Poignantly remembered Aai-Papa yet again today. Well, I was reading up on Uttarakhand, the youngest(am not sure though) state in India. It is known for its pristine beauty, what with the Valley of Flowers and most all perfect peaks of the Himalayan range.
For Aai-Papa, it was "devbhumi", too. Neither of them was a fanatically religious person. Yet, they were after all an upper middle class Brahmin couple of the erstwhile generation. They were hence spiritual and devout enough to like the " devbhumi" aspect as well. Both of them went on the Chardham Yatra, the sacred pilgrimage in the lap of the Himalayas. Both loved the experience. Both would share titbits of these spiritually charged experiences.
Aai used to feel elated whenever I showed her gorgeous pics of or some documentary on the Kedarnath Mandir. She would share the "kandi" experience. She loved the clean sparkle and the natural music of the Ganges and its tributaries there. She would talk of the Pandavas' journey to the "param dham", the ultimate destination, there. In her opinion, the scenario near Kedarnath was such that the possibility seemed absolutely real. Indeed, I have already written of how both felt the actual presence of Shiva there.
She was absolutely unhappy to hear of the floods, and she could visualise the huge boulder that saved the Temple. She often talked of the grand " nandi" there. Both of them were aware of Shankaracharya's great contribution. Why, after his Chardham Yatra, Papa actually visited Kaladi in Kerala where the great sage was born.
Well, the Mandir (I drew it as a greeting card to celebrate her wonderful journey, while during his journey there, I wrote him letters that surprised him with their accuracy because they used to be there waiting for him) would eternally be there; whatever impairment it must have suffered due to the natural disaster would get re-built. Neither Aai nor Papa would again be there though to discuss the "punya bhumi"! Oh, the Himalayan loss to me!
Pratima@spiritual is beyond the religious.
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