Indeed! It has been extended.

I went to Ujjain for the ‘Developing a Smart City’ project, and it became a life changing experience. Shri Ramghat and the Mahakaleshwar Mandir had attracted me the most.

I also saw what happens in the crematorium!

Facing injustices and seeing macabre things that happen often makes me sad. Sometimes I feel like quitting. That exploration of a crematorium was one such event. It was a quest to look beyond the realms of social interaction. My understanding has deepened!

After seeing five dead bodies burning simultaneously that night along the ghat of the holy river  Kshipra, with ‘aghoris’ (Indian monks who (still) practice cannibalism) smoking (weed) beside those corpses; I have really forgotten what fear is! Yes, I hardly have any fears now! After all, whatever happens, we know where our destiny is! So why fear? While we were on the move towards that place, the road started ending in silence. We had just passed through a crowded street where someone’s marriage was about to commence. I think it must have been the guy-crowd ensemble at the girl’s place, and gradually; gradually what? The road started to narrow. Houses started being replaced by banyan and peepal trees, and I started feeling hesitant to move further. But with two friends of mine, I finally decided not to move back. And we didn’t move back!

I’ll say it’s a different experience when you go to such a place. You have fears; in the beginning, you fear that those black magicians might take your life away in an instant, let alone rob you. You merely have fears. I had similar fears when I tried to zip up my jacket. I can still feel those 15 minutes of my stay there. Every nerve, I could feel the pulse moving in! Yes, those were the longest 15 minutes of my life.

Seeing dead bodies burning on a spooky, windy, cold and dark winter night with none except your two friends and the ‘aghoris’ nearby will change you. That smell of burning carcass, that sound of bones pulverising, that burning of the skin in a reddish-orangish fire followed by the view of the enormous ocean of darkness, with small but powerful light in the end, is vague initially and clear after an instant. You will change in those moments!

I had wanted to take pictures, but I didn’t. We stayed there for 15 minutes, and at last, we tacitly looked at each other. I concluded my brief stay there by going near those carcasses just to have a closer and final look at them and God knows why. Was I too curious to see what our final state would be? I do not know. Two hairy, black and dark grey dogs appeared beside those bodies once I turned back as if guarding those burning bodies while they ventured into the ‘other’ world.  A man’s best friend indeed! We prayed for their souls. I prayed to the holy river Kshipra, to Lord Yamaraj (the lord of death and justice), and to other deities as well and then we decided to return in our final gestures.

The dark road now started ending, and settlements started approaching. Slums and poor neighbourhoods first and the bigger houses subsequently. We could now see the crowd on the road. Kids playing on streets, men gathering, laughing, and women happily offering prayers (for their families) and performing ‘aartis’. It was now a great relief! Then, the holy ghat (holy river bank) – the Shri Ramghat, and then the holy temple – the Mahakaleshwar Mandir. We were finally relieved! We were now happy!

But I learned from this experience that life is too precious to waste it. Yes, you would feel like quitting, but you can’t and you won’t. I have learned that life is colourful. Even with difficulties, it’s meant to be enjoyed. Ultimately, our destination is the same, at least in this world, and thus, our problems are not permanent. I learned that those constantly heckled by injustices should remember that nothing is permanent. If they still feel heckled, then they should rather speak than quit! Yes, speak rather than quit! By speaking, I mean being the change and being that without fear or at least by overcoming it. The experience has changed the way I look at things now. It may have been my first time, but I shall now say that truth and love are the most important things one can offer. The rest will follow.

May all be blessed.