Divine intervention

Though his professional title shishya ordains that he shall be the medium between the divine and the mortal, Vinayak Narayan Agashe belie...

Though his professional title shishya ordains that he shall be the medium between the divine and the mortal, Vinayak Narayan Agashe believes that he is but a humble servant of the Lord. In his sola an expanse of brightly-coloured silk adorning the body below the torso and the sacred thread, worn satchel-style indicating that he is a Brahmin, Agashe is a familiar figure to thousands of devotees who throng the Saras Baug Siddhivinayak temple.

From 5 a.m., when he opens the portals of the sanctum sanctorum which houses Lord Ganesh, manifested in marble and having a rare feature of his trunk positioned to the right, to 12.30 p.m., when the lock is turned in the key for a brief respite, he is a busy man. Couriering the naivedya offerings of the devouts to their favourite God and returning it to them in the form of prasad blessings. At the age of 66, he makes umpteen rounds between the believers and the believed, carrying offerings of flowers and coconuts and distributing prasad and panchamrit a concoction of ghee, milk, honey and curds. 8220;Serving the Lord is an exhilarating experience and I never tire or feel the strain,8221; says the shishya, who sports a perpetually smiling countenance.

His duty begins with bathing the deity with the panchamrit. Once the Lord is dried clean, he adorns the statuette with an assortment of flowers. This task completed, Agashe commences his duty of a communicator8217; between Lord Ganesh and his followers. 8220;Quite a few people wrongly believe that we shishyas are blessed with divine powers and that we can make their aspirations come true. I dispel their misconceptions and tell them to focus their faith on God, who alone can decide their fate.8221;

Agashe, who undertook work as a shishya a decade ago, shuns all superstitions and suspect beliefs. 8220;The custom of referring to horoscopes, offering navas a practised belief in which the devotee vows to please the God in return for favours are hollow rituals and I discourage such practices,8221; says Agashe, who has been frequenting the temple since 1955.

Agashe Guruji, as he is fondly referred to by the devotees, says, 8220;In the past few years, there has been a spurt in young believers. Their faith is free of boundaries and it is a heart-warming sight to see them bowing in obeisance, setting aside their youthful arrogance and ego.8221;

A former employee of a public limited company, Agashe explains the key difference between his erstwhile employment and his current vocation, which is on a yearly renewable contract, 8220;Earlier, I served my employers and received material remuneration. Now, I serve my creator and get both material and spiritual remuneration. The mental satisfaction I get being close to the Lord8217;s abode is my ultimate achievement.8221;

On Saturdays and during off-duty hours, when he is relieved by another shift-worker, Agashe meditates at the Chinmaya Ganapati Mutt. His worldly desires are manifested in the form of watching cricket matches on television. The only restriction which his vocation imposes on him is abstinence from garlic, onions, tobacco and liquor.

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Agashe8217;s father, too, served at the Siddhivinayak temple. Would he like his son, who is a banker, to follow the post-retirement vocation of his progenitors? 8220;I do not believe in imposing my inclinations on anybody. Everybody should be free to make their own choices,8221; says the shishya who seems to have achieved an ideal balance between the traditional and the radical.