Saturday, August 12, 2006
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Narmada Parikrama
This seemingly unreal world was ours for nearly six months - five and a half to be precise. We -- just three ladies – walked approximately 2200 kms along the Narmada banks to complete one parikrama. Starting from its source, Amarkantak, we walked along the entire south bank first and then after crossing over by a mechanized boat on to the north bank at the maiyyaji’s confluence with the sea, we trekked back along the north bank to complete one circumambulation at Amarkantak.
Well, here’s some statistics for the uninitiated. Originating at Amarkantak, Narmada – the fifth largest river of India - is known as the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. After flowing westwards for 1312 kms, the river, which is encased between the Vindhyas in the north and Satpuras in the south, empties itself into the Gulf of Cambay (Khambat).
`Narm’ is happiness and `da’ is a giver, hence Narmada is synonymous with pleasure giving, it’s a goddess who gives happiness to all. And how! Because you are a parikammawasi, you are treated with utmost reverence. Because you have undertaken the arduous trek, it is taken care that you do not face any trouble. People are just willing to feed you, offer you whatever you need and at times almost pester you to accept what they have to offer. Why?
“Nothing jarred in our relationship from start to finish and it was this river (Narmada), capable of arousing my love, that ultimately answered my basic question about the nature and personality of river goddesses. The answer being, that when you love, such intellectual enquiries hardly matter.” That was the famous travel writer Bill Aitken about Narmada river in his book “Seven Sacred Rivers”. Exactly what I too found to be true.
The chaiwala won’t take money from us as we are doing a punya kam. The boatman, who takes us across the nth stream which comes to meet the Narmada, refuses to take his charge. “Give whatever you think okey,” is all that he says when we insisted on paying.
I vividly recall a middle-aged lady sitting in front of her house chewing tobacco in a small village in Dindori district. Her husband had gone to take bath in `maiyyaji’, the nearest point being some 2 kms away. “We don’t call it a river. For us, it is the Narmada maiyya always,” the lady told us after asking her daughter to prepare tea for us.
That we were perfect strangers did not bother heras we were parikammawasis (one who undertakes the parikrama) and that was reason enough for her to help us. Not just this time, day in and day out, we experienced later, how maiyyaji is the central part of their lives, how it gives these simple people faith to withstand any adversity and how it becomes the pillar of strength for even those socially backward.
N I V E D I T A ...
Well, here’s some statistics for the uninitiated. Originating at Amarkantak, Narmada – the fifth largest river of India - is known as the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. After flowing westwards for 1312 kms, the river, which is encased between the Vindhyas in the north and Satpuras in the south, empties itself into the Gulf of Cambay (Khambat).
`Narm’ is happiness and `da’ is a giver, hence Narmada is synonymous with pleasure giving, it’s a goddess who gives happiness to all. And how! Because you are a parikammawasi, you are treated with utmost reverence. Because you have undertaken the arduous trek, it is taken care that you do not face any trouble. People are just willing to feed you, offer you whatever you need and at times almost pester you to accept what they have to offer. Why?
“Nothing jarred in our relationship from start to finish and it was this river (Narmada), capable of arousing my love, that ultimately answered my basic question about the nature and personality of river goddesses. The answer being, that when you love, such intellectual enquiries hardly matter.” That was the famous travel writer Bill Aitken about Narmada river in his book “Seven Sacred Rivers”. Exactly what I too found to be true.
The chaiwala won’t take money from us as we are doing a punya kam. The boatman, who takes us across the nth stream which comes to meet the Narmada, refuses to take his charge. “Give whatever you think okey,” is all that he says when we insisted on paying.
I vividly recall a middle-aged lady sitting in front of her house chewing tobacco in a small village in Dindori district. Her husband had gone to take bath in `maiyyaji’, the nearest point being some 2 kms away. “We don’t call it a river. For us, it is the Narmada maiyya always,” the lady told us after asking her daughter to prepare tea for us.
That we were perfect strangers did not bother heras we were parikammawasis (one who undertakes the parikrama) and that was reason enough for her to help us. Not just this time, day in and day out, we experienced later, how maiyyaji is the central part of their lives, how it gives these simple people faith to withstand any adversity and how it becomes the pillar of strength for even those socially backward.
N I V E D I T A ...
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