This temple was one of the two places that we were going to visit before heading out of Chandigarh to Dehradun. As our car entered the premises a guy suddenly jumped in front of it, startling everyone including the driver. He then started directing that the car be turned to the left, probably near where his shop was located. Our driver tried to dodge him but he kept appearing in front of the car and for more theatrical effect folded his hands in a Namaste. It was totally surreal – this guy, whose entire body language was very threatening, was folding his hands in a gesture that’s meant to greet or plead. There was another tourist vehicle next to us and the people inside were appeared equally baffled.
I didn’t want to take any chances and asked the driver to turn around. My motto – safety first. But the driver clearly was in no mood to put up with such tomfoolery. He got out of the car with a feisty ‘Tenu problem ki hai?’ (What’s your problem?). A rapid exchange in local dialect followed in which I suspect some expletives might also have been used. The driver got back in the car, the other guy moved out and we were on our way to the temple. Here I must confess that for a moment I did entertain the thought that the driver was in cahoots with the local chap and it was all a ploy to fleece the tourists making it look as if the local goon was paid off to avoid any trouble. Thankfully, I was wrong. The driver dropped us near the entrance and said he would be back after refueling the vehicle and getting some part fixed.
A serpentine queue in a zigzag pattern greeted us at the temple. From past experiences of joining such crowd told me that we would be here for hours – a luxury we simply could not afford that day as we had to leave for Dehradun after going to Nada Sahib Gurudwara. And the thing about such queues is you cannot get out once you get in. I am not sure if they had the facility to let you in first if you pay and even if they had I would not have used it because I don’t believe in paying your way in a temple. So we folded our hands in the direction of the temple and started tracing our way back to the entrance.
A structure some distance away caught my fancy. Lot of people were going in and out but I could not figure out what it was from the outside so I removed my footwear and went in. A room on the left had rows of people sitting and eating – so it was some kind of a Langar or community dining hall. A little distance up ahead people coming out of the exit of the Langar hall were returning washed thalis to a receptacle. Though I wanted to have the experience of eating at a Langar, very frankly, I could not make myself do it. Maybe it comes easy to those who have it as a part of their culture but though I kept telling myself that it is a means of partaking of Prasad I knew I would not be able to eat there. :(
I tried to call the driver but there was some congestion at the network and I couldn’t reach him. We decided to check the parking lot in the event he had come back after completing his work. But the moment we stepped into the lot, a man started harassing us for money. He just would not leave us in peace till we moved out of the parking lot. Frustrated, we camped on the benches outside the entrance. Mercifully, after a few minutes I could contact the driver and tell him that we decided not to go inside the temple and were waiting for him outside. To my disappointment and chagrin, he said that it would be another half hour before he could make it back.
It’s a sad fact that beggars are a common sight at the holy places in India. But each time it disturbs me, more so if there are kids or old people among them. And it kind of makes you wonder if there really is God – not a very healthy thought when you are at a holy site. Sometimes I wonder if that will make me reach a tipping point one of these days and keel over to the atheist side. :( I just sat there, feeling miserable, depressed and dejected till the car came and picked us up.
I didn’t want to take any chances and asked the driver to turn around. My motto – safety first. But the driver clearly was in no mood to put up with such tomfoolery. He got out of the car with a feisty ‘Tenu problem ki hai?’ (What’s your problem?). A rapid exchange in local dialect followed in which I suspect some expletives might also have been used. The driver got back in the car, the other guy moved out and we were on our way to the temple. Here I must confess that for a moment I did entertain the thought that the driver was in cahoots with the local chap and it was all a ploy to fleece the tourists making it look as if the local goon was paid off to avoid any trouble. Thankfully, I was wrong. The driver dropped us near the entrance and said he would be back after refueling the vehicle and getting some part fixed.
A serpentine queue in a zigzag pattern greeted us at the temple. From past experiences of joining such crowd told me that we would be here for hours – a luxury we simply could not afford that day as we had to leave for Dehradun after going to Nada Sahib Gurudwara. And the thing about such queues is you cannot get out once you get in. I am not sure if they had the facility to let you in first if you pay and even if they had I would not have used it because I don’t believe in paying your way in a temple. So we folded our hands in the direction of the temple and started tracing our way back to the entrance.
A structure some distance away caught my fancy. Lot of people were going in and out but I could not figure out what it was from the outside so I removed my footwear and went in. A room on the left had rows of people sitting and eating – so it was some kind of a Langar or community dining hall. A little distance up ahead people coming out of the exit of the Langar hall were returning washed thalis to a receptacle. Though I wanted to have the experience of eating at a Langar, very frankly, I could not make myself do it. Maybe it comes easy to those who have it as a part of their culture but though I kept telling myself that it is a means of partaking of Prasad I knew I would not be able to eat there. :(
I tried to call the driver but there was some congestion at the network and I couldn’t reach him. We decided to check the parking lot in the event he had come back after completing his work. But the moment we stepped into the lot, a man started harassing us for money. He just would not leave us in peace till we moved out of the parking lot. Frustrated, we camped on the benches outside the entrance. Mercifully, after a few minutes I could contact the driver and tell him that we decided not to go inside the temple and were waiting for him outside. To my disappointment and chagrin, he said that it would be another half hour before he could make it back.
It’s a sad fact that beggars are a common sight at the holy places in India. But each time it disturbs me, more so if there are kids or old people among them. And it kind of makes you wonder if there really is God – not a very healthy thought when you are at a holy site. Sometimes I wonder if that will make me reach a tipping point one of these days and keel over to the atheist side. :( I just sat there, feeling miserable, depressed and dejected till the car came and picked us up.
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