By Teresa Guerra
Jan 31st - We had meditation at 5:00a.m. Afterwards, I finished packing my belongings, getting ready to leave. There was delicious upma for breakfast. It felt like the days had passed too fast. I was at the camp from Jan 26th evening to Jan 31st morning. Part of me didn’t want to leave. The noise of the trains, cars, etc; the music, chanting 24 hours a day, and the low temperature after sunset and before sunrise, were also part of the experience. During these days, I met new people, including devotees and sadhus. I didn’t speak Hindi and many of the devotees didn’t speak English, however, we figured it out. For the most part, smiling was enough. When I got stuck, I asked people nearby to help with translation. Something was obviously common to all, to everything. So many blessings!!!
My angel, Srilatha very kindly told me to continue using her extra SIM card for the rest of my trip, so I didn’t have to worry about it.
It was not clear how I was going to get to the airport. Secretary Maharaj had told me to see him after breakfast and that he would give me transportation details. By 9:30a.m., I found out that he had left for Belur Math early in the morning. After inquiring around, Yugal asked a devotee closely related to the Math, to help me out. Taxis were not allowed in the area. This devotee had a motorcycle. He would bring me to the city where I could get a taxi. I sat behind him with my backpack on my shoulders and my luggage resting on my legs. That was an unexpected workout for my legs, for sure! The ride was about 25 minutes. We had to go across the bridge and get to the city. It was such a joy to see so many people still walking towards the Kumbha Mela site, and so many sadhus! It was also so uplifting to see devotees taking bath at the holy rivers!Once we were in the city, the devotee driver spotted a couple of vacant autorickshaws and shouted something (I guess) in Hindi. One of the drivers stopped and agreed to take me to the airport for 2,000 rupees. I was told at the camp that the taxi drivers were charging 5,000 rupees due to high demand.
The devotee diver refused to charge me for the ride. It was 11:00a.m. by the time the autorickshaw driver started towards the airport. We arrived at almost 12:15p.m. My flight was at 3:00pm. I didn’t have proper lunch. I was exhausted; fell asleep on the plane. We landed at 4:30p.m. There was heavy traffic, and the taxi driver got lost. We reached the Delhi Sarada Math at 7:00p.m. I went to the shrine for a while and then had very nice dinner and dessert. Then, I went to sleep.
Sri Ramakrishna said, “The caste-system can be removed by one means only, and that is love of God. Lovers of God do not belong to any caste. The mind, body and soul of a man become purified through divine love.” (Gospel of SRK, page 155) That was Kumbha Mela, forever cherished in my heart!
Blessings!!!
