I AM STUCK IN FRANCE FOR THE PAST SEVEN MONTHS
By Swami Pranavananda
We were six persons living in my parents home.
Unfortunately, both Father and Mother have passed away long ago. My elder and younger brothers were both taken away by cancer created by the many years of their heavy cigarettes smoking. I miss them all terribly. My Sister, the youngest child of the family, is living with her husband retired from the French Railways. They live in a very pleasant home in a village, surrounded by white rocky hills covered with Pine trees and close by the Mediterranean sea.
Being a resident of India, I own a comfortable home in Chennai, in the South, where I live for the past 50 years. Yes, a whole Life, indeed! My partner and myself are happily living together for more than 15 years. No one, in our family, wanted to keep my parents’tiny home where most of us were born and grew up. My brothers and sister all said there were too many and expensive repairs to do. Also, personally, in those days, for me, I had no need of this house. Actually, I used to come to France only once a year and at that, for only few days.
However, nowadays, I wish we had not sold it as it is full of souvenirs from everyone of us and of what is now left of our family! Now, my partner and myself find ourselves totally homeless and have only the option but to beg my friends and some members of our family to lodge and feed us.
After the initial Two weeks spent in my sister and brother-in-law home from our arrival on March 4th till end April 2020, we spent two and half months in Gérard and Hélène’s home. They have their home in the center of my birth town BEZIERS. For the past 30 years, they are our very close to me and very sincere friends.
It was the beginning of March and, though the sky was clear, it was still Winter. One day, being fed up of remaining locked up in their home, I decided to go and visit the streets where our home was. I enjoyed going through all those narrow streets with those very old houses.
Reaching our home street, there was where our home stood. “My” street was there with its name printed on a metallic rectangle, in two languages: French and Occitan, our very old language very close to Latin. What shocked me was that old street was not being kept clean by the present owners…
All doors and windows of our medieval street were closed and without a soul around!!!…then, the bells of the Sainte Madeleine Church started to ring the hour…hearing those sounds, my mind brought back my younger years. Then my throat got suddenly tight and dry while my memory started rushing down to my very young life, bringing back so many old, yet so vivid memories…with my school buddies we were playing glass marbles up and down the metallic pipes from the roof above. While those marbles where going down, the ones reaching the farthest would win…of course, it was always when we were all loudly arguing as to which marbles owners had won.
Meanwhile, mother would bring out one of those straw knitted seat chairs where she would sit and knit for us, sometimes a muffler, or a pullover, or gloves for the coming Winter or socks for the snowy days. Of course, she was not the only mother sitting, knitting, discussing with other nearby sitting mothers living in same street. My father and other fathers were busy at their favorite game of Pétanque and were arguing much more loud than us with our marbles.
Those were the days when there was no Television, no loudly rushing bike, nor car, as our street was too narrow. So much so that some cars were getting stuck half way through the street with both side narrow pavements. The Car driver had to go backward to find another way, another street with more space to move…Memories are indeed far away.
Now, while waiting for the Indian Embassy to grant me a long term visa for me to return to India and there, to live my usual working life and enjoying my Spiritual one. I miss all that so much…
During all of those seven months, we were forced to live in some friends homes. We had not other option. Moreover, we knew them well. With some of them we grew together. However nice or not so good our hosts were, it was for me very difficult to live for so long in an alien house. In average, we usually stayed about one month and half in every house. the fifth one in all those 7 months of waiting.
Meanwhile, the Indian Government had to decide as to when they would open their borders. Also, for them to re-open their Embassy and, for my visa to be issued. Most importantly, we need to know when they were going to re-start flying that line: Paris to Abu Dabi and to Chennai, or, maybe we will take an Air France flight direct to India.
Of course, I am very much thankful to all these house owners to have accepted helping us, by giving us our lodging and feeding before returning to my home in India. Like every owner who lodged us during those last 7 months of waiting, we were also provided food. Beside the food they were giving us, they were also allowing us to use the Internet, TV use. Of course, they also accepted my partner John.
If that house had been clean and tidy, surely, I would have loved to stay there much longer as the country side of “Périgord Vert” is so beautiful and so quiet. See the picture at the beginning of this article. However, at times, their house and its surroundings were not very clean.
The worst had been reached when the 25 years old house Owner of the last owner asked me, just as I was about to go to sleep, to put for the night, his two massive dogs in the small room just next to the toilets!!! It means that in the middle of the night, I will have to ensure those two massive animals do not free themselves from me and run all over the house or bite me.
I was disturbed by the thought where, in the middle of the night, my bladder would demand for me to rush to the toilet and relieve myself. Meanwhile, I would have to make sure those animals do not escape. With my full bladder, and half awake, I would have to run all over or, if those dogs were to try to escape out of the house, they would start running around the vast countryside in the middle of the night, with me running after them, I could get a high voltage shock from their electric fencing then, to finally, exhausted, I would catch them by their collars and force them back into their tiny night room. Imagine! Two huge animals, a white and black dotted Dalmatian and a brown coated with golden eyes Labrador!
How am I going to handle those dogs when it comes in the middle of the night? No idea at all….actually, I told the dog’s owner in a stern voice: “I can’t do that at my age. Sorry! Good night” He did not argue and we both went to sleep in our respective bedroom.
The point is that in 8 months, I will be reaching my 80th year. Moreover, I do not feel very stable on my two legs. Therefore, If I have to rush to the bathroom, I will have to keep my balance and, those huge animals might jump at me and happily thinking I had come to free them up.
Meanwhile, my mind would be fixed on where the light switch could be. Suddenly, behind the door, the two huge dogs would start barking. I could knock a chair around the dining table as it seems it is their habit to leave those chairs in a disorderly manner, just like leaving their shoes scattered on the floor as they enter their home. As usual, everything is left topsy turvy inside or outside of their house. In darkness, I have to slowly slide my feet on the floor so that I do not knock my wounded leg where I had a cancer surgery! I am scared to knock it or walk on a dog poop I would not have seen!
All my writings are about my personal Life and about people I meet or who are part of my Life.
