STD, PCO, ISD, Baum Chandigarh...

Still in the fabulous area of Gokarna surrounded by Masala Chai Philosophers, European hippies that have never gone back, molecular and genetic biologists and a stack of familiar faces from the Andaman Islands. What once was a doomed looking recovery has turned out to be a fantastical gathering of traveling companions and reflections.

During one of the famed discussion periods the topic of my accident came up. The significance of all that was represented on that lucky December day was analyzed. Why was it that the other two riders made it through and the bulls hit me? The fact that the bulls were fighting to begin with on the road I was traveling upon was also in question. What did all this represent - it all happened for a reason? That reason was the mission of this particular discussion.

A consensus was met with the Hindu significance of the cow as the basis. The cow is a sacred animal in India. There is a law that exists here that if you kill a cow you can serve eleven years in prison. Cows mingle with the crowd here at Om Beach, not to mention the rest of India. They have the right of way all the way.

Nandi, the bull, is Shiva's vehicle. In order to create one must destroy and that is on Shiva's broad greyish-blue (with a pinch of lavender) shoulders. Shiva gives and Shiva takes. So getting back to the story of my renaissance, the two bulls (representing the creating and destroying aspects of Shiva) fighting for which one was to prevail and claim their pride and rule. In a world of duality, both of them need to exist to represent the whole. I thankfully accept the message which was hand delivered.

Something in me needed to be destroyed to allow room for something to be created. Boiled down to the bare elements, what remained in the pot was quite black - an ego. Watching my wounds heal I've learned a great deal about my ego. The ego was the raw flesh that existed in place of my skin, that protective layer that shields me from bacteria and infections was removed to bare my vulnerability. I had been caring for the wounds but lo and behold in India it is extremely difficult to shield away infections.

Losing sight of what is precious and dear in this world comes with great pain and loss. I lost sight of this and allowed something in me to grow and permit me to forget. As a result, I had to learn the lesson the hard way as I have often found myself doing in the past.