From the banks of Maa Ganga

 

Well, he performs better than at least me in smartly lopping water from a tap😃

And I always thought only I devoured books at a furious rate...well, there are bigger claimants 😂

A Bala Yogi

 

The most mischievous Bala Yogi...a Naga....he didn't speak..just hums like a black bee .. continuously..I laughed that he is actually a black bee hovering over the divine flower to sip the nectar of self realisation...

A sole Buddhist among Hindu Babas

 

Bhola Rikiyasan, a sole Buddhist among hundreds of Hindu mendicants...he recently said to the group of saffron clad sadhus around him that all of you are not at peace and that's why you people are wandering around. An argument started, turned into a brawl and soon would have changed to a fist fight, from the side of Hindu friars who looked very spirited to defend their dharma. A Hindu mauni baba negotiated peace with his lovely presence. 

Rikiyasan is from Gaya, was a Shiva devotee for 26 years, felt stuck up on the  path and converted to Buddhism six years back. Maybe that's the reason the Hindu Babas dislike him. Religious conversion is a  serious issue in India. But look at the great syncretic tradition of India, he still has Bhola, Shiva's pet name, in his official name. Well, he is 75 -- I checked his ID to confirm it because he doesn't look 75. 'One meal a day and meditation to calm the mind are the reasons for it,' he says. He looked at peace and joyful about life. I saw a thick wad of money in his wallet. 'Just 10 rupee notes. Won't count for much!' he laughs. 'I'm collecting money for making a little Buddha shrine at my village,' he justifies his collection. Well, all of us are after money for our reasons and I have talked to hundreds of sadhus, most of them are after money to make ashrams and temples. Householders are after it for building houses and buying cars. I hardly see any qualitative difference between the two.

A couple of days ago he was bitten by a dog in the wee hours as he was walking in the street after taking a bath in Ma Ganga. A few hours later I found him standing desolate at his corner with his brass begging bowl. He had tied a strip of cloth at the wound...it was all bloody. A big bite. I hope his Hindu baba adversaries didn't set a dog after him. He said he will have to walk towards the other bridge, almost a kilometre away, because if he goes from here the auto would charge 50 rupees and from there it will be only 10 rupees. But he could hardly walk. I understood that he would delay his treatment because he was in pain and could barely walk. And one needs vaccination at the earliest after the bite. (Why would he still bother so much money even in such a situation? Well, I think baba or no baba, money is a big issue in the world. And like ordinary householders, Babas have every right to think that it's their hard earned money because they have to stand throughout the day to get alms). And He needed vaccination so I hired a scooty to take him to the government hospital, requesting the scooty guy to take him to the concerned block and guide him through the process. By this time he was in much pain and looked all ready to shed this miserable body. "If I die that would be good. This poor body will be shed!' he looked depressed, sad and sullen. 

And the next day I find him all freshened up with three anti rabies injections, one on his left chuttar (as he put it with a feeling of insult and pain) and one each on both arms. But the urge to live and be joyful and meditate had returned. He looked contended and at peace with life. I advised him to carry a stick... maybe that can help him in religious debates and brawls with Hindu Babas as well...

The mendicant with a dog

 

One hand supports the head like a loving pillow...the other fanning the dog to sleep. People got amused and laughed, thinking him to be a crazy baba. To be frank I also thought so. When I returned after a couple of hours, he was still fanning the dog to sleep with the same loving passion. I thought there must be something wrong with the dog otherwise why would it lie so still with closed eyes in broad daylight with hundreds of feet tapping the narrow street. So I sit down to chat. 'Maybe the dog is sick,' I ask. He laughs and points to a big food bowl, 'No Badal ate too much and who won't sleep with fan air and palm to support?' The dog's name is Badal. 'This also is Bhagwan's avatar. If you can't love a dog, how will you love humans, and if you can't love humans, how will you love God,' he elaborates his simple spiritual equation. He was offered to Joona Akshara at an early age. I ask him does he miss his parents sometimes. He cracks a big laugh, 'What a question! He is the biggest Mai Baap!' He brandishes his fan towards Lord Shiva's statue above us. I feel embarrassed. Yes he is under the protection of the biggest Baap!

A real Gau sevak

 

There are sadhus in front of an ashram that serves food in the morning daily. And there are cows also. The sadhus are having the routine sweet sour chit chat while having food. The cows are chewing cud, contended. There are drops of dung around. Then a cute rolly polly baba arrives, his presence silent and peaceful. He has a unique attire, a piece of sackcloth tied like ancient Romans, a wollen cap, and a piece of cloth on the bare shoulder. His left hand isn't visible. To be frank, I'm not sure about its status. It might be missing; it might be tied along his stomach in penance to take this worldly yatra with a single hand. I give fifty fifty chances to both probabilities. 

He has a lovely way of walking, a kind of spirited ease of a child. A trace of smile doesn't leave his face even for a single moment. He is a Mauni baba, so by default his tongue is restful, which in turn avoids unnecessary fuel to the chattering mind. There he comes and starts picking the cow dung with the joyful ease of a child playing on the beach. He uses his free hand to pick up cow dung and drop it into the garden across the street. The street is soon clean. In fact his lovely walk to and fro works like a cosmic broom to clean the air itself. 

There are gau rakshaks who take to violence in the name of holy cows. I would say most of them are people with violent tendencies and take shelter of the mother cow's name to hide their violence. Gau mata doesn't need rakshaks, she needs sevaks, like this lovely baba. 

The baba then cleans his hand under a tap, caresses the cows with the feel of a boy touching something precious. That's when the wagging tongues between the Hindu Babas and the Buddhist monk start the fireworks and before the tongues could handover the work to fists, the joyful mauni baba comes in between and dispels the heat just with his smile, silent nods and gentle wave of hand. It's a lovely feeling just to be present in the presence of someone who is at ease with himself.