Dec 2 : Seva and Radio Interview

On Dec 2, Guruji left for a day to Tawang, called the switzerland of india because of its beautiful landscape, its still rivers, its snow, its pine trees and lofty monasteries. There were entertaining moments when he was leaving and certain members of his entourage without seats wanted to travel with him and were trying to exchange with others who were. I had a wonderful chance to meet with some teachers and organizers who have with Art of Living for a long long time. One lady, Shashi ji, who is a pillar of art of living since 1985, used to organize apex courses for Guruji way back in '87. The power of the lady was phenomenal and her conversations with Guruji are almost like two close friends talking to each other. At one point, she ws telling Guruji "Aaaj aap pareshaan lag rahe ho. Jo bhi problem hai mujhko de do." :) (You seem tired today. Give me all your problems). And there were other teachers who have been working wonderfully for so long in the North East.

My afternoon seva was to take our guests from Canada on a tour and on shopping. There were 4 ladies from Canada, who belong to the indienous community there, and who mentioned how with conversion the entire local culture is being wiped out with escalating stress and problems in the society. Hitu, their Indo-Mauritian teacher did the translation between french and english for our sake. We went and saw the local museum which highlighted the dressing, weapons, early statues and paintings of the 26 major tribes who inhabit Arunachal even today. There is a huge diversity in the people here, from the monk-like Monpas of Tawang (in Eastern Arunachal), who build monasteries, work businesses and are more docile, to the hunter Wanchos of Tirap district, in western arunachal, who depend p

rimarily on hunting and have elaborate war helmets adorned with boar tusks and bear hide. We also saw the main Gompa, the Buddhist temple, of Itanagar, which was filled with paintings of all the Bodhis and the Yakshas. The temple was very serene.

After the touring, we went shopping for local handicrafts. We found a small Apatani shop and the ladies spent close to 2 hours shopping for all manners of local skirts, shawls and trinkets. We had lunch at E&K's, the Cafe Coffee Day of Itanagar, and we parted in the evening at their guest house.

On returning i was given the very pleasant job of escorting Vikram Bhaiya to the local FM station for a radio inerview, and i was off to the ashram to pick him up. Vikram bhaiya was to be interviewed in the most popular radio show here between 9 pm and 11 pm, and we arrived to a warm welcome at the radio station. After the initial pleasantries with the owner of the channel, bhaiya was headed to the interview, at which point RJ Samir asked me if i would also come along. Man, it was quite a thrill to be sitting inside a live studio with the big radio mikes. Although it was to be Vikram Bhaiya's interview, but the RJ introduced me as a 'youth specialist' f the Art of Living and asked me several questions on youth. This was totally a blast! Vikram Bhaiya is so perfect at everything he does, and it was a teat to watch his smooooth answers to all the questions that were posed.

After the show, i went with him to the ashram and we had a fun conversation on topics ranging from radio shows to macs. Was an unforgettable day.