just to eat is a gift....

In March when my husband and I were in India. One evening we went to have dinner at a new place on the cliffs in Varkala. It is called "Krishnathuram" and it is a brand new resort with a beautiful look and feel to it. We sat in the low lounge chairs spread out across the grassy lawn with the little low tables all set up for dining with the flickering candle light and the Arabian Sea crashing against the rocks just a few steps from where we were sitting. The sun was slowing disappearing beyond the horizon and we both thought we might just be in heaven....

The manager of the restaurant came over to us after we had ordered our food and we all engaged in some small talk. He then began to tell us little things about India...the people of India to be specific. He told us about how the families believe so strongly in Astrology and that they base most all their decisions upon what an Astrologist tells them when he gives them a reading. He talked about his marriage and his young son and he talked about the old people in India. He told us that when a man or woman becomes very old in India and the families are poor, most always the older man or woman in the family will leave and go off to die...they will leave the family and go live off the land until they eventually die. He said that is why he always gives food to the old in the streets. He told us that they don't care about money, money comes and goes, they want food more than money.

My husband and I just looked at each other and my ears filled with tears. There were so many old people in the streets...we would give them coins and tell them Namaste with our hands in Prayer. But after he told us that story I started to see the old people in a new light. I imagined my Mother there, sitting in the street with shredded clothing on and her hands cupped outward, looking into the eyes of the people passing by and just wanting something to eat.

I don't think many people who visit India know this story..of the old people. They just consider them to be just another beggar with their hands out...but that's not it.

From that day onward, my husband and I always made sure we took crackers and fruit out with us each day and we fed the old people we passed by. We no longer gave money and I did notice a difference in the way they would accept the gift of food/versus money! They would touch the food to their forehead in a gesture of Thanks and smile at us. Those wise old people eyes, who have seen so much and are so much wiser than we could ever know....

Just when you think you are in heaven....and life just couldn't get any better...you see the other side and it changes you forever. Just to eat is a gift.

OM Shanti