When SMRT
announced that train services in East-West Line would start much later (only @
8 am on Sunday the 4th Mar) than the usual starting time of 6 am, I
became worried as to how I (being a West Singapore resident) would reach the
Walk Venue in Pasir Ris in the East Singapore on time. Fortunately Mr Sule
(North West Resident) volunteered to drive an additional 20kms to give me a
lift so that I could reach on time.
The group
assembled for the walk was a modest 6 when our Pranav guided us through the
warm up exercises and slowly swelled to 15 by the time we finished the walk.
Pasir Ris has undergone major changes since the last time I had a walk here.
One
important thing I noticed was how a cycle shop which was having roaring
business on weekends in the past charging $ 5 per hour for cycle rental could
not withstand the new economy onslaughts from OFO, MOBIKE etc which now charge
only around $1 per hour. OLD has to
give way for the NEW for sure.
A pleasant
climate lured us to walk at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sea in front of us
and the dense growth of trees behind us.
We chanced
upon one notice board warning us to beware of wild boars in the jungle vicinity
leading us to wonder whether we are encroaching animal space or they are
encroaching ours. This prompted words to flow out of Mr Sule from the Epic Poem
Savitri which I am immensely happy to reproduce below.
“Sun belts of Knowledge, Moon belts
of delight
Stretched out in an ecstasy of
widenesses
Beyond our indigent corporeal range.
There he could enter, there a while
abide.
A voyager upon unchartered routes
Fronting the viewless danger of the
Unknown
Adventuring across enormous realms
He broke into another Space and Time”
(Book 1 Canto 5)
Otters
frolicking in the sea and also in the stream located within the mangrove
wetland are a treat to watch. Our youngest member, 9 month old Dhvani, joined
our monthly walk for the first time and enthralled us with her Dhvani (sound)
for some moments during our walk.
Pasir Ris
Park has grown much bigger thanks to park connectors seamlessly integrating
with the park and even after nearly 1 ½ hours walk we could not cover all places
of interest. Lest we missed our time for the Meditation, we cut short our walk
and headed to Anand K. Venkat’s home to be warmly welcomed by the hosts.
After our
usual Meditation and the Reading of Mother’s Prayers, Mr. Sambrant Director
(Education) Sri Aurobindo Society Pondicherry who was on a business trip to
Singapore happily shared with us some interesting anecdotes about Rupantar
programme (an initiative that targets areas in Education with innovative
solutions to transform an entire state education system in India) and how this
programme which was started on a modest scale in Uttar Pradesh India has now
grown astronomically.
Their
programme known as Zero Investment Innovations for Education Initiatives
(ZIIEI) works with governments, thought leaders and institutions to transform
education, guided by the vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to improve
effectiveness and infrastructure to gear up more than 400,000 teachers to come
up with innovations that require zero or minimal monetary investment.
He was all
praise for Singapore Education System with whom he is collaborating for
improvement of the ZIIEI programme. I could see many of our younger members
brought up in Singapore Education System smile with their heads held high.
Thereafter,
K.V. Rao shared with us his experiences on his recent trip to Pondicherry to be
part of Auroville’s 50th Birthday celebrations.
His
narration as how more than 5000 members assembled in the wee hours of 28th
Feb at Auroville auditorium observing pin-drop silence during the festivities
resonated with the spirit of the Aurobindo Movement.
March born
Society Members led by Rishab celebrated their birthdays by cutting a yummy cake
and we all were treated to a sumptuous brunch thereafter.
A Sunday well spent following the long tradition (since
the year 1985) of Singapore Sri Aurobindo Society.
Looking
forward to the April Walk to be hosted by our dearest Mr Krishnamurthy.
S.Ramanathan
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