Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Friday, October 26th, 2012

A Tale of the Trail

Tirupati, India

Revati Raman is the shining manager of the ISKCON temple ashram in Tirupati. He has his roots here and he relayed to me an interesting story involving a walk in the trails to do with his mother.

She was 5 years old when she was walking a trail through the forested hills. She was not alone but with two other members of the family. A dog started to follow them. They tried to shew away the dog but he remained determined to stay with his new friends so they accepted him as part of the family entourage.

Revati's mum, at 5, needed to deal with nature's call as she stopped to the side in a private spot. The new friend, the dog, insisted on being with her. "The area is known to have wildlife including leopards, lions, and tigers. A lion lurked about and sighted some prey. He made his eager anticipated pounce on the dog who lost his life. Had the loyal dog (bless his soul) not been there then there may not have been a good full life for Revati's mother and certainly there would not be Revati.

The story is gripping because it involves both sensation and sacrifice.

I relay this tale of fate not to deter people from walking trails in the wilderness. After all death is more apparent in a so-called civilized urban setting, but I say this story just to share a piece of sensation, magic, and miracle that goes along with life. In the end we can only be thankful for the gift of life and the gift of believing.

5 KM

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