Ten days with the Buddha 2/n

I reach Dhamma Paphulla around 2 pm after the amazing ragi mudde & chicken lunch. Registrations opened at 2 pm and closed at 4 pm. Know that if you have registered and you don't show up by 4 pm, your reg stands cancelled and you may not get another chance to apply because of your punctuality issues. I enter the registration hall and immediately spot Beena di's husband in the queue. I say hi to him and he doesn't recognise me at first and then we chat up for a few mins and maintain silence as is the norm inside the campus. 

At this point, my anxiety is at the peak of its tragedy. How does my room look, is the bathroom clean, will I be able to survive the 10 days, what if I crave for non-veg food, what if I crave for music, what kind of people am I signing up with - only B's husband seems like a decent person, everyone else looks like they just arrived after a double murder. What a f snob! (note to self)

Reminder! If your autobiography does not put you to shame, you are probably lying. Truth above all.

I finish my registration, pick my luggage and walk towards the residential quarters. And my my wow! I notice the beautiful campus - lush green, full of flowers, super-clean walkways, at least five different types of birds constantly chirping, cute baby monkeys fooling around with their mums and very neatly built single rooms with attached bathroom and solar heaters to the rescue. I see people talking to each other, asking doubts about where they can get drinking water, where can they see the time table for the next days and so on. Noble silence didn't begin yet - once that starts, you are not allowed to talk or make eye contact with anyone. 

I put my luggage in the room I am assigned, lock the room and take a stroll in the campus. All the new students are clueless what to do so they all assemble outside the reg hall. Someone then comes around and tells us to submit all our valuables along with all communication devices to the authority. After this, we cannot contact anyone outside the campus. I submit my phone and other valuables. 

Moment of truth - it's hard to part ways with a device that you use to communicate with people. More than the device, it's the internet I was going to miss the most. No WhatsApp, no Google, no Spotify - just what was I going to do now. The walk back to the residential quarter is the longest walk - thinking what will happen next, what if someone needs to contact me during emergency, what if something happens outside the campus that I should know about, what if, what if & what if. I didn't feel like talking to anyone after this. I met the teacher to discuss my medicines and after that I curled up in my room like a scared kitten.

We were asked to assemble in the dining hall for the orientation. Before that we were given our plates, bowls & tumblers that we were supposed to carry to the dining hall whenever it was time to eat. Orientation began with a short video about the rules and regulations of the course, we were told about the 5 precepts of morality (Sila) that we were going to follow during our stay. No killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no talking, no intoxicants. Outside the hall was a time table that all new students would dread to follow. 

Wake up at 4 am everyday!!!

To be continued...