21.01.2010 On The Road To Sri Dungargarh

Waiting for the car with right size for luggage: (f.l.) Smti Nirmalaji Jain, Swami Dharmanandji, HereNow4U Editor Aparigraha-Cris Jain (Geerdes)

After breakfast we were ready for departure scheduled about 08:30. But it had to be postponed. The special Delhi weather conditions in these days, dense fog, in January 2010, and further the problem where to put the luggage had to be solved. The car had arrived without luggage rack, and inside the car no space was left. As announced to the taxi company we were 6 passengers, Swami Dharmananda ji, his wife Smt. Nirmala ji, Dr. Batra, Dharmanandji’s student, who had been invited to come with us by Swami Dharmananda, our friend Conrad Zieme, the two of us, and the driver. After some discussions in Hindi the driver was asked in English to provide a luggage rack and mount it. He made some phone calls, shouted a little bit, and then hurried away. He came back after quite some time with the needed tool.

Our friend Conrad Zieme preparing his musical instrument, a back pipe before departure Foggy morning of departure which our friend Conrad Zieme tried to make more sunny with a little concert on his back pipe

In the meantime, Conrad the musician used the opportunity and assembled his back pipe to feel more relaxed by playing some music. After producing some tuning sounds to get the pipes in resoance, he succeeded in forming a nice melody while the driver who had arrived with the rack managed to mount it and tie up the luggage on the roof of the car. Two hours later than scheduled we boarded and off we went.

All of us felt happy when finally we started for destination. We knew that a full day of travelling was ahead, although the distance was 381 km only and the estimated time was 6 hours and 40 minutes according to Google. But Google obviously had not integrated the “Indian circumstances” as missing luggage racks, extraordinary fog, traffic jams, roads under construction or not yet under construction, people and animals crossing the highway, and the like. In fact we needed 10 hours to reach the destination, and we had a comfortable car and a very experienced driver.

HereNow4U Editor Aparigraha-Cris Jain (Geerdes)mounting windscreen unit for the camera Installation of camera perfect, but what about fog?

HereNow4U-Editor Aparigraha-Cris Jain (Geerdes) was sitting on the front seat near the driver because of the camera he had mounted on the window screen. Smt. Nirmalaji, HereNow4U-Editor Carla-Karuna Jain (Geerdes) and Conrad Zieme were sitting behind them, and Swami Dharmanandji and Dr. Batra on the back seats. After some time Conrad Zieme and Editor Karuna offered to change place with them, which they voluntarily accepted.

But all that mattered now was being on the road, curiously watching how much everything had changed since our last trip from Delhi to Rajasthan about three years ago. Suddenly Conrad Zieme uttered some stressed sound, as he had realised that he had forgotten his jacket with passport, flight ticket and all money on a chair in the Kendra where he had put it when he disassembled his back pipe to get it packed!

We asked the driver to stop the car and discussed the situation. Chhattarpur was closed by traffic jam, turning the car therefore was near to impossible. So the driver offered to run back the 500 m, as he was familiar with the location, and Conrad accepted. All of us were quite nervously awaiting the driver’s return. Conrad did not seem too much affected, until the driver arrived and smilingly presented the jacket. All things were where Conrad had put them. He was incredibly relieved. We are sure this will not happen to him again. The ambiance in the car all of a sudden was light and relaxed, although it still was very foggy.

Najafgarh at the outskirts of Delhi in south western direction of the Indian capital Traffic jam ahead! Travellers use opportunity to sit more comfortable. Our other seats are taken by other travellers.

Moving from Delhi to Rajasthan occasionally is not only a movement in space, but also in time. We saw more and more people and fewer objects, and enjoyed scenes from on the roadside. There is something special about such scenes caught while moving. One is more open to what’s going on, the filters of perception are put aside, as many new impressions are storming the mind. We discovered so many interesting motifs, and the mounted camera got them all. Here we only can present a small selection. Going directly to the album by clicking on one photo, will offer a choice of 126 impressions. The video in the next article to come will provide the illusion to travel oneself.

Well frequented Haryana country road to Rewari, instruction plate flanked by an ox chariot Traditional transportation of construction material in rural areas

Getting out of car after hours of sitting "Inconvenient restaurant, as veg & non-veg dishes are prepared in same kitchen", our friends said.

When the sun had conquered the fog near Namaul, Haryana, we got hungry and looked for a restaurant. After some time we stopped at a nice-looking one, invitingly enough to get off the car and sit down at the table. But our friends told us that the restaurant was not convenient, as veg and non-veg food was prepared there. So we did not only have to look for a proper, but also a purely veg restaurant preparing fresh meals. Times had changed. Years before the majority of restaurants was preparing veg dishes only. There were plenty of small restaurants on the roadside, having a piece of land in the background where the vegetables and herbs for the dishes were growing.

After all of us had taken seat, the restaurant turned out inconvenient in terms of veg food. Further we were not sure about the destiny of these beautiful geese and another time left hugrily... Local bus and local good transportation

Here we enjoyed lunch. In spite of different outer appearance, this small restaurant was clean and offered veg food only. Dusk at the outskirts of semi-arid desert Thar

The second restaurant also had to be rejected because of having non-veg food on the menu. So we decided to concentrate on smaller restaurants with a more traditional look. Finally in the afternoon we reached the rural town of Singhana in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan where a small restaurant was offering veg dishes only. Dr. Batra insisted to invite us for lunch as we had invited everybody to come with us to Sri Dungargarh.

Rajasthani country road in the afternoon Women & children after collecting firewood

Way to nowhere Sun set at the outskirts of semi-arid desert Thar

We continued the trip and admired the landscape with plenty of khejri trees. Khejri trees also called musquite in english are sturdy trees, which manage to grow in the semi-arid desert Thar without needing too much water. They are ecologically “harvested” by the rural population, which explains their plundered look. But they do survive even the hottest summers without water. Their very strong roots are reaching deep into the earth sucking the moisture from it. This evening we got wonderful impressions of the outskirts of the semi-arid desert Thar before sunset.

We reached our destination at 20:30 and were happy to meet again with HereNow4U correspondent Shri Sushil Bafana who had organised our program in Sri Dungargarh.

We naturally went immediately for Guru Darshan of H.H. Acharya Mahapragya. H.H. welcomed us with this incomparable smile in his eyes spreading the joy of being alive in each and every cell of the body. We were so happy that we forgot to take any photo or video of this first encounter after quite some time. But time is one of the parameters, which are bereft of their importance being in H.H.’ presence.

Like very often after a spiritual high, the body signalled his needs. We realised that we were very hungry. Again, no convenient location for food had been found on the way. “It is no more far,“ our friends had tried to tease our growling stomachs.

Dinner in the tent of Terapanth community Terapanth community tent in Sri Dungargarh

So after Guru Darshan we were directed into the big tent where the Terapanth community gave a dinner reception. It was the eve of the most important day of Maryada Mahotsav, after which many participants would scatter to all directions. We met some old friends and then had some light dinner before sleeping.

Meeting personnally in Terapanth Office with the people of Terapanth Media Department. Navrtna Jain (r) was in regular contact with us. His name means "7 gems" Terapanthi volunteers & HereNow4U editor Carla-Karuna Jain (Geerdes)

After this, the team of Media Department Acharya Shri Mahapragya Pravas Vyavstha Samiti Sri Dungargarh welcomed us in their Internet office. Here we met personally Navrat Jain with whom we had corresponded. He conveyed Shri Tulsiram Choraria’s (media coordinator) greetings to us. After nice talks with them we went to bed.