Indian Pilgrimage: A Remarkable Experience - Part I

Today my girlfriend (currently visiting the US from Delhi) and I were reminiscing about a couple of pilgrimages we had made together in India and the events that has occurred which basically reinforced our strong faith in the Supreme Force. This is how it all began...

Despite all the modernization and education, spiritualism is so integrated in the Indian psyche that visiting holy places spread all over the country is a norm for most Indians and I am no different. While I am a Hindu, I have strong belief in a saint, Sai Baba of Shirdi, who is worshipped not only all over India, but all over the world as one of the greatest saints of the twentieth century. Worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims, he preached universal brotherhood and performed many miracles in his life and those continued even after his death. Sai Baba spent his life in a village called Shirdi in Western India which is currently a great pilgrimage center frequented by thousands of devotees who literally come from all over India and outside to worship. I have made two visits so far.

The first trip was in mid-eighties a few months after my marriage. Before leaving for the US to join my husband, I had wanted to make a visit to Shirdi which is located approximately 296 Kilometers from Mumbai (Bombay) city in Western India. I had gone on that trip with my mother and my friend Malini, who was at this time a skeptic and just humoring yours truly, her best friend, only because I was immigrating to a different part of the world shortly.

I don't know what it is between me and the trains as you will also see from the next episode, but on our way to Shirdi, the train stalled in the middle of nowhere due to some problems and we had to wait till another rescue train came. Mother was not too pleased because she was petite and very ladylike and not used to clambering in an undignified manner from one train to another from very low-lying ground since we were literally in the farm fields. Anyway, we did make the trip to Shirdi and my friend, a non-believer, became one of the staunchest believers in Sai Baba after her return home to Delhi, when she had many of her problems resolved miraculously. Thereafter she returned to Shirdi regularly over the years.


On our first trip to Shirdi with mom and friend standing in line to offer flower garland and other items for worship at the Sai Baba temple. Marigold garlands are considered integral for Indian prayer ceremonies and each Hindu temple vicinity has small shops selling these garlands along with incense and related materials with the garland makers sitting and threading the fresh flowers and creating beautiful garlands almost instantaneously.

In the interim, I had settled in the US and was now planning to return to India in early nineties for the first time since my departure after a gap of about seven years. Having had a difficult pregnancy, I wanted to take my healthy son to Shirdi for Sai Baba's blessings and to thank Him. Landing in Delhi, I again asked my girlfriend, who by now had two little boys of her own, to accompany Baku and me. Her husband also decided to join us and thus began an incredible pilgrimage to Shirdi.

I took on the task of getting the railway tickets for all of us. Indian railways are an institution and one of the largest networks in the world introduced by the British in 1853. Largest in Asia they cover a length of 62,000 Kms and include 11,000 trains. Travel by railway is a must if you want to get a flavor of real India. Baku and I escorted by my brother reached the incredibly crowded Delhi Railway station late evening for the overnight trip where my dear friend could not be seen. Indian railway platforms are one of the places where you get the full impact of the exploding Indian population with hundreds of people squatting with their luggage, sleeping and hustling their way to the different platforms. Worried I went to a public phone to call and see what was going on and learned that she was on her way.


Check out this three minute video clip prepared by Time Magazine on Indian Railways with excellent English commentary which truly captures the mood and reality of India's lifeline and the most popular means of transportation for the common man.

When my friend and her family finally joined Baku and I and the boarding time came, I decided to check our tickets. To my utter disbelief and shock, my wallet was gone along with all my money and tickets! Frantically, I dug in, but to no avail.

What I didn't realize in my naivete was that non-resident Indians (or NRIs as Indians settled abroad are termed in India) are conspicuous to the professional pickpockets from miles due the NRI persona which apparently reeks to them of the dollar affluence. How I wish perception in this case was a reality! Obviously, someone pickpocketed my entire wallet with the tickets from the big fancy hand-bag that I had the stupidity to carry and which clearly attracted unnecessary attention. The theft had to have happened while I was making my call.

My friend and her husband looked at me in horror. There was no time to figure out an elaborate alternative-an executive decision had to be made and we made it. We said we had planned to go to Shirdi and we would do it regardless and figure out on the train what to do next. So literally in a quick leap of faith, we three adults picked up the kids and put them on the train, threw ourselves and the luggage aboard, right as the train was on the verge of moving and embarked on an incredible journey...

So here was the situation. My friend's husband Ashok thankfully had some money - I had nothing now, of course, and my friend perhaps had just a bit and we had three young kids-three boys between the ages of 4-6 years between us.

To be Continued in Part II- stay tuned...