The call from Mata Vaishnodevi

Indians are very religious people by nature. It's very natural for us to believe in god and godly things. And as one starts getting educated, one has to put effort time and again to develop that 'scientific' temper which says there is nothing like god. All that is seen or talked about godly things, are nothing but superstitions. They are like some magical tricks performed to make a fool of you. I think most of educated India tries to go on this theory, but i feel they struggle to move on it. Somewhere within they still believe in god. I was one such person who was not able to decide whether there is or there is not something called god.
There is a temple of Mata Vaishnodevi (referred to as Mata for short) in the pir panjal hills on state jammu and kashmir. It is widely believed (not the scientific belief) that one does not go there by choice. One goes there only when Mata calls and not otherwise. I had heard of this story from many people, on how they had planned everything but had to cancel it at the last moment. I had also heard about the other side, how people went just like that, without any planning.
It was august 2005, my fourth year of engineering. A few months back my friends went to Mata, but for some reason i didnt got with them. This is worth mentioning, because i was the kind of person who is ready to drop anything and travel. And so when my friends told me about their plan for the trip , they must have surprised when i refused to go. I was surprised too. This was april 2005, about 3 months ago. Something happened in august 2005 which forced me to change my way of thinking.
Day I
12 noon, i was in my room when our results of previous semester was announced. My result had been stopped for some reason by the university. To wait for one's result is some kind of a mental stress, but when your result is withheld without any explanation, then it becomes a mental torture. I asked the people concerned in college, but they had no answers why it happened. They also couldnt tell me for sure when it will be announced. The only thing they told me, that i was not the only one like this, a few more students were in similar situation. That was some kind of relief but not much. Back in the hostel, my fellow mates were celebrating about the marks they had obtained. This time most of the students had done well, so i really couldnt find anyone who was sad about his result. It seemed i was the only one in hostel who was not in any kind of celebration. My friend Charzal, was happy too. He had never scored this well in his entire engg career uptill now. It seemed the whole world has turned around me. Why me? Why was i denied this opportunity to celebrate with everyone?
All this was getting too much on me, and by 3 pm i decided i needed a break from this. It was perhaps more of running away. I wanted to get to a place where no one is talking about results and marks, to a place where i can forget for a moment who i was. And so i decided to go. Go somewhere. Charzal asked me where, i said i don't know. I asked him for some money, but as usual he was a fakir (somebody who does not even have a penny). I thought of Dinesh, another good friend who is always ready to lend money (it doesnt even matter if he knows you or not).
I went to his room in Agra city, and he gave me 3000 bucks. He asked me where i planned to go, i said i dont know, maybe the mountains. He then gave me his warm Jacket too, incase i go to place where its cold. And so, with 3000 bucks in my pocket, a bag pack and a broken knee i took a bus at 5 pm for Delhi. Delhi is my home town too, but i was sure that i will not be going home.
I reached Delhi bus station at 9 pm, and i saw another bus being lined up for Jammu. Jammu is some 14 hours ride from Delhi. I thought thats the furthest i can go. And if i go that far, let me also pay a visit to Mata's temple. But this temple is know for the huge crowd of people it draws. I had heard sometimes the queue is upto 2 days long. People wait in the queue for 2 days before they get a chance to get in the temple. And once in the temple, one would be lucky if one can spend more than a couple of seconds in front of Mata's idol. I thought i can never do all that. Once i reach there, only then i'll take a descision about the temple. For now i'm going to just Jammu.
I had dinner at a roadside eatery ( a thali for Rs 20, where one could eat stomach full). Our bus moved out of station exactly at 10 pm as scheduled. When it comes to timing, the buses in north seem to be more reliable than trains. I took a seat, right behind the driver, so that i can enjoy the view which a driver does. A 14 hour journey would mean atleast 4 breaks and change of driver atleast once. But i was to be proved wrong, much to my amazement.
Day II
Our bus took the first break after 3 hours at 1 am just before the town of Ambala in state of Haryana. To travel this far in just 3 hours was surely considered fast. It was a 20 min dinner break. The next break was at Jullundhar in state of Punjab at 4.30 am. I actually thought it would be another of those 20 min breaks, and so got down to stretch my legs and empty my bowel. I was surprised to notice the driver honking the horn after 5 min. God, is this man crazy. He's been driving for more than 6 hours now. But he seemed to be in hurry. It seemed some kind of race with another bus being on our tail. As soon as this other bus reached Jullunder bus station, off went our bus. The next break was at 6.30 am, and thankfully this time for 20 min. It was a break-fast break. The bus stopped at a Dhaba (roadside eatery which provides parking space). The dhabas in Punjab are known for their food, and i had some delicious and filling aloo paranthas. The bus moved again after 20 min and i slept on my seat (by now almost half the bus had gone empty and so got a full seat to stretch my back. When i got up (actually i was woken up by a lady, since i was occupying 3 seats and she was 1 for her to sit). I realised it was past 8 am and we had entered the state of Jammu and kashmir. The 4 lane road had now become a 2 lane undivided road. The traffic on the road had now more of army vehicles, than i had ever seen before. I knew we are in J&K. And I just realised, the driver was the same. This guy was surely crazy. He had been driving for 10 hours now, and driving with the same speed. He was doing all sort of maneuvers possible with a bus when over taking other vehicles. Sitting just behind him had been exciting uptill now, but now it was getting a bit scary. I wonder the the DTC cant arrange for 2 drivers on such a long route? Well if they can trust this mad man, then so shall I. I have no reason to fear, since he does this everyday. He knows his job, let me trust him. All that gave me some courage and so I didnt change my seats. At 10 am we reached Jammu city after 12 hours of journey. Hey wait a min, i thought it would take 14 hours. The conductor said 14 hours to Katra (the town below Mata's temple). The bus got empty at Jammu. I was the only one who wanted to go to katra. It seemed the driver was little disappointed. He probably thought the bus would get empty at Jammu and then he will have a break itself. But what the hell, we'll go to Katra and then break. I told him we can have a tea break if he wishes to have one, but what the hell. It seemed I was underestimating him, which he couldn't live with. And so off we went to Katra, another 2 hours ride from Jammu, and this time it was all mountain roads. The city of Jammu seemed as if there is some kind of war. All you could see was army. Army trucks, open army jeeps mounted with a machine gun on the top, foot soldiers all along the road, fully dressed in battle gear. And amongst all this our bus sped past them, honking them. Just as we crossed Jammu, the conductor found an empty school bag left behind in the bus. He asked me if it was mine. I denied. In a sensitive state like J&K, this bag could easily be a bomb I thought. Th driver didnt think it was wise enough to stop the bus. The conductor thought it's wise enough to open and check. I thought i need to bend down incase it blasts off. The bag had a notebook and a book in urdu. It seemed some child forgot his bag. Reading the book, it seemed he was a student of primary school, maybe grade 5. Poor kid would be searching for his bag, and will surely be scared of the teacher and later his parents when they will find out he lost it. And here we were thanking our gods, it wasnt a bomb.
The driver asked me if it was my first visit to Mata, i said first in over 10 years. The first time i came was in 1990 when i was a small kid. I visited mata with my family then. he pointed me to a mountain top, with clouds sitting there. Thats where you have to go. He told me I'll get an entry ticket, right where he will drop me, then i have to trek for 14 km up the mountain and show them my ticket. There they will give me another ticket using which i would enter the gufa (cave). The temple is inside the gufa. The driver also told me, that in case i'm done with my darshan (visiting the temple and coming back down to katra), i can catch the same bus back to Delhi tonight. Tonight? " Yes we leave at sharp 10 pm from katra bus stand". Hang on! Is he mad or something. Its 12 noon. We have just finished a 14 hour journey of about 650 km. And he says he will return after exactly 10 hours for another 14 hour and 650 km journey? He nodded his head and said "roz ka kaam hai" ( its his daily job). I got down the bus, and thanked both of them. Thanked them for what? Well i dont know. Maybe for what was going to be the most memorable journey of my life. Or maybe just like that. After all we can thank people for no reason. I thanked them because i felt like. But i was sure im not returning tonight. In any case i'm not taking the 14 km trek right now. I would look some good hotel and sleep and them maybe in the night i'll start the trek. And more over there is suppose to be a 2 day queue. So no way i'll be back tonight.
The yatra begins
Just as I got down the bus, this young boy caught my hand. "Room"??"a/c, non-a/c room"? In such places one doesnt have to look for rooms, the rooms find you. I said yes, but maybe its better to get a ticket first and then get a room for rest."oh that is no problem. Just go into this room and get a ticket and i'll wait for you outside". I went in and i was shocked. I was the only person to get a ticket. The man at the counter was happy to see me. He asked me my name,age and place i came from and there you go i had the ticket. Where is the two day long queue?? I thought maybe its up there, at the entrance of gufa. Just as i came out, this man was waiting for me. I dont know why, i told him i dont need a room to rest, but just a place where i can go to toilet and wash my face, and then i would like to begin my trek right away. I wasnt sure if i was doing the sensible thing, but i was too excited to be sensible then. He then took me to a dharamshala. In india, you would find number of dharamshalas in any religious place. A dharamshala is a place where they dont charge you anything to stay. One can stay for as many days, and they'll not ask for a rupee. But they do ask for donations, if you look like somebody who can pay. I guess its important for people like me to donate at such institutions. Maybe donations like these enable such places to run. Its like a blessing for those poor people who cant afford to pay. Instead of them spending cold mountain nights out in open it's a blessing if they get a room or a dormitory in a dharamshala. I emptied my bowel, washed my face, changed my clothes and donated Rs 51 and thanked everybody there. Although all this took not more than 30 min, and so 51 rupees seemed a bit on higher side, but considering the effect of my donation, i thought maybe i could have given more. More over if i had booked a room, it would easy have cost Rs 300 to Rs 3000. Anyways i was ready to take the yatra. I had light lunch and at 12.50 started me trek. I had heard Mikki bhaiya (my cousin) could trek all the way in 3 hours. I decided to time my trek.
So with one broken knee and about 5 kg of backpack i started. En route were shops playing devotional music of Mata. There were young, old people, people in groups, couples, families. There were people from north India, south and even east. By looking at their clothings, one could tell which part of India they belonged to. Thankfully India is still 'underdeveloped' for not everyone wears jeans and trousers. Each region still has their own dresses own food own language. There were rich and poor too. There were people who walked like me,some who would crawl, some who preferred ponies, some even preferred helicopters. On the way you would have people beating drums. The drum beating becomes an important part of yatra as it keeps you going. When you think of stopping and taking a rest, just then you hear these drums and people chanting 'jai mata di' and signalling you to move on. Everyone does this to everyone. Its like everyone is pushing each other to move on.
I saw a sikh father and son. As it rained in between, the father put a small polythene bag on his son's head. The bag was too small to cover his entire head, instead it just covered his small turban. While some preferred to take shelter in the rain, there were others like me and the little sikh boy, who walked in the rain. I couldnt stop as i was timing myself.
After 3 hrs and 20 min and one 2 min water break i had reached the entrance of temple. 14 km (with 12.5 km being up the hill) in just over 3 hrs wasnt bad i thought.
The entrance also looked comparatively empty. I was given another ticket to proceed, my bag scanned by x-ray machine and i moved on. I deposited my bag and shoes in the cloak room. I was also told to deposit all leather items too. I took out all the money, put it in my pocket and deposited my empty wallet too. At the entrance i was frisked by the army gaurd. Soon i was in a queue which seemed as if it was moving. In India most queues dont seem to move unless you are the first one. But this one did move. Infact it moved too fast. They were right, you can just spend a second in front of Mata and then move. Soon i entered the gufa. There was a pujari sitting in front of Mata's idol and another army personel standing next to him. As the pujari would put a tilak on your forehead, the gaurd would push you out of the gufa. Just as i reached the mata, pujari's tilak got finished. So he had to change his bag of tilak before he could put one on my forehead the the gaurd would push me out. All this gave me well over 5 seconds. Lucky me.
I came out, took my stuff and looked at the time. It was just over 5 pm. The darshan took just 45 min and not 2 days. So what to do now. Well lets down back to Katra. But lets just have a sip of coffee. So i took a nescafe and sat on a pavement looking down the hill, dense forest. I was some monkeys playing. It's one of the great sights to see the monkeys play. So much of energy. How they leap from one tree to other, how they just manage to hang on and not fall, how the little ones just cling onto their mothers.Amazing! My coffee finished, indicating to move on.
This time i decided to take a pony down, as my knee was hurting very badly. I guess the all the timing thing took its toll on my broken knee. The ponywala asked for Rs250 to go down, and he told me its a fixed rate, no bargaining. He also showed me a sign board which had the rate list. Thank god, there is atleast one place in India where you dont have to bargain. More than Rs 250 it would have been the feeling of being cheated which would have caused more damage. But since it was a govt approved rate, i was sure i was not being cheated. A big relief.
As we reached Sanja Chhat ( the highest point of trek) i saw the sun set behind the scattered clouds. Looking down i saw the river Chenab making its way through the hills. It looked like a serpent. The ponywala was a yound boy of Gujjar community. He had a not so normal leg, and so limped. I asked if it pains. He said no, "bachpan se hi aisa ha" (its like this from childhood).
I asked him about the terrorism in the state and whether it had any effect on this temple. I heard what i was expecting to hear. I had heard what so many people had told me. The state of J&K is devastated by islamic terrorists ,but in all the 14 yrs not a single incident has happened in this temple. " Even they know to leave this place alone" he said. I'm still not sure the reason behind this. Maybe its the power of Mata, that nothing has happened here(being unscientific) or maybe something else or maybe just a law of coincidence (being scientific), but its true no incident has happened in last 14 yrs of bloodshed in the state.
I reached down at Katra at 7.30 pm. I was hungry. Had some good food. Its amazing how tasty a simple food may be when one is really hungry. Over the years I had forgotten what being hungry is. Somehow i developed a habit where i would give something to the stomach even before it asked for. I was experiencing something new here. I enjoyed that meal.
Dinner is over, it was 8.30, so what next? Do I look for a room to spend the night? I just remembered what the driver in the afternoon had told me. He would be going back at 10 pm. What the hell, lets take a bus back home. Just then i saw a DTC bus getting ready to leave for Delhi. It was a 9 pm bus. I got onto it.
Day III
Next day at 12 noon i reached Delhi, 15 hours journey, ! hour more than what it took us earlier. Just as we reached Delhi, the bus after us ( the 10 pm bus) also reached, with the same driver in it. I dont remember what happened on the journey way back, because i slept for the entire journey.
Just as i got down this bus, i saw another leaving for Agra. I got onto that and at 3.30 pm was back in college. Charzal was shocked to know I had been to Vaishnodevi and back. I was shocked too. I had travelled about 1800 km in bus, visited one of the most sacred shrines in about 47 hours. My average speed of journey was 38.2 km/hr. My expense of the trip was less than 1000 bucks.