance without reserving sometime to study each day. Reading fuels the intellect and the imagination. It triggers the two parts of the brain.
5 Km
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