Lost and Found
Walking back from work, I noticed a couple standing outside the Wellington Information Centre looking lost and confused.
Walking by them, I called out: "You look a bit lost."
Grateful that someone had noticed, they immediately turned to me and handed me a map. Pointing out their destination, a "freedom" camping site on Owhiro Bay, a scenic ocean-side spot in Wellington, they asked: "Can you tell us how to get there? It's 5:45 and the Information Centre is closed. We didn't know everything closes at 5 p.m. in New Zealand."
Their give-away German accent prompted me to ask, "Which part of Germany are you from?"
Summer in New Zealand (December to March) is witness to the Great German Migration. Thousands of German tourists, many of them just out of high school, flock to New Zealand and Australia during this time. The lure of the famed Australian tan and the idyllic Kiwi landscape is irresistible. Father and daughter, our couple, had joined in the great summer migration. They had arrived in New Zealand a few days ago.
While going through the map with them, I managed to put a Journey of Self Discovery and a Bhakti Lounge flyer in their hands. Seeing the flyer, the daughter lit up.
“My friend from Hamburg was here a month ago. She told me all about it. I really wanted to visit this place.”
I had made a small note to myself that morning that I wanted to distribute two books while coming back from work. Krishna arranged for the situation par excellence. Another miracle unfolded on the street. Out to collect a few pleasing sensations halfway across the world, two souls collected the best gift one could ever come across while traveling:
They were lost, and then they were found.
Your servant,
Sachi Dulal Dasa
