July 14, 15 1972: Diane disappears as we catch the train from Delhi to Amritsar

 Taken From All About My Hat The Hippy Trail 1972 ISBN ‎ 978-0993210716 

The following day, July 14 1972, Al and Diane went first to the Iranian Embassy in Delhi to get a visa, then to the main railway station, which was about a mile from Connaught Circus, to buy tickets to Amritsar.

There was a queue of about fifty men at the one counter that seemed to be staffed and service was slow, even for India. Al and Diane queued for about and hour and then they were approached by a well-dressed and middle-aged English lady.

“Excuse me” she said, “do you know there is a lady's queue?”

“No,” said Diane, “I can't see it, where is it?”

“Oh you can't see it my dear because there are so few women buying tickets, but you can go straight to the front of this queue and they will serve you next my dear.”

So Al gave the money to Diane, and, sure enough, when she went to the counter the man serving went straight to her and she bought the tickets without having to wait at all.

Next day, they took a tut-tut – a three-wheeler motorised rickshaw – to the railway station, negotiated the crowds and found the correct platform and immediately boarded the train.

The train was just about to leave when Diane jumped up saying she needed to buy some food and water and rushed straight off the train, taking her bag with her, and ran down the platform.

Al waited a few minutes, and, as the train was obviously about to leave and Diane had not come back, he quickly hopped off the train and looked up and down the platform.

Diane was nowhere to be seen!

Al didn't know whether to wait in case she missed the train or get on the train in case she had got back on into a different carriage.

The train started to pull away.

 As it began accelerating, Al decided all he could sensibly do was get back on. He spotted an open carriage door and ran and jumped aboard. An Indian voice said in English “Well done Sahib!”

Al found a seat and sat and enjoyed the journey but he discovered it was not possible to go from one carriage to another whilst the train was moving, unless, as some men seemed to do, he climbed out the door and onto the roof. He wasn't going to do that.

The train journey from Delhi to Amritsar was about two hundred and fifty miles and took over ten hours with several long stops at stations. By the time they arrived it was dark. There were plenty of Europeans and maybe Americans alighting from the train, but no sign of Diane. Al went directly to find free accommodation at the Golden Temple. It was signposted in English and a walk of about a mile.

After he found a bed in a room, he headed straight for the food hall. Inside, sitting with a small group of European travellers, was Diane.

After dinner of rice and dahl with chapatti, provided free to travellers by the Sikh Golden Temple donors, Al met with Diane and they agreed to try to catch a bus all the way to Rawalpindi in Pakistan. This would involve crossing the border but no visas were needed. Then in Rawalpindi they could go to nearby Islamabad to collect Diane's money and get visas for Afghanistan.

And There I Was

 AND THERE I WAS

by Alun Buffry, JUNE 2020

And There I Was
With no because.
I travelled on, to sing my song,
To soar up high, to seek and try
To find my Self, beyond earthly wealth,
Within inside, the changing tides,
Through cities close and distant lands,
Mountains, rivers, desert sands.
Towards life’s end,
My Tale I send,
And here within,
My Tale begins.
For there I was,
With no because.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1916310745

 

The Scarecrow Dies

by Alun Buffry

A storm outside,
Where fear abides,
The thunder claps,
The lightning zaps
The scarecrows in the fields.

Inside is calm,
Peaceful and warm,
It feels of love,
Soft Light above,
The scarecrows finally yield.

Throughout ones life,
We all feel strife,
Darkness and confusion,
Amidst the world’s illusion
With which we daily deal.

But please don’t cry,
One day we’ll die,
Life is for here and now,
The scarecrows will all bow,
As life is but a wheel.

The scarecrows are the sinners.
The lovers are the winners.
As hatred outside dies,
And peace inside will fly,
And gratitude we’ll feel.

Norwich, 2021.

 https://www.buffry.org.uk/scarecrowdies.html

 

EGO Wall

 EGO WALL
by Alun Buffry, April 2020

So I am the Crown of Creation?
One in a seven billion nation.
Forget recreation.
Forget instant sensation.
Forget procreation.
Forget condemnation.
Focus on creation.

This I can never save the world.
That I cannot in Truth be blamed.
A Creator that can not be named,
Creation that cannot be tamed.
The rich, the powerful and the famed,
Together have our planet lamed.

We build it up, we tear it down.
We re-elect the greedy tyrant clowns,
We blame them whilst they laugh and frown,
As human beings sink and drown.
We beg for someone save us now.
As richest priests won’t bow down.

The Universe , we miss its call.
Those politicians so strong and tall,
They fucked it up and made us small,
Just play your part for one and all.
To put it right is one long haul.
So step outside your Ego Wall

Alun Buffry Life Pics

two poems

Facebook is going downhill

I like FACEBOOK less and less the more they claim to be improving it - I now have to change profile for every one of my pages to write on them

Finding Peace in a Noisy World

Have you ever wanted to find a quiet place where you can simply relax and feel peace away from the problems and hassles of the world, yet when you find it you still hear the ramblings of your mind? That noise which often acts as a barrier to the feeling of peace within is the noise that Prem Rawat talks about and writes about in his book £Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World”.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hear-Yourself-Peace-Noisy-World/dp/006307074X/webbook05

So how can we stop that noise or at least stop listening to it, in an easy way?

That is what Prem refers to as the Techniques of Self-Knowledge.

To receive the gift of those techniques is a simple process of preparation. Prem’s on-line program called PEAK is a series of short videos that a person can watch as their own rate on phone or tablet, available for free at the TimelessToday website

https://www.premrawat.com/peak-know-yourself/

Here is my own story of my life leading up to and after receiving that gift of Knowledge back in 1972.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838440127/

 

 

Letter to my local councillors

 I am concerned about Norwich City Council's social housing options policy.

I read about Government and other concern about loneliness amongst the elderly, many of who are forced to live alone due to Norwich City Council's housing policies.

I understand that two bedroom bungalows and two bedroomed ground floor flats are reserved for families and not available for the elderly, as a matter of policy.

Those families could be housed in upper storey flats or houses, whereas older people often have problems with stairs or noise made by tenants of flats above or below them.

Many elderly people may had lost a partner and suffer from living alone, even if they are still physically capable or have home helpers.  They would surely benefit from being allowed to share two bedroomed accomodation?

I am asking you to look into this policy and try to change it.  I realise there may be a shortage of two bedroomed bungalows but it seems senseless to give them to families rather than elderly friends or companions.

In addition of course those elderly people who may have to live along are paying more in enrgy bills, TV licenses, phone and internet services and probably food bills, often out of their only income which is their pensions.

 REPLIES:
Thank you for your email, Cllr Gail Harris who is the cabinet member for Housing will be in a better position to response.
Cllr Kendrick, Paul <p.kendrick@cllr.norwich.gov.uk>

Prem Rawat events

 Prem Rawat has been speaking at a series of events in Europe - London, Glastonbury, Berlin and Barcelona so far and next weekend in Milan. I feel fortunate that I can watch and listen via the internet live, via TimelessToday site. Even more fortunate that I have found his talks inspirational, reassuring, humorous and enjoyable. Even more fortunate that he does so many events in Europe and other continents and do look forward to many more. I continue to recommend his teaching sand the techniques he freely gives to those seeking inner knowledge of self and inner peace and joy. My book, below, is my personal story of my journey towards that almost 50 years ago. I put the lowest possible price on this, almost no commission, just a few pence which will go to good causes, so that others may feel some inspiration for themselves. It's available in most amazon stores, just replace the .co.uk with .com, .fr, .es, .de, .it,  etc, or order through bookshops using the ISBN number 978-1838440121 or direct from me.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838440127