WALKING, DRIVING, AND SHOWING

Wednesday, December 24th, 2025

Ottawa, Ontario

It has been a common practice for me to begin a lengthy automobile journey without a vehicle. I’ll tell my principal driver, “While everyone is getting packed and ready, I’ll start walking. Just pick me up.” So that’s what a group of us, eleven in number, proceeded to accept. I started walking at 5:15 AM, when I met Wayne, our neighbour, who walks with his assistant dog and his walker device. “Do you celebrate Christmas?” he asked, this being the approaching of Christmas eve.

“We admire the work of Jesus. He is a cool guy. We celebrate something called Gita Jayanti this month and, we are on our way to the capital city, Ottawa, to perform a play. I’m just getting a head start putting in some steps, after which our drama troupe will pick me up.”

We parted our ways. Wayne, being a fantastic artist, I believe, could appreciate our theatrical expressions for the holiday. My route was the Rosedale Valley Road, an actual ravine with a road and trail running through it. I was picked up, and our journey began, one lasting five hours with a breakfast stopover in Gananoque.

The venue for the Gita drama was the Sandy Hill Recreation Centre, a perfect venue for our community. A kirtan kicked off the show we promoted as “Krishna Fest,” followed by the drama and ending with a chant session for all. The djembe and Bengali drums made for a jolly and inclusive celebration. In honour of the occasion of the anniversary of the Gita’s spoken word, many people came forward to sponsor the great book. I’m grateful to the leadership of this community for organizing a great show and feast.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

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