Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A stray incident can sometimes remain embedded in our memory. It is a strange phenomenon. There has to be a guiding force at the root, many argue. That I bowed before a Sadhu Ma8217; 63 years ago, when I was just 12, was just an act of obedience, given my mother8217;s strict instructions, and not an expression of spirituality.
This happened in Shimla when I was studying in the seventh standard in a school adjoining a Kali temple. The Sadhu Ma8217;, who was housed in one of the guest rooms of the temple, was on her first visit and was known to very few.
Accompanying my parents, I visited her again on a Sunday and was confronted with a unique sight. She was participating in a Namyagya non-stop kirtan, arranged for her in the profusely decorated central hall facing the Kali idol. As the singing gathered a faster rhythm, her graceful, tranquil and quiet look suddenly transformed into a sublime expression. It was a state of supernaturality, the elders explained. She lost physical control, and virtually started rolling on the floor at the feet of the singing devotees.
Cordoned off from the curious onlookers by seniors sprinkling rose water, she was heard whispering some undecipherable Sanskrit slokas, which were noted down immediately. An eminent philanthropist described these hyms as Dev Bhasha language of divinity in books published later.
Her unexpected visit surprised many. Earlier in Solan she had predicted two deaths. The head priest of the temple had expired a month ago. The second, a 84-year-oldsadhu named Dayal Baba, faintly uttering her name, died just as she entered the temple premises. She had hurried to the sadhu8217;s bed-side to bless him for the last time. The Mother had extended her stay to participate in the Namyagya.
Ma Anandomoyee Ma, as she was popularly known conquered hundreds of devoted hearts in and around the city during her brief stay. When she left Shimla for another destination, it was a lasting impression she left behind, even in my tender mind! Hereafter, we moved down to Delhi in accordance with the regular procedural system the then British government followed during winter. That I got separated from the Holy Mother for a couple of years was sheer destiny.
Busying myself with completing school and college terms and searching for jobs consumed some years. But early, and unbearably periodic, family mishaps almost shattered my concentration. Ma Anandomoyee, suddenly in Delhi at this juncture during one of her sojourns, seemed to have heeded my distress calls!
Regarded as aliving incarnation of God, Ma Anandomoyee was much more than a religious preacher. She was the embodiment of a joyous self-sufficiency which delighted the hearts of all who came near her. The mysterious aloofness of the Holy Mother8217;s personality was beyond human understanding.
Yet, it was so tempered by compassionate love for all living creatures. She was the teacher whose guidance was sought by all 8212; the learned, the simpletons, the old, the young and those from alien cultures and traditional backgrounds. Gaining her first recognition in Dhaka in the thirties, she was called Manush Kali that is, Kali in human form. Favoured are those she blessed.
