"pilgrim-bombay" Archive
Fragrance of Love
"Who are we meeting?" Guri asked me. "This guy named Ashwin Trivedi." "Who's that?" "I don't really know. Friend of a friend." "Why are we meeting him?" "I don't really know." "What are we going to talk about?" "Well, I don't really know."
Guri looks to Viral, with a familiar smile, shaking her head. :) Two hours in a jam-packed, local Bombay train can be quite an experience, especially if you don't know whose house you are going to or why you are going there.
But that's business as usual around here. :)
[ read more ... ]by Nipun Mehta on Feb 10 '05 | add comment | permalink | more 'pilgrim-bombay'
One Rupee In Change
Before heading to dinner in Andheri, a suburb of Bombay, I was told that the rickshaw fare would be 40 rupees.
Now, drivers of big-city, three-wheeled rickshaws are not typically known for their compassion. In fact, if they see out-of-town travellers, they'll try to scam them one way or another. And ego always hurts when you get ripped-off. :)
So this trip, I came prepared with a different mindset -- simply account for a 10% "tourist tax" and considering that there are dozens of drivers competing for each passenger, you almost don't mind. Ironically, though, we've only had good drivers in this trip. Not just good, half of them have even started discussing dharma with us. Really.
And going to Ghatkopar was no exception. At a crowded stop, a young girl extended her hands through the iron bars on the side of our rickshaw to ask for some money. After we refused, our rickshaw driver started a discourse on giving. :)
[ read more ... ]by Nipun Mehta on Feb 11 '05 | add comment | permalink | more 'pilgrim-bombay'
Gap Between Us and Vivekananda
Dilipbhai, who helped found Seva-Rural, was talking about Vivekananda today.
Among other things, he said, "Our problem is that we don't know things, we know about things." After a short pause, he continued, "To us, someone is LIKE a brother and someone is LIKE a mother; but to Vivekananand, everyone IS a brother and a mother. That's the gap between us and Vivekananda."
by Nipun Mehta on Feb 13 '05 | add comment | permalink | more 'pilgrim-bombay'