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Sarnath 5
This spot of devotion
alongside the massive stuppa serves as a
memory trigger for me. Here's
what happened:
I was standing on the ground near the great
stupa, and an Indian family
was approaching on the raised walkway that runs
'round the stupa.
Suddenly the man of the family stopped, took off his
sandals, jumped
off the roadway in front of me, and bowed. Then he bowed
more deeply.
Then he went to his knees and gently touched the tops of my
shoes.
He rose, bowed again, and shook my hands, saying something
in
Hindi. I was a bit flabbergasted. What to make of it?
I asked our guide later, and he said the man
probably saw a likeness
of one of his ancestors in my face, so was
honoring me as a
reincarnation of the ancestor or something. Weird, but
strangely moving
at the same time. (What did I do? I bowed
in return.)
Sarnath