Friday, April 18, 2008

The parikrama is a blur in my mind so bear with me.
First Baba chants japa loudly while walking. This is very attractive and his voice is so sweet. I especially remember his voice on ...Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Second, Baba walks fast. How fast? Baba never walked faster than a nice leisurely stroll. I found myself breaking into a run at several points to catch up.
Every person crossed Baba's path in any fashion whether verbally, waving, or by coming to say Radhe Radhe got his full attention and response in kind. Street urchins and various children running up to Baba (many) got full handshakes/hugs/head rubs/hair ruffles. In fact the face of one girl will be forever etched in my mind. A boy around ten years old was walking with his sister around eight years. They saw baba and walked right at him saying "Radhe Radhe, Baba". Baba ruffled the Boys hair and just before they walked off gently touched the girl's cheek with the index finger of his left hand. She had the biggest smile on her face and her eyes were half-closed. This was a typical interaction with the children on the parikrama marg.
This kind of exchange was not limited to children however. Teens, Young men and women and adults to very senior people all got at least a few seconds of baba's time on the walk.

One other event on the walk sticks out for me. An old man was begging in the doorway to a house. It was up on steps quite high such that the old man's feet were at chest level. When we walked by, the old man cried out for alms and Baba stopped and indicated he had nothing but chanted Radhe Radhe to the old man and then while chanting began massaging his hands, arms legs and feet. This man got a three minute massage and then we moved on.

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