Compassion In Kutch

As I browse through the photos from my recent trip to Kutch, Gujarat for the nth time, each by the way, bringing a wider and brighter smile than the last, I scratch my head in disbelief. So what do you think happened here?
 

“Things were being taken care of on their own. People came looking for me to take me to the next destination. Like somebody picked and chose this itinerary for me. Made me meet these inspiring people I was supposed to meet, be at the places I was meant to be, have those experiences that swarmed me with love and beauty that I was intended to have”,  Came the reply after some pondering.

 

Rewind to about a month before.

Day 2 of the MBL retreat draws to a close and the travel bug in me is itching restlessly. “After all, the White Rann desert is not all that far from Ahmedabad; and moreover, I did not get a confirmed ticket back to Delhi”, I thought. I approach a couple of people in the group who could guide me on travelling to that part of Gujarat. Ultimately, a breakfast meeting with a friend on Day 3 and within half an hour, my travel itinerary is ready. I’m a little dazed. He jots down my itinerary on a notepad. It has my day-wise plan, the places, I’d be visiting, things I’d be doing, and people I’d be meeting, lunching and even staying with. Along with that, he also scribbles the phone numbers of the people who’d be receiving and/or hosting me. Within seconds, he also calls them up and tells them, ‘A daughter is coming to you, please take care of her.’

 

I sheepishly tell him, ‘I’m not comfortable staying with these people already. I do not know them at all, how can I just go and stay with them at their places. It feels very awkward. I think I’d be OK with some hotel around that area.’

To which he replied, ‘Go with your heart and not your head.’ He titled my travel itinerary ‘Yatra of Kutch with compassion’. “O…K...A…Y!” I said, still finding it hard to let go of my controlling self. I took the notepad from him and ran back to the retreat. Later that day, I received a message from him. It read ‘Your yatra of Kutch with Compassion is set up. Just surrender and receive with love, faith and trust for learning. Enjoy the beautiful life. Love.’

 

And that… is the most difficult thing to do. As a race, we’re trained to control every little thing around us. It gives this sense of immense control over all things big and small. And that leads to the feeling of being in power.

 

And here I’m being asked to relinquish that power and surrender. ‘Surrender…’ that word stayed with me. To let go and let it take it own course is so intimidating at so many levels. So I don’t control anything? No planning, no packing, nothing! Just in-the-moment kinda travel. I’m uneasy now.

 

My first thoughts were to buy some more clothes because obviously I’m going to stay for longer than I had ‘planned’. Wait a minute, didn’t we say surrender?

 

Kutch with Compassion

 I arrived early  in Bhuj. Without a single number being dialled by me, I had 3 unknown people waiting for me and constantly checking about my arrival time. My first breakfast in Bhuj was the Traditional Fafda and Jalebi at skilled Bandhni craftsperson Sohail bhai’s home, with his affectionate family. After looking around the town, RavaBhai from Gandhi nu Gaam, Ludiya, joined us for a finger-licking good lunch.

Grateful for such an amazing home-cooked meal, I thanked them profusely and left to see the nearby areas with Rava bhai. Our next few stops were Shrujan near Bhujodi, weaver Vankar Vasram’s store, Hunnarshala, where young lads are trained in the skillful art of carpentry. It was a privilege meeting national award-winning mastercraftsmen and artisans. Delicious mava (halwa) from a shop in the Bhiyandara village en route was a part of the written itinerary.

 

When I finally arrived at Gandhi Nu Gaam, Ludiya later that night, I was warmly received by Koraan ben, Rava Bhai’s wife. She was beautifully dressed in traditional Kuttchi attire. Did she dress up especially to welcome me? I wondered. A simple, delicious khichdi-kadhi dinner later, Koraan ben told me that this is how the women are attired, all day long. My eyes popped.

 

 My hosts gave me a bhunga to sleep. It was an out-of-the-world experience to be staying in a bhunga. I touched the heavily ornate wall within. I felt the nooks and crevices, the rhombus and the rectangular geometrical designs and the different mirrors stuck on them. Each of those mirrors had an image of rest of the bhunga on it. It was simply marvelous. A masterpiece! 
 

The next morning, I woke up to the goat’s bleating instead of city sounds. What a blessing! I was told to perform my morning albutions at theneemda tree outside. I got water from a cement storage tank, no taps, and no running water. After spending some time at the village pond and school,we went to see sunset at Kalo Dungar (Black Hill) from where we could see the distant Indo-Pak border. Enroute, we stopped at the Ashaspura village where I interacted with the children and clicked their photos. Amongst them was a blind boy named Sava. It’s amazing, how he was the most confident and interactive kid around. Makes you think hard on all that you take for granted.
 

After breakfast, we went to the White Rann Desert. The sun shone bright and the horizon was distant, like it’s in no hurry to meet the other end; the vast ocean of salt couldn’t have gotten more pristine than this. No matter wherever I looked, it was just this serene, sublime, awe-inspiring whiteness. I was just washed over by feelings of awe and immense gratitude for earth and the beautiful nature that surrounds it.

 

Dhordo, we met mudcraft artisans Mahmood Kaka and his family. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a traditional Kutchi wedding, for which I got to wear the kanjari and participate in the village customs. My daily routine of getting water from the well, fetching milk from the milkman, cleaning up the house, doing the dishes with Koraan ben continued. By now, the people in the village had started recognizing me and the kids were happily playing with me. We went to another village a few kilometers away to attend another wedding the next day. Vira and Shankar, two lads had been talking with me for some time. Since I’d been spending considerable time with the boys and other kids, I thought of teaching them some English words and phrases before I left. We started with simple words… Words at the back of the toothpaste and soap pack and on their T-shirts and pair of jeans. We focused on pronunciation and saying it aloud repeatedly. On one such eve, Vira caught hold of a dead insect and buried it respectfully in the earth by the bush nearby. I was stunned. And here I was thinking of teaching them English? The things that they ought to know, perhaps they already know. I think that day, I learnt from Vira.

 

Forward to now. 

Back to Delhi, I see these chain mails floating around thanking all involved for the recent three-day retreat at Sughad and the ripples of kindness and love that it has helped generate. Reading those, I’m thinking, should I even begin writing my thank you note because it might just never end. Where do I even begin?
 

Is it all a coincidence that in the past one month, I got to attend a 3-day retreat at Sughad, meet inspired and inspiring people from around the globe, walk up to a slum centre and hear stories of faith and service and witness the labour of love and compassion transform hearts and lives, experience life in a distant village of Kutch, attend Kutchi weddings in traditional attire, meet a blind boy in a distant village and learn lessons in hope from him, witness one of the most beautiful sunsets ever at Kalo Dungar, finally step on the threshold of the sacred White Rann, play with loads of children wherever I went, have a stray dog come to me and nuzzle me, attend a 10-day meditation retreat at one of India’s best centres, listen to powerful stories of Dhamma and the law of nature taking its course no matter what, make new friends, enjoy a quiet walk on the beach, dine at people’s houses who I never knew before, share their home-cooked meals, soak in the splendid rays of the luscious, full-grown moon that peeped through my window all along on my bus journey back to Ahmedabad, hold a 28-day old baby, volunteer at the seva café, meet philanthropists from the city of Ahmedabad, enjoy a welcome and stay in people’s homes, learn lessons in humility and gratitude from kids, visit the historic excavation site of Lothal, attend an Awakin gathering all the way in Ahmedabad and listen to so many beautiful perspectives and stories??? …I don’t think so. To me, it was just love from the universe. I was showered with blessings, beauty, and love from the universe that I accepted graciously bowing my head in humility and gratitude. All this resulted in journeys within, journeys of compassion, kindness, hope, truth, trust, love and beauty.

 

“Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is.” I couldn’t agree more with Saul Bellow.