Doesn't time fly when you are having fun!!
My first week with Lisa was a week of
relaxing and catching up. Emelia has the most wonderful sleep routine
that gives not only Lisa plenty of rest but also gives everyone a
very happy rested baby!
My sleep patterns were totally up the
creek for the first week with me sitting up until 3am writing the
summers Blogs and then sleeping in until 8.30 when Emelia woke up.
Breakfast was spent simply watching Emelia feed herself, I had
forgotten what a joy young children are (when they are in happy
moods!)
By 9.30 Emelia would be yawning and
ready for some quiet time and a morning nap that could last anything
up to 3 hours!!!
The first hour was normally spent singing to herself
and once she awoke she would happily play and chatter to herself in
her room until Lisa went to fetch her.
Lunches were a very messy affair but
boy can that girl eat!
The afternoon would then be spent
either swimming or playing at home which meant Emelia could go for
another afternoon nap from 3pm until 5pm
or going out to visit some of Emelia's
friends ….
.............. and their mothers of course.
Through various groups that meet up
just to share the experience of being mothers, Lisa has built up an
amazing collection of supportive friends all eager to share a few
hours just doing things together.
Sometimes this means going to a friends
house for a few hours, other times it means just meeting up in the
library for a half our of rhymes or activities for toddlers.
Evening were normally spent going out
for supper in one of the many food halls, (all of which have an
Emelia following!) with bath time by 7.30 and bed by 8pm …. I told
you that child was an angel!!
Again Emelia would sing herself to
sleep or chatter away to herself for the first hour but after that
silence reigned in the nursery!!!
Lisa and Steve have also moved
apartments since I was here last and are now on the third floor with
a full size balcony!!!
They also have four bed rooms which means
plenty of room for guests.
Steve's parents were due to fly over
for Christmas and even though there was plenty of room for me to stay
I felt the call of Krsna and the farm, so I e-mailed Shimeswarma
asking if I could come up over the Christmas break.
He promptly e-mailed back saying there
was a Rathyatra in Klang on the 19th, a Family Day Picnic
on the 20th, the reading of the entire Gita on the 21st
plus a program near to the farm on the 22nd!!!
I booked a
bus for the 18th and spent the rest of my time with Lisa
making jewellery in the evenings and writing Blogs!!!
The morning of the 18th
December I walked the 400m to the bus stop and boarded my bus ….
only to be told my seat had been changed!!
No longer was I sitting in
the last remaining seat at the back of the bus … they had had a
cancellation and had moved me to the very front ...…to the big seat
with extra leg room!!!!
I settled my bags, reclined my bed/seat
and gazed out of the huge front window as the countryside flew by (once we had done the half hour border crossing that is!)
We stopped mid morning at the same
place I had first been given honey balls by a fellow passenger I had
befriended the last time I had travelled this way.
This time, being
at the very front and with everyone else asleep, I had not really
talked to anyone but as soon as we stopped I knew exactly where to
go!
With a bag bursting with hot honey
balls (I dread to thing of the callories)
I looked again at the 'interesting'
water display and re-boarded the bus.
After last years unforgivable late
arrival into KL I had told Shimeswarma that I would make my own way to the
Temple.
With my previous experience of the
journey and the train system stored in my memory I was soon walking
up the final huge hill .................
................ with a backpack that I swore got heavier with
every step!
Bags were dropped into the office and I
was there … in the Temple room …. with the most beautiful
Deities once again.
Of all the things to forget on this
trip, I had left my bead bag hanging at the foot of my bed back in
Wales!
I had made myself a set of wooden chanting beads at Lisa's but
here at the Temple I was able to replace my home made ones with bought,
offered beads.
I also bought a nice Blue (to match my hair) bead bag and I was
ready to start chanting.
Life in the Temple is very simple.
You
sit,
you chant,
you eat prasadam,
you chant,
you sing!
The day passed in a wave of bliss, the
long climb up the hill a distant memory.
I had been given a set of keys which I
thought were for the Mataji's house that I stayed in before. She was
away until morning but Alex and I had stayed in the 'office room' on
the bunk beds the last time we were at the Temple so I presumed I was
staying there again.
It was only as I headed out the gate in
what I believed to be the right direction that I as called back by
the shop devotee. “Wrong way Mataji” he called pointing across
the road to the huge condominium, “That way, First floor!” I
looked at the keys in my hand, Room 2, Floor 1, read the label, so I
headed over to the condominium.
Upgrades seem to be the theme of this
trip for when I opened the door to what I believed was going to be a
simple room I found myself standing in a three bedroom apartment with
two balconies overlooking the pool, kitchen and lounge!!
All to myself!!!
It seemed a shame to waste the master
bedroom with en-suit bathroom so I unpacked, had a hot shower and
fell asleep at 9.45pm!!
I awoke at 5.30 to the sound of my
alarm, showered and was in the Temple room by 6am ready for Japa,
By
7.30 I had done 8 rounds of meditation, my mind was beginning to
wander so I headed over to the kitchen to ask if I could help.
Come
back after breakfast at 9 I was told so I sat and did another 8
rounds!
16 rounds of chanting is the prescribed
amount of meditation one is asked to do as a devotee.
I have never
managed more than 8 and to be honest 2 is my usual amount when at
home, but at the Temple there just seems to be all the time in the
world and so I happily sat for 3 hours chanting and meditating until
it was time for breakfast!
The rest of my morning was spent
chopping and cutting in the kitchen, filling bowl after bowl in
readiness for first the lunch and then the evening meals.
Normally there is just
one devotee, a retired school teacher, who works day after day at this
job. Anyone wishing to help him is gratefully received but if no one
turns up he is just as happy to cut and chop, stir and cook.
Sunday is feast Day where devotees from
all over come to the Sunday morning service, on days like that there
are many hands to help prepare the vast amounts of food that will be
needed to feed everyone, but on a Friday there was just me and the Cook.
By 1pm I was told I had finished.
All
the chopping was done, lunch had been cooked and the rest would not
be cooked until later. With the Rathyatra happening in Klang that
evening there wasn't going to be many for the evening meal!
I spent the afternoon swimming in the
condo pool and then scrubbing the kitchen in the apartment. A thin
layer of dust covered everything as it was rarely used, the floor was
in need of a good sweep and then a scrub.
By 3.45pm I was happy with the results
and showered in readiness for the Rathyatra.
I had been told we would be leaving at
about 4pm so with my cartels (hand cymbals) and bead bag safely
packed along side my camera I headed off to the Temple.
Punctuality in not something that holds
much meaning in Asia!
'When it is convenient' is a more accurate word
for time keeping.
I sat quietly and waited.
I chanted a few more
rounds and waited.
I watched people put things into the back of the
minibus and then disappear, I watched ladies as they happily chatted.
At 5.30pm the minibus roared into
life!! The Temple President had been busy cooking food for those not
coming with us but now he was finished, washed and changed and we
were ready to leave.
I worry so much about being punctual,
about making people wait for me, about letting people down but in
Asia I am always reminded that 'some things' are not always that
important. “If it is possible we will do” but if something
happens to make us deviate from the plan, then everyone will just go
with the flow, no worries, no blame.
As we drove to the Rathyatra I found
myself asking, is punctuality, and the guilt that goes with it, a UK
thing or is it just my own personal hang up?
The Rathyatra was of course fantastic,
we joined the procession at what seemed like the perfect place and
were soon marching along pulling Jagannatha as we went.
The last time I had attended Klang
Rathyatra everything I thought about materialised as soon as I became
aware of the thought.
When I was thirsty, a drink appeared,
I thought the garlands
look wonderful around peoples necks and then someone put a garland around
mine.
I had even purposely asked in my mind
for one of the Klang organisers T-shirt only to be given one within 5 five
minutes!
This time I asked for nothing .... well, I did ask if we could
pass a pharmacy so I could pick up some more antihistamines ...... but that
was all.
We danced, we sang, we had petals
thrown from overhead bridges, I found myself looking at all the
wonderful garlands again, then reminded myself I needed nothing.
I stopped to take a video of the
procession only to have Shimaswarma throw me a garland from the
chariot as they passed me.
Not only did I have a garland, I had an
amazing one and straight from Lord Jagannath Himself!!!!!
As we passed under one of the many fly
over bridges, stopping all the traffic as we went, the decibels of
sound rose in the amazing acoustic archway.
Pleased with the noise
the devotees began to sing louder and faster, jumping back and forth,
while the ladies looked on amused.
Darkness began to fall and I found
myself wondering about the pharmacy I had hoped to get to. We were
now in the main part of town and it was here or nowhere I was going
to find the tablets I wanted.
Not trusting the Universe I popped into
one of the shops and asked where I could find the towns pharmacy.
“Another road, far side but closed now.” a sales assistant waved
at me.
I shrugged, told myself I could manage with the few I had and
rejoined the parade.
All along the route shop keepers stood
beside the road with trays of offerings they wished to give to
Jagannath.
As the chariot drew along side each of these people the
whole procession came to a halt as the Puja was made.
There are a set amount of things on
each tray, a garland, flowers, incense, fruit, ghee candle, money and
a coconut.
The coconut is taken by one of the
Brahmans and cracked open.
The ghee candle is then lit and placed
inside one half and the whole thing is placed in front of Jagannath.
After the prayers have been said the
tray is returned to the shopkeeper (minus the money) and the
procession moves on to the next person waiting patiently.
We turned a few corners working our way
up and down streets as more and more people joined us.
Suddenly the procession came to a halt
for an altogether different reason!
Fire works exploded on the
street, shooting high into the sky within inches of the people
standing around.
Health and safety eat your heart out in Asia!
Camera phones were pointed skywards as
for about 3 minutes the fire works exploded all around us.
The smoke began to clear, someone shouted
it was safe to go and we were off again.
At the next Puja stop I got a Mataji I
had met last year to take my photo as I stood beside the Chariot and
as I looked over her shoulder there I spied the pharmacy
…. and it
was Open!!!
One should never be impatient with the
Universe!!
With my photo shoot completed I popped
into the shop and purchased the tablets I required.
I returned to the
street just as the Chariot began to move.
The Universe knew exactly
what it was doing!!!
All along the route the Kirtain
(drumming and singing) had not stopped. The Devotees leading the call
and response singing were soaked with perspiration as they danced and
sang.
Three to four hours of constant
movement seemed to have had little effect on them save the sweat
soaked shirts that cling to their backs.
By now I had no idea where we were, I
too was dancing with the ladies ahead of the procession, I too was
singing for all I was worth so happy was the mood.
At last we pulled into the venue where
the evenings entertainment would take place.
The crowd put down the rope yet
continued to chant as Jagannatha, Subpatra and Baladeva were prepared
for their journey into the Hall.
The Kirtan leaders moved to the
entrance and raised the tempo of their singing to the most frenzied
it had been all evening.
As Jagannatha passed me I once again
thanked Him for the most wonderful experience.
Jagannatha, Balarama and Subapdra were
placed on the stage while the enthusiastic Kitain continued
That evening I ate prasadam, watched
the performers and listened to the class totally blissed out.
We returned to the KL Temple and
midnight and even though the pool looked inviting after all the
dancing, I quickly took a cool shower instead and slept solidly
through the night for the first time in years!!
Tomorrow was going to be another busy day!!
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