LESSON #1 WHERE TIME SEEMS TO STAND STILL

WHERE TIME SEEMS TO STAND STILL

I am sure this happened to you too….

…when you catch a glimpse that time stands still. I was on the train from Calcutta to Jamalpur, Bihar en-route to the ashrams of the Bihar School of Yoga when I experienced this beautiful ethereal moment. The train slowed down and eventually made an unscheduled stop somewhere near Bhagalpur.

I looked out of the not to clear windows of the 2nd AC compartment. The field seemed to roll on to eternity….and I espied a snake. A snake of women (and a few men) carrying bales on their heads trudging along silently. The snake made its way to the stationary train. And one of the women broke away from the group and looked back….the solitary reaper. Maybe she too was seeing what I was…..time standing still...

It seemed like generations of women (and men) had trudged this silent path.  As I pulled out my i-phone to take this picture, this juxtaposition of modernity against this timeless background struck a chord. I have no claims to being a skilled photographer, but this picture, taken through a tinted and scratched tempered glass window, brought a rare focus….highlighting a contrast that has stayed with me days after this incident.

We get away from the mundane to allow us the opportunity to look at ourselves from a different lens. That’s what the journey to the remote locations of the Bihar School of Yoga have been for me. So, another insightful lesson learnt on the way there…..yup, the journey is the destination.


(LESSON #1: VISIT TO THE BIHAR SCHOOLD OF YOGA, MARCH 2017)
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