Editor Carla Geerdes
The next day we had planned to travel by train together with Swami Dharmananda to Jaipur. The organisers of 8th International Conference on Peace and Nonviolent Action (ICPNA) had asked the participants to arrive in Jaipur in the afternoon of 4th January already to use the opportunity to meet in the eve of the conference for a Welcome Dinner. Not without labelling the accommodation as “Ghandian style”, which revealed to be a clean room with attached bathroom and good mattress. Unlike the planning, our friend Swami Dharmananda did not come with us to the conference. A case of illness in the family made his presence in Delhi necessary. So we went without him, but in the company of two more conference participants from London, to from last year well-known Delhi Cantt. Railway Station.
F. l.: Ashok Gudka, Navrathan Jain, Carla Geerdes, Graham Peebles on the platform
Time spun away with pleasant talks, f. l.: Graham Peebles, Ashok Gudka, Navrathan Jain, Carla Geerdes
Cleaning of tracks?
The distance between Delhi and Jaipur are 274 km. The train was awaited to stop there at 09:38h for three minutes, but the taxi arrived at 08:00h already taking traffic jams into account. So we four, Ashok Gudka and Graham Peebles from London and both of us started. Not without asking ourselves what might happen this time. Navrathan again was instructed to accompany us and seemed a bit annoyed when we repeatedly asked him where the coach, in which we had reserved seats, would stop on the platform. He did not have the faintest idea what had happened to us here last year (12.02.2013 ►Delhi - Balotra). After all it was not here where the problem showed. Our new old friends, Ashok Gudka is a friend of us since quite some years, and with Graham Peebles we became fast good friends, had their seats in another coach, which did not seem to be a problem at first sight. In Gurgaon Prof. Viney Jain joined us, and the voyage was very entertaining. The already flowering canola plants building an ocean of yellow in their fields were very pleasant to look at after all that grey of Berlin winter.
In front of Anuvibha Bhawan
This very kind welcome made us feel good.
This was our accomodation.
At the arrival in Jaipur (after five hours, at 14:40h) unfortunately a bag got lost, where also important medication was stored. Grace to the very active support of our friends, the Bothra family, it very soon was possible to purchase again. Indeed arrival in Jaipur and check-in to accommodation in Anuvibha Bhawan was clouded by the loss of the bag, but apart from this there were no more problems. Except for one freshly painted door of a room staining white colour and heaps of rubble left after renovation in two rooms, the arrival in Jaipur was nothing that could not be put in order after short time. The door only had been painted on the floor side, and after the three days of conference it had dried. Fortunately the room was intended for renovation only after some time. The already restored rooms were cleansed and ready for move-in after three hours.
Sceptical look before departure
Better to hide one leg, after all.
Building opposite Anuvibha Bhawan mirroring Anuvibha Bhawan
Vis-à-vis...
Anuvibha Bhawan
...Anuvibha Bhawan looked this way.
Even food was available which made things much easier for our stomachs. Every room had a balcony which either was opposite to the mirroring façade of a multi-storey building or an activated street. The street view however was combined with the correspondent noise. Usually the balconies were the starting points for the local pigeons and other birds which accepted our admiration for their flight manoeuvers. Our admiration was not of longevity, as our eyes shut very fast. When it was dark and dinner not any longer far, we woke up from the sounds we were not accustomed to.
In one building of Anuvibha Bhawan right from the main entrance some stairs lead to a big assembly hall. According to the kind of event it can be provided with chairs or carpet like big blankets when the audience is meant to sit on the floor. This mainly is the case with religious gatherings. During the conference all plenary sessions were here and in the open space at the back all meals were presented on a very invitingly looking buffet. On this eve of the conference all participants were asked to gather and register there. So everyone was familiar with the location and knew where to go the next morning. While Dr. S.L. Gandhi welcomed all participants and expressed his happiness that so many people (70) from three continents had accepted his invitation outside the hall the dinner buffet was nearly completed.
So the opportunity to get to know each other and to exchange views was combined with a nice welcome dinner. It was the 8th “Peace Conference” already and many for many, we included, the first conference of this kind. Therefore the talks approached very soon the question what can be expected from a conference like that. Nobody was able to give a direct answer in the light of a subject having lost nothing of its being up-to-date since the beginning of time. Nonetheless we did not get to bed too late, as it was rather fresh outside. During the day temperatures reached 20°C, but at nightfall they sank down to 8°C very fast.
