Eli's Project

Rashmi Dube was going to work. Like a billion other 26 yr old men all over the world at 6 AM. But most men didn't have to try and commute via an open-air rickety train alongside a couple of thousand people. Women holding children, men holding huge bags of garbage, and even a woman holding a chicken under one arm. This was a combo of a New York City subway and every rickety bus flying through a jungle in South America. This was the dirty side of Mumbai, India. The side the tourists never saw. Mumbai was a city divided. There was the downtown district, with so much to see and do there. Everything from Museums, Art galleries, and Ancient Temples, to booming nightclubs and Bollywood. And then there was Dharavi.

Square footage is equivalent to Central Park in New York. Surrounded by mountains of garbage, Very LITTLE clean drinking water, and even less clean sanitation, only public toilets. When you are born, raised, and live in a single 8' by 10' room with all 8 of your family members for 26 years, it puts the world into a different perspective. Rashmi supposed he should be grateful that he had a job at all, especially a good paying one at the hotel. He had to bow and scrape and act submissive to dumb, fat, stupid, lazy tourists. But he was grateful for his job. The amount of water in just one of the swimming pools could supply every family on his block. For MONTHS. And these people use it for swimming, not drinking. Sometimes, he tried not to think about things like that, because it only produced anger. They had even taken away his name. According to the small plastic pin on his lapel, he was simply “Ray”, because it was easier for the foreigners to say.

He was grateful for his job. He worked hard, kept his head down, and was always courteous. Sometimes he would get lucky and wait on a wealthy client. He was allowed to carry their bags, make sure the room is adequate, and translate all requests to the Front Desk because he spoke excellent English. Fulfill a simple request, job well done. If they want Boiled Eggs at 3 AM, well, you better put some water on the stove. Their requests were strange sometimes... but... from those people, especially British or American clients, he had quite often received VERY good tips. They tended to give him a 50 rupee bill at the drop of a hat. He was grateful for his job. His father had to work in his pottery shop for a month to earn that much, and here, at the Hotel, Ray had the possibility of making that much in one afternoon. So, in the long run, a little humble servitude was worth it. That was the main thought that kept Ray going. Every small sacrifice he made NOW was to pay for a bigger and brighter future. Like pennies in a piggy bank. Keep your eyes on the prize. This is a concept that is universal AND easy to understand. Endure what hardship may come. Just keep putting one foot in front of the next. Ambition and achievement is not always bad thing. It turns bad when it attracts the worst and corrupts the best. An ambitious person is always best served exercising BOTH bravery and paranoia. The balance is found in discretion. Balance and judge each situation on its own merits. Then throw in a bit of spontaneity and free will, just for fun. Oh, what a tangled web we weave... Walk the tightrope between genius and insanity...

Ray snapped out of his reverie staring out the open door, at the rails, bushes, and trees flying by. He noticed a few of the older people had got off.....disembarked.....and a SEAT..the bench beside the window had opened up. Within 30 seconds, Ray snagged it and slid in without hesitation. An old man, with a bald head, red and yellow robe, every picture of a Monk, immediately slid in beside him. Ray relaxed, comforted. He had another 30-45 minutes of commute on the train, and he had a literal Monk riding shotgun. He could probably close his eyes and catch a little sleep

Ray was dozing, half awake, half asleep, when he heard a quiet voice say “Where are you headed? To work?” He cracked open one eye and realized the Monk was speaking to him. Rashmi quickly gave the Wai greeting, with his hands in a “prayer” pose in front of his forehead, and he gave a little bow. “Yes, Kind Master. Praise the gods for my job and income. Where are you headed? To Temple?”

“Oh no, I am on my way to a great voyage. Taxing and arduous this will be, but all worthy journeys are difficult. Otherwise, how else would you value the reward at the end.”

“A great voyage? Are you on some sort of pilgrimage? Traveling to a monastery in the mountains, perhaps?”

“Oh no. A much greater voyage than that. I had a mind to travel, to go to distant lands. Most of my brothers dedicate their lives to the study of our gods, communing through meditation and prayer. We receive the alms and offerings from the community, we perform maintenance on the temple, and ours is a simple life. We also have an education. After we eat the noon meal we often have classes, in philosophy, English, math, and sciences. Other topics are covered by what Monks among us know those things. But, I recognized the need for increasing our base of knowledge. And some things cannot be learned by just reading it in a book or watching it on Tele. I endeavor to go out into the world, gather knowledge and bring it back to my fellow brothers so that we may all learn and grow. To the benefit of us all.”

“Wait, forgive me, Kind Master. I have questions. Do you have a television? And you watch it? And you have school, as ordinary folk do? That is not what I expected. I thought that all Monks did was pray and meditate all day. I'm sorry I don't know more about your order.”

“Some of the people the gods lead to join us are young in age. But the age of the body is not always an accurate match to the age of the soul. These young people come to us and they must be taught. Taught our ways, taught to be still and disciplined while meditating, and taught to read, write and do sums. That was my task in our community. I was a teacher of the young ones. We allow them to have one hour a day of television so that they may understand the wider world and watch programs that might give them further education. Soon, it became apparent that I was lacking in knowledge. The children would ask me questions about this or that they had seen on the television, and I would have no concept of what they were asking. I would consult my brother Monks, or I would try to find a book that had such information, but no one knew the answers to those questions. Computers, for example, children are very interested in technology and computers. I know nothing of these things. So I go to try to find answers. Hopefully, many updated books with current information can help us learn and advance.”

“A worthy endeavor. Kind Master. Do you mean you are going into the City, into Mumbai? You will surely find the library there to be a valuable resource for you. And I work at one of the hotels. I know that foreign visitors are often asking about the Temples. Asking about the Monks, and how to visit them. Maybe not your brothers specifically, but some members of your community. If you appear, walking down the main road in the City, dressed as you are in your robes, you will draw attention. You will probably receive many gifts and offerings, even money. That can help you buy things for the children.”

“Oh no, my son. Not the city here, I am going to be traveling to America. To one of the United States called New York. I have a camera for pictures and a notebook to take notes on everything I see. This entire journey will take half a year and many thousand miles. As I said, a great voyage.”

“But how? How can a simple Monk, who has no money and very few earthly possessions, afford such a journey? How are you getting there? Is someone from the public sponsoring your voyage? You must have a wealthy patron, a benefactor.”

“Well, that is an interesting story. One day, the brothers and I were coming in for our afternoon prayers. During that time, we do not accept visitors from outside our monastery. It is to be a time of concentration and meditation. As we were closing the gates, a man appeared. He was dressed in Western-style clothes, but very simply, only a shirt and pants, with sandals on his feet. We closed the gates and told him to come again the next day. When we opened the gates again, he was still there, sitting outside, waiting for us. He was allowed in and was taken to our Abbot, our superior. He said his name was James and he was there to see if any of our members might be interested in traveling to the United States. Because the transportation is “unconventional”, the fee is minimal. But it is a special arrangement to travel to the States via a Cargo Ship, first New York and eventually the city of Las Vegas. Cargo ships do not usually accept human passengers unless you work on the boat. But, according to this Westerner named James, there is a doctor in America who is very interested in meeting different people, holy people, and special people from all over the world. People with abilities, people with the powers of the old gods, and people who hold a special place in the universe. In the interest of exchanging knowledge and information, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to undertake my journey.”

“That is amazing, Master. Might I ask, when are you to board this ship? When are you leaving? Are there any other people from here leaving and going with you?”

“All I know about that is there is a group of us. James said the group is to meet at the Port in Chennai. The meeting time is set for next week. James himself is supposed to be there to help us board safely and see us underway. We are to be given the proper Customs papers to get us into America. I do not know who the other travelers are, or where they are from, but I suppose we will all get to know one another on the journey.”

Rashmi had a tingle, a certain feeling about this conversation. Sometimes things happened that were meant to happen. You could call it fate or destiny, maybe it was the gods or maybe it was just a simple coincidence. Whatever the reason, there was a purpose for him on this train, on this day, at this hour, sitting beside this Monk. He decided to try to speak to the Master privately. As privately as possible when surrounded by 5 or 6 hundred people.

“Kind Master, I must tell you something. And I trust you to keep a secret, as a Monk. Hold this in your heart to contemplate for yourself and judge whether or not I should do what I am thinking. My name is Rashmi Dube. I have lived my entire life, for 26 years, in Dharavi. But I have always been like a man set apart. Even as a child, I didn't play as the other children did. For some reason, it held no interest to me. I preferred to stay inside and play by myself. The way my mind works, the thoughts I think sometimes, well, sometimes it scares me. I don't know why I am thinking about such things. Do you know what the name Rashmi means, Master? It means “ray of light”. My mother told me that I was born during monsoon season when Dharavi was in danger of flooding. She named me Rashmi because it pleased her to think of sunlight in the storms. When I was 18, when I became a man, my body began to change. But not in the normal ways. Let me show you what I mean.”

Rashmi unbuttoned his right sleeve and pushed it up to his elbow. His forearm was covered in bright blue lines of a tattoo that he had not asked for. He held out his hand towards the Monk. He concentrated until his hand began to glow. His entire hand became the color of metal when it has been in the fire. Quickly, he pulled his sleeve down and hid his hand under his thigh before anyone else could see.

“Are those the abilities you were talking about Master? I think maybe they might be. I need to ask you if there is a way I might be allowed to come on your journey. This may be my chance to, as you say, learn and exchange knowledge. Will you help me with this?”

“Well, my son. What I say is that you definitely need to come with me. You need to come and meet James. Then it will be up to him if you are allowed to come along to America or not. But I think, if you have an ability like that, it is something that you need help with. You need to learn what it means and how to use it. This might be a journey of education and discovery for all of us.”