Accidental gain from Badrinath

 Accidental gain from Badrinath 

The kapat of the temple of Badrinath (UK) were closed on 17th November 2024 when we were in Haridwar. Our original plan was to spend one day in Haridwar, two days in Uttarkashi and two days in Rishikesh touching Devprayag. But while taking dinner on 17th, we changed our programme and decided to visit Panchprayag and replan the visit as we travelled. On 18th, we made halts at Devprayag (confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda), Dharadevi, Karnaprayag (confluence of Pindari and Alaknanda), Nandprayag (confluence of Nanda and Alaknanda) and reached Joshimath by evening. We visited Jyotir Math the northern peeth of Atharvaveda established by Adi Guru Shankaracharya by appointing his disciple Todakacharya as its first head. There is a cave in which we could see the two Shivlingas made of crystal brought from Badrinath and one ancient Shivlinga. The main hall of the Peeth has one side the seat of Shankaracharya and opposite to it the crystal Shriyantra in the shape of Shivlinga four feet above and four feet underground. The side walls have idols of 64 yoginis covering the walls. The present Jagadguru comes occasionally at the time of opening and closing of Kapat of Badrinath Temple and to attend to other events organised at the Peeth. He stays mostly in Varanasi otherwise. We visited the Narsimha temple. Lucky we were that we got a room and dinner service at NTPC Guest House. Next day morning, there was no water flow in the taps as we forgot to keep the bucket full with water as the water pipes get chalked in mountains in winter. The campus was empty and the service staff was to come at 7 AM. Considering the travel schedule, we somehow managed our daily routine using jug water and water bottles available and departed for Badrinath at 6 AM. 

We reached at Hanumanchatti at 7 AM and stopped for Darshana. One security man came out of the tent hearing the sound of the car and told us to return unless have a written permission of the authority to move forward. I requested him to allow to travel to visit the Badrinath temple from outside and also argued that had we not stopped for darshana of Hanumanchatti the road was open and we would have travelled ahead when he was in his room. He allowed us and we reached Badrinath at 7.20 AM. It was empty town with all shops closed and no humans except few individuals seen at the hot water stream near the temple. 

In the absence of the rush of the pilgrims we could enjoy the nature, the flow of river Alaknanda, the temple premises very well. We had no plan to take bath in the Tapta Kunda located in the courtyard but somehow when we went there it has attracted me. I didn’t carry a towel and changing clothes as there was no plan to take bath and the car was parked away. But the attraction of the natural hot water pool containing sulphur was pulling me in. In absence of rush for the bath, I took bath for an hour in that sulphuric hot water as my wife also went for a bath in the women pool. I allowed the inner garment to dry on its own, put on same clothes and moved forward towards Mana, the first village of India facing China border. It was empty village except the sound of couple of starlings. We visited Bhim pul, Saraswati Dhara, Pandavas route to heaven, Vyas cave and Ganesh cave where the epic of Mahabharata composed and returned. We halted at Pandukeshwar at 11 AM and have darshana of Kuber, Yogbadri and Vasudev Temples. At 12 PM we reached Vishnuprayag to enjoy confluence of river Dhauli Ganga with Alaknanda and reached Rudraprayag in the evening to have magnificent view of confluence of river Mandakini with Alaknana. The road changed to the right to go for Gangotri. We concluded our visit of five Prayags and reached Srinagar (UK) in the evening where we got a room in HNB University guest house. 

I shall write the details of our journey to Uttarkashi and Gangotri later but the intention of this article is to narrate  how an accidental change in our tour programme pulled us to the Tapta Kunda of Badrinath which has resolved my health problem I was facing for 55 years. 

When I was 9 years old, my back was injured by the forceful jump of opponent players when I was touching the border line while playing kabaddi in the street of my chawl. After a pain for a fortnight, I forgot the incident but as I grew older the fracture was fused through sacralisation of L5-S1 vertebrae with the hip bone. It had restricted my mobility and weaken my left side of the body. 

When we returned home after the trip of Badrinath, it gave me a great surprise. My left hip fused with the vertebrae for 55 years suddenly got relieved, the neck was relived from the tension and with the removal of inflammation in the spine the irritation of mind has gone. Isn’t it an accidental gain out of a visit of a famous temple whose doors were closed?

Jai ho Badri Vishal ki😊🙏🙏🙏

Punamchand 

30 November 2024

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The Lost Gold

 Lost Gold 

There is a couple in their nineties. The man narrated a story of their past, a story of ‘lost gold’. 

The couple went to attend a marriage. The lady in rush or in pressure of silky garments dropped ornaments weighing 12 tolas. They came to know after some hours and the mood of joy changed into a state of sorrow. Wife was crying and husband dropped a letter before his house deity that he wouldn’t accept the gold even if it was returned by somebody. 

Luckily, the gold was found out by a poor unemployed man who came next day and handed it over to the family. But the husband was determined to not to accept it. They debated for whole night and as the husband was adamant, they finally decided to offer it to the Guru of the man who found out the gold. The man was follower of BAPS Seaminarayan. They all went to offer the gold to Pramukh Swami. As he was getting ready to pick up flight for London his access was denied initially. But when Dr. Swami came to know that the visitors have come to offer gold, they were allowed to meet. They dedicated the gold to him but he advised it to do so before the Shriji. Two idols (Swami-Narayan) were brought immediately to whom they offered the gold, of which half was kept and half was returned as offerings. Look at the nature of the husband, he sold it to the market and from the money received, he organised a lunch party of his society of 160 families, narrated the whole story of the lost gold and paid respect to the man who returned the gold by giving him a silver memento of Sidi Saiyyid’s jali. 

My wife asked me a question, who became the real beneficiaries of the lost gold? Neither the family who lost it, nor the person who found it. The BAPS and the Society were the real beneficiaries who received the lost gold and the delicious lunch respectively. The story proceeds further. 

The man who returned the gold was unemployed after closure of Calico Textiles Mill. He went as volunteer to serve water in the Katha of Morari Bapu organised by Karasanbhai Patel of Nirma. The man came in the eyes of Karsanbhai and luckily for him he was from the same village of Karsanbhai. He was appointed in the store section and later promoted to supervise the purchases of the company. The company gave him flat near law garden Ahmedabad and granted scholarships for the education of his daughter. He visited USA couple of times and live happily these days. 

The husband who denied accepting the gold was making will of individuals free of cost, and by chance he made a will of a Marvadi Sheth of a tree garden in Kolkata who invited the couple in a marriage event of the family. The Marvadi Sheth gifted a gold necklace of 25 tolas to his wife. The lost gold doubled and returned though another hand. But the story moves further. The husband was a sleeping partner is a travel business which went in losses. One day, the wife of his partner raised the issue of some losses in the business. He immediately gave away those 25 tolas of necklace to her. But how long one can held an unlawful collect. They return the necklace after three years when the couple returned from the USA. 

Good acts always pay back. 

Punamchand 

28 September 2024

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Met a gorgeous Lady

 Met a gorgeous Lady

I met a gorgeous lady in Delhi this week. When she introduced herself as Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi (IFS:1970), I couldn’t catch her surname. When I asked her again she replied with a broad smile on her face. ‘Uban is my surname from my father and Tripathi is a surname from my husband’. Uban was their native place located in North West Frontier Province. Her father was a Captain in Indian Army and was posted in Delhi at the time of partition of India. Her grandmother was living in Ravalpindi. When she was to move to Delhi as Pakistan was formed, she denied by saying राजाओ का बँटवारा होता है, प्रजा का बँटवारा नहीं होता। However, the family somehow convinced her to come to Delhi as her daughter in law was expecting a delivery of her first baby (Ms. Shashi). She came but was saying that she would return to Ravalpindi after three four months. She couldn’t because the situation worsen thereafter. 

Whomsoever the migrants one meets, their love and attachment to their native land and love to the people of that land are visible on their face and expressions. Many of them don’t carry the hatred of partition instead remember the days of loving relationships of both the communities. Destiny had scattered their lives. The act of violences by some anti socials and misguided youths hurt both the communities badly resulting in killings of one million people and displacement of 15 million. They couldn’t forget, the warmth of relations as well a the unfortunate partition. However, life has to move forward. 

Ms. Shashi was born in the year of Partition of India. After her graduation, she joined IFS:1970 and served in the External Affairs Ministry and abroad as Ambassador & High Commissioner to Poland, Zimbabwe and Canada. Her husband Manilal Tripathi was also from IFS:1970 had served on various capacities as diplomat of India. Ms. Shashi served as Member of UPSC post retirement. 

She was sharing anecdotes. It was Indian PMs visit to Moscow in 1979. He was accompanied by the MFA Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mr. Gujaral was the Ambassador. The couple was serving as First Secretary in the Indian Embassy of Moscow. The Embassy had prepared the toast speech of H’ble PM in English. But when Mr. Vajpayee came to know that the USSR President Brezhnev was going to toast in Russian, he proposed that our PM would toast in Hindi. But who would translate? There was no facility of translator and the officers and staff were carrying english background. Finally, Mr. Vajpayee himself translated the speech and gave dictation to Ms. Shashi who wrote it down on a paper neatly. PM Morarjibhai read the toast speech in Hindi. What a coincidence it was that the three men present in the event Morarjibhai, Vajpayee and Gujaral became the PM of India. 

At 76, she carries childlike innocence and her face lights up with her smile. She is a diplomat in action, very courteous, speaks precisely, reads carefully, writes neatly and verifying before sending the note to another hand. I read somewhere that neat handwriting is a sign of organization and discipline. Furthermore, people who write neatly tend to be reliable and dedicated. They are conscientious and take a pride in their work. They have a strong work ethic and are meticulous about following instructions and procedures. I could mark all these qualities present in Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi. Our salutes to her.🙏🙏🙏

Punamchand 

13 November 2024

New Delhi

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