I spent the four pujo days as I had hoped to, far from the madding crowd, 300 km away in Bodh Gaya.
I left on the morning of Saturday the 21st (saptami) and returned in the afternoon of Tuesday the 24th (Dashami). I had taken along ma and Koushik, who needed a much needed break of relaxation from his hectic work schedule.
I won't write much about the sights and sounds, because I have written in detail about the last trip (Buddha Vihar), in February 2017 (I went again in September that year - I love the place). The road is for the most part in excellent condition. We took in Rajgir and Nalanda too. Everyone agreed that the ambience of the Mahabodhi temple ('main mandir') in Bodh Gaya and the Venuvan park in Rajgir were the nicest highlights.
The hotel was the same as the one I had stayed in on both the previous occasions, and yet I could recognize nothing about it, not the location, not the structure, not the rooms. Small miracle which was left unresolved. The staff was lazy and highly disorganized but polite and obliging, the food was good and the sleep restful, so I have little to complain about. The sun was hot, but everywhere it was pleasant in the shade, and the nights were very comfortable even without the air conditioner going.
Absolutely the most memorable thing that happened was the little stray puppy with a broken leg which had taken shelter in the hotel garage. I fell in love at first sight, cuddled him night and day, and parting from him broke my heart - I have been in tears again and again till the time of writing. I taught the staff to give it the right kind of food, begged them to put the leg in a splint, left some money for its care, and my only prayer to the Buddha these last few days has been that the poor mutt might survive, heal and prosper. If I had been a rich man with an adequate service staff, I swear I'd have brought that puppy with me and given it a permanent home. As it is, I am planning to do something more lasting and worthwhile for all such abandoned, sick and injured dogs around me, starting off with visiting the sole animal care shelter in my town that I have just heard about in order to find out how I can help. Maybe some of you can join in?
7 comments:
Dear Sir,
My prayers for the little pup. I hope it recovers well.
While on the train to Udaipur, the last paragraph made me think about a lot of things. Unknowingly, I felt a lump in my throat. I can only marvel at and hope to love a fellow being like you do. I have at the same time also always felt how little I know of you and how much more I can learn from you.
Can we really love someone without attachment? Maybe the only way to escape from suffering is through selfless love for Him (like Mira's love for Krishna)? I feel insignificant and fragile yet optimistic when I try to find answers to such questions. Maybe "o prem je kore shey jaane".
I am unsure if this was a ramble or a lucid comment. Some of the thoughts that flooded my mind today.
I shall be glad if you take me under your wing for any such endeavours to care for the dogs.
Hope you get to travel again this winter.
Regards,
Aveek
Every line you wrote is pure love. You are a genuine, simple and a kind hearted as always. Sir, all your write ups are so beautiful. Wishing you more miles and more smiles ♥️🙏🙏
Hello Suvro sir,
It was a pleasure to have met you when I came to your house with my wife Shivapriya who was your student.
I came expecting nothing and have had the privilege to have met one of the sweetest gentlemen ever till date.
The way you interacted people around you, remembered former students and how much love you had in your eyes when you welcomed our lemon beagle boy.
I sincerely pray for the little fur friends recovery and wish I could do something for his well being.
Wishing you good luck and better health to travel more and share such wonderful stories and messages.
Thank you both for commenting, Shivapriya and Shankar. Right now I am heartbroken, because after running around a lot to find out and buy all sort of meds for that little puppy, I am now being told that neither the courier nor the post office will carry liquids in any form. So this is the end of the line for me in this particular case, I guess. I shall of course send the prescription over to the hotel manager, begging him to find those drugs and administer them regularly, but I don't have much hope that they would care.
Take care, you two,and keep in touch. It was a rare pleasure to have met both of you - and Lemon too, it goes without saying. Someday, maybe, I'll turn up at your door for a day or two.
Look out for my next blogpost.
Sir
... and Aveek, I shall most certainly 'take you under my wing'. A million thanks for the kind offer.
Dear Sir,
My heart goes out to the puppy. I hope that some kind soul takes care of the little pup.
Let me share my personal experience about stray animals - Since childhood I have felt a tinge in my heart whenever I used to look into the eyes of these voiceless creatures.
So, my father had a job which was filled with transfers. This created a lot of different kinds of problems for me. Especially breaking up of friendships. And what better friends could there be in life than these innocent pups. So I used to get whatever I could find in my home to feed them and wherever we went I would quickly find my Blackie, Gilli - a golden pup I was fond of, who I named after myself(I was nicknamed Gullu) and Chitkabar as my dad would name then. My love for dogs certainly came from him.
I will cut this short, typing from the phone is a horrendous experience.
My dad had so many transfers in my childhood that, ultimately I stopped making futile friendships that I knew would break. Finding refuge in books.
Now, we have phones. I would have loved to share more but typing from the phone is difficult.
Pardon any errors in my rusty English.
Regards,
Vikal
Thank you for commenting, Vikal. Yes, I share your prayer that some kind soul will give permanent shelter and loving care to that poor abandoned puppy. I did all I could from afar, but by the time someone from a care shelter turned up at the hotel, it had run away!
I do all the long typing on my computer still, not from the phone :)
Sir
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