Toronto, Ontario
Fire!
Fire!
I wasn’t sure whether
or not jet lag got to me when I arrived at 7:00 a.m. I attempted to sleep after that fifteen hour
flight from Mumbai but I wasn’t feeling particularly groggy. “To feel groggy is to feel drunk, tipsy, weak
or dazed,” according to the dictionary.
That describes it.
Guess what I did? Some
walking!
Ramesvara was with
me. We checked out the ravine in the Don
Valley Park. Nice day! Smiling faces were what I saw. Then we came out of the ravine and made a
crossing at St. Clair bridge, when we saw some smoke ascending from below. I
bent over to see the source and there we spotted right below us a homeless man
trying to put out fairly substantial flames that were consuming his clothes and
rags. Another local woman, a pedestrian
also peered down to see this display. I
phoned 911 immediately and was directed to the fire department. Within seven minutes they arrived and pulled
out their power hose. The homeless man (and
lady-friend) emerged onto the street level and walked away. The flames were put out.
That was some
excitement for the morning. But it
wasn’t over. Ramesvara headed for
home. I continued trekking through the
park and there I met Silk, who recognized me from twenty years ago when she did
an assignment for her anthropology class from the Krishna conscious point of
view. Silk had five companions with her
and of all things, a fire, lit by hardwood log pieces.
“What’s up, Silk?”
“This is a city
approved fire, a sacred one, to give attention to the youth suicides amongst
our native people,” she said.
What a coincidence;
today, Diwali is being celebrated in Canada–the festival of flames.”
May the Source be with
you!
8 km
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