Paradise Kiran

After our night in Delhi and the bus journey from Varanasi airport, our arrival at the Kiran Center really was like stepping into a little paradise. The Kiran Centre compound is located about 15 kilometers from the centre of Varanasi, a city of over a million people. But even though we are quite close to the exhausting noise, filth and chaos of Varanasi, it could all just as well be on another continent.

Kiran is quiet; the only sound you hear are the throaty songs of the countless tropical birds outdoors and the spinning electrical fans indoors. Kiran is green; there are great tall trees, blossoming bushes, and plants lining all the paths from one building to the other. Kiran is peace; there is a sense of order, cooperation and the feeling that everything is moving in a certain direction towards a certain goal.

As we approached the compound after a two-hour journey from the airport – which is only 50 kilometers away! – and the culture shock of the first 12 hours in India, the Kiran jeep turned into a narrow countryside road. There is little traffic on this road – mostly people on foot, on bikes or motorbikes – yet the indispensable car horn never finds itself unemployed. Gone are the interminable makeshift market stalls lining the roads on either side, with their owners squatting and waiting for what would appear an improbable sale. Instead there is an occasional “shop”, which is nothing more than a small boxy one storey building in red brick, a doorway and a tiny room where two people can stand without knocking into each other.  Most of the homes along the road look just like the shops, only that there might be some cattle and goats tied up to a tree nearby, or a small rice field where the women are working and the children playing.


When the jeep arrived at the compound there was a final honk of the horn and a guard opened up the main gate. 

We arrived together with Sangeeta, who had travelled with us from Delhi to Varanasi. It was one of the good fortunes of the long wait for the Indian visa that we were able to meet her and spend some time getting to know each other before arriving at Kiran. She was welcomed by the staff with great warmth; it was clear that everyone was really looking forward to her arrival.

We were then taken to Guesthouse number 2, a wonderful little home with two bedrooms, a sitting room with table, a kitchen and bathroom. The accommodation is very simple but in comparison with what we had seen on the road to Kiran, we were going to live in luxury. 

Outside our door the house is surrounded by beautiful greenery, and for the kids the Kiran centre turns out to be an enormous playground where they can roam and explore without the pressure of having to obtain parental consent. We feel safe in letting them wander and play and they enjoy the freedom.

Paul

(01/09/2010)