God dag!

A letter from 18 October 2025:

“The next stop, I am getting off of this train - no matter what!” I said, fully determined. Abhishek glanced up and mumbled: “And they call it Gorakhpur Express… Arpita said nothing. The three of us were stuck together by the shared ordeal of Indian Railways. The twelve-hour delay affected Abhishek and Arpita much more: they missed their connection, with family waiting back home to celebrate Diwali. Stragenly, though, it felt as if only my patience with the train system wearing thin…

As we were rolling stepfoot into Domingarh, a ten-minute ride from our destination, Abhishek suddenly stood up and, without much warning, jumped off our train. “See you in a few days in Bagaha!” he shouted as he disappeared into the thick smoke surrounding Domingarh. “Floris, don’t get off yet, this neighbourhood isn’t any good… look around, there’s absolutely nothing but dust and garbage!” Arpita argued. Looking outside you could indeed hardly see an actual station. I agreed with Arpita, I could not leave here. Indecision kept clouding my thought process, uncertainty about where I would sleep the night, and all off my former resolve had gone up in thin air.

Eventually, the train started moving again and barely ten minutes later we arrived in Gorakhpur. After a bit of haggling, I took an auto to Arogya Mandir. Though Gorakhpur was full of life at midnight, Arogya Mandir seemed fast asleep when I arrived. Founded in 1940 by the non-violent resister Vithal Das Modi, Arogya Mandir is a naturopathic ashram. I had come to study its ideas on naturopathic non-violence and its role in India’s independence movement. But when I arrived, I found the gate firmly shut. Just as worries about the night began creeping in, I spotted a guard at the far end of the wall. He asked whether I had an appointment with Vimal Modi. I nodded, and moments later the beautiful wooden doors opened. A gentle, well-kept man stood before me and said: Don’t excuse yourself for being late, the train is outside of your control. Little did I know that he was the son of Vithal Das Modi himself, the revolutionary naturopath who founded Arogya Mandir. Feeling embarrassed of how unkept, and probably how smelly (!), I was after my long train journey, I kept my tick jacket tightly closed. He put me at ease, gave me a room, and suggested I freshen up. We would talk in the morning.

I reported at six a.m., and with the others I shared a cup of tea before starting to walk on the circular mud path beside the dormitory corridors. My fellow path walkers looked visibly surprised to see me. Vimal Modi soon walked next to me and we began talking. He spoke about his father, appeal of the naturopathic lifestyle, his meetings with Gandhi, and his own pride in the centre. Insisting on the non-violent nature of naturopathic treatment, he was careful to separate it from politics. “Gandhi requested Vithal Das Modi to only focus on naturopathy, not politics”, he explained. He was equally glad to hear why I came, and appreciated my research interest. 



After the walk a light, and delicious nature cure breakfast awaited me: fresh papaya, walnuts, and sprouted greens. Treatment then began for the “patients”, with heat packs, mud packs, steam baths, and enemas. The last one I politely declined… After some persistence, I received access to the library material, where I read more about Vithal Das Modi’s non-violent activities and the ashram’s role in sheltering revolutionaries. Old photographs of Gorakhpur lined the books. As Vimal had mentioned in the morning, before independence Arogya Mandir stood on the city’s outskirts, in the midst of quiet nature. Over time, the city, with all its noise and pollution, had crept steadily closer to the ashram. And yet, as a Buddhist monk from Arunachal Pradesh told me over dinner, no ashram set in such chaos ever seems to keep this kind of calm! WhetherIndecision kept clouding my thought process, doubts about my sleeping location, and all off my former resolve to leave had gone up in thin air. it was the naturopathy or shaking off the jet lag, a few nights at the ashram indeed left me feeling recharged with energy, something that would turn out vital for surviving the wild Diwali days that were to come!