"We are going to shirdi dis saturde!" dad announced as he came from office one evening. i was busy watching tom n jerry n it was onle aftr he said it fr da second tym did i giv a wats-so-exciting-abt-it look to him. i had heard b4 abt da plannin of going fr once-in-a-lifetym xperience to da sai baba temple at shirdi dat week. perhaps dad xpected it, so he went inside to tell mom abt it. i had a coaching class on sunde n i had told mom dat m nt interested. onle i did noe dat it was a pathetic xcuse!!!! bt after mom's assiduous braggin aftr a family trip n her phillipics abt hw lazy i had bcum, i ws inevitably ready to go. i knew dere wud hardly b nething memorable abt it oder dan sleeping in a diff bed oder dan mine!!!!
Dad,mom,di n maself alongwid a driver startd off late afternoon wid our stuffs including a pair of dress fr a day,sm eatables,sm toilet stuffs n oder mommy's few stuffs. v hoped to reach shirdi dat evening n plan out our next de abt visiting da famous[i havta confess i hadn heard abt it b4] signapur[lord shani temple] n trembakeshwar temple[a twelve shivlinga ancient temple near nasik]. v started off jovially taking da mumbai-pune xpress highway in da way n in da midway v planned to take da way to signapur.dat meant perhaps v wud b in a hotel late night in shirdi. Signapur s all abt a sacred rock dat fell from da sky n people believe it resembles lord shani. houses here don hav a door or a window cuz people believe dat nobody steals nething fr da fear of lord shani. eventho v did find sm doors, we reasoned it more so fr privacy!!! i did hav a quesn tho, "arent dere ne banks down here?" i realized it was a foolish quesn even b4 i got ma answer. v bought da puja stuffs n gav a person in red dhoti to pour oil on da sacred rock, n den v wre off. wen v reached shirdi it ws 12.00 midnite. aftr chekin da shirdi trust lodge wich wre full booked n sm 4-bed rooms v atlast brought aur baggages to a room as big as ma studyroom. mom was fascinated at da prospect of buying a plot out here n givin rooms to gullible tourists lik v wre den in rent at 500 bucks a nite. it was nite 1'o clock wen v went in search fr our dinner. people told us to run b4 da hotels close down n v had to do xactly dat,running helter-skelter from one hotel to oder. v ended up sitting alongside a street stalls n eating pav-bhaaji. a renouned scholar once said, a person can sleep wid snake-bitten bt not hungry. i alone ate 7-8 pavs. jus wen all dat v wre thinkin abt was a gud nite sleep to wake up fresh early mornin fr da 5 am aarti in da temple, da thelewalaa told us dat ppl may hav already started standin in line fr da aarti. mom n di wre absolutely freaked out. it ws jus 1.30 in da morning, if atall u call dat so!!! yet dad was stern on attending da aarti. he said, "v hav cum here not to sleep. c...rnt v lucky enuf to get a room n den to eat stomach-full late in dis nite?lets get fresh n move out."
so after wettin ourselves in da room's bathroom, wid heavy weight tied down on aur eyes v set out fr da temple. i saw di sleep on ma shoulder,mom hanging sideways fr a short nap n dad using up dis tym to finish up his daily routine of reading hanuman chalisa while on da line. as fr me, i was busy appreciatin maself at keepin ma eyes wide open n helpin di on ma shoulder. i m a hostelite aftrall!!! every min seemed lik an hour fightin wid sleep. at nearabt 4 am ppl wre allowed to enter da hall of da temple. me n dad wre togeder n wre lucky enuf to b in da hall jus wen da aarti commensed. it was easy to fall prey to da charm of da holistic,spiritual n pure atmosphere of da hall. it was huge. atleast more dan 750 lucky ppl wre dere in da hall. wen da slokas started in da LCD screens, all da energy dipped. while majorly following da slokas, eyes wre givin up to sleep, searchin fr watch once every few minutes n scannin da faces in da vicinity jus to get sm condolance. it went on for 20-30 min. after da close darshan of da sai baba, v wre done wid it. amazingly,sai baba used to pray in a masjid yet he neva believed in religion, poor yet neva stoppd begging, simple man yet neva stopped enlightenin everyone with his sheer benevolence n heavenly blessings. he knew wen,where n how he was gonna die.
ven v reached Trembakeshwar Temple, it was 3 pm on sunde. after standin in da line fr nearly 2 hours, again i was destined to enter da temple hall wid dad. dis s where ma tour bcame memorable. u c our family s a brahmin,orthodox,spiritual n hugely superstitious one. ma dad doesn do a thing widout da consent of god.wen nething goes unplanned he blames himself not being worthy of god's blessings. wen smthing goes rite he thanx god fr being so kind. unlike ne1 in ma family, to let go of all pride, to surrender your soul to god n to sit bak n let da good god rule ova da proceedings s an alien idea to me. unquestionably m athiest n i do believ dat nothing in dis world s possible widout god's blessings. yet m a person who wud perhaps forget to say da gayatri mantra eleven tyms for finishing up a small portion left ova in da dying minutes to xam, feel lazy wen told to giv evening prayer wich mom does everyde, perversely ignore dad's unending wise talks abt god, giv a damn to da shaliks i saw in ma way to xam or abash someone who stands in da road waiting fr me to walk da road where a black cat jus crossed ova!!! i believe in da genuinity in da person within no matter wat. i maself don sit n pray everyde,mayb twice,thrice or more in a week. i do rem'ber god wen i feel lonely, unconfident or in trouble. bt i prefer praising maself fr pulling off smthing dan showerin all da credit to god!!!
dats y wen i was in da temple hall i lowered ma head n prayed fr a long tym out dere,i felt smthing i neva did. wen dad told me to surrender everything out dere n beg fr mercy fr all da sins i did, i realized everybody must b appreciated as to how he sees god n how he want god to help him. i wud always feel wierd wen dad talks wid me dis way but i noe m a believer n dats all dat matters. i wud always question god's existance wid ma frenx n scientific reasoning to da rituals, bt deep within i m all yours!!!!
in da way bak, v saw sm fantabulous landscapes n i saw everybody dozing off, yet i loved every moment of da ride wide-eyed. yet now m about to doze off!!!
say,"Good night!!!" may god bless all living being on dis planet n show all a bright,prosperous n delightful morning. Amen!!!!
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