GETTING TO SARANAGATI
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026
Venables Valley, BC
We’re now clearly in the mountains. In those wee hours in the morning, I was sitting in the front seat of the silver bus (the other is white) and I was conversing with first, Krishna Priya, the bus driver, and for the second shift, Madhava. The white bus is behind us and we are both plying along in the beginning through the Rockies, the Columbia Mountains and then to the Interior Plateau where the dry hills roll and there is a presence of canyons and the mighty Thompson River flows. By the time we reached Ashcroft we saw the damage of fires from two summers ago; large, black - what looks like incense sticks - verticle to the ground. And currently new wild fires have sprung up just west of us at Boston Bar, Lytton and other communities where people are evacuating their homes. Smokey the Bear’s not happy.
It doesn’t sound too pretty. When we reached our dear Saranagati Village and a warm greeting committee by the school and ripe apricots tree, we felt at home, despite the smoke in the sky. We are humbled.
I settled in at the home of Mahidhar and Nandini, my usual hosts in the valley. A call came in — a reminder of our zoom call with South Africa and Europe. Finally I caught some rest. The journey on the bus did not rock me to sleep last night nor the sound of the engine’s hum.
The youth bus tour engaged in country style sports. I watched. It was fun. And after a bite of those fresh, off-the-branch apricots, I made my way to Kar’s house where the youth converged to hear of the pastimes of Yamuna, the singer, the saint. This was her former home.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU
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