A Generosity Driven Trip to Kundapur

The Charming Fish Lorry that took us to Tallur Cross

Divakar Bhai, on the road.

Vikas with his Balloon Giraffe

The Delicious Roasted Idli's

Harish Munching Away

Freedom

Happiness

 

My friend Harish ( Clown Puri) and I ( Clown Paani) both compassionate clowns were invited to clown for a group of young students of life at the Namma Bhoomi School in Kundapur, an inspiring town near Udupi, Karnataka. It was exciting because this was the first time we were going to travel together. We packed our clowning gear, a few other essentials and boarded a comfortable bus for an overnight journey to Kundapur.

Harish and I have been experimenting with giving, connecting with people, walking, and in turn sparking off a journey of inner transformation and hence outer love. In the spirit of trusting humanity, and the ability of people to be generous, we decided to make this trip a zero expense adventure. We were not going to spend any money during our journey. We were going to rely on the kindness, generosity and love present in those who we met along the way. We were on our way, loving every minute of the bus ride, sharing stories, laughing at our own jokes, and of course plotting the clowning experience, act by act.

We arrived at Shastri Circle in Kundapur at about 7.30am the next morning, and we began to walk, attempting to hitch a ride. We put our thumbs out, gesturing at passing vehicles, and at first we had absolutely no luck, but we kept walking. We were about to stop for another attempt at hitching a ride when we heard someone holler at us, and we turned to see a driver of a parked fish lorry beckoning to us, so off we went to see what he wanted. He had seen us trying to stop a vehicle earlier, and now he agreed to give us a ride once he had washed his vehicle. We offered to help him, but he politely refused. We waited, connecting with other people until he cleaned his lorry, and then we were on our way. This was the first time I was travelling in a lorry, and the view from higher up in the drivers compartment was magnificent. There was also the familiar smell of fresh fish in the air. Divakar Bhai dropped us off at Tallur Cross, and off he went after Harish made him a balloon giraffe for his child.

We were already mind-blown.

The walk began again, and this time we were hungry and decided to find some food. We asked two eating spots on the way and were refused food both times. We walked on with smiles, and noticed a mother who was preparing her child, Vikas for school. We asked her, explaining what we were doing and she was receptive to the idea, and offered us money for breakfast. We politely declined her offer and instead asked for something to eat. She offered us roasted idli in a yellow bag, and the taste of those idli's is something that will stick on for a long while. They were delicious and we were so grateful for having received breakfast. We made the little child a balloon to express our gratitude and walked on while munching our idli's. We began trying to hitch another ride to the school and this time a truck carrying mud stopped, and we squeezed in with the driver and Damodhar Bhai, the second in command, and off we went the wind caressing our faces, and of course connections blossoming in a matter of minutes. They dropped us off near the school, and we bid them adieu.

The day at the school was spectacular. We put on our clowning act twice, one outside in a grove and the second act in a classroom, and had a gala time falling on our behinds, singing songs that we sang in Kindergarten more than 20 years ago, creating balloon animals and interacting with the children. Paani and Puri were an instant hit with the kids, and we were paani anna ( Big Brother) and Puri anna for the day. The kids were delighted to keep yelling ' Paani' and 'Puri' at random intervals. We were treated to a wonderful lunch by the school after we took a short power nap on the cold cement floor of a classroom. The afternoon consisted of me sitting in on a circle of sharing and learning on self governance and punishment which proved to be thought provoking and stimulating and then I offered a quick session on basic life support and first aid for the teachers. We spent some time going over Cardio-Pulmonary Rescuscitation, first aid for epilepsy, electricution and so on.

It was soon tea time and we were offered Dhosa with a delicious chutney prepared by one of the teachers at the school and we spent some time chatting, and fostering further connections. It was soon time to leave, and after a quick shower, we said our good-bye's to the teachers and the children and began to walk again, towards the main road.

There were hardly any vehicles on the road, and we had the aid of a torch to provide us light. We kept walking, looking for a lift to the bus stand, for our bus back to Bangalore, and also looking for some dinner. We again asked at two shops and were refused and then while continuing to walk we came across a gypsy community that had set up camp on the way side.It was a warm sight to see them huddled around the glow of kerosene lamps apparently eating something. There is nothing like trying so we decided to approach them and again explained who we were and what we were doing. They seemed surprised at first, that we were asking them for food, but then they were warm and welcoming and we sat amongst them, our faces lit up, by smiles and the lamp light. They asked us “ will you like our food?”, and we replied “ we would be grateful for anything that you could give us”, and two enormous plates of hot boiled rice and chapathi appeared in front of us before we could say Jack Robinson. The hot plate of rice was so inviting that we digged in right away without any curry or gravy. However, there was more in store, and out came different kinds of fish curry in little bowls, and now we were just blown away. They were giving us so much, with so much of love and warmth that we could only bow our heads in gratitude. The food was out of this world, and we were cared for by the entire gypsy community. Harish conversed with them in Malayalam and it appeared that they spend six months of the year in the forest and six months in communal living like they were doing when we met them. It was a pity that we didn't have much time to listen to their stories. It was time for us to leave, and they even offered us money for the bus back home, and we declined their offer even though our hearts were filled with overwhelming gratitude. We were given a nice send off by their community head, and off we went walking again.

Now, we needed to find a way to get to the bus stand. We came across a motorcyclist who was travelling in the opposite direction and he stopped. He directed us to an Auto Rickshaw stand, but we told him that we were not spending any money on this journey and after some contemplation, Rampujari Bhai, agreed to take us on his motorcyle to the main road from where we could get a ride to the bus station. It was a tight squeeze but we were dropped off at our intended location safe and sound. We conversed with Rampujari Bhai about how mind shifting our day had been, and he reiterated the fact that the people in Kundapur were kind and helpful. We couldn't agree more.

We had to take an auto rickshaw to the bus station as we were running late, but it did not matter because our hearts were filled with joy and our faith in the universe was renewed. We received love and care in abundance, and the entire experience inspired us to give, serve and smile with gratitude and love. The shift that I experienced from scarcity to abundance was profound. There is a sense of transformation that has occured within me from a place of wanting to a place of having enough.

It has been four days since the journey and each time Harish and I meet, we just cannot stop smiling.