Arohan - The Ascent

Divine Interventions

Urvashi had stopped going to temples when she was old enough to understand the concepts of God and higher power. If there was indeed a God and we were all supposed to be his children, how could it be possible, that her life was so painful and that of her brother so easy?

And when we worshipped the mother Goddess for wealth, prosperity, and other such, why was the same respect not accorded to the women in the household? If there was really a God out there, why would he not put an end to this inequality and teach men to love, respect, and care for their women, no matter in which station of life they were? Why were men not taught to be more respectful of their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters, or even that random girl on the street? 

As a society, was it not the responsibility of men collectively to protect their women folk? And it was easy for her to blame God. because God never argued back or protested her blame. He or She or It, whatever it was, quietly took all her mockery, her all accosting and all her disdain. And so her resentment of God, ensured that she stopped visiting temples and such places of faith.

If God was aloof to her, she did not need Him either. 

But standing in the small area in front of the lift Urvashi felt helpless and rudderless. Where was she to go, what was she to do? It didn't make any sense to call Pandit ji yet. And what would she tell him? And what if he insisted that they take Vikram back home?

She needed to think, she needed someplace where she could find a little peace and quiet. She walked into the lifts and blindly walked out of the building, not knowing which way to take.

On the other side of the road, was a children's playground, and right in the middle of the playground, there was a small temple. She didn't bother to check the traffic on either side of the road and simply crossed in blind luck. She just wanted some place, where she could sit for a couple of minutes and reorient herself.

The emotional upheaval she had been experiencing since laying eyes on Vikram, would definitely impede whatever decisions she had to make and if she hoped to do the right thing, it was important to calm her nerves and emotions down.

The park was typical, a circular gate made out f iron, which made it impossible for two people to enter at the same time. The jogger's track and some slides and sand pi were spread around in a circular pattern. And right in the middle, a smaller circle was built, and a temple in the Shave of Shiv Ling.

The temple too had a circular compound wall and an iron mesh gate, to enter the temple premises. As soon as one entered, to their left were some taps and some shelves, that could be used to keep one's footwear and wash feet. A little further up, was the murti of Nandi Maharaj, sitting in an eternal wait for his Lord, God everything to rise again. 

As Urashi came closer to the gate, she could see a couple of ladies speaking to the pujari. She walked through the gate, leaving it ajar, when the priest, signaled for her to keep the gates closed. Urvashi turned around and closed the gate. Slowly, she made her way to the rows of shelves to keep her footwear.

Once the footwear had been placed in the self, she came to the taps of water, to wash her hands and feet. Now, the way the taps were placed on the wall, if someone opened the gate fully, the person at the taps would be sandwiched between, the wall and the gate, with very little space to come out.

As Urvashi bent over to wash her feet, she saw an old man open the gate, with effort. He looked quite disheveled and disoriented. Urvashi looked up at him and could not help but wonder if he had been abandoned by his family to fend for himself. He wore oddly framed spectacles, or perhaps he did not have enough money to have his glasses mended. 

A closer look at the shirt of the old man showed stains on the checkered, beige-colored shirt. Some seemed like tea and some felt like blood. Urvashi looked up at the face of the old man, an unkempt beard and face that was covered by a thick, bushy beard. His eyes looked all around, almost as if he didn't know where he was going or what he was doing.

As Urvashi turned back and washed her hands, they could hear ladies coming out saying, "the prices of gold have skyrocketed these days, it become almost unaffordable..."

The old man looked towards Urvashi and Urvashi looked at him, a sympathetic smile on her face.

The old man addressed Urvashi in pristine English, "gold has become so expensive they say, but what they understand is that gold never becomes expensive or cheap, it's only the value of money going up or down," he said.

Urvashi absorbed his comments. That was a profound statement to make. "I never thought of it like that," she replied.

The old man was just stepping into the temple, the gate now fully open. The priest did not seem to object. "You know, how much the golden ore, has to be beaten and battered for it to take the form of a jewel," he asked, staring at Uravshi, strangely. "It takes penance to turn something that is surrounded by murk to gold... you know.." he started to come towards him, making Urvashi a little uncomfortable.

She smiled at him, a rather, underwhelmed smile, and looked for a way to move out. But the gate and the old man almost seemed to block her. "He is exactly where he is supposed to be, you are exactly where you are supposed to be, don't you understand? You think of him as an ordinary man... nothing could be farther from the truth. He is ready for the mantle, well almost... How much further will you test him.. . Don't you have a heart..." his tone seemed to get progressively more aggressive. " What else must he do to prove to you... Won't you even listen to me? It is true, a woman's trust once lost, is near impossible to earn." And then he literally came over her, trapping her to the wall and himself. 

His eyes seem to bore her. "He needs you... he can't do this alone. You have to see the bigger picture. There are bigger plans, much bigger than you... what do you think of yourself,: the old man was screaming at her at the top of his voice.

Urvashi shuddered in fear and shock. She jerked away from the old man and somehow managed to slide out. She ran towards the temple and approached the pujari panting. The Young pujari looked at her worried and put some teertha in a paper cup and handed it to her. Uravshi drank the tulsi-flavored liquid thankfully, scared even to turn back and look.

"Pujari ji, there's an old man in dirty clothes behind me, looks like a madman. he was screaming at me at the top of his voice, I don't why he was shouting at me, I am so scared..." Urvashi was panting hard, unable to even breathe, at the shock of how the old man scolded her.

The pujari looked over her and then back at the young lady. "Amma, just turn around once...don't worry. Just look behind you," he stated to Urvashi with a smile.

Skeptically, Uravshi turned around. The gate was closed and there was no one. She jerked back to look at the Pujari. "how is that possible, just now an old man entered, and he pushed the gate fully open..."

"Please come with me.." said the pujari, smiling reassuringly;y at her. He walked with her to the gates and showed her the gate. The gate was actually a fabrication of 3 segments of steel mesh. In the center, the door had been fitted to allow one person to enter at a time, and the hinges stopped short of the third segment. That meant, the gate could only be opened in the middle and never fully, as the final segment was attached to the wall and there were no hinges.

Urvashi looked at the pujari stupefied and speechless. She was perspiring, there were tears falling from her eyes and goosebumps began to form all over her body.

"He appears to devotees who come to this temple sometimes, in various forms. Sometimes, he comes as a dog sometimes as a beggar, sometimes as an old brahman. No one knows how or why. He tells them some cryptic messages and then disappears. It is believed that Lord Shiva himself was the Guru of the devotee who established this temple. No one knows how old this temple is. But sometimes, devotees say they have seen a man who pushed the full gate open and spoke to them And then mysteriously disappears... You are lucky. I have never heard anyone say he shouted at them. Take it as a guru's blessing. Wait for a second, " and the Pujari went into the inner sanctum of the temple.

"Here, take this," he said, handing over a tiny packet of vibhuti. "Feel free to sit here for as long as you, please. When you feel better, come to the garbha griha. I will perform archana and give you prasad," he said, smiling gently and walking back into the temple.