Saturday, January 20th, 2024
Felicity, Trinidad
Through the residential streets of Felicity, our padayatra—festival on foot—made its way to the delight of the people. For years this has been the method for delivering Krishna. When folks hear the sound of our kirtan, they pop their heads out the windows. And so do the children make their curious walk to the edge of their lawn or driveway as recipients of our music, our books, and very important, the small packaged halava prasadam sweets.
“Hindus and Muslims in Trinidad blend and co-exist fairly well,” expressed one devotee. “The Christians tend to be more fundamentalist.”
Our chanting padayatra ended at a Hindu temple after a three-kilometre procession. That went well, but for the exhaust coming out of the vehicle in front of us, though it supported the speakers for amplification. Now that the procession was over, the show was turned over to me.
“Okay, Keshava, play softly on that drum.” And as he did, I coached the room full of people with a simple sway of the body while singing the Maha Mantra. We kept to a slow momentum, then built up the tempo. The oneness of it all was just beautiful.
I was then asked to speak, and so I pulled out my poem “Ram”, read it, and explained all the wonderful traits of this magnificent and magnanimous avatar. (Next year I will return to Suriname for more of that Ram walk.)
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!
3 km
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