Given the amount of atypical commotion, we suspected there might be some sort of dignitary on the 6th floor of our hotel near the Hyderabad airport. But only on the morning of our departure when we chatted up a bright young lad in the hallway did we discover the beloved Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, was just two doors down the hall, accompanied by a substantial entourage entirely occupying all the other rooms!

Soon after, we found ourselves in his purview with a brief opportunity, captured below in the video clip, to meet His Holiness as he departed through the mobs of followers waiting in the hotel lobby hoping for a glimpse and a similar chance to simply be in his presence. For us, such good fortune came to our front door to say hello!

It was a very fortuitous and memorable encounter on our very last morning in India after a rigorous three month tour that included a month in Darjeeling, a visit to the Sunderbans National Park, observing the pious cremation pyres at Varanasi (Benares), in addition to Paul’s mosquito bite — most likely in Jodhpur — resulting in a nasty case of dengue fever lingering long after our departure!

Meeting Sri Sri (a common honorific for a holy man) was an utterly humbling departing gesture from our beloved Mother India! You can learn more about Gurudev Ravi Shankar here.