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The social media was full of reports and images of the world’s largest religious congregation the Mahakumbh taking place at Prayagraj from 13.01.2025 to 26.02.2025. My WhatsApp number was bombarded with photographs, videos and reels of many friends and relatives who were making a beeline to the Prayagraj and sharing photos and videos of their holy dip in the Ganges. There were many posts on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and other social media too highlighting the arrangements made for the largest religious congregation on earth.
Stung by FOMO I decided to jump into the bandwagon. Train tickets were out of question. Sold out 60 days before. Air tickets were the only option. However, the return air fares from Bangalore to Prayagraj were astronomically high at Rs.100000 per person that too with limited seats availability. This apart from staying arrangements for 2 nights in a tent costing Rs.25000 per day excluding the boarding expenses and local conveyance charges. The total expenses were working out to Rs.300000
(Approximately) for a two-day sojourn at Prayagraj.
My wife was reluctant to waste such a massive amount for the trip and was discouraging me to take up the visit. However, I convinced her with the salvation mantra and how a dip in the Ganges cleanses us of all the sins and how life could commence on a clean slate again. In an emotional appeal I also told her that we are in the last phase of our lives and it is a onetime GOD send opportunity for us to cleanse our body and soul. We will not be alive to see the Mahakumbh which is slated to fall only after the next 144 years.
So, we booked the tickets for 11.01.2025 morning flight at 10.20 AM to reach Prayagraj by 12.30 PM.
As we were about to leave for the Airport our maid came weeping inconsolably. She informed that her husband had a heart attack the previous night and was hospitalized. She was urgently in need of Rs.25000 to pay at the hospital for treatment. Taken aback by this unexpected mood-spoiler, I curtly told her that I had already spent huge money for my Prayagraj visit and was not in a position to spare any amount. She was totally heart-broken by my rude reply and left the place sobbing.
Then while I was boarding the cab came a call from an NGO requesting for a donation as they were planning to take their senior-citizen inmates to Prayagraj for a holy dip. Muttering a curse under my breath, I disconnected the call immediately.
On our way to the Airport our car waited at the traffic signal. I saw a little girl holding a small baby in hand and asking for alms. Both were shivering from the early morning winter and had tattered clothes on them. Her hand stretched out, she begged for some money. In a heartless reaction I quickly pulled up the tinted glasses and asked the driver to proceed.
Eventually, after a 2 hour non-stop flight we reached Prayagraj. We watched millions of people walking on the roads with kids on one hand and the baggage on the other trudging their way to the bathing site. The hardships and struggles faced by them writ on their faces. We could manage to book the hotel close to the Ghat by paying premium rates.
Later in the afternoon, we went to the Ghat to take the holy dip but didn’t have the courage to do so, as the sobbing face of my maid, the pleading call from the NGO, and the heart-wrenching face of the kid begging for alms kept haunting me. What is the use of such a holy bath to cleanse our external bodies when the internal mind is still filthy and polluted with selfish thoughts? We didn’t want to pollute the Holy Ganges with our unholy thoughts and deeds. We moved out of the Ghat and headed back to the hotel without taking a dip.
After a few hours of introspection I atoned for my sins and transferred funds to my maid, to the NGO and to an orphanage and proceeded to the Ghat for a dip without carrying the burden of guilt. We had a very satisfying bath at the Ghat and returned home with a purified mind and thoughts.
I realized that a dip in the holiest of rivers will not wash away our sins. The mind needs to be cleansed with thoughts of kindness, care, gratitude, love and empathy towards fellow beings.
V.Subramanian
P.S. This article is a piece of fiction.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.