The Journey

I dont know why I have not been dedicating time to write some new thoughts. Have been thinking about writing this topic for more than a week, but would write it today. Amma, this one is for you.

Recently my mother had gone on a pilgrimage trip to Haridwar,Badri and few more places. And one fine morning after she returned she was all enthusiastic and charged up to tell her daughter her experiences. After I finished listening to her this was my first thought ma I need to let the world around know about this. I swear it was very lively and an extremely thought provoking, enjoyable and beautiful depiction of her thoughts.

She told me every little detail from what she ate in her train journey to her acquaintances. It made me walk through her journey mentally while physically I was still here.

Her Train Journey:

She traveled with a group of five other women. All the five others where member of an Ashram(I am not here to preach a religion or mission...so no debates or thoughts about that). They had a train journey of about two days from Chennai-Delhi.They had packed loads of food for the train. Amma made some snacks too. I am going to name the five people A B C D and E. All of them are also colleagues at work place. A had a nice family and almost zero problems. B had no children and was supported by her brother's daughters and son -in -laws but was extremely happy and content. C came from a very small background and was extremely good helper. D and E were mother and daughter, the daughter a sutle character while the mother one of the furious. A combination of six women, I know it sounds extremely difficult to manage, but I bet one of the most memorable trip for all.


I'll come to few more details but for now lets get to some action.

The Ganges:

I'l try my best to paint the picture my mother had passed me on, the lovely Ganges Aratis and chantings in the evening, the sunset and the reflection, the crowd confused yet content(sounds weird?!?1 but I can still imagine). On the banks of Ganges, I know it would be an wonderful experience to find a spot very silent yet very lively. But they did find one just at the banks of Ganges. Though the group was together, they all had the freedom of going where they wanted and finally meeting in the Ashram where they stayed by 8 in the night.My mother's usually routine, go to a Chai Wallah Dukan(a teashop). Get some tea and biscuits and distribute it to the little ones and workers who were extremely poor. This became her everyday routine. And the day before she was starting back to Chennai, she had told the lady who owned the teashop about the fact that she was leaving the next day, and the lady was extremely unhappy that she lost a nice customer. But the most interesting part of her conversation to me about this was that, the cinematography I would call. Her Explanation, "River Ganges flowing at one side and the tea shop facing it while people trying to queue themselves up while ma gets tea and biscuits to give them all. And without commotion people get it and leave. An unsaid orderliness that stunned amma. And the lovely people whose heart blessed her made her feel good:) Thats a wonderful experience.

The Bath:
Ganges brings me memories of the fast flowing river. And an initial hesitation to get down. And once you are in it there is no looking back at the steps until you get tired of the river(which takes a long time). One of the best cures for a lot of problems both physical and mental. And one of the best places according to me to look at things and try solving the puzzle of life while get confused even more. Amma like all her counterparts enjoyed the holy dip, but I guess her counterparts enjoyed it even better than her.

Trip to BadriNath:

I have been among the lucky lot to visit this place. An extremely extravagant view and a completely mesmerizing place. The six women started their journey on to Badri after debating about going to Kedarnath or Badrinath and finally lucky or unlucky roads to Kedar were closed for a week and they dropped.

They booked a car and started out. A journey that was long and lovely. River Ganges following them where ever they went, it should actually be like this they followed river Ganges wherever they went. Lovely sight of the mighty mountains and they kept crossing one mountain to another but never really leaving Ganga behind. I know it would have been an wonderful journey with few scary movements here and there. After they reached Badri, now all that they wanted was to keep visiting the temple as often as they can. It is a beautiful small temple and you really dont know how people live there. It is extremely beautiful and completrely seasonal.Now when I write about this, I remember our first trip to Badri where I went Appa,Amma , Perima nd my cousin. Kids walked miles on the hill tops to go to there school. It looked so beautiful to watch them walk with so much ease on the hill top. There was a fresh beauty in the faces of these kids. And how would I forget about the fresh air that you feel smell and enjoy. Aroma in these regions is one of the best smells in this world. Now back to where I left. In this visit my mother narrated a beautiful incident. They were returning from Badri and where extremely hungry and couldn't find a place to eat. Thats when they saw a small group of Sikhs and a Bhojan Dam(place to eat). They asked if they could get something for the driver at least to eat. But those people had offered all of them fresh food. And because of their pure heart the food tasted heavenly. After they were done with food my mother and her friends offered some gift(in the form of money) to them. These people completely rejected the offer and had told them all that , with prayers give this in any of your temples. My mother and her friends were moved, offered good food and also had the heart to treat everyone's views and worship equally. One of the rarest to find these days are people who are selfless and when we see such people we surely feel that the word 'I' is such a deceptive. I think this incident was the Gemstone in their whole trip to Badri. An incident that I somehow truly feel Heavenly.

The Ashram:

Here I am at the end explaining about the beautiful Ashram wherre they all stayed. The Ashram had a beautiful garden where they grew there own vegetables and the person who was doing the gardens was a 70-80 year old man. Should say he worked all the day and never rested and that showed in his beautiful garden. Then there were a group of people who chanted Vedas and Hymns everday at different intervals. Of all what my mother felt disturbing was a group of youngsters who did nothing but just cameto eat at the right time. They never helped cleaning and just kept chatting at all times. Ashram had its own reasons to allow these people, but it didnt convey good vibes to any of the visitors.My mother and her friends had also made delicious south Indian food for the a day or two(I dont remember really well) for the people who came for food to the Ashram during the festivity.

There is lot more that I might not really be able to paint a picture to all. Yet its a wonderful experience to listen and put them down in words.

:)