Anecdotes

What is a pilgrimage?

According to Oxford English Dictionary: “A pilgrimage is a journey made to a sacred place,as an act of religious devotion.”

Pilgrimage means different things to different people. I come across a lot of people who travel to holy sites all spiritually charged up and motivated to get in touch with God. In their quest, they tend to spend a lot of time, money, and energy on various pujas, archanas, donations and some even succumb to a lot of pomp and show in what they believe is their devotion to the Almighty. Personally, for me, these holy journeys have come to mean something very different.

Yes, I also go to temples and pay my respect but I have begun to connect to my God differently. These places where many saints have found their Nirvana or Moksha, I seem to find my solace in interacting with God’s little helpers without whom our journey could perhaps not find its culmination.

These enablers, whom we call pitthus or palkiwalas or the tea vendors/servers we come across along our divine paths, are integral parts of many holy sites and are often ignored. I enjoy seeing and experiencing the true beauty of these holy sites through my interaction with these locals.

During one of my many travels, I happened to interact with two little girls, Mamta and Kajal, whose parents are the caretakers of a house; I have the good fortune of enjoying near one such pilgrimage centre.

I was curious to know what they wanted to be when they were older, and it took me by great surprise to know that their dreams and aspirations were so similar to that of the urban kids. One of them said she wanted to be a singer and the other said she wanted to learn to play the guitar.

. I was amazed and so delighted to know that these little girls from such humble villages carried such great musical aspirations, that I immediately organised for a guitar to be sent to Mamta. When I followed up with them about the same, they were thrilled to bits and had even managed to find themselves a teacher to train them in music.

. I am sure one day I would see these two musical hopefuls on some talent show reaching the pinnacles of success, God willing!

Another such incident I’d like to share is about a security guard of the flat I usually stay in. When I asked Haji Bhai about his challenges, he told me about how his son had to walk to school every day for 4 kms and then back again because he could not afford any other means of travel.

I am grateful to God that I was able to get his son a cycle to make his daily commute to school a little simpler. Hoping that my little help will take him a long way!

I truly hope that with these little gestures I can somehow contribute to making the lives of these beautiful people a tad bit better.I am filled with gratitude to the Almighty for being so kind to me that I can share His kindness with others.

This is my privilege. And this is my Pilgrimage!