Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

Furry Felines and People

Durban, South Africa

I’m no cat expert but I certainly see them prowling about,
on the hunt, of course. In my reeling about the Chatsworth
temple chanting on my japa meditation, I see some feline
regulars. You might call it cat hour, pre-dawn.

There’s this white and grey patterned one and is rather
oblivious to my chanting. Another one who hangs out near
the moat of the temple is a tabby cat. He shows off his
blond stripes. Near the kitchen you find this loyal one
who’s patterned like a Holstein cow, an impressive black
and white. I don’t know any of the names to these half
domesticated pusses, yet they are my early morning
friends. They provide a break from the hectic nature of
these days.

The Durban “Festival of chariots” is a big one. There’s
lots of people. You are surrounded by them all day. Just
yesterday 22,000 plates of biryani (a South African
favorite), dhal soup, farina halwa and a fruit base drink
were served. And that was gratis. Somehow I manage more
solo moments before the flood of youths puts its tide in.
I was requested to facilitate an interactive dance session
at the tent called the Youth Café. My God, talke about
being crammed and swimming in the shared sweat of the
young. The djembes were rolling and popping their sound.
The mantra was put out in gutsiness. Then at body make up
time my crew of youth for the production “Gods and Demons”
was my company. Agny, the god of fire, was painted up, so
was Indra, the god of rain; Varuna, the god of water;
Bhumi, the earth deity; Vayu, god of air; and even one of
the Maruts representing the either. We also had the girls
all in white portraying the milk ocean.

Anyway the environment was one of controlled rowdiness, a
devotional chaos. The performance was marvelous. We even
featured a ten feet tall elephant. What a crowd pleaser
that was. It’s all good energy for the day. It started
with a cat and ended with an elephant. Of course,
elephants. I’m in Africa, what do you expect.
OM TAT SAT were the signing off words of the play “Gods
and Demons”. They are words from the Gita.

8 KM