A Stretch of Goddess

The notion that a river can be a Goddess intrigued me even before my, and my son’s,  trip to the Kumbh Mela in February 2013 . Water has long been considered to be a medium of spirituality and its presence, often as a purifying agent, plays vital roles in many...
A Strange Story of Banana Trees

A Strange Story of Banana Trees

Well the festival has been and gone and I am now at Varanasi at the Yogi Lodge listening to John Mclaughlin over the speakers in the empty restaurant area. The owner is  called Ahmed with a love of western music and regularly Pink Floyd, Doors and other esoteric ( I...

I Felt Like Bowser

Can a brain be totally destroyed and completely frazzled? Can a personality be entirely lost or distorted? Can a reality be altered, a way of looking at the world developed from childhood be undone and a substitute landscape be programmed in which is entirely alien...

One in 30 Million

Here it is, the photograph I almost forgot. To be part of the largest gathering of people EVER in the history of Earth is kind of cool. It was estimated that 30 million people came to Sangam on Mauni Amawasya Snag on 10th February 2013 for a dip. Some great people...

Christian Cemetery in New Delhi revisited

In an earlier post I showed some images from the Indian Christian Cemetery at Nehru Bazar, Pahar Ganj, new Delhi. These earlier images were taken on our arrival in India. After our experiences at the Mela it may be interesting to show images from the same cemetery on...

A Sadhu’s Lament

I am a naked sadhu — a holy man. I live in a cave — away from civilization. I cannot reach out and touch the rest of the world — its people, pleasures and pain. In fact, I do not want to. I have voluntarily exiled myself. I have ash smeared all over my unclothed body....