har har gange

We are just back from a trip to the holy mountains. The Himalayas. To get to the Garwhal part of eth Himalayas we pass though our favourite town, Rishikesh. We don’t stay at Rishikesh proper but we stay close to Laxman Jhulla. That is as far as you can get from the proper town, but in the heart of the tourist circuit.
When you are there do visit the lovely Devraj coffee corner aka German bakery and have pizzas, pancakes, lemon mint tea and almond triangles. I got enough of the latter for office for people to wonder what on earth it was. It is some sweet almond paste on a pie crust. It’s quite amazing and tastes quite divine in contrary to its humble earthy name. Go ahead when you are in that part of the world.
But that is metaphorically divine, what we got that is really divine is ‘ganga jal’. Water from the sacred river – Ganga (ganges). We took bottles and filled them with water from the river. We got for the lady who comes home in the evening to help with the household chores. We had got one bottle for her the last time we were there and this time Jasmine insisted on getting one more. I really did not see the point but went along.
Yesterday after we arrived our lady; her name is Devki, was happy to see the Ganga jal. I asked her why would she need one bottle of it and how does she plan to use it?
She said that in her hut/slum colony (jhopadpatti) people keep coming to ask for a little Ganga jal. She asks them for a glass of water in which she mixes one capful of Ganga jal. That’s it. Only one capful. And she never lets anyone else touch the bottle. It is a precious resource not to be squandered away. But what is used for? Oh… people come all the time to her for it. When someone is dying, they make the person drink it so that the passage is smooth. Or when she is feeling unwell she mixes it with a glass full of water, or for other occasions. But yes it is a prized resource.
I felt bad getting only a bottle full. If I had known I would have ditched the almond tarts and gotten another bottle full.
Devki told us thatshe was illiterate and that she uses ganga jal for everything as that is what she has been told is good. She can’t read and hence she listens to what she has been told. I told her that while we read a lot we still are at the mercy of what people tell us. We also don’t know for sure. We also plainly do what is told. To my mind – what works for you is medicine and what doesn’t is not. I had a tonsil issue that refused to go away in my teens. Till I took a long homeopathy course. It worked enough for me never to get it back again in all its fury. Probably it was that or probably there were external factors at work. No one knows for sure, do they? Read this article on homeopathy by one blogger I follow regularly. http://girishshahane.blogspot.com/2010/06/which-is-witch.html. All I say is that standing face to face with Devki I am not prepared to say that she is wrong and that I am right.
Now I know why Jasmine made me fill two more bottles. One friend of ours has two servants and last time Jasmine got only one bottle. It had resulted in a near fight situation. It’s a good thing I listen to Jasmine. She obviously knows best.

hindu electricity

Kumb mela is the stuff of legends. Hindu movie legends that is, the place where you lose your brothers. So I guess every time my brother gets on my nerve its time to visit the Kumbh mela. I might just be able to lose him once and for all. Oh the joy of separation for 14 long years. The joy of meeting him after 14 years, the joy of saying hey 14 years were fun , hope you had a hard time!. Heheheheheh. I can really get sadist I guess. But I have no doubts that as kids my elder bro would have loved to do the Kumbh on me :) Hmmmm. I have booked and packed my bags for the Ardh Kumbh this year to Allahabad. I am leaving on Thursday and will be there for just three days, catching the big dip on the 14th, which is the makar sankranti dip. Supposedly a hugely cleansing dip. Uggh, the only part of my body that is going to wash away the sins I guess is my big toe. I guess it needs the cleansing as it has sinned many times by kicking people’s butt. But more importantly, I am soo dying to see the multitude of people, our ‘holy’ men, the aura, the atmosphere. Any one who has seen the aarti at the ganga banks in Varanasi and Haridwar will testify that the whole ritual, the spectacle, the energy building up for the climax is just extremely exciting. The build up is nothing short of spectacular. The people waiting, the Pujari with confident attitude, knowing he is the hero of the show, and there are millions watching, praying; looking at him and believing him to be a messenger to the Gods. The murmur before it starts and the cacophony at Haridwar where bells go off all over the place, wooden paddles banging the brass plates, people singing, and the jai gange maataa aarti blaring over the loudspeakers. And not to forget the really large aarti diyas, with the helper constantly pouring cool Ganga water on the pujari’s hand, lest the heat scald him. Oh wow… man I soo love it. There is something to the place. I dunno if it is in any way holy, but the faith of millions together believing it to be holy makes it so. Five thousand people together (at least) praying, lighting diyas, believeing, singing, anticipating…. That itself makes for electricity. The place also makes for lovely photography and moods. I hope to catch some part of the Kumbh in similar light as well. Hope, these are not dashed. Badi aarzo liye jaa raha hun.


this photo is of Haridwar ghat where there are all bathing before the aarti begins. this is just one part of the crowd this next one is of the aarti in full progress with the large aartis. this is the main idol aarti.
Now this one you will see tons of diyas all over the place. again this is only a part of the jumboree. Notice the camera phone in the picture trying to take a video of the aarti. I just love the opposites reconciling in the picture.