We slept a little later than usual and looked around the town at a few cameras. While wandering round we saw Harsh with an Italian guy, Francesco, who was looking for a room. We told him that the guesthouse came highly recommended and told him it would be nice if he joined us after he's looked.
Matt and I sat and read for a while in the gardens next to the lake. We seem to have become more of a tourist attraction ourselves and more people than ever are asking for a photo with us, or even serrupticiously trying to snap us when they think we haven't noticed.
Francesco came to meet us and after a chat, we told told him that we had been meaning to visit the 'Spiritual University' as the Iranian/British woman had said that it was really interesting and we wanted to know more about the hoardes of European looking people wearing white roobes who were constantly circling the lake. We had assumed that it was some sort of expensive retreat where people go to find themselves for a small fortune and wanted to have a nosey.
The complex of buildings of the university were exceptionally grand, pretty and clean and they did tours so we got to have a look around and see the massive lecture hall. The main practice there was Raja Yoga Meditation and the whole thing was dedicated to promoting peace, with institutions world wide. It was funded by Unesco and all of the courses that they offered were free.
We decided to speak to someone to find out more about the courses. Since we're in India and India is all about spirituality, it felt like it might be a cool thing to do. Francesco had also applied for an ashram so he was quite interested too.
We were taken for a 'lesson' with Sister Gita. Her role was to make clear what it was all about but after umpteen back-to-back metaphors, it was starting to get a little repetetive. As she was explaining, she kept stopping to ask us for responses but in that really annoying way where she was forcing us to reply but there was only one answer and we had to get it right. When we didn't give the answer she wanted, she pushed forward with her point anyway. We started to get quite frustrated and the hour that she was talking was really dragging.
She offered us a cup of tea while we thought about whether it was for us. We quite fancied a cuppa so we let her take us to another part of the complex where there was a big canteen and loads of people in white. We had a cup of tea She introduced us to a lady who told us her story. She had tried various religions at different parts of her life and eventually found that this type of philosophy and way of teaching suited her best. She now volunteered full-time at the head office in London. She told us the process that she had undergone to get to this stage and kept saying that she had not 'surrendered' straight away but had slowly let go go other parts of her life until she felt she was ready to 'surrender' completely.
We were offered to be able to stay and watch in our native language but politely declined. Francesco was offered the chance to watch an Italian film and speak more to the Italian speaking teacher and, even though we were sure he'd said no, he seemed to go along with them anyway.
We told them we would be interested in learning more and agreed to go the following day for our 'lesson' because we wanted a smooth exit. However, the terminology and approach made Matt and myself rather uncomfortable so we sent Sister Gita a message after we had left to say that it wasn't for us. She was surprisingly fine about it. In many ways it would have been quite interesting and it had lots of good philosophies but we weren't entirely comfortable.
That night, we caught up with ND and Dalpat for our last night in Mount Abu and had a campfire amongst the rocks. Now, every form of transport in India is crowded - you very often see cars with 7 people squashed in the back or 3 lads and a goat on a pushbike or a couple with a baby and a toddler on a motorbike but somehow, me, Matt and a skinny kid crushed onto a scooter seemed the most comical of all. The scooter reached a top speed of a speedy sloth at most points and just felt embarrassing. Nevertheless, it was a pretty spot, the sky was really beautiful and it was one of the lad's birthdays so was a good chance to take some more pictures. It was a very nice way to spend a last evening with Dalpat and ND.
If anyone is interested in learning more about the work they do with educating tribal girls, visit their website
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