How can it be that one had not a minute to spare, was always busy with something or the other, got barely any time to rest, and then at the end of two months, have the feeling that one has not done anything! But that is precisely the feeling I have about this last trip to India. The details...
It began with a flourish, first with a seminar at Teenmurti House, Delhi, followed by a great field trip cum symposium with a group of researchers led by Uelo Valk from Tartu. I got to Guwahati by mid Feb, well in time to prepare for the next MB Award meeting due on March 2. Things were working according to plan, and I had even managed to get a few things regarding Baba's forthcoming centenary celebrations in 2015 started. Of course Thomas had also arrived, and since I had no time to show him around myself, he had to go to Shillong and Cherra by himself. But then, on the morning of the Award Meeting, Ma was taken ill, and that started a whole sequence of events (and trips) which ended only when we left Guwahati in April to catch the plane back to Germany. Just to give you and idea, we went to Jorhat and Majuli, then to Delhi, next to Bangalore, then on to Margherita and beyond, and then finally again to Delhi, all within five weeks or so.
Not everything that happened was a drag: first the meeting went off very well, and we also managed to get the homepage for the Trust started in time for it. Although Ma's heart condition caused us a lot of worry, we were happy that we were there to take care of her, and that a thorough review of her condition could be done and that she is at least under more stricter medical supervision now. Amlan's new flat looks good and I was happy to be of some help to him in setting it up -- even the way-laid furniture from Delhi arrived on the day before we left. And finally the trip to Margherita -- to introduce Stephan to my Tangsa world, and also to be present at the release of the second edition of Suren Barua's book -- that trip was the final icing on the cake... Although we had to pack in a lot into the three days we had there, the peace of Papu's home in Digboi did our tired souls a lot of good, and the warmth and affection with which Stephan was received by my Tangsa friends was really gratifying. What had I done to deserve so much love... I asked myself. And as if that was not enough, at the Book-release meeting, it was just wonderful to see how happy the old man was to hold the new edition in his hand and how he told everyone that now he had five daughters! Really what had I done to deserve so much love... Did I say I had nothing to show...well...maybe that was not quite right...
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