I remember Tagore...
“I went to see hills, I went to see rivers...But I could not find them with my eyes wide open...”
My bad to try and translate Tagore...but those fond of the great poet would know these lines in Bengali and the beautiful rhythm the poem have. My wandering soul remembered the lines as I idle around on this day, a lazy Saturday afternoon with the sun scorching outside...and the fan unable to keep me cool. But nevertheless my mind wandered and took me back to the last weekend – a two-day trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh.
The beginning though was not all that great. I, along with one of my colleagues, started for Haridwar-Rishikesh on Thursday night, after working in office for 10 long hours. The reason to choose Haridwar-Rishikesh was spontaneous and until one o’ clock in the night we were not sure whether we would ultimately reach Haridwar or end up somewhere else either in Jaipur or Ajmer or Amritsar. It was a long weekend and everyone wanted to go out. Knowing well in advance that Delhi-ites always love to show-off, we assumed most of the people in Delhi would travel by their own cars and we can easily get seats if we travel by bus. However, when we reached the inter-state bus terminus, we were a bit surprised. Throngs of people jostling around in a mad frenzy...some trying to bribe the man manning the ticket counter, some trying to grab a quick bite...and some went ahead and started to connect with friends on Facebook (wait, not through Blackberry or a smartphone, but through a laptop connected to the internet via a wireless USB modem...God bless them...Can’t stop myself...I mean how can someone be such a dumb ass to open a laptop at such places, leave alone Facebook...mad, mad world). Such was the scramble for seats that people literally fought for them. I was not very sure that I would be able to catch the mad ‘seat-rush’ and ultimately grab a seat (I am a true peace-loving Bong!!). So I grabbed my colleagues back-pack and his camera bag with a Canon 60D inside worth around INR80,000 (I wish I had one!). And finally, it was due to him that finally we got two seats and were off to Haridwar at one in the night.
Last time when I had a trip to Rajasthan (it was a lovely trip and memoirs of it will be hard to pen, however I would try it later), I never had to worry about anything. But this time around, I was a bit sceptical (after all we did not have a great start to the trip). Taking things into perspective, we decided that when we would reach Haridwar, we would first take a hotel room and then book the bus tickets for the return trip. However, we reached Haridwar around six in the morning and there was nothing that we could do other than looking for a decent hotel. So we took a room in a decent enough hotel and had a nice sleep for the next couple of hours. Haridwar during this time of the year is terribly hot and we never had the idea that it would be so hot...there was no chance that we could go out and enjoy during the noon once we got up from our sleep. But heat or cold, we had to enjoy...and take a dip, like million other fellow Hindus, in the holy waters...So we got up in the noon, had lunch and went out to discover Haridwar...
Haridwar, in Sanskrit ‘Hari ka Dwar’ or Gateway to God and one of the seven holiest places for the Hindus, is an idyllic place with the economy centred on the river Ganges. The Ganges, ‘Ganga’ to the Indians, descends to the plains at Haridwar, after flowing for 200 odd kilometres from her source in the Himalayas. It is the place where the Hindus congregate for the famous ‘Kumbh Mela’. So taking a dip in the holy waters of ‘Ganga’ in Haridwar is considered an ablution of sorts to wash away the sins one has committed. Albeit, we too purified ourselves, but never took a dip...The ‘ghat’ (a place to congregate on a river bank) in Haridwar is known as ‘Har ki Pauri’ and everyday very nice ‘puja’ and ‘aarti’ is performed at ‘Har ki Pauri’. During our stay in Haridwar, we spent the evenings at the ‘ghat’ with our legs dipped in the water, overlooking the ‘aarti’ and the holy waters of the Ganges. The atmosphere was just so mystical (but there was never a hint of silence, with everything around us making noise...the ‘bhajans’, the people, the bells...everything), as if all the gods have descended from their heavenly abode (and we humans were busy making our presence felt through a cacophony of sounds). But I wished that there was at least a little bit of silence...imagine the sound of the river flowing and you are praying, with legs dipped in water, hands folded in reverence and eyes closed...I sometimes wonder, that, why do we Hindus create so much noise while worshipping our Gods?...it can be a silent peaceful process...isn’t it? I cannot imagine myself as God and people worshipping me by creating so much noise.
We went to Rishikesh on the next day. We started early in the morning and took a three-wheeler to travel a distance of approx. 25 kilometres. In this part of India, everything is so reasonable (or may be unreasonably simple)...I was surprised, that the fare for the 25 kilometre ride to Rishikesh was worth just INR25 (and I never bargained with the driver for the fare). Rishikesh, known for its famous yoga exponents, gets travellers (especially foreigners) all round the year. It is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and provides nice panoramic views. The place has also got an assortment of ‘ashramas’ (places where yoga exponents of India practice yoga) with sprawling campuses. We decided to reach ‘Lakshman Jhula’ (a miniature cable bridge over the Ganges) first and then walk our way back to the point from we could travel back to Haridwar. Once we reached ‘Lakshman Jhula’ we had breakfast at a German bakery on the river banks and captured some panoramic views in the Canon 60D which we were carrying. Unlike Haridwar, it was serene and peaceful...On our way back we did some shopping (Rishikesh, of all places), which included a large back-pack (enough to carry stuff for an entire week. A very good buy I would say) and some other stuffs here and there. Post-shopping we realised that we were just left with enough cash to reach Haridwar (and were almost de-hydrated as we could not afford to buy some drinking water!).
The trip was nearing end and good times were soon to be over...that evening we spent a blissful time at the ghat. My colleague experimented with his camera (he did manage to record a bit of ‘aarti’) and I was praying my hearts out for some solace, and many more things in life!!!
Very soon it was Sunday morning, and we had to start again for our return journey...my heart was heavy with the thought of office the very next day...but it was ‘rejuvenation unlimited’...
