Life is Chai

Saying goodbye has never been easy for me. It’s so hard not to grow attachments to people, places and experiences in your life. The night before we left Rishikesh was really special. We wanted to spend it with Bharat and his family at the Chai Shop. So we hung out drinking tea with Papaji, who refers to me as his Canadian daughter and Bharat’s big brother who has the tiniest new baby son. The baby has no name as of yet but the family sure has a good time comparing his features to those of a monkey. That night we went to Bharat’s favorite local restaurant for a meal. Chappattis were rhythmically slapped into the tandoor oven while thalis were served up by the dozen. Afterwards we took a stroll in the moonlight along the Ganges where it was more ‘shanti’ as opposed to the busy-ness of the main bazaar. We sat atop an ancient set of steps and stared into the fast flowing currents, the warm wind blowing through our hair cooling us down from the hot day. We joked about the similarities of life to that of a cup of chai, understanding full well that we all experience ups and downs, good times and bad, problems and solutions. But finding balance and harmony amidst the pendulum is what we strive for.
The next day we organized our tickets on a night train from Haridwar to Punjab. We decided to forego our beach time for more of a relaxed visit with Bob’s family and if it’s meant to be, the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala. Another lesson in relinquishing control and dropping my expectations. As we set out to meet our taxi to take us to the train station I could feel the emotions welling up inside of me. Our baggage was placed into a rickety cart that was pulled by a sturdy little man. It was hard to keep up with this guy as he wheeled our belongings in and out of the people of Ram Jhula. I found myself waving goodbye left and right to this shop owner and that Baba and this beggar and that travel buddy. What a feeling … this place, these streets, the people had become so familiar and close to my heart and now we were leaving in pursuit of the next chapter.

We arrived at the train station a couple of hours later and I was completely re-acquainted with the real Indian experience. Hoards of people were milling about in all directions moving to their next destinations and working the streets. Our backpacks weighed a ton and I felt embarrassed by the amount of stuff that I had taken on the journey. We sat down to wait for our express first class sleeper next to a leopar that was missing some of his fingers and toes. He was laying on the ground with his few belongings and a book on Krishna, which I imagined gave him much support and comfort. Bob and I quickly became the spectacle of that side of the platform. A group of young boys positioned themselves to watch the show while other random people just blatantly stared with eyes nearly popping out of their heads. A Baba struck up a conversation to let us know how sore his leg muscles were from wandering the mountains. He told Bob to squeeze his thigh just for good measure. Next thing you know he was preaching to anyone who would listen … and he had some takers agreeing that one must follow the paths of the Gurus. ‘Why does everyone sit in their air-conditioned cars? We are losing our circulation.’ Damn right. That is exactly why I have been making the transition from sitting behind the computer for 8 hours per day to a path that is more meaningful. As Don Juan said, ‘For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel looking, looking, breathlessly.’
Amidst this scene we somehow missed our train. We both felt frustrated and fatigued but managed to go with the flow and crack a smile. Today we are riding in a taxi across two provinces to meet Bob’s family. The driver told us to keep our windows up as we pass by police. Guess we are in a taxi with some limitations on transporting foreigners. Ah India, my India … a land of heart where anything is possible and everything goes.