The Badrinath Baba with a Business Card, the Sikh Driver, and Other Various Tales

So it has been awhile since I last made a post and a lot has happened since then. Therefore, this post will longer than normal. However I will cut it up into different titled sections in case you want to only read certain parts.

The Indian Baba with a Business Card: The first tale I would like to tell is about a Baba. While in Badrinath I was interested in visiting this red building on a hill. So, like any good tourist, I told my guide and he took me there. The building turned out to be an ashram run by a mountain man yogi of sorts and, according to his disciples, he was a direct disciple of Mahavatar Babaji. Now for all of you who don't know who Mahvatar Babaji is, let me just say that he is one of my gurus and he is quite sensational. In any case I was able to meet him. He was a nice man and was practicing silence at the moment (I think he was going to practice it for a total of 12 months). In any case he wrote in Hindi and my guide translated to the best of his ability. After talking to him for a while he gave me a picture of himself, a paragraph about his teachings, and a business card with his mobile and lan line. Now don't ask me how he is suppose to answer the phone when you call him, I don't know these things. A baba with a business card is wierd enough, but the little card seemed somewhat useless when he can't even speak into the phone. In any case, I enjoyed my first visit and payed him respects and left. I told my travelling companions about my encounter and they insisted that they see this baba themselves. I thought it was a fine idea especially since he had invited me back to meditate at anytime in the future. So we all went back for another visit with this baba and let me just say that my second visit was not quite as nice. It left me very doubtful of the baba's truthfulness regarding his spiritual lineage. Don't take me wrong, he was a good man and had some good spiritual qualities, but a direct disciple of Mahavatar Babaji he may not be. In was an experience in any case and I think I will leave it at that.

The Glass House on the Ganga and the Puja Lady: After Badrinath we returned to Rishikesh and stayed at a very nice "non-hotel" hotel as they call it in India called the Glass House on the Ganga. I felt like I stepped out of India for a second and was back in America. It was a cery nice hotel and it was situated right on the Ganga. It had its own little bathing ghat and I was able to meditate there a couple mornings. While meditating there, a lady showed up and she started diong a puja at the Ganga. It involved some prayers and the throwing of marigolds and prasad into the Ganga. She invited myself and my friend to participate and we did. It was quite nice. At the end of the prayers my friend gave the women a few rupees thinking that it would be a donation for her time and whatnot. Normally, this is what you do at temples and we thought the lady would accept it. Well she didnt really accept it in the way we thought she would. She took the rupees, looked at them, said a prayer and then threw them into the Ganga. Then she gave my friend and rupee coin and bid her do the same. After that she tried to get us to come to her puja room, but we declined for the time being. However, when we left the small ghat we walked by her as she was performing the puja and she bid us come so we did. Then she conducted the rest of the puja around a shiva lingam and had us pour water on the lingam while saying Om namo shivaya. It was quite nice and enjoyable. I saw her one more time during my stay, but this time I only threw marigolds into the Ganga. There was no complete puja for me.

River Rafting on the Ganga with Non-Swimmers: While at the Glass house I had the chance to go river rafting on the Ganga. It was quite the experience, though I have to confess that I wish the rapids were a little better. The guide that I had in Badrinath was also my guide for the river rafting. He was originally a very good kayaker before becoming a river rafting guide. As it turns out, the people that were in my raft were all younger Indians who could not swim. It was quite the experience hearing them scream with excitement as they went through the rapids. I think I enjoyed that more than the actual rafting because I could tell they enjoyed it so much. During part of the rafting you could get out and float in the Ganga. I didn enjoy that as much as the rapids, but it was pretty nice. However, the Indian people I was with really enjoyed it. They just floated there with their life jackets on. I had never seen people so appreciative of being able to float in a river. They didn't want to get out. I watched them and they just floated and floated and floated. I wouldn't have expected it from people who told me they were non-swimmers. The overall experience was quite enjoyable and I suggest it to anyone. I mean who wouldn't want to raft down a river as sacred as the Ganga? I know I would.

The Sikh Driver: This section will include all of my experience whil on the road with ou driver Yogindar (a.k.a. the Sikh driver). To begin with I would like to tell you all that Sikh drivers are known for being overly agressive and extremely fast drivers. Our driver was no exception. At first I was ok with his driving. It was a bit reckless, but it was also entertaining. All that passing, those near misses, and whatnot. If there was a car in front of him, he was passing it. After around three hours driving and the realization that he didn't know his way from Rishkesh to Chandigarh, I realized that I didn't enjoy Indian roads as much as I thought I would. A roatrip in India is excitement mixed with fear. Fear for your life that is. It was especially true with this driver. He was not quite as good as the other ones I had and he had a bit of a temper. The most frightening thing though was when we were driving on a road and this man darted out towards the car. It was almost as though he wanted us to hit him and he we almost did. It was quite frightening. In any case, I was glad when our roadtrip with Yogindar was over and I was back on a train.

I have more to write about, but I think that will wait until another time. There as been too much written already.