December 15, 2018
April 2016:
In a previous post, I shared the psychic message I received from a female Baba Ji over 100 years old (‘Red Mama’): “Right now, you are not chasing after girls. Be more focused on myself. Use this time to do some good karma acts.” (Check out the previous post for the full story.)
The next morning, I was off for some good karma. I bought 20 pairs of slippers and bags full of chocolates. Adit Baba, Mahese, and I hopped on motorbikes and off-roaded for an hour until we were deeper in the flatlands, where highly impoverished villages are located. Many of the homes are built using only sticks and mud (i.e., not even stone)!
The impoverished village we off-roaded to on our motorbikes to do our good karma acts.
A home in the village only made of sticks, hay, and mud. Yes… that area on the right is the family’s garden 🙁
We told a man in the village to gather all the children at the small temple for some surprises. While waiting for the kids, Adit Baba was going to use some of the rupees in his pocket to buy a few bananas to eat. Instead, he ended up using all of his 700 rupees ($10) to buy a bag full of bananas for the kids. He wanted to make his own contribution to this act of good karma. He didn’t get a single banana for himself… what a selfless man!
A few minutes later, over 30 kids showed up at the temple! We happily distributed all the chocolates and bananas to the children.
Adit Baba distributing fruit and chocolates to the village children.
Then, Adit Baba decided to send off all of the boys, and we presented the new slippers to the girls. For the few girls who did not receive slippers, Mahese gave them 50 rupees from his own pocket 🙂
These girls met us wearing nothing on their feet. Now, they’re leaving wearing their new slippers. Don’t mind their “village smiles.”
These siblings arrived late to the party. We gifted them the last 2 pairs of slippers we had!
Interestingly, these jungle kids never smiled once! Many of them were scared and baffled by the situation… “What is this strange white skin-colored creature doing in this village?” However, once the children ran off, I spotted them peaking and giggling from behind their houses.
Before heading home, we stopped by another jungle village, where I went off on a short stroll to see the beauties of this quaint, little village.
Tootling about in a remote village, enjoying the blue colored homes.
At first glance, the children were so frightened by me that they ran into their homes for safety, started to cry, and wouldn’t accept my offering of chocolates! I was the first foreigner these kids have ever seen. It was fascinating that I was the first ‘gora’ (foreigner) even some of the elders of the village have come across!
Frightened by the white man in their midst, the children retreat to the safety of their homes! Am I really that scary?!
Word soon got out that there was a ‘gora’ in the village, and teenagers on motorbikes began to arrive. In short time, I had a posse of village children following close behind me.
The posse of village kids who followed my every move. I couldn’t escape, even if I tried. #paprazzi
There was a small, clear stream of water running through the village, which I was tempted to wash my face, arms, and feet in, as it was an uber hot day under the sun! I took off my shoes and shirt and began to rinse myself in the stream with a crowd of village children staring me down.
Eventually, the only semi-English-speaking boy exclaimed “No one washes in this water! This water is dirty!”… Of course, I was washing myself with a stream of water flowing with cow poop. The boy then proceeded to help me freshen up under the village water pump.
We then headed back to Omkareshwar on our motorbikes as the sun set that evening. What a successful day of karma <3
The following day, I was scheduled to take the train to Mathura to celebrate Holi festival (festival of colors). As a departing gift, I drew and then laminated the following drawings for my 2 new baba friends!
My personification of Adit Baba. A powerful man at core, Adit Baba is always giving his heart, connecting with spirit, and looking out for those in need.
This drawing portrays some of the lessons I learned from living among the Baba Ji’s. Particularly, don’t bother paying attention to the time… you’re always in the right place at the right time.
This ends the series of posts (9 posts!) to catch you up on my adventures through India in 2016 😀
Get ready for the next series of posts about venturing across Asia in search for heart-opening and sun-stroking experiences.
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