India has such a rich, ancient and refined culture, it’s deepness and intelligence makes me feel such a humble human.

Yesterday I arrived in Mumbai, I am staying with Pranati and her family. Pranati I met last December and kept in contact with, she is related to the family in Dehra Dun that have become dear friends during my stay in India. Pranati lives in Bandra, the ‘Bollywood’ neighborhood of Mumbai where all the film stars have their apartments looking out over the sea. Mumbai is quite a different place to Benares, India’s spiritual heart, where I spent so long. Mumbai is the economical center of India. It is interesting. Or maybe Pranati and her family make it interesting.

Pranati and her family live in a house built on top of a shop, the family has lived there for 60 years. Son Sunjay is married to Vibha, the sister of my friend in Dehra Dun, and they have a young boy who is very much loved and makes sure the house is always full of life. Both daughters - strong Indian women - have made the conscious decision not to marry and to dedicate their life and energy to something different. Pranati works with the Times of India, officially as tax editor. But actually the environment and crimes against women are her cases - issues she heartily wants to investigate and write about. It is so interesting to talk with her, she has many knowledge and a deep passion for her work. Her sister Aditi works as a computer specialist and teaches individuals of all ages. ‘Sometimes I wonder what I would do in life if there were no computers’ she was telling me this morning ‘I just cannot imagine!’ she continued. ‘You know, the first time I touched a computer was an amazing experience. I remember typing a text and then using the backspace button and there was no smudging of ink, just a pure white space where I had just typed something before….. it almost made me cry as this machine was something I would imagine as a child, and then it had become real!’

Besides her passion for computers, Aditi spends her free time contributing to different projects. This week she is taking me to a place at the beach where a woman is taking care of 50 street children. The children are getting classes in several subjects and Aditi wants to propose to teach them computers. Also she believes that the general education children receive lacks building of character. So she has started giving classes, every Sunday, teaching young children the values of life by translating philosophical issues into stories. ‘If you buy a television, you get a manual with it. This manual shows you have to make optimal use of the television. Without the manual it will be difficult, almost impossible to make full use of the television. Like this manual, for people there is the Bhaghavad Gita. It is a book that - if you study it carefully - will enable you to truly make the best of your life.’

Their father, aged 90, has a room in the house with only his bed and many books inside. His wife he kindly requested to move to another room some years back, as he needed more space for his books. He cannot hear and speaks little, but when he does speak, he words are like pearls. To be able to communicate with father we write him notes, which he kindly answers with a light in his eyes. He showed me his book collection yesterday and it made me want to lock myself up in a cave for at least a year, taking a pile of these precious scriptures with me. My hands were trembling from what my eyes saw. Books on poetry, philosophy, art, history. About India and its position in the world.

During my stay here in India, from what I have seen and softly touched, I believe there are many hidden treasures in India that can enrich the entire world. Being in India and having a deep experience of its culture is like touching the essence of what it is all really about. Knowledge here goes far beyond anything I have ever learned at school or university. It is pure knowledge. Yet India is so modest. Maybe that is what makes it so great.