Baldev

This evening, the delivery manager from the office invited me to his house for dinner. He and his family are Sindhi and had prepared Sindhi cuisine for me.

Had I gone to my boss's house back home, he would have talked at me about cars and I would have made puerile jokes. At Baldev's house, however, we talked about the nature of mind, the commonalities between world religions, the purpose of life, the nature of infinity and mystical experiences found in deep meditation. Baldev also showed me his shrine room which featured images of Krishna, Ram, Ganesha, Gautama the Buddha, and a number of Hindu saints, which I understand were actually his ancestors.

During the course of the evening, and even the next day at work, Baldev repeatedly commended me on my interest in spirituality and was profoundly overjoyed that I had visited his house. On one level, the difference between our two cultures if bigger than I thought.