Saturday, October 15th, 2011

Back at Juhu

Mumbai, India

Bubbles explode in your face. Balloons bob up, down and sideways. Monkeys on leashes do jumping tricks for a rupee or two while their master whips the hard-knotted rope back and forth to strike the dumaru, the small drum of passion affiliated with Shiva, the God of dissolution. Rides for kids delight their eagerness. Cotton candy and smells of spicy goods permeate the space for sight and nostrils. Young couples stay arm in arm.

I hear the occasional "Hare Krishna" or "Hare Rama" and "Namaskar," only because I've come onto the scene of this wild carnival. Other than that the rest is normal at Juhu Beach after the sun falls on a Saturday night. The water with its ocean waves fascinates people. They are never daring enough to go in for a dip. It fascinates so long as you stay out.

This is my usual trekking territory when I come to Mumbai. It is a mere seven minutes plus walk, darting chaotic traffic (or one rounds length of chanting of the 108-bead strand) to get to the sand and ocean from ISKCON's popular temple. Dignitaries and Bollywood stars come to the temple weddings and other functions continuously going on here giving the place a vibrancy.

It is this fine facility that has become the annual venue for spiritual strategies, which I believe is possible only because of AC circumstances and a whole lot of integrity tossed into the bowl of brainstorm. We have monks here representing a global picture and on top of that male and female leaders of an administrative and teaching kind.

For now, having come a day early for such meetings, I've been putting my foot marks in the sand, acquainting myself with a different environment preparing for brain-butting and heart-hugging. It's always a pleasure to step into a different zone of existence in order to look at your own world of activity and see from a different light. To keep alive I don't think we can do without the objective outlook.

We are here to share ideas and dreams and to see if we are on track with the wishes of the guru. It is a meeting of ISKCON's Governing Body Commissioners (GBC).

6 Km