“Kol Kol Kolkata!
Amar Shonar Kolkata!”
Wow what a day! By far, it has been the most spiritual day on the journey! Really,
the places we visited and the whole experience today has just been out of this
world. Still feeling a little spaced out.. But in a good way..
First off, we visit Mother Teresa’s Tomb and hold a short
prayer service there. Oh wow! What a place! It was soooooooooo calm and
peaceful there.. It reflected the vibe of Gandhi Ashram in Nagpur. Just so
quiet and serene. Without even trying.
Everyone prayed at Mother Teresa’s Tomb and also put in
an intention into the intention box there. With the prayer that it manifests. I
think that was a really cool thing to have. With the clean vibes and energy
there, it’s sure to build on that. Seeking Mother’s blessing..
This was also called Mother House as this is where Mother
Teresa lived and established the Missionaries of Charity organisation. We got
to see the room where she stayed and the museum of where some of the things she
used were kept. Such few things. So simple. And yet so complete within itself.
To understand the fact that the reason for the simplicity
is the lack of the desire for material things, for wealth, for power.. Rather
the only desire is to love, love one another and every living being around you,
and spread that love further and further. It’s not something everyone can grasp easily. When
you see it so plainly here it’s so clear.. It’s so stark and there’s nothing to
confuse it with.. It’s a very profound understanding..
It was very interesting here. We were all in a group, but
collectively having a very unique individual experience. Like if you light a
bunch of candles and keep them together. They all have their own light, but
they share light in common collectively too.. I dont know if that makes sense,
but ya.. That’s what it was..
We then move on to the Ram Krishna Mission closeby in
Narendrapur. It was the most beautiful campus, 7 km in area, self sufficient
with schools, colleges, gardens, an academy for the blind and so much more, I
wish we had more time to explore. There were flowers in bloom everywhere and
the variety was just astonishing. The colours were all so vibrant and so well
thought out with their placement and combinations. And so well cared for. It really reflected the whole culture out
here..Discipline and nurturing..
Our guides were some of the college students here. They
showed us the museum and the school and stuff, but the most impactful was the
visit to the Academy of the Blind. It was training institute for the visually
challenged for developing skills in many different areas to make them self
sufficient and get employment anywhere. To let them and everybody know that
their impairment isn’t a handicap. It was really awesome. They were trained to
operate heavy machinery, sort out spices and so many other things and their
level of skill was phenomenal! One of the staff of the academy was taking us on
a tour of the whole thing and showed us the workshop where some of the students
were working. Rakesh wanted to test whether it was actually true and he asked
one of the students to switch the machine on and off. Without missing a beat,
his hand went straight for the lever. And this is a dangerous machine, with
rotating parts and places where your fingers can get caught and all, even if
you can see what you’re doing. But it wasn’t a difficult thing here.
We’re walking to the place we’re having lunch and some
young students of the academy are passing us on their way there, and they’re
not even holding walking sticks and they have like no visual nor touch
reference to guide them, but they are so well trained, they know where there is
a turn in the road, or whether there are people in front of them, they’ll
stop and wait for the crowd to part,
they’ll stick to the left side of the road and it actually feels like they’re
just like us and walking among us. It is so inspiring to see..
Here, again, the vibe was a very peace inspiring
one. With all that nature and positivity
to surround you, you can’t help but feel clean, inside and out.
After lunch we hold a session here at the school, and the most insightful points that this one young person raised were something I had been thinking about for some time. Especially on this trip. It was so weird. I was thinking them. He just said them.
He said, “There are 2 things that we should strive to do.
One is to eradicate the use of surnames. Surnames are an indication of what
region and caste and religion you are from, and the very first cause for divide
among people in our country. If we only use our first names, I can assure you,
there will be peace and harmony among us right from the start.
Secondly, I believe we should have a partyless democracy.
So many problems arise because there are too many people with responsibility
and power and resources and they lack the collective vision and intention to
lead a country or region. If we choose 1 individual to represent us, who has
the qualities we want to see and ideology that matches ours, then we should
elect them. There will be no corruption this way and we would have a stronger
country also.”
We should seriously
consider implementing these things.. I mean really..
In the evening, we all walk to the Gurudwara, somewhere
in the center of the city. It’s the first time that we’ve walked around in a
city, wherever we’ve been. It was so pleasant with a soft breeze and it was fun
to walk around with the group and enjoy the sights and sounds.. Made us slow
down in a sense.
We reach the Gurudwara and spend some time there as they
sing the devotional songs. Again, connecting with and basking in the silence
within was calm inspiring and very refreshing..
I remember telling Fr. Sukumar who organised the Kolkata
programs, after the Gurudwara time how, although the language and customs are
different of different religions, it’s easy to understand them coz they’re all
saying the same thing, and yet we still keep fighting with each other. And he
agreed, saying that all religions are special and should be respected and the
reason why they are all special is because they all preach things like love and
peace. Is there any language for love? Any language for peace?
Our last visit is at a church which just takes your
breath away at the sight of it.. Needless to say, it was so tenderly peaceful
inside as we prayed..
On the way back we get to see the trams running on the roads.
We saw the train tracks while travelling through the city and thought it was
for the non functional trams of long ago, but they’re all running and very functional. You’re in your car and
you look out the window and you’re running along with a tram. Gave a very
quaint feeling to the city. Also I felt that Kolkata was a very different place
from everywhere in the sense that it was definitely a city, with its
modernisation and pace and all, but it had a tenderness to it, in its people
and its language. There is a lot of patience here and the accompanying madhubani, as they say. The sweetest
manner of speaking.
Outside the Gurudwara, there were the coolest things.. And you'd find them only in Kolkata:
At dinner, took this random picture of Heera. Just really like how it came out..
We reach Seva Kendra at the end of the day and I know,
tonight, we’re gonna get some killer sleep.
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