In Gorgeous Georgia 

April 27th - Day 38

Before we know it, we are at another border crossing. This time, Georgia. A group of local volunteers have been excitedly waiting for Sadhguru since 4pm. Sadhguru arrives close to 11pm! They greet us warmly and the team rearranges itself into another set of vehicles in what feels like no man’s land and drive off into the middle of the night 

We wake up the next morning to winds blowing through the palm trees that line the walkway separating the street from the beautiful outstretched park, a landmark of the disarming charm of Batumi. Back in the cars, we are ready for the long drive, approximately 7 hours or so, to Tbilisi where the public event is scheduled to happen. As the morning sun grows fiercer, we know it is going to be a rough ride for Sadhguru. But as he has shown us since Day 1 that he will not allow anything to get in his way. Rain, wind, sleet or snow, the journey presses on. 

We ride through long stretches of construction alongside modest mountain roads. The kitchen team goes the extra mile today, quite literally, to ensure we have food for the ride. Hearing from the team drivers about the not-to-be-missed bean and cheese kachapuri, or Georgian stuffed bread, the kitchen team insists on us getting a taste. They ride ahead, order the food, and personally package it in different bags, one for each team car. As though that weren’t enough, a couple of them then stand on the side of the highway delivering one bag to each convoy car in a hot second, an unparalleled drive-through experience!

Meanwhile at the venue, Tejal, the team showcaller, is getting ready for the big event. Liaising between the video team, audio team, Sounds of Isha, and other musical performers, she is tasked with preparing the event flow, doing dry runs and running sound checks. She shares one of the challenges of her role to be when vendors are late and delay the dry runs, or the events being scheduled back to back in such a way that it’s hard for team members to get to events in advance. “So in the last two hours, the pressure level is very high. The challenge as a showcaller is to keep calm, support each and every team, find out what they need, offer them some water, some sweets,” she says with a warm smile, “just keep that atmosphere on so that it’s still a nice ride for everyone.” She describes the last-minute changes which they happily incorporate. “If something new comes up on the schedule, everyone accepts it, adapts it, and they will not create obstacles,” she shares. “The very sweet thing about this is that everyone is trying their best to make it happen.”

Moments before the event, Sadhguru decides that there is simply not enough time to take a break. Holding to his 40 year commitment of never being late to a single event, a few stops before the venue, he gets off his bike, removes his jacket and throws it in the back of the media van. At the next stoplight, the gloves come off. After having been on the road for approximately 7 hours, Sadhguru hops off the bike and makes his way into a hall brimming with people. His heartfelt engagement with the audience is a two-hour affair. And of course, that’s followed by an hour-long meet with influencers. We are left astounded—yet again. We head back to the hotel taking with us the incredible thrill of one more unbelievable event. 

Azerbaijan, here we come!