Holiday Tan

Anant Brij

I always had a different perception to things. Rather than speaking up, I would keep my thoughts to myself as there are only a few who actually understood what I felt.
Writer's angle to everything!
Sometimes, the loud noises around you make you deaf to your soul.
To re-kindle it, you got to leave the haste behind and make a journey back to the basics .

To do that I went to Nandgaon, a small village of brij kshetra with a population of only few thousand. The village is actually surrounding a temple called Nand bhavan, which is situated on a hill where it is said lord Krishna spent most of his childhood as a loving child of Nandbaba and Yashoda maiya.

I stayed at a friend's place whom I met during a documentary shoot at Nandgaon.

Here, evening is the time for cows to return home after grazing in the forests The dust of their feet would give horizon the reddest shade to the sun set. The happy voices of cows coming home after a long day and kids who took them, fills the whole environment with joy and love.
Its time for kids to wash their hands and feet before they have their food.  

At night the thick sheet of stars follow you even when you make a brief expedition with some newly found friends which were about 12 to 15 people aging between 16to 25, to the Nand bhavan.

The sounds of conch shells and bells of Shayan-aarti ( the evening prayers to sleep lord) can be heard from a distance.The 360 degree view around from the temple comprises of small lamps and lights circling it, each of which mark a home of Nandgaon. There are few monkeys seemingly recognized our enthusiasm, who were equally enthusiastic to see us and were following us from a safe distance on the walls and pillars, while we were circumambulating the temple.

Mornings means waking up to the bells and conch shells at home which would mean awakening the lord and offering him butter and sweets as baal-bhog(the breakfast).
The sage with jatas( long thick hair tied in a bun on the top of head like a yogi) and thick tulasi mala around his neck would call out 'Radhe!' from the door, expecting whatever meagre the household woman has to offer without negotiating for more.

The sounds of the village would melt the heart of a atheist or a yogi, let alone the heart of the devotee.

It was the day to visit the nearby Barsana village, the village of Radha rani the eternal and transcendental counterpart of Lord Krishna.
One has to climb about 200 stairs to reach the Radha rani's palace. The curved flight of stairs to the temple is tagged by male as well as female saints. Few girls were sitting along who are equipped with wood stamps and ink, to create instant body art.

'Do you have Radha-Krishna yougal stamp.' I asked to one of the girls.
The girl started searching in her stamps to find one, while the one sitting on the other end raised a stamp in air to me and said,
'I have got yugal stamp didi.'

I allowed her to create a pattern around the Yugal(the divine couple of Shri Radha Krishna) on my hand. She was more than delighted to grab the opportunity. When she finished it, I asked her how much money it was.
She answered it in a bit stern way that it was ten rupees.
She was expecting me to defend for lesser money but was so happy when I handed her a ten rupees note. I could see the mischievous smile on her face.
For me I felt she should have asked more for all that elaborate design and spending whole day on the stairs of Barsana.

It is important to bring it to the notice of my dear readers, there is nothing to be pitied  about the people of brij bhumi. They would not negotiate the life bestowed to them for any amount of money or manifold higher worldly luxuries.

People here take pride in the lives they lead. When it comes to reciting the lilas of Shri Radha- Krishna, they recite it in a manner as if Lord Krishna still plays with them in the forests of brij and share food with them.

 On my way back from the Radha rani's temple, descending the stairs while holding the flowers that priest gave me, which held the scent of temple and prayers in it, I felt some times it so important to pull yourself back from the hustle of your lives, take a deep breath, hold and breathe out.

Life is not about big houses or luxurious cars, important corporate meetings or a bestseller book  publishing.
Instead it is a preparation, a preparation to remain constantly in touch with your soul that when I am on my death bed, when I look back at my life I do not have any grudge or remorse, but the kind of contentment I saw in the eyes of the girl who drew the Yugal design on my palm in exchange of just ten bucks.