HereNow4U - Living Jainism Tour 2006 - 03.15 Taranagar - Streets & Juice

21st November 2006, 17:30

When we left Darga Haveli, our eyes got breath-taking impressions, what beauty of a light! How bright are the colours in StarCity and how friendly people! We retraced how we would have felt to arrive in StarCity after having travelled for some days on a camel chariot in the desert - the meaning of the word oasis had a deep impact on us this late afternoon in Taranagar.

As soon as we departed from Darga Haveli, their neighbour kindly invited us to visit his house. He was very happy when Aparigraha took his photo with Karuna.

We wondered how peopled the streets were, students, school children, traders, salesmen. On the fruit and vegetable market, one of them enthusiastically welcomed us as his religious associates, his colleagues were a little proud on him, and we really enjoyed the meeting.

Our next stop was at the city’s old Jain temple, which was build about 200 years ago. It was decorated on one side with paintings of Lord Mahavira, Acharya Bikshu, founder of Terapanth, and 9th Terapanth Acharya Tulsi and on the other with paintings of Terapanth Acharya Maghrajji and first Sadhvi Pramukha. We would have loved to know more on the history of the temple and how paintings of Terapanth religious heads came on its walls, but it was locked and nobody came to open it.

Perhaps these houses could tell some interesting stories on that time and the people living in it, if they only could speak...

We then came to a street where the desert sand was steamrollered by the trucks. In front of a Shiva Temple, a truck was about to be unloaded. It was a hindrance for all other road users - not a single horn was heart! A group of calves did not worry and watched attentively what was going on. They were in the middle of the passage for walkers, and they were in the middle of Karuna’s way as well! Karuna lived in Berlin for her whole life and knows calves and other domestic animals mainly from German farms, where they are behind electric fences to hinder escape. Germany is too small and has too much traffic to release animals on the streets, so she was not used to stand face to face to a group of calves. But as she is a settled woman, she breathed deeply and passed courageously, watched by amused workers and passers-by who did not need to understand her German words asking Aparigraha with a voice, a little louder than usual, if she really is supposed to pass so close…?

After this little adventure we were thirsty and stopped over at a small shop were oranges were instantly pressed on demand. We had nice talks with people around who approached and welcomed us. They wanted to know how it came that we were in Taranagar and why. These questions were put to voyagers since times immemorial and will be put to them as long as people are interested in people, no matter from where they come, who they are and where they go. A good old custom we should not forget.

We looked back to the main street where unloading of the truck was nearly complete, people and animals looked back to us, and it seemed they all knew where we were from and why we were in Taranagar. Thank you for this afternoon, StarCity!