The World Culture Festival, New Delhi, India

(Some background on the word “Aho” and The World Culture Festival is elsewhere on Medium)

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you’ve probably already heard something about the World Culture Festival that happened on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi, India March 11–13, 2016. A majestic “floating” stage of 7 acres was built without a foundation sunk into the ground. 3.75 Million people from over 155 countries around the world attended the three day festivities.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend and this is my story.

We were five of us from our home state of Delaware, USA. Our friend had graciously offered us accommodation at her parents’ home in New Delhi. We had booked a taxi for the three days of the event; brought with us copies of our US Passport, event registration email, yada yada yada; We were all set to have FUN! And fun we did have! Indeed.

We gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the venue early. We had been warned of the New Delhi traffic which was not to be taken lightly. And arrive early we did! Our event registration and passes went smoothly. We were greeted by smiling volunteers of the Art of Living USA who gave us pointers on the seating arrangements for International Participants.

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On we went on a long walk from the car park area to the security checkpoint onwards to the seating area. The first thing that struck us was the sheer SIZE of the event!! Immense does not even begin to describe it! A 5 storey high stage, 7 acres in total area loomed in front of us. We could see this from literally a mile away! There were giant LCD display screens, clear display signs for zonal seating (Internationals were in one area; People from various regions of India were in various areas etc.), red and green carpets… We literally got a red carpet welcome!

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And finally we were seated! Super excited we were!! Hey & Hi-Fives to people that we knew from back home and a more polite Hello to participants from other countries; We were all set… traditional Indian dresses… after all, this was the Culture Festival. The sun was blazing down on us and out came our hats. Yes, we also had sunscreen and mosquito repellant. Our carefully laid plans were working to perfection.

The Sun hid behind a cloud. Phew! That was a relief. It started to cool down. More relief. Sunglasses came off, lights on the stage came on. We were all set for the grand opening!

And then the rains came! The heavens literally opened up!! Hailstorm in New Delhi in the month of March!! Did I mention we were well prepared? Not!

We were drenched. Traditional Indian dresses, open toed shoes, everything… soaking wet! And then the winds picked up and New Delhi, on the banks of the Yamuna river, suddenly became very cold. Wet underwear is an unpleasant experience.

Through all this, the World Culture Festival program started on time! In pouring rain, singers gave their opening invocations, dancers performed, musicians played, all on schedule! The smiles on their faces were captured for eternity on the live Webcast broadcast worldwide.

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In attendance, on the open roof dias, were world leaders including the Prime Minister of India. They all braved the weather and stood in support of the one man with a vision for world peace, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. They each spoke so highly of Sri Sri; especially so the Indian Prime Minister who brought the house down with his supremely motivational speech in support of the work done by the Art of Living worldwide.

And through his speech, as I was cold and shivering, I realized, Aho! The best way of silencing critics is to make them irrelevant. And relegated to irrelevance the critics were.

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The rain did not dampen the mood! Quite to the contrary, we were treated to the most beautiful rainbow!!

About three-quarters of the way into the Day 1 program, the cold became a bit much for us and we decided to leave. On our walk back to our car is when the fun really started.

The World Culture Festival venue was leveled reclaimed land on the banks of the river Yamuna. As such, the unseasonal rains drenched the compacted soil and made is mushy and slick. In some places the slush was three inches deep!

Did I mention open toed shoes? And flowing Indian traditional outfit? Drenched?

It was a nightmarish walk back through the slush and mud! So many hundreds of thousands of attendees. Dimly lit exterior grounds. Slips and falls.

There was potential for utter chaos to happen. But there was complete order. Self imposed order. No policeman in sight. No one giving instructions. Simply people helping each other. No pushing or shoving. No stampede. Nothing such.

The young helping the elderly. No differences between economic status, nationality, no differences. Just humans helping humans negotiate the slush. I particularly remember one incident where a young man was getting a bit frustrated and starting to vent “Damned idiotic organization, such irresponsible arrangements…”. Another chap walking next to him said “Bhaiya, Jai Gurudev bolo aur chalte raho” (Brother, let the Universal intelligence guide you and keep walking).

I looked at this person in awe! This was not a philosophy professor, nor someone economically well off. This was a simple farmer. And this person was inspired by the teachings of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

In adversity, keep calm and let the Universe guide you.

Such is the impact of this man, Sri Sri. Such is the power of his simple teaching. Several hundreds of thousands of his followers left the rain drenched slushy venue without incident. I am humbled to have witnessed this first hand.

We finally made it to our car. Thankfully, our driver had the foresight to move our vehicle onto dry ground so we could get out without further incident. We did notice several vehicles stuck with wheels spinning in the slush with several people helping them get out.

On the drive back home, some in our group started venting their frustration: … I’m not coming tomorrow if it is going to rain again… Better to watch the webcast from home…

The wise one in our group kept quiet. I do not know if others noticed this but I did. She kept quiet.

My thoughts raced to the artists and performers who were on stage in the downpour. They had arrived at the venue well before I had. They did not have the luxury to get up and leave! And they were much more heavily dressed up than I was; and they had their musical instruments; And everything was wet for them as well.

Suddenly I felt very small. Woose. The doubts started… was I actually as committed as I thought I was? Did I not have enough forbearance to stick it through till the end? I suddenly remembered something an elderly Canadian lady had said to me on one of my flights to Toronto:

“There is no such thing as bad weather. It is simply insufficient clothing.”

The Experience, The Emotion & The Knowledge.

The next day we woke up refreshed. As we scanned the internet for coverage of the Day 1 events, we read of several more amazing things that had occurred. The foremost was that the show went on inspite of the rain.

Over breakfast, the complainers spoke first: “Let’s go get some raincoats and shoes and lets go tonight to show our support to the event. We’re here to support world peace and unity, not for a picnic.”

It’s amazing how with a little bit of rest and the practice (daily Sadhana) of Sudarshan Kriya, the mind unlatches from the immediate misery of an experience and focuses on the bigger picture and solutions come!

Off we went shopping! You’d think we made a bee-line for raincoats but no! We had three girls in our group and shopping for dresses they went! Sure, we would also buy raincoats but that was item number 2 on the list.

As the dress selection progressed (girls will be girls), it swallowed up time! Now we had one hour to find an off-season item like raincoat and rainshoes in an area of New Delhi that we were totally unfamiliar with. I could feel my frustration level building; my voice carried an edge when words came out! Not good.

Out of the blue my cell phone rings… It is my friend from my high school days. She is a local and she is in the area where we were and she was coming to meet me. “Stay in the shop you are in, I’ll be there in five” she says.

In walks my friend, her husband and her son. I make the introductions and handshakes and hugs all around. I mention we’re running short on time and we have this off-seasonal shopping list. She springs into action: she dispatches her son to Shop-A to look for raincoats; she herself goes to Shop-B. Her husband is instructed to take us to such-and-such shop for rainshoes. As we are trying on rainshoes, she Whatsapps photos of raincoats to her husband’s phone, we look, select, she buys.

In 12 minutes flat, we’re done with our most important shopping! It’s nothing short of a miracle!

As we walk back to our car, my friend’s husband, the foodie that he is, notices a not-to-miss place for Delhi street food! He practically force-feeds us lunch and in another 20 minutes, we’re totally set. Shopped and fed. The Universe enabled us through my friend.

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As we drove back home to change for the evening of Day 2 events, my US friends are in complete awe of how my high-school friend so completely took care of us. “How come you have such a friendship?” they asked me. The Sound of Music flashes into my mind:

“Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”

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I am lucky and blessed to have great friends.

We have a new driver for our taxi for Day 2. Our designated driver had to attend to an urgent family matter and found us a replacement. This new chap was from Kanpur. He came from a spiritual family and ever since he heard of the World Culture Festival he wanted to attend but could not get away from his driving duties. And, here is was… driving us to the event and getting a chance to participate in the free festival of culture. So wonderful how the Universe supports good intentions.

Unlike our driver from Day 1, this chap was chatty. He said that he had attended many many events but never one of this magnitude and scale! Even though he had not attended Day 1, he was saddened that the rain had played spoil-sport. “At spiritually charged events, the rain Gods always participate” he assured us. “But don’t worry”, he continued, “Today they will attend from afar.”

Day 2 began on the same high note that Day 1 ended. We were enthralled with cultural performances from various parts of the world! The Russians, Germans, Polish, Pakistanis, Mongolians, tribal dances from the states of India, the USA and many many more!

All through the evening of Day 2, we could see lightening flash across the heavy clouds in the night sky. Towards the very end of the schedule, the heavens opened up once again. The rain Gods could not stay away any longer!

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Out came our raincoats and umbrellas. This time we would not be beat. We sat through the rain showers and towards the end of the event slowly resolved to make our way back to our car ready to brave the slush.

The fantastic volunteers of the Art of Living had worked their magic overnight between Day 1 and Day 2. At places of the heaviest slush, there were wooden planks for us to step over! Volunteers with flashlights and a ready helping smile were well positioned to direct the crowds onto drier walk paths. So much attention was paid to the smallest details. Yet again, I was Humbled by the dedication of the volunteers to a simple instruction from Sri Sri:

“Make sure everyone is taken care of.”

Such is the power of wisdom from the Master.

On our drive back home, our driver was so thankful to us for letting him get the opportunity to attend the World Culture Festival. He thanked us! Amazing humility.

Around came the final evening on Day 3. Our driver confidently announced to us that today there would be no rains. (The weather report called for evening showers.) He said that his family and many others in Kanpur had organized a collective prayer session (called Yagna). That would take care of the rains he confidently announced.

As he dropped us to our entry gate, we gave him an extra pass that we had to the International Seating section. This way he could come all the way to the front to watch from up-close.

Day 3 was the finale! Sri Sri led a peace meditation. 3.7 million people meditated in pin-drop silence. The Sound of Silence was Deafening.

And, there were no rains.

As we walked back for the last time from the seating to the car park, I passed a group of policemen. They were sitting; just watching. I asked them how they were doing. One of them replied, in Hindi, “Sir ji, bas baithe hein. Maza le rahe hein. Kuch jyaada kaam nahi hai. Sab log khud hi sambhal rahe hein. Kaash har jagah aisa hi hota.” Translated,

“Sir, we’re just sitting. Enjoying the event. We don’t have much work. Everyone is behaving and handling things peacefully themselves. I wish all events were like this.”

This, I thought was pure Grace and Oneness.

On our way back home, our driver told us more stories from his hometown of Kanpur. He said that in the main crossroads of Kanpur, there were giant TV screens setup for people to collectively watch the live TV broadcast. Never had this happened for any event prior to this one.

Yes, I thought, this one is a unique event. People cut across country, cast, race, color, language and other such artificial barriers. The world came together as ONE.

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As I shift back into my more normal activities and world travels at the cutting edge of industrial gas processing, I carry with me the feeling of Oneness. I take with me the conviction that there is an overwhelmingly large number of good people anywhere I go. The disruptive elements are only a handful.

Let’s celebrate Unity in Diversity. Let’s celebrate Oneness. Let’s make the disruptors irrelevant.

Sanghachadvam — Moving together as ONE!
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One World Family!

Moments from the World Culture Festival are a click away:
Flags of WCF 2016
Wall Street Journal Photo Story of WCF 2016
Video Coverage of All Days…
… Day 1, March 11, 2016
… Day 2, March 12, 2016
… Day 3, March 13, 2016

(To learn Meditation under the expert guidance of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, visit artofliving.org in your country and find local centers with more information.)