Holla from Allahabad!
February 17th, 2009 Posted in UncategorizedAmerican family with us at Sangam
Temple George Harrison built at Sangam
On Saturday we had another medical camp just outside the hospital. We didn’t know how many people to expect but it ended up being very busy and people showed up with a variety of concerns and symptoms. After a long week, we were ready to take a trip to a new city for the weekend.
We arrived in Allahabad on Saturday night. The bus ride took 5 hours. We’ll spare you the gory details but picture a rickety, dirty old school bus completely packed with people driving on bumpy dirt roads. It was an experience, to say the least! But we arrived in Allahabad safe and sound and ready for our weekend getaway.
An American family (through a connection with Dr. Sujith) met us at the bus station. They took us back to an apartment, which is the home of a missionary couple from Northern Ireland that knows Dr. Sujith. The couple was in Delhi that night, so we had the place to ourselves! We ordered Domino’s pizza, took hot showers and used the high speed wireless internet… it was awesome!
On Sunday, we met up with the American family from North Carolina again. They cooked us omelets and made us coffee (our first coffee since arriving in India). That day, they took us, along with two of their children, to the Sangam, which is a very holy place for Hindus in India. It is the meeting of three rivers: The Ganges, The Yamuna and a mythical underground river. It is this site that a drop of nectar reportedly fell from a goblet that Hindu Gods and demons were fighting over. Several drops were spilt, but the largest of them landed in Allahabad, making this a very spiritually significant place. People often make pilgrimages here to dip themselves in the water (including Madonna).
The Sangam is also the site of a huge festival that takes place every 12 years. This is actually the largest gathering of humanity anywhere on earth and is visible from space! The next festival will take place in 2013.
On Sunday, we also visited the home (now museum) of the Nehru family, India’s first prime minister. Gandhi also spent considerable time here and much of the museum is related to him as well. The home was beautiful and surrounded by lots of gardens and parks. Sunday night we curled up with our remaining Domino’s pizza and watched a Bollywood movie called “Om Shanthi Om”. What a day!
On Monday morning, we greeted the missionary couple as they arrived home. They had also brought with them an optician from the UK, Susie. The day was great – they took us shopping in the city. We played games, watched movies and they made a great dinner. We had a really nice, relaxing time and we’ve actually decided to meet up again in Delhi for our last couple of days.
Today, we’re back in Fatehpur and about to head into the OR… Only 5 more days in Fatehpur after today and then on to Delhi and Agra to see the Taj Mahal!
~Namaste
You must be logged in to post a comment.