A guy from California stayed at my place for a week. He came here to explore music and Sanskrit classes and to get an overall feel for the city. He asked me for recommendations on music classes, and I suggested he visit Pandit Shivnath Mishra, who lives next door. It was amusing to discover that he had already met Pandit Mishra and his son in California. He had played some tabla with them and even received an offer to perform with them abroad as a tabla player.

Josh was thrilled about this opportunity. He expressed his eagerness to join Mr. Mishra’s ensemble. During his stay, he also visited Bunti’s school, where he played tabla and taught African music to the students. Bunti mentioned that everyone at the school really enjoyed the music. Josh was also interested in visiting Bal Ashram, an Aghor monastery. I took him there, where we encountered a British doctor who was providing free eye check-ups to the underprivileged.

I was impressed by his dedication; the monastery mentioned that he comes to Varanasi every year for a few months to work pro bono. Josh wanted to see the monastery as a potential place for his friends to stay and volunteer. I suggested he also check out Bhagwan Avdhoot Ram Ashram, which is the mother ashram, but he didn’t seem very interested. The mother ashram has had conflicts with Bal Ashram in the past due to some financial misconduct by Bal Ashram’s employees. I have faith in the integrity of the mother ashram.

Josh said he would visit both ashrams when he returns to Varanasi, and he plans to come back in the first week of January.