On The Way To Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh - 1st March 2011

You’d think human endurance has a limit, but apparently you can cross those limits sometimes.. We’ve been on the road for 25 hours this time, starting at 11pm the previous night from Bhopal and reaching at 12am the next in Lucknow.  (Nope. It didn’t take 14 hours.)

Oh, correction. We think they were roads. But it was something else altogether. You know how when they’re gonna make the road, they break it up and there are all rocks and stones there, uneven and unsorted? That would still be bearable. What we drove over was 10 times worse. The total journey was some 600-odd km and at least 400-odd was like this. And to think this was the National Highway. Where do all those funds go that are allotted for maintaining roads??? It made the drivers reduce the speed to like 10-15 kmph and the vehicles got some damage too. One got a hole in the diesel tank and a gear lever of the other broke. To add to that, they drove through the night and all through the day. And we thought the last time was bad..

The driver’s plight was their own, but for the rest of the group we were a little better off. It was terribly uncomfortable, yes,  but I think that the reason everyone stuck it out was because the sense of mission that we that came with was so much bigger than anything else, that in the long run, this was actually minor. And like they say, it’s the tough times which make you grow more than the rest. So this was undoubtedly one of them. By the end of it, we were stronger for the experience, in body, mind and spirit. And we realized that we could endure so much more than we thought.

Plus, since we were all together, we got to keep each others spirits up and talk and laugh and all. Like remembering the time in Jharkhand, when after Deepika had emceed for the first time and Solomon, who generally does it, went to her, put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Deepika, mujhe tumpe farak hai.”  And the way we laughed at it! Prashant was like, “Tum ladke ho aur ye ladki hai. Aur kitna farak chahiye?”

And there was a time Solomon, Jennifer and I wanted to talk, but still manage to keep the conversation private. Solomon was working on his laptop, so he opened a new file, typed something and handed it back to Jennifer to read and respond. Jennifer would type her answer and hand it back. Then Solomon typed and handed it back to me. I typed and forwarded it to Jennifer. Jennifer handed it back to me. I gave it back to Jennifer. Then Jennifer gave it back to Solomon. Solomon gave it back to Jennifer. Jennifer gave to me. I gave to Solomon. Solomon gave back to me. I gave back to him. He gave back to me and Jennifer and I looked at it together and laughed. It was like chat, but one where you pass the laptop back and forth. Hahahaha..

And how in this one place Joice was called Kumari Joice Mary Antony and by the end of the same program she was Shrimati Joice Mary Antony. And Ravi Rounak Robin became Ravi Kujur in Chattisgarh. And in Bhopal they announced him as Miss Solomon Gomes. And have you met Rockesh Singh?

Now we have Lucknow to look forward to! Lets see who becomes what!

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh - 2nd March 2011

The Land of Nawabs beckoned after a very trying 25 hours on the road to get there. But it was totally worth it.

 In the morning interaction a few of the questions were different topics than what we’d come across so far.. A young man got up and said that population control hadn’t been discussed so far and he asked Rakesh about it. I found all the points Rakesh put forward very interesting, as if he had thought about this a lot before. He said that for economists, a high population is a good thing because it leads to a bigger market. With a higher employment rate, there is a larger profit and if there is a larger profit more companies will invest and all. So for the economy, a high level of employment fits this bill (Literally).

Secondly, he said that the Catholic Church prescribes no methods for birth control. They believe that children are a gift from God so they are against trying to control that in any way. Rakesh also said that many people also have children for acquiring a green card. And there could any number of other motivations to have more children. So to control the number of children to have is a full debate on its own. But at the end he said, basically, if a person can raise 3-4 children, he has the resources and inclination, then he should. It is ultimately up to the person. “If you can, then do,” he said.

I totally agree with him. The last point.

Here was the second place after Mancherial in Andhra Pradesh that Rakesh spoke in pure Hindi. It was weird the first time and it still felt weird now. But good weird. And it reminded me of the diversity of knowledge he has, despite being so young. Plus the ability to express himself so easily. And the most influential fact – he uses it and spreads his knowledge. He doesn’t keep it to himself.

The discussion is continuing but I guess I tuned out while taking some photos. I float back into senses to hear Rakesh say one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard in a long time.

“It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.”

I dont know in what context it was said, but I dont think that matters. It was just so exquisite, profound and complete on its own. And such an important teaching too. I realized so much just when he just said that aloud. That very simple saying just touched something at a very deep and fundamental level.

In the evening, there’s a musical program where after our girls performed, then this awesome band called Yeshu De Bande took that stage and performed some of the most melodious Hindi (and some) English gospel. There were 10 of them on stage (And one of them’s a priest), all so young and vibrant and the vibe they sent was just so positive and uplifting! In some of their songs, they asked the audience to get up and dance along. One of their members would dance on stage and we’d follow. I look back somewhere in the middle of the song and no one is sitting! They’re all on their feet and grooving to the music!

But the most amazing thing they had was their feel! They were so absorbed in their music and felt it in every fibre of their being and they transferred that feel to the whole audience. We were totally energised by the end of it. And we didn’t want them to stop.

I remember taking a moment and just witnessing the experience. It was just so inspiring to watch them.. They were completely immersed in their music and took whoever was watching along for the ride. Guided by their faith, expressing it through melody and rhythm, accompanied by the love resonating in their heart, to believe in something so entirely and to just be, in the glory of that moment, was truly stirring. There was a lot to learn from watching them..

And this one time, when one of the ‘dance’ songs was happening, Ravi was in full josh and grooving to the music, Rakesh comes, out of the blue, takes a Rs. 10 note and circles Ravi’s head with it (nazar utaarne ke liye) and puts the money into his pocket. It was sooo funny!

What a thrill! On a high note (pardon the pun) we gear up for Bareilly and Kathgodam!

Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh & Motinagar, Haldwani & Kathgodam, Uttarakhand - 3rd March 2011

We reach Bareilly for lunch by mid day and have the good fortune to be hosted by the Bishop of Bareilly, His Grace Anthony Fernandes.  I particularly enjoyed this lunch because his dogs, Rani and Sultan, were scampering around and soaking in all the love and affection from everyone around. They were the cutest pomeranians and when a whole lot of monkeys entered the vicinity, threatening to attack, these two ran at them and chased them off with a vengeance you wouldn’t think they’d have. Being so small, they still managed to scare off the whole troop.

And then they came and sprawled themselves across the floor for us to pet them and love them.. He he..

After the whole incident, the Bishop was having a friendly conversation with Alan and his crew, Raihun, Kles and Dap.

Alan says, “It’s so dangerous! If those monkeys attack, it’ll be really bad..”

“Yes, the monkeys are quite a menace here. But luckily we have Rani and Sultan to ward them off... Do you have monkeys in Shillong?”

Alan waves a hand to the others behind him.

“Yes. Three.”

Hahaha! It was cool to be so free with a Bishop..

 This place was also special because it was where our girl’s dance academy Nrityarpan was. It was their place and though we couldn’t visit their academy or spend much time here, it was still a piece of home and it always feels nice to come home.

We reach Motinagar in Uttarakhand in the evening. We’ve overshot the scheduled time by a few hours, but I guess that’s ok. We all get a uniform as such, with white shirts and caps on which ‘Jago Yuva Bharat’ is printed. Then we board these 6 gypsies which have the backs fully open (the same kind you’ll find when you go to Jim Corbett Park or safaris and all) and we all clamber into them and start out towards the market. On the side of all the gypsies there’s a board which has information about our campaign printed on it and while we’re passing through the markets, people are actually slowing down their vehicles and coasting alongside us reading them! And sooooo many people around us, as we passed, shouted to us, “Jago! Jago!” or “Jago Yuva Bharat!” and smiled at us. Some even waved! One person shouted, “Arre, hum to jag gaye!” And we shouted back, “To kuch karo!!” He he..

Savita was standing next to me and she’s from here, so she’s giving running commentary of all that we’re seeing as we ride by.

“Haan, to jaisa ke aap dekh rahe hain, yeh humara market hai aur yahan par har cheez milti hai, jis bhi cheez ki aap ko zaroorat hai, aap ko yahan par mil jayega. Joote, kapde, khana, peena, khilone, kitaaben, sab kuch. Aur yahan par (points left) aap ko har kisam ke fruits mil jayenge, ye vala market fruits ke liye mashhoor hai, har kisam ke fruits, raseeley fruits, ache quality ke fruits yahan par milte hain.Sev, kele, tarbooz, kharbooze, cheekoo, angoor aur vo sare fruits jo bahar se bhi aate hain.Fruits hi fruits. Aur yahan par aapke right ko hospital hai jaisa ki aap dekh rahe hain. Brij Lal Hospital. Yahan par aap apne aap ko theek karva sakte hain agar aapko koi bimari ho, ya agar aapke dost ko bimari hai to aap unko yahan la sakte hain, aur bimari nahi bhi ho to aap ja ke dekh sakte hain ki logon ko kaise theek kiya jata hai. Aur yahan sadak par jaisa ki aap dekh rahe hain, log chal rahe hain...”

It was very enlightening.

One thing I noticed was that we did get late, but I felt kinda glad because there were more people in the market places in the evening than there were in the afternoon (for when the rally was actually scheduled) and so there was more awareness about the campaign. And with the response from all the fun people from the markets of Motinagar, Haldwani and Kathgodam, it made it all the more worthwhile.

We reach St. Teresa’s Sr. Sec. School in Kathgodam where we are to have the program and after a couple of moments of playing ‘statue’ for the news photographers, John calls a few of us for the inter-religious prayer. We reach the stage and John asks me to read the section from the Bhagwad Gita. I lift the Book, and it’s in Hindi! I completely forgot that this could be a possibility, even though Hindi is the primary language here. I had retired my Hindi-side of the brain after the 10^th standard. But I read the verse 3-4 times and it didn’t seem that difficult. Later I realized that talking to the girls all this while throughout the trip increased practice and familiarity of the language which made reading it easier too. If it weren’t for this, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

I read a passage from the Gita, John read from the Quran, Monika read from the Guru Granth Sahib and Prashanth read from the Bible. It just felt like a very cleansed atmosphere there, in a sense, encompassed by prayer from all sides.. I realized, this was the first time in our entire journey where it was ‘us’ who held the prayer ceremony. It felt special.. And it was even more special when the accompanying hymn was “Ek Hai Bhagwan” which drove the point home. I dont know about other people, but I felt really happy to be part of something so diverse yet uniting at the same time..

Later in the evening, a Taize Prayer service has been arranged and everyone fills the hall. The only illumination is the numerous candles adorning the Taize Cross in the front of the hall. The whole room is replete with silence, a silence blanketed with devotion.  The hymns starts and people join in. Very gentle, soft voices complemented by gentle strings. For that 1 hour or so, everyone here was lost in the bhakti, and the collective surrender into prayer through song was a beautiful thing to witness and experience. If ever you get the opportunity to participate in a Taize Prayer, seize it. You’ll cherish it.

We come out of the hall after the prayer and it’s rained a bit bringing down the temperature drastically. I even joked that Uttarakhand should be renamed Uttarathand coz it’s so cold here. Hehe..

We go upto our rooms and a cute little pomeranian is scampering around sniffing us and enjoying the affection. Later we find out that it’s Sultan’s (from the morning) brother! So it figures that he has the same approach to asking for love..

Made me think.. Love.. It’s like prayer.. No matter what language, it’s always the same and just as powerful.. In words, through song.. Even when it has no words.. 

Quite profound, isn’t it?