Dear Friends,

I welcome you to my second Newsletter.

Most of you are aware that I have just come back from my travels around the world. There is such a beautiful world out there! My children Alex, Sonia and I visited eight countries. On this particular trip it was important for me to discover places where I had never been, New York and India in this case. But it was equally imperative that I go back to Switzerland and hike the mountains in the Alps there. The trip was fantastic, everything worked out well, and I have met fascinating people and seen incredibly beautiful sceneries, monuments, temples and palaces.

The vibrancy of New York is so stimulating; it made me think that anything could be possible there: the friendly New Yorkers contribute enormously to it and I believe it’s impossible to get bored in their attractive city. New York is fun! And it has great accommodation, fabulous food, and excellent value for money.

India as a country and as a population was a revelation! Its riches, the phenomenal spiritual wealth and the beauty of the cultural legacy are all overwhelming. I will most certainly return to that beautiful country and for many reasons. There is so much more to discover and to explore. Meeting the people is defining in our appreciation of a country, isn’t it! We were blessed with the kindness and the generosity of our hosts. I noticed that many Indians are proud of their country and it is understandable. They and their successive leaders, before and after independence, have achieved so much.

We were welcomed in private homes (guesthouses) by extraordinary people: Pervez in Delhi: he also practices Reiki and owns the cosiest B&B you can imagine. He manages it with his family. (www.delhibedandbreakfast.com). In a carpet-making facility in Agra I learnt that the colours for the patterns are literally sung into the carpets: the artists weave with their fingers and sing the sound of each colour as they use it! You then understand immediately why the carpets are so beautiful: they are literally songs of colour! Sanjay Kalra explained to us in perfect French how each colour corresponds to a vibration and each vibration to a sound: a very cultured man indeed. (www.kalrascottageindustry.com).

I was also most impressed by the temples in Pushkar and the Masjid, a world famous Sufi Sanctuary in Ajmer. Both cities are in Rajasthan. And I must tell you about the fabulous guesthouse in Jaipur: Loharu House, where the Begum has links to governors, kings and maharajas. Her drawing room features several stuffed tigers, hunted by her family in the 1950ies.

The peaceful lakes, the beauty of the surroundings and the down to earth, friendly Indian families we met and stayed with are priceless memories now.

If you do go to Agra and visit the Taj Mahal try and stay at the Grand Imperial where Tara Sura will make your stay an exceptional one. She is one of those remarkable women of which India seems to have a few! We were lucky enough to meet with the owner of the palace there, a remarkable personality: humble, generous and conscious of historic values. (www.welcomheritagegrandimperial.com).

No trip is complete without a last night out and a coming back to realities and everyday life! No sooner had we enjoyed a very violent tropical thunderstorm in Singapore, were we back in flooded Queensland with complications of its own…

I must admit that I find it hard at times to readjust to the home gravity I had so efficiently put aside while traveling. But I managed, and my Australian travels are on track again as you can see in my Schedule on the website. Therefore I will have the opportunity to see and/or hear many of you soon, here, there or on the phone.

You will find new links on my website, check them out and ask me any questions you want.

The story for this month is from India.

THE LION, THE JACKAL AND THE DONKEY
by Vishnu Sharm

This is the story about a lion who had a clever jackal as his servant. Whenever the lion killed an animal, he would first have his fill and leave the rest for the jackal.
One day the lion made the mistake of attacking a fierce king elephant. The elephant was strong and wounded the lion so badly that the lion could barely walk. For a week the master and the servant starved. At last the lion came upon an idea.
The lion said to the jackal, "If you bring me an animal which I can kill without much effort, then we won’t have to starve." The clever jackal slowly rose to his feet and set out to guide an unsuspecting animal to the lion’s den.
The jackal saw a deer and thought, "This deer would be too fast for my wounded master."
Then in a few hours he saw a male donkey who was grazing hungrily on some dry, barren land.
"This is just I was looking for," thought the jackal happily.
He quickly approached the donkey and humbly said, "Oh Uncle, you look so feeble! Is there anything wrong?"
The famished donkey was parched with thirst and said, "I haven’t had any fresh, moist grass to graze on for ages. My master, a mean and miserly washer-man (dhobi), works me to death and starves me."
"Oh, really?" said the sly jackal. "Why don’t you come and live with me in the forest? There is plenty of delicious, green grass near my cave."
The donkey was interested but cautiously said, "That is very kind of you to invite me to your place, but I’m used to living in the village and the wild animals of the jungle may kill me."
"Uncle, you don’t have to worry about that. No one dares to come near my cave. They are afraid of my powerful paws and claws." He further added, "Do you know that there are three she-donkeys whom I saved and now live under my protection?"
Stung by love bug and abandoning all common sense, the donkey thanked the jackal and immediately decided to follow him. "Lead me to them, dear nephew. Lead me to them. Waste no time."
From a distance the starving lion saw the jackal leading the donkey towards his den. The lion was amazed at the cleverness of the jackal.
He lost all patience due to extreme hunger. The lion sprang at the donkey with a loud roar and the terrified donkey ran for his life and escaped.
The jackal bit his teeth and murmured, "Hasty fool!"
The lion then realized he had been impatient and acted in desperation.
The jackal scolded the lion, "You couldn’t even kill a dumb donkey. How is it that you dared attack that elephant?"
The lion replied regretfully, "I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t ready. I didn’t expect you to return so soon."
"OK," said the jackal, "I’ll bring him back here again but this time you must be ready."
The lion didn’t believe the jackal. "Bring him back? That’s impossible. He saw me and ran away. You have to bring some other animal." The jackal assured the lion, "Don’t worry, master. I’ll bring him back but be ready this time."
Soon the jackal found the donkey. The donkey was still catching his breath. The donkey said, "So you are back, nephew. A fine spot you got me into. It is my good luck that I escaped."
Keeping his wits intact, the jackal laughed, "Uncle, that was only the love-sick she donkey. When she saw you, she sprang forward to kiss you. But you were too shy and ran away."
"Really?" asked the donkey with surprise.
The jackal could feel that his bait was working. He wasted no time to allure him again, "You must come back quickly and marry her." "Oh, that’s great!" said the foolish donkey, "Let’s go right now."
The lion could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the wicked jackal leading the foolish donkey back to him. This time he was ready. When the lion sprang up, the donkey was not frightened because all he could think about was making love with his new wife.
The donkey was killed in seconds without even a fight. The lion then trusted the jackal and left to take a bath before his dinner. The jackal thought, "I can hardly wait. I’ll eat the best parts of the donkey, the heart and the ears, before the lion comes back."
When the lion came back he was furious to see the heart and ears missing. He shouted at the jackal for eating them, "Am I to eat your leavings?"
The jackal stayed calm and said, "Oh King, this animal was born without heart and ears or else why would he have come back after hearing you roar and running away in terror?"
The lion was suspicious but did not further question the jackal’s words because he was dying of hunger.

(This story is said to be 2000 years old.
It reminds me of the Fables of Jean De La Fontaine).

And here is a photo to illustrate the fact that nothing is ever the way we expect it to be! (Rue Marbeuf, Paris, France, August 2007)

Spring is here; I wish you warmth, happiness, fun and prosperity in every way. I have enjoyed talking to you.

Love and Light

Mariana
www.mariana-amar.com