A NON-BELIEVER’S DATE WITH THE CELESTIAL

Ten odd pairs of eyes were looking at me… reflecting shock, disbelief, fear… What did I say? “earth is flat and sun goes round it” “I am a psychopath killer” “Iraq has weapon of mass destruction” … nah, none of those, said something far worse.. “I DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO ENTER THE TEMPLE, I CAN STAND OUTSIDE AND WATCH OVER YOUR SHOES AND BAGS WHILE YOU PAY A VISIT” Understand the gravity of the situation now? No? let me elaborate.. Time: early morning Place: a boat on the river Ganges, Varanasi The Temple in question: do I have to mention? Once my co passenger’s shock started breaking into disgust, anger, pity, sympathy, indifference and various other emotions, I changed my mind. I have to see the place, got to feel the faith. So I started approaching the centre of earth – Needless to say, I was not alone, a few thousands went along As I was approaching the sacred zone down the slippery alley, jostling with hundreds to stop myself being separated from my friends, trying my best to keep myself from falling or being crushed or crushing someone else, marvelling at the monkeys who jumped on from the electric wires to the golden trisuls through the humongous bells and at the heavily armed policemen on the verge of losing it in an attempt to keep order ….I felt the presence of supernatural …this cannot be natural… tens of thousands regularly swarming through a lane that can hardly accommodate a single person queue and coming out without a broken bone !!!…no logic can explain this All pushing, shoving, elbowing, shouldering one another to beat the other, yet stopping just short of breaking into a fight … this is no ordinary phenomenon! I looked around … narrowest of lanes and largest crowd imaginable… people, rickshaws, autos, cars of all make, buffalos all bumping into each other as a normal routine … the only order is that of chaos… And those buffalos and cows… what to say of them… what glossy fur! What strong built! And they know exactly where to go through those maze of lanes! And they stop for no one! … why should they? Look at them and look at us ungraceful, feeble creatures! It is our duty to sense their presence beforehand and make way for them…as so we do… … had the good fortune to witness celebrations of an auspicious day …devdeepabali…witnessed the never-ending staircases lit up with millions of diyas, saw Ganges being jammed with 500odd boats… innumerable people filling up every centimetre of those eighty ghats ….

What colours! What magnanimity! What enormity! What grandeur! There is miracle happening everywhere! There is magic in every nook and corner ! There is divine in all over, (specially in those heavenly rabris and peras) The oldest living city! More vibrant than any city on earth! Beautiful, fascinating, celestial Varanasi!