In Betweeners

Those two years between four and six were a checkerboard transition between the old life and the new one. I still went to preschool, I started kindergarten, made new friends, learned to read, and did all the regular kid things.

We also had quite a busy sannyasin life. The most important part of being a sannyasin for me at that stage was the weekly Friday trips into New York city to the main sannyasin center for sufi dancing. I adored sufi dancing. The music was usually flutey-pseudo-spiritual in nature and there would be lots of whirling.

But at the end, for the last hour or so probably, the New York sannyasins kicked up their heels, raised their arms to reveal their hairy armpits, and cut a rug to Bob Marley, the Beatles, the Stones. It was so much fun! I would dance and dance and dance until i collapsed into Mommy's arms as she dragged me half asleep to the car where i slept, exhausted, the whole way home. I looked forward to this all week long.

Usually, I would drive in with my parents and I would be so excited that I would refuse to nap even a little bit. One day, I was at home alone with David and his best friend Davy (we called him wavy Davy since he was so flaky, and later he became a sannyasin, got a new name - Dayananda - and I would still taunt him with the wavy Davy moniker. But i digress....) and they were smoking a lot of pot.

My brother thought it would be funny to hold me down and blow pot smoke into my face to see what would happen. Of course, this was only after I was admonished to never ever tell mom or dad. I agreed, being five and completely worshipful of him, he knew he could trust me. Well, bong hit after bong hit, I was completely stoned. All that felt like to me was completely exhausted - like someone was sitting on my whole body holding it down and I couldn't move even a muscle.

This was a Friday, so shortly my Dad came home to pick me up and take me into the City. He loaded me into the car whereupon I fell asleep immediately, and stayed asleep for the entire hour and a half ride into Manhattan. I woke only when we pulled up to the Center and Daddy hoisted me up out of the car, commenting over and over again on how remarkable it was that I was so tired.

"You must have had a BIG day today! I can't believe you slept so long!"

I smiled quietly and conspiratorily to myself and agreed with him.