Last updated on September 25th, 2024
It is fascinating to realise how much a person can grow just by travelling. This time, a visit to the sacred Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara made me reflect on two lessons of life - the power of taking the first step and an understanding of the term ‘integrity’, in layman's terms.
It was around 11 in the morning and had started drizzling again. After a day of sunshine, the weather again looked unreliable. I took out the phone from my back pocket and checked the ‘Maps’ app. It showed 8 minutes so I let the water drench me up a bit. Till the time we reached our destination the drizzling had almost stopped and we were almost wet. We knew we had arrived at Gurudwara Manikaran Sahib when both sides of the roads started lining up with numerous roadside carts, cars and mini travellers. As I couldn’t locate any directions for a few moments, I went where the crowd went, down through a set of partially hidden stairs. Soon, I was standing on one end of a bridge, which was, by the way, the only point of contact between the Manikaran and the whole of Kasol.
I had barely taken a few steps over the bridge when my gaze, as if by instinct, fell towards the river roaring underneath me. I stopped where I was. The rains in the last couple days had already doubled up the water and now the ferocious grey currents were banging against the huge boulders as if trying to rip the place apart with each interaction. I gulped at the sight. The next few moments were the hardest for I had to take that first step again, even with the fear that had gripped me tight. I had never relied on the relevance of bridges no matter how strengthened they felt. And somewhere deep, I had always feared water too. But despite every reason, in order to reach somewhere I needed to leave from somewhere. I took a deep breath, shunned my inner voices and forced my steps ahead. I promised myself not to look down until I had crossed completely. This was probably the second factor that made me reach the entrance of the Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara. The first was the presence of a strong force that forced me to take that first step while being in the state of fear. I cannot confirm whether it were the Gods ahead or the Gods inside that made me do it in the first place.
The darkness of the outside had already dimmed the insides of the Gurudwara. I stood at the entrance of the place confused as people walked around me from all the directions. I was still deciding as to which direction I should pick to explore first when a hoarse voice rang my year- “Don’t put out your shoes like that, keep it in the dedicated area”. My feet automatically took off in the voice’s direction.
The source was an old man seated on an rugged plastic chair, holding a long bamboo stick in his left hand, guiding the confused crowd through the sparsely lit alleys of the Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara. And even though through his white hairs peeping out of his yellow turban and his long white beard he looked old, he sat on the chair like a young man with broadened shoulders and a straight back. I was standing at a distance close enough to locate the wrinkles of his skin and colour of his eyes – the lightest shade of brown! There was one thing about him that made me hold my gaze a little longer than required. His straight face. For the whole time I was standing there even his brows didn’t budge a bit.
After spending couple minutes to understand my location on grounds of Manikaran I was about to leave the place when I heard a sweet voice – “My mom asked me to give it to you as you are working too hard.” A little girl around age 5, shyly stretched out her hand and unfolded her fingers disclosing a 50 RS note. The old man looked at the girl with a blank face. He took the money from the girl’s hand and the girl starting walking back to her mother.
Just as the girl had taken a couple steps back, he called out in his loud voice, referring to her as “Puttar” which in Punjabi is used to refer to young kids. This time he asked her to stretch out her hands once more. When the girl did that, he kept the money back in her palms, smiled and said – Tell your mother to buy some sweets for you. And study well. God Bless You! ‘’. The girl looked at him confused, then looked back at her mother who waved her to come back. The man’s smile was special because it stayed long after the girl left!
I really don’t know what happened and what got changed for him in that moment. All I know was that here was one man, who, through a simple act made me understand the meaning of integrity. He, like many others out there, could have taken the extra money provided to him and nobody would have noticed. Yet, something told him to behave otherwise. In fancy words, it is called ‘integrity’. In simpler words, it means ‘doing the right things when no one is watching’. People like him are not only the real torchbearer of the sacred places like Manikaran sahib, but a strong foundation of the communities associated with these places.