A Taste of India
July 15, 2008
The weekend had its moments of highs and lows. First, on the lows as the images from Sunday fail to go away however hard I try. It was Li’l General’s first brush with this country. He was born in India and has lived here ever since for the past 18 months but no experience was good enough to get a feel of this 1.1 + billion strong nation. It’s not without reason that ours is the second most populous nation. And, if one really needs to get a feel of what having so many people means, all that it takes is a trip to some of the most popular religious shrines - Tirupati, Shirdi, Vaishno Devi, Jagannath Temple at Puri and seasonally to the numerous others spread across the country.There are dozens of other occasions to witness an unruly mob such as in a cricket match, release of Rajnikanth’s movie down South, death of a political leader or the day election results are announced to cite a few.
We were at Shirdi yesterday. In case you didn’t read it right, I did not say we visited the Sai Baba temple at Shirdi. It was a 4-hour-long drive from Pune. Add another four to it for the return journey with snarling traffic and bumpy roads, and you have a 30-year-old suddenly feeling like a 80-year-old. I can actually feeling every muscle, every bone, every joint aching in the body; some parts swollen from carrying a 18-month-old toddler for a good two hours at one stretch and in parts for the remainder journey.
We left Pune around 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning and after a brief halt midway for breakfast reached Shirdi around 11:15 a.m. The sight as we entered Shirdi was not a very pleasant one. Chaos would be an understatement. Dozens of hawkers lined up either side of the road selling guavas from two huge baskets that hung on both sides of their bicycles. There was a designated parking area for visiting vehicles big enough to hold about a hundred at the most while the actual number far exceeded the capacity. Within a minute of our getting down, we were met by a stranger who took it upon himself to lead us to the nearest shop forcing us (you know the religious blackmail tactics) to buy two thalis worth 500 bucks. I know this was getting duped in the name of God or should I say exhaustion from the drive numbed the senses. Better sense didn’t prevail and we marched towards the entrance with our footwear on. The queue to deposit footwear at the neighbouring building was longer than the one for temple and believe me both ere equally intimidating. At this moment, I entertained the thought of just returning. V and his friend took our footwear back to the car while we waited.
The exit and entry routes looked all the same to the temple. There was no order, no queue. It was 11:40 a.m. by the time we entered. People just kept joining a huge crowd and so did we. No tickets for entry here. The line curved and curved finally leading to the main entrance of the temple. Pointing to the huge gathering of human species in one place, V commented to LG, “Welcome to India.” The line inched every 10 minutes. Once the much talked about noon aarthi was over by 12:20 or so, commotion began. By now, Li’l General was restless enough to cling to me refusing to go to either V’s friend or V. I was tired holding him for more than an hour already. In between, I found the patience to feed him a banana and half a paratha - yea that was a feat when you barely have an inch between you and the next person. I could smell the breath and sweat of all around me just as sweat rolled down by forehead. Phew…. LG was suddenly overcome by the urge to get down and venture in this crowd. There was no space to let him down. Just then, the police let a group of people enter who ran like maniacs sending a shiver down my spine. Women with babies who just wanted to walk were pushed and jostled by the crowd making them run too..one misstep and there would be dozens over the poor kids. Babies as young as a few months old was a common sight. What were we thinking, I thought to myself but had the perseverance to hang on. I’ve been through such situations before but it was only about LG that I worried. He was doing fine when another wave of people emerged from behind pushing us harder. I could hardly breathe now. I was blowing air on LG’s face all through which kept him going. I didn’t have the energy to do that anymore and he started sweating profusely and barely able to breathe. He let out a shrill pitched cry and never stopped. Reprimanded by people around for not being able to keep the child quiet with accusations of suffocating him, V looked at me and we decided in unison it was time to march out. So near, yet so far. It was crazy as people threatened us not to let us in if we wanted to come back. Pleading our way out, finally we found freedom and some fresh air. Sanity was back in our lives. Our friend and mother - on the verge of collapsing continued their journey to emerge half dead a good 3 hours later. They were glad we had made the decision to come out. Later we learned that there was a shove between the security guards and some rowdies and a child that missed his parents.
Coming half way without getting a darshan in a religious place will be seen as being nonreligious in India. I don’t care and vowed not to visit a crowded shrine. I think I’m fine visiting the neighboring temple and praying at home.
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What on earth induced you to go to a place like that?! Being caught unawares due to a festival or aarti in a normal temple is one thing, voluntarily going to a “popular” temple is suicidal.
Let’s just say I was nuts!
You did the right thing by reverting back. Else LG would have’d a tough time.
and we did offer our aplology for not making in the day before. Call it not withstanding the test of God or having failed at it or whatever!human mind and body has its limits which cannot be , rather better not be stretched beyond a certain limit. Hats off to those who stand for hours together at Shirdi, Tirupathi and Mata Vaishno Devi but I too am fine visiting the neighboring temple and praying at home and my devotion is no lesser, I believe.
It is one thing managing alone in such scenarios where you might stand in queues and sweat it out to offer prayers after having travelled all the way.But with the kid along we have to be practical and not feel guilty about not having made it to the temple.
I live in Gurgaon, and we have a beautiful Sai Dhaam mandir here.How many people visit there on thursdays and sundays is clear from the rows of parking space exclusively alloted for it, which is vacant on other days. One hot thursday evening we went to the temple ignoring these parked cars, bought the flowers and prasadam to offer, submitted our footwear and stood in the queue which extended till the main road. We had no idea how big the queue is till the main temple since it was our first visit. In the hot sultry weather we started feeling uncomfortable soon enough and since I am expecting right now, it became too much to endure for me. My folks soon decided that we are going to push off! We hummed ‘Jai Sai Ram’ from the road and went back home all tired. The darshan on the next day evening was blissful and peaceful
Rhea,
Funny how our temples and other places of worship are getting more crowded by the day. I can totally relate to your experience but I’m amazed that from the line you couldn’t make out the length of it which means it was more orderly in nature in contrast to the chaos you find in most places.
- Lakshmi
Yeah it sure was a proper queue thankfully.
But did not know it extended till half a km long till the main temple since it was our first visit.
Reason: Civilized Gurgaon gentry perhaps