Spiritualism

Feb 23
Kalinga Eye Hospital, Dhenkanal

I have met a very spiritual and a very inspiring man – Dr. Dave Sahani. He used to be the resident surgeon here but has since moved on to start his own hospital, coming back to Kalinga only once per week to crash through 40 or 50 surgeries in one sitting. I met him briefly twice before and was already impressed from 5 or 10 minutes of interaction. However, this last visit we sat down for an hour and talked about spirituality, medicine, my travels, and life. It was exactly what I needed. Although I hadn’t thought too much about Indian spirituality before I arrived or made any specific plans to explore it during this trip, I’m really happy this introduction landed in my lap. Not only is Dr. Sahani a great surgeon and doctor (a ‘whole-picture’ physician), but he has a bottomless supply of spiritual advice. While definitely a preacher, he finds a way to relate to you very personally in a short amount of time. Or maybe his type of life advice just has a way of sounding pertinent and inspiring in whichever context you choose to apply it. In any case, talking with him gave me lots to think about – everything from the reasons behind childhood happiness, to meditation, to what it means to miss someone and whether love is possible where there is missing without sadness. He also gave me lots to do: a suggested itinerary for my two-week travel adventure (which starts Tuesday), passing through various meaningful and spiritual places. It sounds pretty excellent – it is basically my original plan with a few substitutions, leaving some of the more touristy highlights for my next trip to India (whenever that may be). This is not to say that the holy places aren’t also touristy… they definitely take up a large chunk of my Lonely Planet. Hopefully with Dr. Sahani’s advice I can avoid the phony yogis, gurus and trendy ashrams and see a bit of what Indian spiritual energy is really about. I’m not going to come home a converted Hindu or even Buddhist, but I hope to be more in touch with my spiritual side or at least have spent some reflective time for myself.