End of Life Symposium in Las Vegas February 5-7,2023

 Day 1. February 5

It was still dark this morning when we were leaving home. The full moon smiled brightly from across the street above the neigbor’s home as I opened our garage to load the bags into the car. It was my lucky day to catch that glimpse in an otherwise cloudy sky. There was rain and significant fog in the predawn hours creating poor visibility as I was driving up the Tehachapi mountains. As we entered Tehachapi town the bakery had just opened its doors and we were their first customers. Picked a bagel and a few other goodies for the road before carrying on. 

There was a light drizzle and a moderate wind as we left Tehachapi. Daylight was slowly breaking in. A huge cloud cover hung over the east leaving a small gap between itself and the distant mountain tops allowing the crimson to set the sky ablaze in that portion. Further from that, the clouds picked a beautiful purple hue around the existing grey. As the light further increased it spilled gold over the blanket of fog that lay over the ground. Gradually the earth awoke pushing aside its nightly cover and revealing the face of the desert landscape, short shrubs highlighted periodically by handsome silhouettes of the Joshua trees. No matter how hard I try to recreate the scene with words I can’t come anywhere close to how enchanting everything was. I was behind the wheel and pressed for time to reach Vegas so couldn’t take pictures of everything I described so far. But then the sun made its grand entry and I could no longer contain myself. I abruptly stopped on the side of the freeway, turned my emergency lights on and watched the miracle unfold before my eyes.  A few pictures taken at that point were all I have to remind myself of this morning. 

Las Vegas no longer remains the glitzy attraction for me like it did once upon a time. Yet the drive through the desert has not lost its charm. Every small town on the way, every distant mountain and the changing colors of its stone brings back the excitement like a child at a fair. 

The last quarter of the 300 miles drive was spent listening in to my weekly satsang class, a discussion on qualities of a sthithapradnya. I mused with the thought that this was like getting vaccinated before the flu season. To add to the humor, the first thing after entering the city that caught the eye was a huge billboard that read “ Sin has consequences. Repent.” 😃

It’s quite ironic that in a city where people come to experience all sorts of wild enjoyments as well as instant weddings I am here to attend a conference on End of Life Care. It was intense and quite thought provoking on the first day. Two more days expected to be of the same gravity. Met some really extraordinary people devoted to taking care of fellow human beings when medical science has no cure to offer for their ailments. Once again I was reminded of how much there is to learn from people from all walks of life. In a bid to help others we end up growing. More about it some other day.

Later in the evening, a short ride in an interconnecting tram across couple of hotels and some walking inside these hotels helped take off the burden from the serious topics discussed earlier. Some buffets have reopened post pandemic. Indulged in one for old times sake. Probably the last time I will do this. I see myself growing out of this now. A simpler meal would probably be more to my liking.

Saree all day was an Ajrakh on modal silk.