Learnings from a river

In the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

So,was in Haridwar- Rishikesh for a month and somehow did not visit any temple. Not that i don't believe the residence of God in temples. i DO believe there is His presence, but i believe stronger that He is everywhere, especially more so in the very things we ignore perhaps.

The river, the stones, the poor kid helping his blind ma wash clothes in the crazy river, the excited squeals of babies when their asses touch the cold waters, street urchins somersaulting- launching themselves into the water- laughing and competing with each other, saying didi, come this side, its shallower and more fun...holding my hand if I look too scared.....and of course the cutest baby who to her mother's amazement smiled wide and happy everytime she saw me.The little gubbu and I had a a lot of fun- both of us not speaking, just communicating through eyes and smiles...Don't need excessive words to share love i suppose:)

I was silent most of the time except maybe 3-4 days during the month.Spoke 4-5 times for work and once with mom coz she was really unwell etc. And whatsapped a bit in the beginning- so yeah, cheated like that:)

I did not even dip in the great river much.The times i did, i did NOT wanna get OUT...When had time, river it was or Rishikesh half the times. Rishikesh is so beautiful, i could sit the entire day on the banks and do nothing and yet not get bored or bugged, event hough the sun was killing me...Met some awesome people, heard some amazing stories and experiences, Of course my favourite place at Rishikesh - never got bored of it somehow no matter what:), The most interesting things happened at the cafe's and shops in Rishikesh.

Of course got a lot of time to think coz of the solitude and just the pure air...i thought and thought about NOTHING...he he he:)...

The river is an amazing teacher. So many people died- nobody i personally knew but still fathers and brothers of friends of friends .Sum of what i felt is -Nothing belongs to you- not even you....and yet we try to hold on , try to accumulate more than we need, plan so much, etc.....the very things that also are the cause of our frustrations and pain...Both ,being covetous and aversion lead to misery eventually. Also one more thing, no more pleasure than serving others than spending time licking your own fantasies:)... I am not saying that accumulation or planning is not important. It is, but not to those who want to fly...let some people accumulate , let some people fly...someday the accumulators will fly too and someone else will accumulate...the world won't die, but eventually will get more people who'r free:)...too utopian i know..but possible it is:)

Cotton can exist without thread but thread cannot exist without cotton:)...Need to concentrate on the cotton, thread will automatically happen, cloth too, fashion too...whatever...just if we first give our whole energy on the cotton;)

Yeah I've gotten philosophical and all that...tee hee