Trip to Mahavirji 5: Mahavirji

My last visit to Mahavirji took place about 20 years ago, and not too much has changes over these years. The temples remain equally beautiful, clean and well maintatined. Outside, though number of shops selling religious artifacts have come back and some really bad restaurants have taken prominence, over simplistic dhabaas, in the name of posh ac restaurants. We ate our dinner in one of these and I can tell you right away that that was the worst food we had ever eaten. Masala milk and lassi remained tasty as ever though and these are must have if you are there.


Dharamshaalas have become more modern, as well. The bathrooms were very well mainted with a geyser and separate taps for hot and cold water attached to a shower. It was no less pleasuring as a shower in the west. The next morning, after taking darshans in several other temples, we arranged for a taxi which was not an easy job to do with lots of taxiwaalas present on the scene and we being the only customers. Our next stop at this point was Jhansi, town on the outskirts of UP. We wanted to rush
since it was a long distance journey and we wanted to be there before it was too late. Yet, we couldn't start before 1ish and decided to gulp down thick aloo paranthas - disgrace to their cousins, the chatpate paranthe of Mussorie. We bowed to Mahavir bhagwaan one last time feeling the satisfaction of a paapi having washed all his sins and started towards Jhansi settling down comfortably in the nice ac blast of the taxi.

Nine Lives..a Good reading

(Picture Archives from Joshita rawat)

I have been a bed time reader all along but certainly these last two months i have developed a voracious appetite, I finshed 80's fiction novel of James Clavell "whirlwind" which is on Iranian revolution and a mast reading, than in continuation iwent through Larry collins "The road to Armageddon" again on nuclear bomb building efforts of present day Iran.Last week in finished a text book and political history "The Dragon and the foreign devils" which is by Prof H G Gelber and talks about China 1100 B.C to the present and its relations with outside world, recommended reading.

This Good Friday i was going through road side book markets on Mehrauli- Guragon road and managed to lay hand on William Dalryemple's "Nine lives" which as the cover says is " In Search of the sacred in Modern India" , I managed to finish it same day, went through some chores on Saturday and today managing to recommend it to you guys, as one critic says about this ".... it is and artfully weaving together of travel, history and legend", as author puts it "...is conceived as a collection of linked non fiction shorth stories , with each life representing a different form of devotion or different religious path" since Alok you are already wirting of Mahaveerji travels would say you should go through the chapter "Nun's tale" for sure.

This might be the stories of people on the farthest extremes of religious ecstasy, but as i finished this book i was just reflecting that the Indian middle class that worker ant which has been backbone of this Indian shining story is one too steeped in religiosity and never lets off "Manu smirti" off its Radar scanner.Indian Child is born and welcomed with set rituals which become so repetitive over the years that most of the Indian middle aged householders can repeat mantras witn rote with never fully understanding the meaning. Daily Diya lighting in Puja corner is a must in every hindu household, visiting temples on tuesday, saturdays, avoiding Shaving on tuesdays, Thurdays..lines of Fasts.Appeasing the protector Vishnu with 'Satnarayan Katha' or the destroyer Shiva with monday fast it all comes naturally.

Move from 'Grahsth' to 'Van prasth' or coping with retirement blues is most easy.. " Om Jai Jagdish" is replaced with "Dhyan exercises"..new age and new line of Sudhanshuji, Asaram ji, Ravi Shankar ji, Goenka Ji make it very simple, these are gurus different from Elites of yesteryears who looked for foriegn clientle and when MNCs are realising the potential of burgeoning Indian middle class why would Gurus ignore such mass and let me tell all of these holymen are accesible propagate very simple ways to achieve salvation.

So For Mr william it should 30 cr lives which he should be writing about who are in throes of changes never ever happened to this country in last five hundered years and managing to get magical 8% GDP year on year of course with 33 cr deities(Devi Devtas) its all the more easy.