mata amma arrived in finland last week... this living saint, the amazing bundle of hugging energy. of course i had to go and get a hug. alex and i drove to energiarena in vantaa, and the big hall there. i queued up for my voucher and waited. alex came back a while later and as we were waiting to collect his voucher, two guys approached alex and asked for an interview. they were from bbc radio. of course, alex was delighted. and after we walked off, they followed us and interviewed me as well seeing as i was from london. can we do a before and after interview, he asked. sure, i said. so i told them i was curious to see what it was like to get a hug from amma, i had no expectations, i didn't come because of dogma or religion or to be enlightened, just curious. after some time, i joined the rows of chairs in front of where amma sat, hugging away. we moved forward at a steady pace and finally i found myself kneeling near the front. amma's attendees were asking me what language i spoke... english i said. "native language?" "punjabi". she whispered "punjabi" into amma's ear and suddenly amma grasped me into her bosom and whispered into my ear... "my son, my son, my son..." and some word i didn't recognize as punjabi but was like the english word 'more'. she thrust a sweet and a small brown packet into my hand and i clasped my hands together and bowed thanked you. and the attendees guided me away. "it was over very fast", i told the radio reporter afterwards. "yes, i felt something, i felt happy, joyful... i think i'm still feeling it now."
i went busking later that day and made the best i've ever made in helsinki, in the hot autumn sun. oh, the contents of the brown paper packet... some scented talcum powder maybe? alex and i weren't too sure what it was, only i spilled some of it into his 'new' car and he wasn't happy! "don't worry", i said, "it's been blessed by amma"!
nea got back from her trans-manchurian trip a week ago, and i met up with her to relate travel stories. she also helped to find a job for me via the internet, but more and more i am getting wary of the impending freeze that will descend upon this place very shortly. it snowed yesterday, ok it was more like sleet, when i went to sirpalesaari to help aleksi construct a shed for his boat. some days ago, i had helped get the mast off the boat: with the help of heikki, we manoeuvred cendrillon to the crane dock and tied up. with the the stays and shrouds loosened off and the crane line hooked around the spreaders of the mast, we lowered the mast onto the two-wheeled trolley and rolled it away onto stands. then we tied her to the pier once more. banda madrugada had their cd release party on saturday, and we all dressed up for that, alex lending me some trousers and shoes to go with the shirt i got at that little 'back-yard' market in tallinn. fantastic music and my dancing skills are improving. of course, alex got to the chance to show off again!
aleksi had to be at the boat-yard early the next morning to get cendrillon lifted out of the water and onto stands. now the base of the shed has been nailed up, and a tarp wrapped around the boat as a temporary quick fix before the rest of the construction can be made. our hands were frozen by the time we finished up for the day. soon it will be time to say my goodbyes once more.
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