Enroute to Enlightenment!

I always knew there was a reason why people go to pilgrimage centres but i had yet to find it out myself. A cynic as i was, it took me only 1 day to get all the answers straightened out.

My family decided to take a trip to Vaishno Devi, Jammu and Kashmir (for more details check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishno_Devi ) this week and i happily joined in.

My reason for the visit? the thrill of trekking, to dance and chant in the name of our Goddess/God and basically to be a part of fraternal exuberance.

To me God resides in my heart like everywhere else, so i don't need to go to temples and such places to seek his blessings.

Therefore, what happened next was an unexpected turn of events that will lay embedded in my memory forever.

What happened during the trip was mostly our fault. starting with not getting enough sleep knowing that we start the same day as we reach to carrying wrong type of shoes to not checking the weather forecast in advance, all decisions were made pretty short-sightedly.

But amongst all the mess and havoc, i came out re-learning many lessons of life that we are taught as kids but what fall on deaf ears...

The moment we reached Katra, from where we start trekking, it started raining. now, it was totally unexpected and we had nothing to protect us from the rains, so we bought raincoats from the seller out there.

We rested an hour, had something to snack on and started with our trekking.
15 minutes into it and the rains got heavier.

It did stop after some time but this relief was only momentary as 1 and a half hour later it started raining again.

Only this time, it was harder with winds blowing heavier accompanied by total blackout up in the mountains and no shed as far as your eye could see.

We got stuck up there, with no place to go, nothing to keep our bodies warm except one sweater each, and believe me 1 sweater at 10 degrees celsius in heavy rain is not something a normal human being could take. atleast not me.

We had nothing to do except walk till the next shed so walk is what we did. we carried on with our trekking but it was getting colder and colder.

Soon we were all completely drenched from head to toe.

Finally we reached the shed where we decided to sit for a while before resuming our journey.

Everyone was thinking of spending the night in the shed only but i said it would be better if we move faster, reach the top and rest there only.

Wouldn't it be better to finish with what we started first?

Besides they had guest houses and food up there too.

The word food reached home and we all started moving again.

It was getting cooler by the minute; the chilly winds slapping hard on our faces with rain dripping from our nose tips and heavy sighs never leaving our mouths it was a spectacle up there.

Loud chants turning into silent whimpers, unbreakable strides moulding into hunch-backed crawls.

But at that moment all i could think of was i needed to reach to the top; i have to see that my family is safe and sound and i have to remain strong.

That is when i realised how similar this journey was to the journey of one's life.

Just focus on your goal but never leaving your friends and family behind because you might reach the top anyhow but it wouldn't be half as fun without your loved ones around to share your success.

With rain and cool winds followed fog and mist. to the extent that the visibility dropped to zero meaning we couldn't see what was in our front our in the back. it was all a hazy black.

We didn't know if there was a pitfall or even a turn. we were just walking totally unaware of what lay ahead of us.

This is life, isn't it? you cannot tell one day from the other. when you wake-up in the morning you have no idea how the day would end but you don't stop right there.

The path is a foggy one, covered with unseen risks and dangers but you move ahead only with hope and faith in your hearts that it will all be good. this is our faith in our God, or any energy you believe in; our trust that nothing could go wrong or the hope that even if it does, you will be alright.

God gives us many helping hands in life, we hold them tight and we carry on moving forward. it could be your parents, your teachers, your life partners anyone.

Somehow we managed to reach the top. up there it was total mayhem; kids crying, mothers shivering, food and blankets out of stock wih guest houses putting up signs of houseful.

We went into the temple, payed our respects and came out searching for a shelter for the night.

Every covered thatch and it would be full of atleast 50 people. Dispensay, enquiry offices, restaurants, blanket stores even toilets were all filled with people trying to pass through the night.

After an hour of searching, we found some place outside the dispensary where a family let me share their blanket and space for the time being seeing as i was about to pass out any moment.

Another family made space for my family and we sat with them, through the night waiting for the rain to stop.

Looking at all those people it just struck me how similar one man to the other. the society might have divided us in many stratas but in the end we're all one and same.

Out there everyone, be it old or young, rich or poor, black or white everyone was scared and hungry and cold; all we needed was some food, shelter and protection; everyone is equal regardless of what lifestyle they follow.

If not for those people i'd be dead by now, my condition was that worsened. God helps those who help others.
May he bless those who showed some empathy towards mankind even if they themselves were equally suffering.
together we passed that eventful night and came back down early next morning.

That one night, rather a few hours touched my soul deeply and iam ever so grateful to God for teaching me what he did.

Hence ends my journey that enlightened me no end.