A short trip to my village!

The last time I visited, I saw my Dadi ji lying in peace in the cloister, as I entered the house (temple). My 12th boards were going on when the news of her demise came. My parents had just returned to Delhi after paying her a visit only to receive the sad news in the morning- as if my father somehow knew that his mother's end was near and planned all of a sudden to meet her. So the next day we all went there to bid her the last goodbye and participate in her last rites. I still clearly remember her burning funeral pyre with the background being decorated by the Supemoon of 19th March, 2011. As if the date was carefully chosen for her. The Gods descended to take her for a new life.

She was bedridden for years and was waiting for the inevitable! When I saw her the last time there was a sense of calm on her face which was missing for past so many years. She finally left behind sorrows of this world! 

It was different this time. After four long years a plan to visit the ancestral village was again made-though again suddenly. Gandhi ji helped us in this trip as Gandhi Jayanti fell on Friday followed by the weekend. The bags were packed, all necessities were kept and this house was locked to start the journey towards the ancestral house.

Despite being born and raised in the national capital, I still am proud of my roots in Rajasthan. People there are so genuinely loving and caring. You hardly find doors kept closed there in the daytime. When here in Delhi you don't know your neighbours, there everybody knows everyone else. Every household is aware of the problems being faced by the fellow villagers. It’s like a very big family living together in a small area sharing and caring for each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed driving through the five hour long journey from the plains of Delhi to the foothills of Aravali. As soon as we entered the road which deviates from the National Highway towards the village we could see our ancestral land which is now sown by my uncle. The very smell of that village is many times more intoxicating than any other drug- so pure and pollution free. Most of the people still recognized me just by looking once and those who couldn't they made the correct guess after looking at my father.

The village has changed a bit. The roads were better; I saw solar powered streetlights, some new shops and houses with better sanitary facilities. And the best thing I heard was people were being fined if caught defecating outside! So policies of our P.M. are indeed working.

I mentioned 'temple' in the brackets above because the house is a temple cum residence. Dau ji's idol is main idol of the sanctum along with other deities present inside the temple as well as outside it. There are many mystical stories of Dau ji's altruism, recited over and over again by my aunties which I cannot fathom, as they pose serious challenges to scientifically radicalized rational mind. 

It is only when you move away from the highest polluted capital of the world you realize that stars are still there! Those constellations, shooting stars and the bright night sky lit by the light of stars and not by the street lamps is still there! And that view is worth dying for! I can carry on filling up many more pages praising the village life but I don't want to bore my readers. So I'll end with a perplexing coincidence.

Last time I visited on the Supermoon of 2011. This time I visited my village four days after the Supermoon of 2015. 2015 and 2011 also differ by 4. Both the times I stayed there only for one day. Is there a pattern?? Was it just a coincidence?? Or did that happen at the behest of Dau ji?? I know nobody can answer those questions. All I can do is to wait eagerly for the next Supermoon !!