The day started early today. Woke up at 3:15 am to be at LAX. Parked the car and took the shuttle to the terminal. The Air Canada staff at the gates seemed perpetually under stress trying to do their best under the circumstances of overbooked flights. After a few anxiety filled hours whether we could get assigned seats we made it into the air craft. My usual preference for an aisle seat was today denied and it was actually a blessing. The views of the city of Los Angeles sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the snow covered San Bernardino mountains were a thing of beauty to behold. Samudra vasane Devi, Parvatastana mandale……a live glimpse of this befitting description of Mother Earth through that tiny window was a gift of the day for me.
The long 6 hours flight gave me relaxed time to catch up with reading. Recently started reading Karma Yoga Shastra( also known as Gita Rahasya), a commentary on the Bhagwad Gita by one of India’s foremost freedom fighters Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. I am only a few chapters into this book so far yet it is enough to make me realize the brilliance of Tilak. The depth and clarity of his thinking and the strength of his convictions are unmistakable and extraordinary. Not only was he well versed in all the ancient Hindu scriptures but he was well read in modern and ancient western philosophy. The colossal task of comparing these differing schools of thought in the context of the message contained in the Gita, and giving educated and sound reasoning of why one school is broader in its perspective than others is in itself remarkable. Furthermore, to realize that he did this while he was imprisoned in Mandalay by the British and had no resources at hand for reference adds to the astonishment of any reader. What a way to spend time in prison !! I regret it took me this long to dive into this treasure that has the power to clarify one’s own thinking about basic living principles. I will acknowledge however that it is not at all a fast read. It takes me time to read each line, many of them several times, to understand the message he is conveying. But the message is crisp. Never ambivalent.
In between the reading as I glanced out of the window the scene kept changing from light spread of clouds to thick cloud covers, to no clouds at all revealing the farmlands across the heartland of the USA. Once the descent began into the Montreal area, getting below the thick clouds revealed a city carpeted by snow. The waters of the St Lawrence river glistened in the evening sun. There were floating chunks of ice seen on the shimmering waters. Downtown buildings stood like a solemn cluster in the distance. Despite the snow everywhere from recent days today was a clear sunny day. Chill but clear. Having cleared immigration formalities got an Uber ride to our hotel. Once checked in decided to stay in. The Wolfgang Puck pizzas I had picked up at LAX came in handy for our lunch during the flight as well as dinner in our hotel room. The rather generous sized room with a mini kitchen, small dining table and study desk is going to be a pleasant home for the next 3 days. Tomorrow begins our exploration of this part of the globe.
My favorite Ajrakh on Vidarbha karvati tussar by my dear friend Irfan Khatri was the saree for the day.
Comments
Post a Comment