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elder brother, studied Shaiva doctrine for twelve years in North India.
He also had experience of travel in North India. These journeys
always make me wonder when I travel long distances. Like Mumbai
to Amsterdam, a journey which keeps giving rise to new thoughts
and freshens the mind. Last year (2008) I walked along with those
participating in the Dehu-Pandharpur Palkhisohala. So I gained some
experience and can well imagine what sort of difficulties people
might have faced in their journeys all over India in the 13th century.
Earlier on, I had travelled to North India as an art student, and from
Mumbai to Darjeeling as an artist. Recently, I travelled to exhibitions
at Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Nasik and
Pune. I had all this experience even before I decided to walk in the
Dehu-Pandharpur Palkhisohala. I understand the poetry of travelling
and pilgrimage. Along the way I made sketches to celebrate
Tukaram’s 400th birth anniversary.
Namdev’s journey had always inspired my earlier writing.
Jnandev, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram and others in the tradition of
Bhakti poetry are the bedrock of my thinking process. A source of
inspiration, as are Indian Sufi poets like Bulleshah, Kabir, Waris Shah
and Ramdas, Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Narsi Mehta. That was the
reason I invited the “Show your Hope” project to India and achieved
something which would never have been experienced. It was to
obtain experience through travel. But what I gained is priceless
experience and a relaxed mind. The whole world is full of complex
situations, and so most people try to attain a peace of mind in their
everyday life.
The road that goes to both Jyotirlingas passes by my birth-