More on Kedarnath

The setting sun lights up the Swargarohini Peak
On the way to Kedarnath

The Bhairon Nath Shrine overlooking the Kedarnath town

This sadhu has not cut his hair since 1980

The Bharo

Journey to heaven

Where shall we go this summer? was the question that came up last summer. Manasi,my daughter and I decided to make it to the mountains to cool off after the hectic time we had, organising Radhika(my younger daughter's)wedding.So off the two of us went in search of some peace and tranquility to the Kedarnath mountains.We moved on, quite fast;taking in all the breath taking beauty of the garhwal hills, the small towns and villages we passed by and reached the crowded and small town of a million ponies and some horses.We felt as though we were characters in Gullivers "Land of the Hunims".We stayed in a 6x6ft room with barely any space to move about and rendered speechless by the deafening roar of the Mandakini cascading down a gorge close to our tiny window.The pony man was fixed, and we were to get up and move at three in the morning on our 16km journey to kedarnath. it was dark,there was a constant drizzle and the ground was a pile of horse/pony dung! well never realised that one has to journey thru hell to get a glimpse of heaven!At 8 we were at Rambada a sort of midway camp where we had steaming hot chai and fat aloo parathas.Manasi wanted to take the goat track on foot and it was fun to see her catching up with us;suddenly she would appear out of nowhere and surprise me! The first breathtaking view of the snow covered mountains gave us an idea of what was in store, and by the time we reached Kedarnath town, we were surroundede by snow covered moutains from all directions;it was like entering the King's palace!Kalidasa hailed Himalaya as "Nagadhiraja" the king of mountains,and one has to see the granduer to believe it!A long wait,barefeet in the cold drzzle to visit the shrine was made exciting by the number of sadhus who stayed there and were quite a curious sight with their ash smeared bodies and long beards and constant demand for pot!the carvings of pandavas and various deities on the wall made the wait worthwhile and the main idol was a magnificent hump believed to be that of the disappearing Nandi,the celestial mount of Shiva.We went around the small town of kedarnath and then decided to take a trip to the Gandhi sarovar glacier.Off the two of us went on our ponies on a long winding path decorated with Ranunculus, Primula, Berberry, Periwinkle and many other bright and colorful angiospermic flora! Bravely we moved on;ducking under icey cold water falls, jumping wide chasms,and slipping thru frozen snow. Little did we know that a real scary event was lurking in the mist...suddenly the drizzle got heavy, a thick mist enveloped us and the path just vanished from under our feet; the ponies refused to move on and then we realised it was no time to stretch our luck. So,with a heavy heart we made an about turn;with a promise to return,better prepared, some day..
As we approached the town back again the sun was out and the mountains were awash in a golden hue, the stairway to heaven resplendent in its golden glory! No wonder the Pandavas abandoned everything and just went on moving up! such was the mesmerising beauty of the exquisite Kedarnath peak! We trekked up again; this time to a secluded shrine of Bhairon Nath. The view of the mist slowly enveloping the Kedarnath town and then leaving it, was like living a dream! Manasi made a short film of the entire scene. We met a little friend, a tiny mountain dog, a female pup, she was so annoyed with us because we had no biscuits to give,and we were too busy clicking piuctures!
As we rolled down the hill we could here the preparations for the evening arathi at the temple. The town was lit up like fairy land and the last glow of the setting sun made the snow cowered mountains appear like ethereal sentinals; witness to millions of years of prayer, penitence, reverence and awe!

Jai Ho!!!!

Jai Ho! Hail the Victorious!

Jai Ho! to team India,

to Rahman for breaking the sound barrier,

to Gulzar for the live canopy,

blue colured and festooned with brocade,

to Pookutty for getting the sound bytes right,

to Anil and his Jai Maharashtra!

to Danny and his boys,

for transforming the angst ridden 'rags to riches' story,

into a whoopee!we've done it!

to the underdog who has arrived on the red carpet,

to all those who believe,

that the best is brought out,

when we just are we,

the way god meant us to be,

Jai Ho!

to all those who dance,

with gay abandon; to the tune of the piper,

under the living, blue,brocade festooned canopy!

angst

Angst

Folklore, Myth, Mythology,Tradition;
we have vowen a web of enchanting falsehood.
Ganga Tripathgamini, Paapnashini, Mokshadayini!
we immerse all that we can lay our hands on ,
into your fluid presence,
and hope to be absolved of sins.
we chant hymns, light lamps,perform rituals,
pray to you,
address you as Uttamanga-the ultimate
in womanhood,
mother of all beings, great and small.
and then; trap you in tunnels,
force you to fall from great heights,
order you to lay silent in a pool of murky sediments,
all in the name of Development!
to light up malls, and stalls and banquet halls,
a tale of wanton greed and avarice!
Where are all those who broke one house of god
to 'rebuild' another,
those who screamed themselves hoarse,
while torching down houses,
and trains full of fellow humans,
all in the name of god,
the 'Ramifications' run deep:
and electoral rhetorics flow cheap;
why can't anyone see
that nothing can be built,
by twisting turning, arresting,chipping and chopping,
Bonsais however cleverly crafted, do not make forests;
can humanity afford to pay the price?
i wonder what section of IPC spells out the penalty
for murdering a river and its thousand daughters,
of cementing river beds and oceans,
of robbing the flora and fauna, of their fundamental right to exist
it is the Angst-existentialist or otherwise, i share;
an impotent,, helpless rage seething deep inside,
i can hear the lamentations of the bird, that fouled its own nest,
and choked its own kin,all in the name of some vague, misplaced technology!