In the midst of filth and chaos, moments of ecstasy
While still enslaved by the senses, brief seconds of bhakti

MY NEW HOOD AND AN END TO INDOLENCE

For those unfamiliar with India Perhaps a brief descriptioin of my new
neighborhood is in order. As I leavew our enclosed small patio, which
is covered by heavy wire to keep the monkeys from preying on us (yes
we are in a cage, and the monkeys run free! I only pray that in their
ire, they don, t pee down on us!) we enter our lane, which apparently
has no name. T do this we use a slab tha crossses the open sewer, and
enter on the lane made of broken cobblestones and dirt. Coming down
the lane, we say hello to the water buffalo kept by the neighbors and
give a sout out to the goats on the balcony. Afteer a few feet we
enter the main road. Across a vacant field a temple tower can be seen
from the distance. Turningright toward the busy thoroughfare, we past
various chai stalls, shrines, temples, wandering cows, monkeys etc. I
usually stop at the stall before the small shrine. Each morning bells
clang, people water the tree, children on the way to school offer
respects to the godes as i compose myself for the coming day. The
good thing is I am a short hobble from both the large ISKCON Temple
and the school. Between dancing at the kirtans twice a day and
walking, I will get in better shape whether I want to or not! The
ISKCON temple somewhat resembles a large wedding cake, with a large
open courtyard (of course screened and somewhat monkey proofed) There
are three main altars and it is so impressive to see three aartis
being conducted simultaneously especially in the morning when the
Deities are cascaded with flower petals. These are the moments when
it trully seems right to have come here, despite the sad state of most
of the city, and how little it resembles the bucolic scenes of
Krishna's youthful pasttimes.
After several days of waiting and hanging around doing little (not
much different from how I spent the end of thesummer and the fall) I
finally had my first day 2 school today. O My how wonderful it will
be. We start the day with a genenral assembly where some students
worship the deities as the whole school sings bhajans (hymns for you
nondevotees out there) and then the kids get up and dance, dragging
selected adults intom the circles. yes, yet more exercise! What is
Krishna trying to do to me! This serves a dual purpose, devotion and
physical fitness. After meeting with the director of volunteers and
his wife, we went to the kindergarten class where I immediately
started teachiing colors, alphabet etc. After this, two of the
volunteers taught yoga and then it was time for lunch. Later in the
day, I met with another log term volunteer and was assigned to help
jazz up a play being readied for two weeks time. Then the day was
over.
I can not describe how endearing the children are, absolutely
delighted to have such an exotic creature as me dropped into hteir
midst! The older children are eager to show off their english and to
just hang around agape at my (somewhat cultivated) oddness! This is
such a wonderful opportunity and a chance to redeem myself after the
debacle of July. I thank Krishna for iot and look forward to hearing
from you my friends.