Karanvir Gupta
A couple of months ago I was in Tirupati Balaji. Unable to get myself a special darshan ticket, I ended up being in a queue. At the verge of almost giving up and returning without darshan after being there in the waiting halls for almost 18 hours, I got lucky. Or probably just blessed. God chose to present himself to me. I had a beautiful darshan where my eyes could not hold the tears anymore. My heart felt exhilarated. I also happened to meet an old couple who had taken stairs. But I realized they were ahead of me in the queue and we merged at a point ahead. Later I found that visitors taking steps by default make an entry ahead of others in the queue. What-a-beautiful gesture! I casually asked them, “Why did you choose to take stairs while there are arrangements for senior citizens for a comfortable darshan?” Their answer baffled me.
“We have come here for a special occasion.” I was intrigued so I probed further, “What makes you come here?” Uncle smiled coyishly and said, “It is our 60th Anniversary and we have been coming here by stairs since our very 1st Anniversary.” I was pleasantly surprised and wished them both. He added, “To answer your question, we took stairs to express that we might have grown old but the love in our hearts – for each other and for God – is still young.” He beamed with happiness. I smiled too. And then suddenly aunty intervened, “It is never about meeting God, that we do in our homes everyday. At that point God comes to our homes blessing us. When we plan our trip here, it is a calling where we go to God’s home – the centres of high-energy vibrations and miraculous energy. Taking stairs is our way to offer ourselves to that supreme Lord. It is not just about the darshan but about the tap (penance), the zeal, the reverence, the love and devotion we carry in our hearts and the wait to finally be at his abode.”
The couple left but the answer stuck. That answer made a lot of sense. A few months later, I found the entire Katra under a seize for protesting against the ropeway project connecting to Mata Vaishno Devi Darbar. It is ironic, isn’t it? That we keep screaming for development all the time but when “the opportunity” arrives, we stand tall against it. Not really! It just shows that the public can differentiate between “real vs fake” development.
Well, this incident – the ropeway project at Katra – raises questions at multiple levels. The ropeway project was proposed from Tarakote to Sanji Chhat, a 12-km track to reach the shrine at 250 crores. However Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samity showed the strength of unity and protested against another ill-planned project in the Jammu province. A project which was passed without taking into consideration the religious sentiments, financial repercussions on the retailers, shopkeepers, hoteliers, restaurants and most importantly the pony operators, palanquin bearers and laborers. The proposed ropeway project poses a looming threat to the entire economy of Katra. Then why was it passed in the first place?
It would be interesting to know who proposed this project. And why was enough scrutiny not done before bringing the project proposal out in the public and causing inconvenience and upheaval. The sad part is: If it was the local leaders who went with this request/project plan to the high command or SMVDSB, it is a clear indication that local leaders have failed miserably at understanding the needs and pressing issues of the public. And the ropeway surely is not something that the public demands or needs.
On the other hand if this came directly from SMVDSB, it defies its own purpose by proposing a project that attacks the very sanctity of a place it is supposed to protect. What will be more interesting to know is who were the most likely contractors who were going to participate in the ropeway tendering process. That can unravel answers to a lot of questions.
Everytime such projects are proposed, they are whitewashed under the ambit of pilgrims’ convenience, more tourists implying more business or faster access to God. But why do you need faster access to God? Higher footfall per month? Well, a tourist place is different from a religious place. Does a religious place or a pilgrimage boost tourism? Yes. Is it okay to exploit religious places as a lever to boost tourism? Absolutely No. These are two different things and it is important we understand the subtleties between the two.
I am only appalled that in a country like ours where our Prime Minister expresses so beautifully about his Himalayan days and time spent at Rann of Kutch and the kind of transformative experience these excursions had in his personal journey – how do folks at the helm of affairs muster the courage to exploit and harm the natural abodes of God. These are the centres of high energy, utmost devotion and meditation parlance. What if Gods themselves do not want to be closer to humans? What if Gods deliberately chose their destinations to be far off places. What if God chose their abodes to be at difficult terrains to test the grit, the desire, the perseverance, the love and the devotion to reach their abode?
The ropeway projects like these defeat the very purpose of the pilgrimage. When pilgrims shout the slogans in the glory of Gods and Goddess, there is something within us that moves us. There is a spark of energy which lifts ourselves up and invokes the ultimate being. During the chanting of the hullara – Jaikara Sheraanwali da, bol saache darbaar di Jai, it brings a smile to the sad, it fills the energy within the tired, it motivates the one who has already given up, there is euphoria that we exchange between each other. And that unison between humans is what transposes to the connection with God.
It is not a mere track of 12 kms, it is a journey of realization of our mistakes, of accepting defeat, of understanding our strengths and weaknesses, of letting go of the bad and be ready to accept the new, of looking within and submitting ourselves to the divine. It is a journey where we meet strangers, offer help and get helped. It is a journey of so many realisations. It is a journey where we go as many but come back as one – one with the ultimate. That is what makes it Mata Vaishno Devi ki Yatra.
It is only sad to see car parking arrangements being made near the cave in Amarnath shrine which will eventually lead to the disappearance of the Shivalinga. It is sad to see the ropeway project being announced from Baltal just after the ropeway project plan at Katra was quashed. The sadder part is we have not learnt our lessons from 2013 Uttarakhand floods and natural disaster. It is startling to note that the land of the ancient civilizations desperately wants to westernize the system by attacking the places of religious importance and harming their natural significance – in the name of the “religion” and “development” itself.
“We are taking shraddhalus closer to God” is the lamest argument I have ever heard. Not knowing that these projects only destroy the very abodes of our Gods. And when there are no abodes, there are no shraddhalus anymore. It is sad to see such heinous acts of development seeing the light of the day.
Instead of planning to spending 230 crores on a ropeway project that the pilgrims, locals and the Gods don’t want – it would have been much better if the same amount is used for digitization of pilgrim’s end-to-end yatra. From the time a visitor books a darshan ticket till they reach back home safely, the entire journey needs to be digitized. The process should be so seamless that no one has to ever wait in the sun or the rain or the immense cold and still perform the darshan in an impeccable way. The budget should rather be allocated to a comprehensive cleaning routine along the track, cleaning and revival of the banganga, maintenance of the original route to Vaishno Devi, and sustainable development practices while making the public a part of that program.
It is time that we all understand that Gods exist beyond convenience and the comfort of ropeways. We need to prepare a generation so that every time such projects are proposed, there are saviors around. At such moments is the true test of our faith, belief and reverence to our Gods. It is to be seen if we can forever carry the zeal and devotion in our hearts like the old couple did and submit ourselves to God, always.
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