DREAMS WITH WINTER

                                                             THE WINTER

                          FROM HIMALAYA THROUGH VALLEYS, PLAINS, TOWNS AND VILLAGES, GANGA WIDENS TILL SHE REACHES CALCUTTA, THE LAST CITY ON HER PILGRIMAGE BEFORE SHE MERGES WITH THE BAY OF BENGAL. ON THE WAY SHE ACCUMULATES DIRT, FILTH AND DRAINAGE. BUT WHEN ONE STANDS QUIETLY ON HER BANK AND GLANCES OVER HER BREADTH, WHAT A MYSTICAL AND HEALING AURA SHE HAS! FEELINGS OF DEVOTION AND SPIRITUALITY WELL UP INSIDE, TRANSCENDING CONSIDERATIONS OF GOOD AND BAD. AFTER ALL, DOES SHE NOT ABSORB THE DARK SINS OF VAST HUMANITY, GROPING IN THE STARK DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE? LIKE A GOOD MOTHER, SHE PROVIDES FOR HER CHILDREN, HELPING AND GUIDING THEM TO THEIR DESTINY. IN THE PROCESS, SHE BECOMES CONTAMINATED AND IMPURE, BUT WHAT A GLORIOUS SACRIFICE!

                     THE SACRIFICIAL VAPORS OF PURIFICATION AGAIN RISE HIGHER INTO THE SKY, SLOWLY TRAVELING TOWARD THE FOUNTAINHEAD IN HIMALAYA - THE RESERVOIR FOR THIRSTY MANKIND. THUS THE CYCLE IS COMPLETED UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND WITH THE HELP OF THE BENEVOLENT AND DAZZLING SUN. WHERE DOES IT ALL START AND WHERE DOES IT END? FROM PERFECTION IT RISES AND INTO  PERFECTION IT MERGES.

                    AT KALIGHAT IN CALCUTTA, SATYAKAM, ALONG WITH BHAIRAVI AND PURAN, MET MATAJI AT THE HOME OF ONE OF HER DEVOTEES. SHE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR THEM! A SPECIAL SEAT HAD BEEN PLACED NEAR WAS CHARGED WITH HIGH ENERGY. IT WAS SUCH A DELIGHT TO SEE THE AUGUSET PRESENCE OF ALL THOSE GREAT SOULS IN ONE PLACE! INDEED, THE DEVOTEE IN WHOSE HOUSE MATAJI WAS STAYING MUST HAVE BEEN A THRICE BLESSED SOUL.

                    MATAJI AND MAHARAJ EXCHANGED CUSTOMARY GREETINGS. THEN MATAJI CALLED BHAIRAVI AND HER SON TO SIT NEAR HER. BOTH BOWED DOWN TO HER. SMILING, MATAJI ASKED THE BOY, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

                  PURAN, SWEETLY UTTERED THE BOY.

                  WHAT AN APPROPRIATE NAME, MATAJI SPOKE WITH GREAT TENDERNESS. PRAY YOU'LL FULLFILL YOUR NAME.

                   HE IS YOUR CHILD, MATAJI, REPLIED BHAIRAVI DEVOTEDLY. MATAJI, WITH HER HEAVENLY SWEET SMILE, LOOKED AT ALL THREE WITH MUCH INTIMACY AND BLESSING. SUCH A RARE BOND OF SPIRIT!

                 LATE IN THE AFTERNOON MANY DEVOTEES OF MATAJI ARRIVED. AT BHAIRAVI AND PURAN SAT BEFPORE HER, SATYAKAM SLIPPED OUT OF THE HOUSE, HIRED A HORSE CARRIAGE, AND HEADED TOWARD THE NORTH OR THE CITY. IN A LONELY PLACE SOME MILES AWAY, HE GOT DOWN FROM THE CARRIAGE AND STARTED WALKING TOWARD GANGA. THE RIVER HERE WAS WIDE - MORE THAN A MILE. AT A SECLUDED SPOT ON THE BANK HE FOUND SOME BRICK STEPS AND STOOD THERE MOTIONLESS, GAZING AT THE RIVER. THEN, CLOSING HIS EYES, HE TOUCHED HIS FORHEAD WITH FOLDED HANDS AND WHISPERED TENDERLY, GANGA, MAKE ME AS A PURE AS THOU ART. THOU ART SUSTAINER AND MOTHER TO ALL. FULLFILL MY DESTINY. AS THOU ART PERFECT, BESTOW  UPON ME THUS.

                  TWO TEARS RAN DOWN FROM HIS CLOSED EYES. FOR SOME TIME HE STOOD THERE FEELING RELEASED AND LIGHT. UPON STRAIGHTENING HIMSELF, HE HEARD FOOTSTEPS BEHIND HIM. HE LOOKED AROUND, BUT SAW NO ONE.

               AT SUNSET TIME, THE SUN GREW INTO A BIG RED BALL OF FREE BEFORE SINKING INTO THE HORIZON ON THE OPPOSITE BANK OF GANGA. A MYSTICAL QUIET PERVADED. SATYAKAM SAT DOWN ON THE STEPS IN A MEDITATIVE POSE. AFTER ABOUT TWELVE YEARS THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HE HAD BEEN REALLY ALONE, BUT HOW FULL HE FELT! THERE WAS NO TRACE OF ATTACHEMENT OR WORRY. NOTHING, IT SEEMED, EXISTED BETWEEN HIM AND HIS GOAL EXCEPT HIS MASTER WHO WAS IN HIS CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE THESE DAYS. WHO WOULD HAVE EVEN IMAGINED THAT A FEW STAYING? IT ALL SEEMED AGES APART, AS IF   A STORY OF ANOTHER INCARNATION. BUT WERE THEY SEPERATE FROM HIM?

             

                   THIS WAS THE TIME WHEN WINTER MINGLED WITH AUTUMN. MILD COLD HAD SET IN, BUT THE WEATHER REMAINDED PLEASANT. EXCEPT FOR SOME RED STREAKS AT THE HORIZON, THE SUN HAD COMPLETELY SET. THE SOFT MURMURING OF THE FLOWING GANGA, THE QUIETING CROAKS OF FROGS SOMEWHERE NEARBY, THE SOFT TOUCH OF THE MILD BREEZE - THESE WERE THE ONLY WITNESS HERE AT THIS HOUR OF TWILIGHT.

                  ONCE AGAIN SATYAKAM, HEARD FOOTSTEPS BEHIND HIM. LOOKING BACK, HE SAW THE SAME WHITE BEARDED OLD MAN WHO, TWELVE YEARS AGO, HAD DIRECTED HIM TO THE VILLAGE KADAMBINI. HE ABRUPTLY GOT UP, PLACED HIS HEAD ON THE OLD MAN'S FEET AND SHED TEARS OF JOY.

                   GURUDEV, CRIED SATYAKAM, I CAN'T MISTAKE YOU ANYMORE, AFTER A PAUSE, HE ASKED, WHY COULDN'T I SEE YOU WHEN I FIRST HEARD YOUR FOOTSTEPS?

                  THE MASTER SPOKE GRACIOUSLY, IT SEEMS YOU HAD LOST SOME OF YOUR POWERS AND CONSEQUENTLY COULDN'T COMMUNICATE WITH ME BEYOND THE AUDIBLE SOUND. THEN I WAITED UNTIL YOUR LEVEL ENHANCED TO HIGHER PERCEPTION AND YOU COULD SEE ME. IT IS ALL RIGHT NOW.

                AFTER A BRIEF PAUSE, THE MASTER ASKED, WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO NOW?

                AS YOU INSTRUCT ME, I WILL DO, REPLIED SATYAKAM WITH UTMOST SURRENDER.

              TAKE THE TRAIN TO THE FOOTHILLS OF EASTERN HIMALAYA AT A PLACE CALLED SILIGURI, I'LL MEET YOU THERE, SO SAYING, THE WHILE ROBED SAGE VANISHED AGAIN.

             NIGHT WAS DESCENDING QUIETLY. IN THE DARKENING SKY, THE STARS GRADUALLY BEGAN TO APPEAR. SATYAKAM HEADED TOWARD THE CALCUTTA RAILWAY STATION.

                    NEXT MORNING, AS SATYAKAM ALIGHTED FROM THE TRAIN AT SILIGURI, AN OCHRE ROBED MIDDLE-AGED HOLY MAN APPROACHED TO RECEIVE HIM. AFTER CUSTOMARY GREETINGS, THE HOLY MAN SAID, THE MASTER HAS INTRUCTED ME TO GUIDE YOU TO THE PLACE WHERE HE'LL MEET YOU. UPON LEAVING THE PLATFORM, THEY HIRED A HORSE CARRIAGE. AFTER FEW MILES, THEY GOT DOWN AND STARTED WALKING UP A HILLY PATH.

                    IMMENSE TEA GARDENS GREW ON BOTH SIDES. BEFORE THEM ROSE THE FIRST RANGES OF EASTERN HIMALAYAS. SATYAKAM AND HIS COMPANION REMAINDED MOSTLY QUIET. AS HE LOOKED UP AT THE MAJESTIC MOUNTAINS, SATYAKAM'S EYES BRIMMED CRYSTAL CLEAR AS HE FELT HIS HOMECOMING WELL UP INSIDE HIS FACE TURNED SOFTER.

                LEAVING THE COMMON PATHWAY, THEY TURNED EASTWARD ONTO A LESS TRODDEN FOOTPATH, THE TRAIL BEGAN TO RISE SLOWLY. LUSH GREEN FOREST SURROUNDED THEM. THEY WALKED FOR ABOUT THREE MILES BEFORE REACHING A DELIGHTFUL STREAM WINDING ITS WAY THROUGH THE WOODS. IT WASN'T VERY WIDE AND THEY CROSSEE IT IN KNEE- DEEP WATER.

               FEELING UTTERLY  QUIET AND CUT OFF FROM THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE TOWN, THEY SAT DOWN  TO REST AMIDST THE LONELY SURROUNDINGS. THE MAGIC OF THE SEASON HAD TRANSFORMED THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS INTO A SPECTACULAR PANORAMA OF COLORS. THEY PERSPIRED LIGHTLY IN THE COOL AIR. SATYAKAM FELT SLIGHTLY MORE TIRED THAN HIS COMPANION, AS IT HAD BEEN ABOUT TWELVE YEARS SINCE HE HAD CLIMBED THE MOUNTAINS.

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