A journey of two women...
A journey to India that was a soul defining experience for me...
Well.. well.. well.... my dear folks after a very long break I am back again yet with another life inspiring experience . Which of course I am very keen to share with you . My whole journey was a roller coaster ride I must say . But that is where the beauty of it lies .
So here it goes ....
My mother and I were looking forward to this trip as there was a certain significance to this trip,
why you may ask..? Let me tell you why , the purpose of the whole trip was to do prayers for my late father. Loads of emotions , feeling , thoughts that were buried deep inside me were clawing their way up to the surface threatening to burst out any moment as the date to departure neared .
I felt nervous going to a country where we barely knew much people and we stood out as a sore thumb ,
it was just me and my mother . Funny thing though my mum and I have gone to India countless of times ,
yet the feeling of nervousness still was there .
Finally the day arrived and the tension in the air went up a notch , while both of us busied ourselves with our errands and prepared for the trip . The first thing on my mind was my darling aiyshu ...(guinea pig) ,
I had to put her in a place where it was secure for her physically , mentally and emotionally. That's when my friend Angel sprang into my mind ... Like her name she was really an Angel , she was great with animals and I was sure she would take good care of Aiyshu . With Aiyshu safe in Angel's arms , I bid my farewell and left for home . After that it was as if some one took a remote control and fast forwarded the speed x 10 . Before I knew it we were on the plane on the way to Chennai .
My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest , and I uttered a small prayer as the plane took of ... what a exhilarating feeling it was. We touched down in Chennai and what a hunt it was to locate our driver , it was if we were playing hide and seek. Finally located him and we were whisked of to the hotel . Gemini Residency was the hotel we stayed in . It was very clean and they even had 24 hours heater service . And of course not forgetting the TV .
The next day our tour agent who was gonna help us arrange the trip came to our hotel, my mum discussed the details and I just was staring into space...:) . Finally things settled my mum agreed to leave that night itself to travel to Rameshwaram . Now what was in Rameshwaram that we had to go there you may ask ?. Well this is how it goes .
In order for my father's prayers to be done we had to travel to Rameshwaram first , followed on by to Varnasi where we concluded our prayers . It was typically going form the Southern part of India to the Northern part of India and yet again back to the south as our port of departure was in Chennai .
Yup it was gonna be a one heck of a journey .
That night as we left Chennai and hit the highway with our driver Muthu . My thoughts flowed through my head as i curiously stared into the starry night . Question that I have asked myself countless of times and which I am yet to get the answer danced in my mind .... What is life... what is death and what is my purpose in life ... Questions after questions overtook each other as they fought to stay in my mind . After sometime those questions faded and memories of my dad flooded into my mind , the floodgates that barricaded the emotions and memories cracked and burst . I was on the verge of tears , I thought to myself even after one year of my dad's passing I still could not get over the fact that he is long gone . As the tears betrayed me and slipped past my eyes and traveled down my cheeks I quickly wiped them away before anyone would notice.
Rameshwaram- We reached at about 10 in the morning and we dumped our luggage at Hotel Vinayaka and walked quickly as possible to the temple , which was a futile effort . In the end we decided to take a rickshaw auto to the temple. Within 2 minutes we reached the sea which we had to dunk ourselves in 3 times before we could go to the temple . My mum went in first . Me on the other hand I was a bit skeptical as I saw people washing their clothes there taking baths and it kind of irked me out . I stepped into the water and seaweed were tickling my legs which creeped me out more . I did it after some persuasion from my mum. We went into the temple and the specialty about this temple they had 22 holy wells which held 22 different types of holy water , people believed that if we bathed in the wells water our sins would be washed away . So with that in mind we did the ritual and was soaked to our bones. After that we changed into dry clothes and went to visit the lord Shiva in his sanctum . He whom has many names . We queued and waited .. Finally got to see him and pray to him for about 40 seconds before we were chased away by those pesky guards who were really annoying me . I mean people go to the temple to get peace of mind , and not be chased away by guards. Any hooo... we went on our way took the rickshaw auto back to the hotel . Well a midst all that chaos , a sweet surprise awaited me when I checked my phone .... A friend , a brother .. a family member ...someone close to my heart was in town as well . My heart skipped a beat as he messaged me saying he would be reaching the hotel soon to meet me and my mum . Well I must say the day couldn't have ended better . He finally arrived and the three of us chatted happily away and decided to have dinner at the restaurant at the hotel itself . This one memory shall be kept in my heart for the rest of my life .. He was such a sweet brother ... I knew him since I was just a kid .. You could say we kinda grew up together . So seeing him made my day. He left for the night and I left for dreamland while I lay in bed with my mum by my side .
The next day we left for a short trip to other temples we wanted to see .Afterwhich we left for Chennai so we could fly to Varnasi from there . We got back in the night and the next day we purchased our tickets and
left for Varnasi at three am in the morning .. I was not in the best of my moods but my mum bought me chocolate and shut me up. I treasured it as if it was my lifeline .. The reason why we came to India was nearing and I was getting more and more anxious I did not know what awaited me in Varnasi I have never stepped foot there . My dad told my mum he wanted to go to Varnasi again before he passed on ... But never did happened . So we were there on his behalf I guess...
We FINALLY reached VARNASI.....
Varnasi - It was raining heavily and it was bone chilling cold..The two of us were looking for a hotel to put up in the night , but to no avail. Than I saw a counter that said post-paid taxi counter we went there and sought their help . Finally thanks to a dude we found a room for the night ..The hotel reception was kinda shabby.. but the room was neat.. No complains there . But that was not the issue , since it was raining very heavily in Varnasi had a power cut and it was pitch dark....:( Could not see a thing the whole place was running on generators ... Yeap so we called the priest who was gonna do our prayers and he asked us to come to his house in the pitch dark and it was still pouring mind you.... Well its for dad isn't it.. So I shut my mouth ..
So the priest sent a boy to fetch us ... Than me and my imagination went running wild ..I imagined we were going on an adventure . we were walking through alley ways that had muck and other things that I so do not wana mention . I ducked and dodged every obstacle in the way with only the trusty flashlight I was given . Its beam of light so weak I could not see much .. I didn't even notice the cow that was right beside me till it mooed in my ear ... Yeap the darkness surrounded me and enveloped me like a soft velvet blanket . We finally reached the house where the priest and his family warmly welcomed us . They even served food for us ...Super awesome . So again my mum discussed and I listened and at the same time stared at a wall. Haha..
With everything settled the priest told us to get ready by six and he would send the boy to bring us to the Ganges river .
Boy was I in for a shock in the morning .... We had to dunk ourselves in the river ....!!!!.. Yes and boy was the river super cold......brrrrr .... I was laughing like a maniac , with mums hand in mine we descended into the river .. The priest beside me told me if I dunked myself the first time everything will be alright .. heeding his advice I did as he told . True enough he was right ! After which teeth chattering and body shivering we went to the priest house for the commencement of the prayers...The prayers will be something I will never forget it was finally time ....the hour has arrived ...for all we have been through it has arrived ....Emotions running high ... the prayers started we did everything to the precision as we only wanted the best for my dad .... Tears burst open through the dam... as each time the priest mentioned my dads name...memories of him flooded through me....finally with the prayers over we went to the temple ... to see the lord shiva whom I was dying to meet .... I even brought him a silk dhoti .... which i put over the deity myself...kudos for that ....
Than came another part we had to do ....letting go of daddy's clothes and purse in the ganges river ... With that done I felt a relive ...It was as if the worries had left me and I was freeeeee......I felt much calmer .... Much much happier ...With that I put my arms around mums shoulder and we walked back together...
There well this was most of the journey the important parts mainly .... There were the tiny part like the time I fed the animals from the monkeys , cows , elephants you name it ... oh yea goats too .. That was fun as well.. And I went saree shopping ... You can never stop an Indian girl from embracing her roots...no matter how modern she maybe ...:P
