ANNIE BESANT'S BIRTHDAY COMMEMORATION
Adyar, Sunday, 6 October 2013
Wi-Fi was installed in the office, this week, so the Internet
connection there now is speedy and without further problems. Wi-Fi might also
still be possible for LBC. There seems to develop a consensus that for the
visiting delegates and student-colleagues at TS headquarters a minimum of
acceptable working conditions has to be put in place without touching at the
beauty of the compound’s natural environment.
This morning no beach walks, because we were too tired
after some minor digestive difficulties during the night. We should go to sleep
at nine instead of half past ten.
The newly arrived guest was even half an hour later at
breakfast, while our neighbor had left for an early Sunday morning beach running
with the school. They both looked fine, when they showed up later.
For the rest of the day we worked quietly on the
Internet and did some e-mail correspondence. The presentation of coming
Wednesday evening at Adyar Lodge was updated. One hour was left for study,
while two hours were spent on siesta, after lunch.
Tonight we went from 5 till 8.30 to the Ramayana
presentation. We had a late dinner in the room and shall try to go to bed as
early as possible, because tomorrow at 8 o’clock we shall receive from the
Housekeeping Department the keys of the house, where we shall be moving to
shortly.
One day we missed the evening study group, this week.
Instead of study, we had tea and philosophical exchanges of views with our
neighbor. He had been to the Immigration Service for his visa extension and
appeared to have come there one month too early. Some four documents still
needed to be produced for his visa extension. While he was waiting, another
person in the queue told him, that his case the whole file had been lost and that
he had start from the beginning.
The mosquito problem of the neighbor appeared to be
caused by a loose screen on one of the highest openings in the back of the
room. The screen is hanging loose at only one corner and the mosquito's have
free entry. Two days later, we put a chair on a table and fixed ourselves the
mosquito screen in place with a pin before the opening in the outside wall near
the ceiling at the back of the room instead of waiting for the maintenance to
come and do the job.
First of October was the Annie Besant Birthday
Commemoration Day, which gave rise to an event organized in the Great Hall at
Head Quarters Building, from 8.30 till about 10 am. There were three speakers
under the direction of the President and with the Secretary as ceremonial master.
At the end, flowers were laid before a portrait of Annie Besant, which had been
positioned in front of the statue of the founders HPB an HSO. Altogether it was
a respectful happening with attendance of about 50 people. There was a
university professor, who was well prepared in her eloquent speech. Of the
other speeches one was by the new head of one of the departments, who is a soft
and well spoke gentleman and the other by the daughter of another head of department.
In the evening we went every other day with a group to
a Valmikir Ramayana declamation or presentation by a very good lecturer in the
Egmore Theatre at one of the museums here in town. The name of the poet
Valmikir actually means ant- or termite hill. In Tamil Nadu it is a habit, that
during about a week or a ten day period round the new moon after the autumn
equinox, which is in the present month of the local lunar calendar, the
Ramayana is read by people sitting together in a group. Friday there is a
holiday in this context, which is called Malaya Amavasi (Great New Moon).
Late one evening we had tea with the neighbor, who had
digestive problems and also needed to use our laptop for his e-mail
correspondence. At ten o’clock we called it the day.
Wednesday there was Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and thus
another holiday with time to set things right.
Later that day, we sat at the small table and chair on
the terrace at the back of the room. We said hello to two colleagues, who were
walking by on their way to the administration building, where also our neighbor
had gone that day, to arrange for the necessary documents asked for by the
Immigration Service. Internet connection is good outside the room and our
e-mail correspondence and our flight booking for next year could be taken care
of without any problems.
There were messages from different sections about
their programs and about possibility that one might come to Adyar to attend the
School of the Wisdom in January 2014.
Our colleague and predecessor at the work place has
come at the end of the week to initiate us in the secrets of his profession. He
is still in function till the 19th of the month, which gives us just two weeks
to get familiar with the system.
The software used in the office has been put on our laptop
in a tutorial version and the last few days we had already the opportunity
start to accustom ourselves a little bit to the presentations on screen.
After the evening outings to the Egmore Theatre of the
museum near the Harrows Road, where the story of the Valmikir Ramayana continues
to be presented by Sri M. (Mumtaz Ali) of the Satsang Foundation from 6 till 8 pm
we had a late dinners from carriers placed by the cook in our room. Sri M.
seems to know a lot about the TS and to have done research into the origin of
the Secret Doctrine and the Book of Kyo-Te where the Stanzas of Dzyan and the
commentaries are derived from by HPB. He is said to conclude, that these books
are of older origin than the Vedas.
Thursday, the day started with a beach walk, on the
way back of which we encountered a gunman with a rifle, who was walking behind
a citizen, obviously as body guard. During lunch we were told, that the man is
a High Court Judge and that this gunman has been walking with him since three
days.
This week, it was often raining in the afternoon and
before going to the Telephone Company to buy the Wi-Fi for the office, we had
to wait a while. After about half an hour we went on the back of the motor
bicycle of our colleague through a beautiful green and wet town, where we had
to avoid the many puddles of muddy water in the roads.
Friday there was again a holiday with lots of time to
rest and catch up with all the e-mail correspondence. Our neighbor was still
busy with the visa authorities at Indian Immigration, where he had to produce all
kind of forms.
There was room cleaning with new bed sheets in the
afternoon.
We could make the necessary payments on PC-Banking of
the bank at home.
When walking to the Administration Building, we met the
new manager of Leadbeater’s Chambers, who was helping a new guest to carry her
bag to LBC and who replied to our question, that she would not come to the
theatre that night.
When we returned from the shore on Saturday morning,
we saw that the gunman was again walking behind the judge to the beach. There
was a small crowd of about a dozen non-regular walkers tailing the escort to
the sea.
We bought oranges one afternoon at the fruit stall
outside the Green Gate. The shopkeeper had chosen four of the best oranges for
us. We had gone out through the Front Gate to recharge the cellphone, to drink
some watermelon juice and to buy bed sheets and pillowcases.
The weather was marvelous after all the rain, which
had fallen the last two weeks. While walking, we slow down our pace to be able
to better look around in the coconut plantation, where there are cows grazing.
We sit down under the Ban Yan Tree, where we can see young squirrels eating
something from under the leaves, while they are hanging upside down and going
from one little branch or even twig to the other. The new head of the Garden
Department is doing a splendid job and the looks of the site are becoming much
better. One can see and appreciate, that someone is really caring and taking
things in hand in a professional way.
Latest news is that all foreigners lodging at the TS
have to be registered on line in the database of the Indian immigration
service.
Bye for now,
Brooder
