16 Giorgio Bonazzoli A house of character 16th January 1981 |
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It is time to catch the night-train to Benares, another sacred city on the Ganges, and an ancient seat of Hindu learning. Asi Ghat is the section where many foreigners live. I have the address of an American girl who spent years here in austere sadhana until she met the son of a Government minister. They are now married and have four sons which has made her popular with her in-laws. But she is away in her Delhi house, so no Interview from her. I take an Interview from a French girl instead, but it hasn’t come off well; I can’t use it. I am now being shown a hut by the river: it’s bleak and dark and sordid. Two boys live here; one is supposed to be taking a Ph.D. at the university. I ask: What are you specializing in? Resentment! The other boy says: He left the University of Wales on a white horse in centurian garb to study life in theUniversity of the World… The prospective Ph. D. is toasting chapatis over an open charcoal fire — grabbing the mike, he confirms: That’s the reality, man! I tell him his chapati is on fire; he thrusts the mike into the flames, calling: Tell your story man, tell it as it really is! The other is saying, threatening: You want to take a good Interview? — better get your act together and come back tonight…he don’t speak till dark. I snatch up my things and crawl out into the light saying I’ll think about it. But no sooner outside, I have to go back to rescue my forgotten shaw/blanket which acts in place of an overcoat to keep me warm. A blond infant is spreading jam over it. A Japanese boy is now pointing to an old house of much character and is telling me about a foreign scholar who lives there. Well, why not? Anything can happen. The scholar is sitting cross-legged on his bed, pandit-style, surrounded by books and manuscripts. He could pass for a high caste Hindu here in, of all places, Benares. But when he speaks, there is much music and laughter in his voice, and, yes — that timbre -- he could almost be Italian…
Interview 16 Well, the first thing I ought to tell you is that in spite of my Hindu pandit clothes, I am a priest — a Catholic priest. But everyone just calls me Giorgio…I suppose it’s easier for them. But are you really Italian?
Where were you born? The city of Stradivarius? No one from our institute had ever gone abroad except for missionary work, so my superior had to carefully consider my request. After a week, he agreed, but with this warning: Don’t go to Banaras; it’s not a place for Catholic priests. He had been in India forty years, but I never knew what he had against Banaras. Anyway, in November 1964 I arrived in Delhi — and now it is important — as soon as I put foot in India I felt I had come home. Whatever I saw was already known. I wrote in my diary: I don’t know anyone here, but if they told me I am in a remote place in southern Italy — a place I had never seen — yet I would know it as my own country. At the first moment I was writing so. I went straight to Allahabad, and within days I was telling my colleagues: Why don’t you speak the language of the people? — why don’t you eat what they eat? — why don’t you dress as they dress? — why don’t you bathe in the Ganges? Nobody understood me, and I remained upset for months until I met Raimon Panikkar, the author of many books on the dialogue between Hinduism and Christianity. I explained my feelings to him. He was also a Christian, but he opened my eyes: I could see I could remain what I had been brought up to be, but could also open myself up to Hinduism. After one month in Allahabad I came to Banaras. As I saw there were Capucines and Jesuits living unafraid, I decided I could also stay. I was introduced to a professor at the university, and so improved my Sanskrit. This went on for two years. Then I had to return to Italy, but with the idea that I would certainly come back. Permission was granted, so back I came in 1968. I came back with two ideas…maybe I should call them problems: first, how to support myself (you see, I wanted to be independent financially and make my own decisions); and second: how to get a visa? For money I began to teach Italian in Delhi at the Italian Embassy; to get the visa, I enrolled at the University of Delhi to study the Puranas. The Puranas are half way between the Vedas and modern Hinduism. So by studying them I could get a better understanding of the Vedas as well as modern Hinduism. After three and a half years study, I discovered there is a center of Puranic studies in Banaras which publishes a magazine called Purana. It is run by the Maharaja of Banaras so I asked him if there was a place for me. He accepted me, and since 1975 I have been assistant editor of the magazine. We do research work on the Puranas. So this is the external history of how I come to be here. Can you say anything
about the internal happenings? Would you give an illustration? I had faith that if Christ is really God, He will make everything clear. In an unsuspecting way He did. It wasn’t the sort of victory in which he remained and all the other gods were destroyed — there was no need to destroy them. Slowly I went back to my Christian faith, but in a broader way…there was no exclusion of the others, rather the inclusion of them all. I saw I was contacting God through Shiva, through Vishnu, through the shakti of the Devi as well as through Christ. This encouraged me to be more and more sincere in my prayers to the Hindu gods, to understand them better. I never see them in conflict with Christ or my Christian faith. My faith deepened. Did you study any form
of yoga? You are happy going on
this way? Most of your time must
be taken up with your literary work and studies, but have you travelled much
in India? I wrote asking if I could
Interview him for this book, but the letter was returned: I didn’t have
the right address. That will help me very
much. Now as I understand it, you are employed by the Maharaja — how does
this affect your relationship with the Church authorities? I take it that you are
accepted by the local Hindus. Living in this sacred
city, do you ever feel the need to keep up with what is going on in the world
outside? Was there any time when
you couldn’t relate to the usual difficulties of Indian life which sometimes
come hard on those of us brought up in the efficient West? Do you eat hot, spicy
food? You must have seen many
Westerners pass through Banaras over the years. Have you met anyone who
has become absolutely absorbed in a form of sadhana
or the Hindu rites and rituals? As a priest how do you
accept the Hindu doctrine of karma and reincarnation? You have so completely
associated yourself with the Hindu way of life, but do you ever miss Western
culture or society? Now I think you have heard enough…are you not
ready for some chai? I’m sure you are, so let us go to the chai shop…they
make good tea.
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© Malcolm Tillis 2006 |