Some of the programs telecast over our Lok Sabha TV Channel are really very good. One such is the `Fairs of India' serial that features cultural festivals in different parts of India. This evening's program (8 to 8 30 PM IST) featured `Banaras Utsav'.
The program included a rock concert involving Hindu devotional music, reminding the 1960s when thousands of hippies visited the town seeking spirituality. It was nice to visualize spirituality integrated with rock music (which I guess is a pragmatic means to inspire youngsters into spirituality). I remember how George Harrison of The Beatles got involved in Hindu spiritualism way back in the '60s. The rock show as shown in the program was sponsored by Banares Round Table.
Well, when it comes to Round Table, I cannot forget something interesting that happened many years back: I was teaching Physics in a high school in a town that was 60 km away from Gaborone, Botswana. I used to go to Gaborone every Friday to attend the weekly meetings of Gaborone Round Table of which I was a member. I could always leave for Gaborone early enough to reach the meeting as I didn't have any class to take on Friday afternoons. As I was the only vegetarian there, fellow round-tablers knew my food preferences. Once we had to have our lunch in a South Korean restaurant. One of the menu items was `Ants on the tree'. I told the organizers that I wouldn't eat ants. My concern was communicated to the restaurant owner who told me that the item was simply a vegetarian side dish that included jaggery. This was a great relief from my anxiety.
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