The Last Light
Ahmedabad, India
What a day! It's the birth anniversary of the Golden Avatar, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Since Chaitanya is often affiliated with the moon for its beauty, its cooling influence and the fact that he was born on a Purnima, a full moon, a small delegation of us earthlings decided to walk towards the moon. A row of street lights on the dusty road led us to a final one. At 5:30 the lights are clear and all else is hazy.
This final light had no lamp post. The ball of light was larger than the rest. Suspended in the air and so deceptionaly close to the ground we realized it was the moon appearing so accessible. It was beautiful and now alone as we stood there in admiration at the road's cul-de-sac.
We reversed directions and diverted from my usual trail to come upon a temple of Goddess Kali. We entered the shrine which can accommodate a small number of people to see the Goddess with a joyful demeanour. I could swear I saw a smile behind the dangling tongue. Maybe it's my perception. After all it's a happy occasion.
A laughter within struck me when seeing the hands-off Flinstones type of device at the entrance. To call the neighbours a unique machine which is not manually operated (only a switch turns it on) creates the sound of a party. Two mallets jut out of the metal box which beat on an affixed drum while two hammers strike a pair of gongs simultaneous to two ropes autonomically jerking the balls of two bells causing them to ring.
The sound and the device added to the sweetness and the celebratory nature of the day. Other than that the day shone with chanting, fasting leading up to a feast and conducting two classes. By the day's end I looked again at that powerful moon, the Chaitanya moon, so much to be admired.
7 KM
No comments:
Post a Comment