Kedar manjhi dropped a truth bomb within five minutes of us stepping on to his boat.

Watching his seemingly frail 80-year old frame deftly rowing us across the Ganga, I was curious to know how come the whole lot of them haven’t just turned to using motors on their boats. So I asked, and pat came the answer:

Arrey, motor se jaldi ghumne mein kaunsa anand hai! Ab yeh dekho, dheere dheere jaaney mein maza jo hai, thoda idhar dekho thoda udhar dekho, thoda humse batiyao bhi, is ka anand hi alag hai.

Reminding me, inadvertently, that sometimes the joy is in taking the slow route.

One year ago: Come a little bit closer, hear what I have to say
Three years ago: Small joys