Maha Kumbh - a saga unfolded
As I was stepping out of the smart lift of International Tower 2, a colleague, stickler for religious rules queried, 'you'll be in India entire Feb, are you planning any trip to the Kumbh?'
I lifted my brows and shrugged, 'Not this time, I have tickets to Deoghar, our Guruji's ashram.'
We parted ways and I busied myself in preparing for the long-coveted travel to my beloved hometown, Kolkata, after 5 years. Amidst the excitement, a schoolmate (doctor friend) posted pics of her holy dip at Sangam in the Kumbh Mela, detailing the facilities put in place to assist pilgrims from far and wide to take a divine plunge during this Kumbh from 13th Jan to 26th Feb - few weeks fortuitously coinciding with my stay at Kolkata. She underscored the momentousness of Maha Kumbh - a once in 144 years epic phenomenon - and egged us on to go for the dip if possible.
I lost no time in calling my parents, my living legends when it comes to religious rituals, travels, and events. Having completed each of Ardh-Kumbh and Purna-Kumbha at all the four spots where Lord Vishnu is believed to have spilled the ambrosial nectar (Ujjain, Nashik, Haridwar, Prayagraj), they were well aware of the astronomical scale of the event and asked in awe, 'Are you truly interested?'
With my nod, they fretted and squandered a few hours with agents contemplating trips by train or Volvo bus. When nobody assured confirmed tickets, I set off for Kolkata, little disheartened, yet delighted at the thought of meeting friends and family after several years post Covid.
In the whirl of activities, an urge to not miss the Maha Kumbh was snowballing. I called up the pivotal person of my life, my spouse, and explained. '30K air fare per person! Have you gone nuts? It's a rip off, can't you see?'. A bit of mollycoddling later he relented, 'Are you serious? OK, let me try booking the tickets,' he obliged keeping the pecuniary apprehension aside.
While still on call, to my pleasure, I received the e-tickets in my inbox. A couple of hours later, a notification for email of homestay booking popped up in my screen. He soon called and expressed his concern of many fraud postings in booking.com. With that caveat he hung up for the day as it was well past midnight at his time zone.
A day later, I saw a college mate from London, who also mentioned how they were swindled of thousands of rupees by fraudsters in booking.com. That further aggravated my fear of going without shelter with elderly parents in a chilly February night.
Nevertheless, to my spouse's great consternation, we set off for the auspicious dip at Maha Kumbh on 15th Feb, Saturday. The midday flight flew us to an immaculate Prayagraj Airport by 2.30 pm. A 30-minute drive later we reached the homestay at Rajrooppur area - a near-decent roof to put up under for a few hours. My spouse audibly heaved a sigh of relief that the shelter existed and was not phoney.
Next, where to go and how?
I resorted to that doctor friend who inspired this entire idea. When every second mattered, her swift responses helped immensely. While exchanging messages, I gleaned boats didn't operate after 5 pm. That instantly cancelled the options of ferrying from Boat Club or Arail Ghat. The only arduous option, as advised by our homestay owner, was to reach Daraganj and walk to Sangam Ghat. He also called his acquaintance, an e-rickshawwala, who'd take us there. My astute dad, who very well comprehended the magnitude of crowd, saved the day by talking him into guiding us. The e-rickshawwala, coincidentally my dad's namesake, acceded.
45 minutes later, the e-rickshawwala handed his cherished vehicle to his pal and held my dad's hand. We'd thank our stars later for having him with us.
They say about a doppelganger - separated at Kumbh Mela - and the moment I climbed out of the e-rickshaw I realised why. An elephantine body of people were walking towards the Sangam Ghat, as if in trance. We joined, jostled for a space, and commenced the long walk with the mix of people. Dad being diabetic, we flustered on his well-being, pausing intermittently for warm tea, biscuits, dates to keep his sugar level regulated. After about 2 hours of ploughing through the track we reached the Triveni Sangam Ghat - about 3 Km from the point vehicles aren't allowed, the point we started our stroll.
Sangam, as the name goes, is confluence of two of the major perennial sacred rivers of India - the still Yamuna and gurgling Ganga. A third mythical river, Saraswati, joins beneath them, lending the name - Triveni Sangam. One by one we gingerly stepped into the holy water and bathed in the auspicious Maha Kumbh. I pinched myself - is this real? A stream of clicks in the knee-deep water wouldn't do justice to the elation the dip brought us. If the walk with the devotees brought the vibes of Kumbh, their bathing and worshipping was electrifying and humbling at the same time.
We changed, somehow, and trudged back to the point where our guide's e-rickshaw was supposed to pick us up. The gruelling 2-hour walk of about 4 Km past the Akbar Fort, Bade Hanuman, Maha Kumbh Camp, and Jagannath Temple tuckered us out. The only hope that was driving us was to sit and ride to homestay for a good rest. Yet, to our utter dismay, his pal was a no-show leaving us hapless and helpless. That's when our guide's compassion for my elderly parents, his selfless fight to snag another e-rickshaw to get daadi (my mom) home, and his incessant phone calls to arrange for a vehicle made us thank our stars. We arrived at the homestay right in the middle of the night. The homestay owner, and my spouse were grateful to our guide for bringing us back safely.
Next day was hassle free - a short drive to the Prayagraj Airport, a brief flight for a little over an hour, and an hour long drive from Kolkata Airport brought us home!
That's how my Maha Kumbg story unfolded. What's your story? If you haven't written one, you still have time till 26th Feb. It isn't easy, but isn't impossible either!
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