Duality(Varanasi)

Does a place calls you or you call a place?

This has been my question since I started traveling. It has happened many times and I am sure with you as well, when you make all plans to visit a place but never make it. And sometimes without much effort you are traveling to a new place. 

A second visit to Varanasi was on my plate for quite a few months. The first visit was to understand and capture the moments of this age old city. Which towards its culmination, ended with a promise of second visit. The incidents leading to this second visit brought back the question again. Though I had lot of difficulties settling on leaves, train schedules and finally finding a place to stay in busy tourist season. But once the dust settled, the ghats embraced me with their calmness and gave me time and peace of mind to ponder on answer. 

Duality - Stillness and Motion

Sitting on the ghats, you watch people pass by. Some passing in their mortal forms from one point to another. Some passing from this earth to some other earth, heaven, hell whatever you want to call it. You see the river passing by, the boats, the sun, moon, time pass by. And my mind diverts to another question – what exactly is passing by? What I am seeing as passing by or me who is passing by these moments in time? With each water drop, each boat, each second, each individual, I was the one who was actually passing by. I was passing in time for a better understanding me and the world around. Sitting at a single place I was able to draw a connection to the other dots on this big map. 

This made me realize, that place is not a variable, variable is me. The places remain as they are. They just reflect my mind, my mood and make me feel as I want to be. And as soon as this thought entered my mind, the duality cleared. For all the questions I had in mind the answer was singularity. It was ‘me’. It’s not other people or places I need to understand, it’s me who need be understood.

So are all questions answered? No my friend! This leads to a bigger question.

What is I without ‘I’?

Rishikesh - The Right Connection

Mystic Rishikesh

Amidst my Excel columns and Outlook reminders, came an ill typed mail.
"Hey man! I am going back home this weekend, do you want to tag along?"

The sender of this mail was driving to Dehradun, and my mind was driving crazy. One part of me wanted to be free and roam around in a place where I don't belong, understand it and in process understand myself. My other part told me to understand the Excel sheets and in process understand why I am paid X amount of money. Finally on Friday my hands packed up a bag and I was magically in my friend's car seat. He dropped me at Roorkee, from there a bus to Haridwar and then to Rishikesh.

So what did I understand and learn this time? Well I will say two things for sure.

What you see and think, the first impression might not be true.
On bus ride to Rishikesh, was joined by two backpackers from Maldives, who looked like our cousins from southern India., two backpackers from Europe, and a group of 'taus'(uncles) from greenland (read Haryana). The 'taus' like me initially thought the Maldive friends to be Indian and one of the 'taus' thought of striking a conversation.

Tau: "Haan re chore, kathe se away se?" (Hey lad, where are you coming from?)
Maldive friend: Blank looks.
Tau: Repeats.
Maldive friend: Repeats blank looks.
Tau: Repeats the question third time.
European friend: "Usse Hindi nahi aati" (He doesn't know Hindi)
Tau: Now blank looks.
Everyone sitting nearby including me: All blank looks.
European friend: "Usse Hindi nahi aati" (He doesn't know Hindi)
Tau: "Haire duniya! jo socha wo galat. Jisse Hindi aani chahiye usse nahi aati, jisse nahi aani chahiye usse aati hain" (Oh my god! All that I thought was incorrect. The one supposed to know Hindi does not, one supposed to not, does)
Me: "Tau, jo dekha, jo socha wo hamesha sahi nahi hota" (What you see and think, the first impression might not be true)


Then came my second teaching while sipping tea. Sign language might be primitive but that's all you need while you travel.
I was sipping tea with Sushil ji, a local tea shop owner. As it was raining we didn't expect any customers. Then suddenly came a man running, half drenched, looking for shelter. Sushil ji took this opportunity to offer some tea, obviously not for free, he isn't running a charity. While Sushil ji was busy, we exchanged smiles and glances. I pulled out my pack of nicotine to have a smoke, and he gestured to pass on one. I did gladly, only a smoker knows pain of dearth of nicotine. I asked his name. He said "No English". I asked "Hindi?" "No Hindi". So with all the sign language I could muster was finally able to convey the message - How would you travel and survive in India, if you know neither Hindi nor English. And he made one gesture, pointing a finger, no not the middle one, but the one pointing towards sky, denoting - The One, known by many names.

That's when I realized, it doesn't matters where you are, who you are with, you just need to find the right connection to be one with The One.

Crumpled Life

We are all born with one thing, and that is life. Rest all are either inherited or earned. But sometimes we take this freebie for granted. We forget the fact that what precious gift we got as life.

So be happy, help others, spread knowledge and don’t let others to turn your life into crumpled life.