My Last Days in India

The foothills of the Himalaya Mountains near the Ganga River.

Saket, Megha, Anila and Ashok Ahuja 

At the Ganga River

My last days in India were packed with activity. It helped keep my mind off the fact that I was sad to be leaving. I was supposed to have been in India until Oct 16th, but I changed my flight after a rocky, solitary month in India. Once I moved in August to a different place, my experience was much better. But, alas, the change was made and I head to Ethiopia for a month.

The Ganga River 

Saket, Megha and I

I visited the Ganga River with the Ahuja family. The Ganga River, although polluted, is a blessed river. No person has ever gotten sick from drinking or bathing in its waters. It is situated in the very beautiful foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. After a great, last weekend with my new family, I headed back to Delhi via train for my flight to Ethiopia.

The beautiful Singh Temple in Delhi, India 

Reading of the Sacred Book in the Temple. 

EVERYONE had to wear a hair covering...not just me!!!

Since I had over 12 hours in Delhi, I arranged a small tour of Delhi. I saw Old Delhi, New Delhi, and the government offices. The day after I left, those very government offices were bombed by terrorists! I toured a Singh Temple and had an amazing lunch experience! This Singh Temple feeds 1,000s of people every day in a very unique way. About 1,000 people are feed at once in about 30 minutes, then another 1,000, etc. They open the doors and we all filter into the large hall, sitting back to back in long rows. Young volunteers move up and down the rows VERY quickly handing us a tray and silverware. Then the food (Curry, rice and chapatti) come in huge buckets and it is QUICKLY slopped onto your plate as they hurry down the row. You have about 20 minutes to eat before the next set of 1,000 people comes to replace you! I have never seen such efficiency. This is done all day everyday at no cost to the people. It is totally funded by donations.

These are the huge pots the food for 10,000 people is cooked in! 

1,000 people sit in rows, back to back, waiting for their food. 

We have been served rice and curry, but we wait until everyone has food before we eat.

After touring the temple, they put a small ball of sweet mush in my hand. I had an opportunity to buy more, so I paid a small amount of money for a bowl of sweet mush, and then I took it over to another place that takes 10% of my mush to give to the poor. Singh's believe in giving 10% of everything they have to the poor. It was a very wonderful experience.

The Old Entrance Gate to Delhi

As usual, I made life-time friends in Dehradun, India. The Rotary Club was active and doing wonderful projects. I volunteered at Karuna Vihar School for handicapped kids, and a very small poor country school. I also learned yoga, meditation, and got in touch with my spiritual side again. India was everything I knew it would be and more....Thank you to all my new friends and family. I hope to return soon. I love you all so much.