Bhajans in the Bush- Krishna Balarama Youth Retreat – Day One
We spent several days at our home base in the suburbs of Johannesburg, getting to know our hosts and preparing for the weekend retreat to come. Since it wasn’t vacation time, everyone juggled school and work, calling in sick or telling quite outrageous lies in order to spend time with us and take care of anything we needed. Kartik prabhu even confessed that he told his boss he had food poisoning, after eating something his mum had just brought back from her pilgrimage to India! In between looking after us, and making ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ trips in to respective offices and campuses, the core team of retreat organisers were working flat out to ensure everything was ready for the weekend.
At last Friday came, and we made our way through the jam packed lunchtime traffic to the suburb of Lenasia, where the ISKCON Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurahari temple stands. After quickly taking the opportunity to pray to the supremely beautiful deities, we boarded the huge double decker bus, emblazoned with the South African flag. Now the real road trip would begin!
The journey out to Sun City, where the retreat was to be held, was only supposed to take two hours. However the combination of still more traffic, stops to pick up more devotees along the way, and of course snack breaks, meant that the journey took over twice the time. No one complained for long though. Outside, the bland landscape of the city outskirts gradually gave way to the red-earthed countryside. Flat land began to buckle and ridge, covered by ever denser bushes and the occasional field of ripening grapes. As the sun lowered in the sky, casting golden light into the top deck of the bus, everyone enjoyed a non stop kirtan. We hadn’t arrived at the retreat destination yet, but our weekend with the holy names had already begun. The harmonium was passed from seat to seat, and mrdangas changed hands every half an hour. We continued to chant, seamlessly moving from tune to tune and laughing as groups of African workers trundled by on flatbed trucks, craning their necks to see what we were doing inside.
As the last light disappeared, the bus pulled into Sundown Ranch, our home for the next two days. Everyone piled out, unloaded the luggage and queued to be assigned to their cabin. When all the necessary business was over, we made a start on the real task at hand – kirtan with the lions! In a long procession, guided by torches and car headlights, we chanted and danced all the way down the road to the lion park. As we approached, we could hear the deep bass tones of African drums beating in response to our own. All of a sudden, traditonal Zulu dancers burst out from behind a wooden screen. They jumped and stamped their feet, dancing in time and joining in with the chanting with incredible energy. It was a real South African welcome! They led us through into an enclosed area where a bonfire blazed, and after a few moments began to perform a welcome dance for us all. They sang as they danced, their voices interweaving in beautiful harmonies and accompanied by whistles and flutes, blown to a staccato rhythm by the youngest members of the group. Every movement was accented by rattling strings of seedpods, tied around their ankles and wrists.
It was a harmonious start to the night, and though the lions had long gone to sleep, we felt ready and excited to continue our first evening of kirtan in the South African bush. For the next few hours we sat between the dust and the stars and called out the names of Radha and Govinda to our heart’s content. Luckily, the lions were heavy sleepers.
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