amma the homeless guru ii

the man whose car we were in, who drove feverishly through narrow paths in the back roads of thalessery, was a disciple of the ancient woman i sat next to, whose bare thighs brushed against mine. he had been with amma, committed to her specialness for the past 20 years, he explained to hrin, who sat on the passenger side and turned every so often to translate for his wife n i.

when we got there, to the man's newly constructed house, his entire family came out, one by one. first his smiley daughter and then his shy son, both old enough to be skeptical, young enough to be wide-eyed, curious and obedient. although the man left the door open, and although we all came out of the car, amma didn't. she just sat in there and looked about, first at the spaces between the once-village of coconut huts, now a pillar of development, where stone and marble replaced hay and mud.

the children came with chai and gilabi's, the wife of the man  and his sister came with prayers and sunken heads, the mother of the man sat next to amma in the car, seeking prayers and blessings wih hands interlaced in humility.

20 minutes later, after we watched amma through sip and munch, on the porcelain porch, amma remained seated, making a gesture here, emitting an indecipherable there.

we returned to the car and drove off.

hrin told us amma wanted to return home, but when we got to the intersection and turned towards the long journey back, she made some sounds and a gesture that the man understood to mean to drive in the opposite direction and we did, for miles, until we reached his guru, a 102 year old yogi, who sat still on the porch.

the yogi was as bright as the white flowing panjabi and beard he wore. his glasses were thick as lakes. he held his palms together steadily in namaste upon seeing his student, and we each took turns paying our respect to the living legend. his family trickled outside, watching us, offering chai and food and the restroom. amma looked at him but remained in the car. the yogi walked in a tremble over to where she sat, bowing down and touching the feet of amma.

who was this woman that a 102 year old living legend, a seer of the ancient mathematics of yoga, bowed down to? what was the medicine she offered, that made the people around her lower like mayans to the sun?