TRAVELS w/P: Tales of Adventure Here & There

Saturday oct 23- sarnath. Emotional sums it up best. Some 75 school children in tidy uniforms and bare feet. Sitting under the shade of a banyan tree on a plastic tarp. Many visibly happy, others with a sadness so deeply embedded in their eyes it leaves one breathless. One little boy had a stump arm, a hand growing awkwardly, twisted, ill-formed.Two wee girls at front sat knee to knee, one holding the other in a frightened sisterly fashion. Traditional song and dance, introductions with dr jain serving as interpreter. Our turn to reciprocate we led the group in rowsing renditions of "head and shoulders..." And "I'm a little teacup..." Tears were impossible to fend off when the youngsters sang, in hindu with snippets of english and a definite indian rhythmn "we shall overcome." Phew. Afterwards, we wandered through a nearby village. Happened upon a potter who gladly demonstrated his skills. Further on I was invited into a gated garden to join a jubliant group of women celebrating a pending birth. They tugged at my pants, wanting me to sit and join them in a ceremonial paimting of feet. Had to sadly decline and return to my colleagues. Further along still, a 2nd Tibetan temple. Ostentatious in the extreme. Funded by western faithful.lunch back at lodgings, an afternoon to do as we wish. I'm sitting now in the courtyard of the modest Tibetan temple after having had the pleasure of watching ritual chanting. The bugs are getting hungry tho. Time to make my way back. Something special is planned for tonite. I suspect it may have something to do with the full moon. Sarnath, a place of teaching and learning. Yes, that it is indeed.