English follows
つい先日、十数年ぶりにインド舞踊の古い友人から連絡があった。
なんでも舞踏の合宿に参加するために月末から８月初旬にかけて日本に来るとのこと。
アメリカ生まれ/育ちのインド人で同い年のMaliniは、バラタナティヤムの姉妹弟子で２００２年頃から数年の間は毎年のようにチェンナイで会っていた。最後に会ったのは何年前だったっけ？？
Odissiを踊り始めてからはあまりチェンナイに行かなくなって、タイミングが違ったり色々でいつの間にか会わなくなっていった。
舞踏の合宿が富山だったので帰国前に長野市に寄ってもらいそこで会うことに✨
帰国前の１日、東京で過ごすよりは善光寺の宿坊に泊まったら素敵な日本の体験になるんじゃないかと思い提案した。私も初めて知ったけど、宿坊に泊まると精進料理も食べられるし善光寺のお朝事（朝の法要）にも参加できる。
そんなわけで昨日は長野市までドライブ。道中チェンナイで彼女と共にした色々な場面が目に浮かんだ。
駅の改札から出てきた彼女は見た目は以前とほとんど変わらなかった。
（もちろんお互いそれなりに年はとったけど）
まるでタイムマシーンのような不思議な感覚。
おりしも雨がザーザーと激しく降り出したのでまず駅ビルでランチ。
十数年振りなのに、まるでついこの間会ったかのように自然に会話が進む。
食事が終わる頃には雨は止み、宿坊でチェックインを済ませてからお寺へお参りに。
久しぶりに訪れた善光寺は荘厳で、何度か来たことあるのに新鮮な感動があった。
善光寺には「お戒壇めぐり」という、真っ暗な回廊を手で壁を触りながらゆっくり進み、「極楽の錠前」を探り当て秘仏のご本尊と結縁する道場がある。回廊の入り口はまだ外の灯りが少し入るが進むほどに真っ暗になり何も見えない。
真っ暗闇の中、壁をつたって時々前を歩く彼女にぶつかりながら進んでいくとガチャガチャと鍵を触る音が聞こえてくる。音がだんだん近づいてきて、私の手に鍵が触れる。他の人と同じようにガチャガチャと動かして音を出し進んでいく、、、。出口か近づくと少し明るくなってきて、やっと外に出ると開放感と共におかしさが込み上げてきて二人で笑っていた。
その後お土産を探しに門前通りをおしゃべりしながら歩き、日が暮れ始めてカフェで休み、二人の共通のインドの友人とビデオコールで話す。そのあとまた少し歩いた。
名残惜しいが私は翌日予定もあったので彼女を宿坊まで送ってお別れした。駐車場に向かって歩いているとポツポツと雨が降り始めた。
Just the other day, I heard from an old friend from my Indian classical dance days whom I hadn’t seen in more than a decade.
She told me that she would be coming to Japan from the end of July through early August to take part in a Butoh retreat.
Malini, an Indian woman born and raised in the U.S. and the same age as me, was my fellow disciple in Bharatanatyam. From around 2002, we used to meet in Chennai almost every year for several years. When was the last time we saw each other, I wonder…?
After I started dancing Odissi, I spent less and less time in Chennai, and with our schedules no longer quite lining up, somehow we gradually lost touch.
Since the retreat was being held in Toyama, we decided that she would stop by Nagano City before flying back home, and that’s where we would meet again. ✨
I thought that, rather than spending her last day in Japan in Tokyo, it might be a lovely way to experience a little of traditional Japan if she stayed at a shukubo, a temple lodging, at Zenkoji Temple. I had never stayed at one myself, but apparently guests can enjoy shojin ryori, traditional Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, and even take part in the morning service at Zenkoji.
And so, yesterday I drove to Nagano City. Along the way, all sorts of memories of the times we had shared in Chennai came vividly back to me.
When she came through the station ticket gates, she looked almost exactly as I remembered her.
(Of course, we have both aged a little!)
It was such a strange feeling, almost as if I had stepped into a time machine.
Just as we arrived, the rain suddenly came pouring down, so we first went to a restaurant in the station building for lunch.
Even though we hadn’t seen each other for more than ten years, the conversation flowed so naturally, as if we had only seen each other the other day.
By the time we finished lunch, the rain had stopped. After checking in at the temple lodging, we went to visit the temple.
Zenkoji was as majestic as ever. I had been there several times before, but this time it moved me in a completely fresh way.
There is a place at Zenkoji called Okaidan Meguri, a passageway beneath the main hall where you walk slowly through complete darkness, feeling your way along the wall with your hands. The purpose is to find the "Key to the Pure Land" and form a connection with the hidden principal Buddha.
At the entrance, a little daylight still filters in, but the farther you go, the darker it becomes, until eventually you can see absolutely nothing.
In the pitch darkness, we made our way along the wall, occasionally bumping into each other. Then we began to hear the sound of someone fumbling with a lock.
The sound gradually came closer, until my own hand finally found the lock.
Just like everyone else, I moved it back and forth, making that little rattling sound, and then continued on.
As we approached the exit, the darkness slowly gave way to light.And when we finally stepped outside, we suddenly felt so relieved and found the whole experience so funny that we both burst out laughing.
After that, we wandered along the street in front of the temple, chatting as we looked for souvenirs. As the sun began to set, we stopped at a café for a little while, then walked around a bit more.
Eventually, though it was hard to say goodbye, I had plans the next day, so I walked her back to the temple lodging and said farewell.
As I was walking back toward the parking lot, I felt the first few drops of rain beginning to fall again.
