Puttaparthi by bus - Kafka style....

Instead of taking a rickshaw, these two sweet schoolgirls guided me by foot to Commercial street in Bangalore. That's where you can buy cheap indian outfits and saris. I actually had to zig zag across a whole block of road works, not as efficient as in Europe, but charming somehow...you've got to have a lot of patience... :-)

This picture is taken just outside Cubbon Park in Bangalore - it's a very green city and the park is a really peaceful place to meditate, stroll arounds, have picnic or just rest in the suffocating HEAT!!!

These beautifully dressed women seemed to have a meeting in the park, I could not help myself from taking a pic!

Dear all, on Sunday I finally checked out of my hotel in Bangalore, heading for ther central bus station by autorickshaw. It was a simple task to get there, once there, my story 'a la Kafka" started. I got there at midday and wanted to catch one of the six daily buses listed in my guidebook...once there the ticket office man said:"No bus until 5 o'clock, maam". Ok, calm, Suzie, stay zen, go back and ask I thought, so I did. Another man this time said, well there is a bus at 1 o'clock, just wait here and my friend will tell you... hmmmm...One hour later, no bus, no friend, 96 degrees in the shade and desperation started to set in - realizing it was Sunday afternoon! Here we go again: back to the ticket office, they said "Are you still here?" Grrrrr...Yes, I am, as you can see I said with a bittersweet smile... Then a 19th man came in and said: There is a slow bus at 3 pm. Hmm, slow bus, in my mind it would be ok, any bus would be just fine, please! And, like a MIRACLE, at 2.30 an old, smelly bus turned up, it looked like it was falling to pieces... After almost five hours, stopping at all villages to let goats on and off, well here I am in Puttaparthi, in the state of Andra Pradesh, appx. 270 kms north of Bangalore. I have, by 'curiosity" decided to spend 3 days in the ashram of Sai Baba, the avatar that I have heard about for a very long time, and his presence has crossed my life path... It has indeed been a very enriching experience - too long to tell here...and tomorrow evening I am (hopefully... ) catching a nightbus to Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu - hope to write from there in a couple of days... Until then: Ohm Sai Ram from Prashanti Nilayam...