Thursday, January 18th, 2024
Nickerie, Suriname
Any marathoner of the road will know, “Get out there early while you’re king of the road!” My first few steps of the day began at 4:10 a.m. The sky was clear. The dippers were out. There wasn’t a vehicle to be seen, heard or smelled. It was just me and Paramatma, God-in-the-heart. And, oh yes, sounds of frogs, a screechy bird from the tree, a dog barking in the distance—that’s about it—until the roosters started up and men on scooters raced by.
It is the rainy season, and Rama Lila, Adi Purush and I felt, and heard, that gush of water come down. After a while, the sun poked around from behind clouds. A heckling bird now makes a presence and so do a flock of parrots. Rice paddy fields, former converted sugarcane fields, are quite far in all directions. In fact, we pass by many rice harvest factories. Fruit and veggies are in season, like most of the year, and according to Rama Lila, very few pesticides are used.
Life is simple here. Most people’s needs are met. They are into family. And once more, as Rama Lila says, rum and liquor are more in abundance than should be for both men and women.
One passenger-bus driver stopped out of curiosity. As a Hindu, it seems he wasn’t so informed of India’s Ram Temple being inaugurated. Another fellow, a gas station owner, was well aware of the event. He expressed, in English (although Dutch and Hindi are known by many) that hundreds of fire yajnas (ceremonies) will be featured on the twenty-second, in which case he will catch it on TV the day before, due to time zone change. Ram’s name is getting out there, either by our walking groups informing others, or people are just in the know.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!
22 km
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