Monday 21 July 2014

Friday, July 18th, 2014

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Will Perpetuate


Rain has hit the prairies more than once, especially for farmers.  It also makes conditions very conducive for mosquito proliferation.  This is not everyone’s cup of tea.  Our bus’s front window gets plastered by the bugs.  The very faithful and dutiful, Dravanaksha, one of our chief drivers, pulled over the large heap of metal with precious cargo inside (22 nice teenage boys), and lathered with huge brush, water and soap, that expansive window, causing bountiful bodies of bugs to slide off.  It didn’t take long, though, before a new splatter of bugs replaced the old ones. 

Today, I squeezed in 4 kilometres through Willow Grove subdivision, walking with 14 year old Jay.  This was not at bug hour, but at midday.  Sun and wind were forceful, though.  Will anything be other than an onslaught in this world? 

At 5:30 PM, the first Chariot Festival for Saskatoon kicked off.  It was somewhat chaotic at the start, understandably so, and total order never really manifest, especially at our presentation time at the quaint Lakshmi Narayan temple.  The building was crammed, joyfully, by yogis, Hindus, new agers, and bhaktas or devotees of Krishna.  It was stuffy and seating was inadequate.  However, I am forever proud of what one devotional couple can do in mobilizing a whole crew of people in a town curious as to what The Festival of India, and and Indian chariot for that matter, would look like.  Kashyapa and Panchami organized this first event with lots of enthusiasm.  The numbers of people that showed up surprised us.  People liked what they saw and heard.  An improved venue should be on the prairie horizon in the future.  Once such a program begins, it is likely to perpetuate.  We thank donors and all who physically contributed to the event. 

May the Source be with you!

6 KM

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