This morning started at 6 AM with and early shower and then hindi class. All was well and breakfast was really entertaining as I got to have some giggles with some of my newly made friends, I will miss these little group encounters when I will leave but that's life, it never stops, we have to keep on going and just enjoy everything while it lasts.
After breakfast we all got into coaches and went to the British Council again for a session regarding their mission in India and a meeting with Sam Miller. From the latter I collected a couple of quotes that I will share with you "I write why I try to understand why I think what I think" and "I am for better or for worse, distinctive"( about his life in India). The seminar was followed by a lovely al fresco lunch which gave us a good boost for the next leg of the race, the trip to the India Gate, which is an impressive construction meant to represent it's independence.
The next part of the journey was a visit to the village of Hauz Kas. When you watch the sun set over the lake in this village, the dusty red ruins that are covered in a golden light, in that moment time seems to stop and you believe that everything is at peace and the world is in absolute equilibrium. It is there that I met an old sikh with his grey beard, white turban and ebony staff. He approached me while I was gazing over the lake beneath slowly go dark and his simple ways struck a cord deep within me. We were both looking out at the dusk and he just smiled and waved his hand across the landscape seeming to say "See, this is my home, see how beautiful it is!". This almost reduced me to tears and the only thing I could say was "It is so beautiful, is it not?". Even though he might not have understood me, I felt in the look in his eyes that he did. It is this what makes a good journey an extraordinary one.
This hectic day concluded with us getting lost on our way to a hindus temple. Here we took part in a fire ritual were we were blessed by brahmans and the experience was deeply calming. After we finished, we visited the rest of the temple and saw all the altars dedicated to the different gods.
The effect of the mantras chanted by the priests lingered long after the ritual ended. We wandered around the surroundings as the sun set over old and new Delhi and the final bell rings and chants began. After sunset, a show presenting Vishnu's life was put on display in preparation for the festival on Wednesday, but unfortunately our visit was cut short and we returned to the hotel.
It has been a day full of excitement and new experiences, on cultural, spiritual, historical and physical levels, and I am feeling drained so I need to put a end to this long day now.