The Colonel and his Guru's Lotus Feet

In Agra we were privelged to meet a group of devotees. We went to their Sunday service, which began at 7:00 AM and ended at 9:00 AM. It was the earliest Sunday service that I ever went to. When we arrived the YSS devotees were very excited to see us, much like the Amritsar devotees were. The leader of the group, the Colonel, went ahead and greeted all of us. He was a very nice, strong-willed man. After greeting us he invited us to join them for Sunday service, which we did since that was the main purpose of coming in the first place. The service began with EE's and a meditation. Following the meditation, the Colonel formally introduced us to the other Agra devotees. This introduction involved calling us up to the altar in the front of the room and bow to our gurus. (This is common in India and occurs at almost any temple you visit). After we bowed down, he gave us a handful of flower petals. Now I thought the flower petals were something he was giving me, a gift you might say, and I was about to thank him for them when he said, "Now place them at our Guru's lotus feet." So I placed them on a little figurine that had a picture of our Guru and two very small feet. On this figurine there was a few words that said "Guru's lotus feet" or something very close to that. This experience was one of those moments that really catch you by surprise. I think it was just the way the Colonel commanded me to put the flowers at my Guru's lotus feet. One of my travellng companions kept repeating him later, I think she found it quite hilarious. So after giving the flower petals I stood up and was then given a mala (the Colonel later instructed us to keep it under our pillows for twenty-four hours, I don't know why) and a specially made Agra YSS center picture of our Guru. Well there you go, that was the introduction. He also gave a little background on where we came from, how old we were, how long we had been in SRF/YSS, and also told everyone our name. Now for most of the people in the party this is where the inroduction stopped and they were allowed to take their seats. However, when the Colonel heard I had been a member of SRF/YSS since I was born, he decided that I should say a few words to everyone in the congregation. So I stopped, collected my thoughts (not that I really had any), stood there for around thirty seconds, then literally said a few words, and promptly took my seat. I can't say I enjoyed that experience. After our introductions, the service continued with a short reading which was folloed by another meditation. It was all very nice. After the service ended we were introduced one by one to everyone who was at the service. Then we were invited into the Colonel's house to have tea. The tea was good and the Colonel and his wife were very hospitable. The only strange thing about this whole occasion was that the Colonel and his wife insisted on standing up next to the table while we drank our tea. They wouldn't take anything. All they did was watch us. They also made some conversation, but I really didn't understand this custom. We ate, they watched. I'm sure it was just their way of being polite, but it still just boggles my mind. It may be one of those things I never actually understand. It took us a while to finish our tea and as soon as we were done we left the Colonel's house in order to explore a little more of Agra.

Just now, while I was looking back on my post, I realized I forgot to mention that we were invited to have dinner later with the Colonel and another well-to-do Agra devotee, the Doctor. Dinner was nice. I got to know the Colonel and the Doctor better. I think I'll leave it at that. This post has been long enough and if any of you want to know the details of dinner you can ask. I can't say it was anywhere as memorable as the Sunday service though.

Well, that ends this post and concludes my experiences in Agra. Hope all is going well.