18 April 2008

wheels no longer turning...

another automatic response from ankurbhai's electronic secretariat:

ankurbhai is currently in the office and away from his email.

he and tomasji have just ended their cycle yatra in the town of
navsari. we stopped to take a side trip in automobile to see dandi
(where i walked a couple of years) ago and go in automobile to the
dang forest to check on a school for blind children up in there.

when i conceived of this journey last october, it was limitless. when
i got to india and talked to nirali about it, it would last two or
three months. eventually i realized it should take me to vasant and
karuna futanes' farm in maharastra, and when i heard about the
zero-waste meeting in nasik on april 21st, it seemed natural to end it
there.

continuing this trend and flow, we shifted the destination to umargaon
(baskar save's farm, the fukuoaka of gujarat, so they say) to avoid
unnecessary hurrying and mountain crossing.

in the same spirit, when we realized we had 1.5 days and 130 km to go
from navsari to umargaon, i was persuaded to back away from the
challenge and chill out. so we did. and celebrated with french fries
(indian style, as is everything else in india) and mangos.

lots of beautiful mangos. lots. mango season is finally upon us.

tomorrow we'll take the morning train to see baskar save and the day
after a night bus to nasik for the next segment of the infinite
intersection. india is as indian as ever.

we cycled over 500 km in 13 days, with 4 rest days. rested with 13
families, ashrams, farms, and institutes. all different. a run down to
come. so much reflection. i intentially have kept very little record
beyond the addresses and phone numbers, so instead of abandoning my
contacts and writing a book as i did last time, this time i will
endeavor to stay in touch with the families. and not spend more time
writing books.

so it is. one hearty and encompassing love to all being, including you.

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