The
Masseur in Gauri Kunda
It was 2005 or 2006, I cannot recall. We
were going to Kedarnath after completing the pilgrimage of Yamunotri and
Gangotri.
The paved road ended in Gauri Kunda and
from there we had to either walk or take a horseback ride or dandi/kandi to
Kedarnath- the holy place where the temple of Lord Shiva is situated. A nine-mile mountainous way to Kedarnath from
Gauri Kunda was arduous. Still most of people chose to walk. Some were riding
horses and some were being carried by porters (dandi/kandi). Old people, kids,
and women were among the most user of riding options.
Gauri Kunda is also called the base camp
for Kedarnath temple. In Gauri Kunda, there is a famous pond. People usually
stay for few days in Gauri Kunda for two purposes- one, to see the Kunda (pond)
where, as per the belief, goddess Parvati had holy bath, and second, to start a
fresh journey to Kedarnath temple.
Pilgrimage to the temple of Lord Shiva is
a lifelong dream for most Hindu devotees, especially seniors. The temple of
Lord Shiva- the god of the gods is situated in the high snowy mountain of
Himalayas (the Indian state of Uttarakhand), which is about 3548 meter above
sea level. There is a river called
Mandakini- a branch of Alaknanda river, near the Kedarnath temple. Having no
vehicle accessible road to Kedarnath, it makes the trip more difficult. Still,
people in greater number go there to fulfill their lifelong dream.
Our group of eight people reached
Kedarnath temple at around mid-afternoon. We stayed there for about three hours
and concluded our worship. At around late afternoon the group departed for
Gauri Kunda. On our way back to Gauri Kunda we walked because the beautiful
view of the Himalayan range not only fascinated us but also compelled to leave
the horses that we had rented for our rides.
By the time we got back to Gauri Kunda it
was already evening. Since we lost our way to the hotel, where we had already
stayed when we first arrived in Gauri Kunda, it was very dark outside when we
reached the hotel. Despite renting horses for our way up to Kedar Nath, we were
very tired at the end of the day because of the rugged mountainous way. In a small room of the hotel, we were
expecting someone to take our dinner’s order. We were discussing about how
tired we were from the journey. We had no energy to speak still we were using
few words to keep us busy and forget how tired we really were. We all were in just one room because of the
flooding of pilgrims which had made the availability of room in hotels tight.
And the flooding also compelled us to compromise with dirty beds and filthy
environment of the room in which we were. The bed sheets, pillow cover and
blankets hadn’t been washed, I assumed. But we didn’t have any energy to think
about that. We just laid down on the bed trying to forget the tiredness. At the
mean time a person entered the room without knocking on the door. He approached
very gently though. We all got up and looked at him. We all asked him at the
same time, “Is the dinner ready? Could you bring that in this room? We are not
able to walk even a step.”
The man smiled and said, “I am not a hotel
attendee.”
My friend asked, “Then who are you?”
He said, “I am a masseur. I know very well
that you all are completely tired. My experience says so. You all need massage
to reduce your tiredness.”
He added, “My job is to make people feel
relaxed. By doing this job I make living for me and my family, and also people
get service. This is also kind of philanthropy in such a religious place. The
little amount of income is enough for me. I have no big dream of being
millionaire.”
After a short bargaining, we fixed the
rate for his service. We all received massages. During massage, the masseur
told us how his business was and the types of people he dealt with. At the end
of his work I asked him his name. He said, “My name is Hamid Ansari. It is just
me in this business here.”
I uttered, “Being a Muslim how did you
succeed in this business, in such an exclusively Hindu religious place?”
The masseur shrugged and responded, “Sir,
in this place only religious people come, politicians don’t.”
After completing this sentence the masseur
disappeared from the room leaving us in a deep thought.
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