DESTINATION & LESSON

New York,

February 26 : 11.30 AM

"Hey Boss you are really here."

"I told you that I will be here to show you off."

"Thanks Boss."

"Did you get everything for the journey. It's a long journey to India, my boy."

"just about 13 to 14 hours only boss. You worried too much. Boss don't strain yourself. Take care of yourself while I am not here."

"Ok boy take care and don't get yourself in trouble."

"Flight No. LH 2897 for New Delhi will take off soon. Please check in your passport and ID."

"So, this is where we set apart from each other. Take care and see you soon."

As I started to walk towards the checking gate, I waved my hand as a gesture of farewell and became vanished from the eyes of Mr. Jashon. Who have thought that this will be my final meeting with him and after this moment there will not be a single chance to meet my generous boss? I boarded the flight with a mixed feeling of excitement and downhearted and took off my journey for India.

New Delhi

February 27 : Saturday : 8.00AM

[It took really a long time to get to India. Let's check in the hotel and then depart for the Kumbha mela at Haridwar.] I decided what to do as i decided in my mind.

I took a taxi and went to my hotel room and checked in. After I went in the hotel, I took a long rest and had a good sinner there. After taking the dinner, I called the caretaker and asked about the Haridwar and Kumbha Mela. He had no knowledge about that but he gave me some information about the local renowned Pujari who was working in a temple nearby. He told me to ask about Pandit Rajnath in the local Siv Temple and he can tell me everything about the Kumbha Mela and about Haridwar. I gave him 250 INR as a tip and after he left, I went to my bed.

Sunday morning. The temperature of New Delhi is too warm for me as the weather of New York is always cold. After bath I took my breakfast and went out of the hotel to search for Pandit Rajnath to collect the information about the Kumbha Mela and Haridwar. After searching for about half an hour I finally got the whereabouts of the Siv temple and asked about Pandit Rajnath. Even I was living in a culture where there is less custom of temples I had enough knowledge about how to behave in a temple so it was not too hard for me to accustomed in the temple. After looking for while I met a pujari and he instructed me to go to the back of the temple and there I can meet Pandit Rajnath. I thanked him and went to meet the Pandit.

"Hello!!! Namaste Panditji." I greeted him respectfully. 

"Namaste. My boy who are you? Why are you looking for me?" The Old Pandit asked me while looking at me from head to toe.

The Pandit was about 70 years old. He had not that much of wealthy looks but he had a happy face without any worries of the world and a spiritual aura around him. A skinny old man with a pleasuring atmosphere around him welcomed me and asked why I am looking for him.

"I have not seen you before here. Are you new to the place?"

"Panditji I am from New York. I want to visit the Kumbha Mela but I have a little knowledge about it. So, I want you to tell me about it more."

The pandit smiled and told me that not to worry and asked me to come to his house as a guest. At first, I told him not to worry about me and asked him to tell me about the Mela directly. But he refused to back down and insisted to go to his house with him. 

"Boy Kumbha Mela is not a small matter. It is one of the greatest festivals of the world. Don't worry and come to my home and have a lunch there and I will tell about everything you want to know there."

I hesitated at first but I bowed before the persistency of the old man and went to his house.

His house was not big. It was just a small house with a single room only for living. He welcomed me cheerfully and gave me water to drink. We continued to talk about me for a while in his room. After a while, he offered me Prasad to eat for lunch.

It was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just scented rice with some type of curry and a desert.

[The Prasad is looking just ordinary. It is nothing special as I thought.] I thought it myself.

But when I ate the Prasad it tasted so good that it felt like I had not had a good meal in my whole life. The food was not like a high designed and cooked by a master chief but it tasted like nectar.

"Boy how does the Prasad taste like?" the Pandit asked with a smile on his face.

"Panditji, I have never had anything like this in my whole life." I replied him as I ate half of the whole meal.

"My boy, Everything in the world has a soul in it. It does not matter whether it is a living or non-living thing. But when the soul of the nature meets the supreme soul or the God it reaches its final destination."

"The food you are eating; The Prasad, is nothing special. It is just some regular food you can have at anywhere in India. But you know my boy when the soul of the food meets the supreme soul it changes it's taste and have a taste of nectar."

I was just listening to the old man as a student of a school. After I finished my lunch I thanked him for food and asked him about the Kumbha Mela again. The old Pandit opened a box and took out an old book. The book is old and weathered but he had been taking a good care of it.

"Boy, The Name Kumbha derived from the astrological signs Kumbha (Aquarius). The Legend of Samudra Manthan tells about the battle of Devas and Asuras for Amrit (Immortality Elixir). The elixir war produced and kept in the Kumbha (Pot). There is not a single document of when and why the Kumbha Mela was even started. Some believes that to represent the respect for the Kumbha it was started and some believes that by doing this Mela and participating in it this your evil deeds or sins." The Old Pandit started to explain about everything that I wanted to know.

I had a pretty knowledge about this festival but I do not have possessed any knowledge about the origin.

"Boy are you listening or not?" The Old Pandit asked me while I was comparing my knowledge with him. 

"Yes, Panditji."

"Kumbha Mela attracts millions of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. It is the biggest gathering of people around the world. A large number of saints and sears also keep reaching to take a holy dip on the first bathing festival of Makar Sankranti at the Sangam (meeting) of the three holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati."

"The Kumbha Mela is held four times over the course of 12 years, in rotation between four Hindu pilgrimage places on four sacred rivers, including the Ganga River in Haridwar, Shipra River in Ujjain, the Godavari River in Nashik and at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati in Prayagraj." The Old Pandit continued.

"You know my boy the fair is held in the month of Magh of Hindu Calendar when Jupiter is in Aries and Sun and Moon are in Capricorn or Jupiter is in Taurus and Sun in Capricorn."

"My boy the Mela is the holiest of all the festival in India. The Mela always happen in a rotation periods of 4 years and for each place it has a rotation of 12 years. But you know this year the Kumbha Mela is going to happen after 11 years. The original year of the Haridwar Kumbha Mela was the next year 2022. But It was advanced by a year because of the 'astrological configurations' of "Sun entering Aries" and "Jupiter entering Aquarius." This happens once in every 83 years, because of the configuration charts to the calendrical years."

"This Year is an auspicious year and this only occurs once in 83 years."

I had no words in my mind as my mind went blank and had not a single bit thoughts in it.

After looking at my face the old Pandit smiled and asked me, "Boy what are you thinking?"

I looked at him in surprise and told him not to worry about.

"Panditji, I knew that it is a big festival for Hindu Culture but I have no idea of its greatness."

"Hahaha! My boy, do not worry about it. Even some old people of our generations also do not have the knowledge of it."

"Look How much time it has taken. It is already half past eight. You should go back to your hotel and rest for tonight."

I got up and began to leave his house. I was glad to meet him and was satisfied with the lessons.

"Panditji, thanks for the food and lessons. But I have a question, I meet you for the first time and also lived in your house as a guest for long time but you never asked my name for once." I asked him out of my curiosity.

"My boy, there is nothing in the Name of some one. The Behaviour and their Work defines a person. That's the only reason why I did not ask for your name. But if you want to tell me your name go ahead." The old Pandit replied me while smiling.

"No, do not worry about it. And once again thanks for the lessons."

I thanked him once again bowed my head in front of him and walked towards my hotel room. The night was dark but it was crowded and looks like a festival. In the noise and crowd, I was just thinking about one thing.

"There is no meaning in the name of a person, only the Behaviour and Work defines a person. If the work does define a person then what type of person I am." I reached at my hotel and relaxed in my room and after some time had my dinner. I have only that one thought, what type of person I am. In a clouded mind I get on the bed and fall asleep after some time.