If there was ever a metaphor for one’s spiritual journey, then this was it. The journey until Lonavala was humdrum enough to be pointless. Lonavala, as we sped past it, was distressing with its crowd, ugly buildings, and litter. Bushi dam at the outskirts of Lonavala was submerged in a sea of humanity. It was more remarkable to encounter a sea of humanity on top of the hills, scampering up the two once-scenic waterfalls. We were caught in a silly near-stationary traffic jam there caused by pedestrians, shops, unregulated parking and a mountain of litter for almost 45 minutes. As we sat fretting, fuming and ravening (it was way past our lunch time), we thought of God for the first time. Miraculously we got past what seemed like “samsara” and the road rose steadily uphill, winding its way through green slopes. Crowd thinned, although we saw another knot of people at Lion point, doing very strange things such as riding a camel! Immediately past Lion point—silence. The woods aro