Last month's Udupi trip was eventful. We had a soulful darshana of Udupi Shri Krishna in the evening. As darkness descended, we visited the “Ananteshwara” temple. I was certain I left my footwear close to the stone obelisk before entering the Shiva temple. Once back, they were gone!
The first reaction when you see your footwear missing…is
confusion. May be, you left the footwear elsewhere. You are reminded of the
proverbial story of the man who dropped his finger-ring in Kumbakonam's "mahaamaham" water-tank, but desperately searched for the ring in the adjoining pond because the mahaamaham tank was too crowded!
You look around the place, shuffling other footwear. May be,
yours is playing hide-and-seek. A part of your mind is sure, “No! This is
exactly where you left them!” Still, there is disbelief. “Where did the
footwear go? Where did they walk away? Did someone steal them? Did someone mistake
them as theirs and unknowingly wore them?”
It is the entry to the Ananteshwara temple, but footwear is
littered all over. Some are neatly
arranged; others have been evidently kicked off in a hurry. Some lie straight,
some lie on their side, and still others lie prostrate, with the soles facing the
sky. Chappals, sandals, hawaai slip-ons, shoes- some new, some old, some worn out, some bruised, some battered, it is an ocean of footwear!
From time to time, there are “false positives”. You jump
with glee on spotting something that resembles yours, but a closer scrutiny
confirms it is not. Soon, it is evident, they are gone, gone for good. Resignation
sets in. My friend had a novel suggestion, albeit too late, “You should separate
the footwear. And leave each one, at a different place! That way, no one can steal
them!”
The anger is now directed at God also. He made me buy these
new chappals. He got me to the temple. He did nothing, did nothing…while they
were being stolen!
A part of your mind tries to console you. “God has better things to do than being your personal footwear keeper! No! It’s not like
that, dear! Think about Arjuna. Karna fired the “naagaastra” at Arjuna. The
missile was directed at Arjuna’s head. At the nick of time, Krishna pressed the
chariot with his foot. The chariot sunk into the earth by a few inches. And
now, the missile that should have knocked off Arjuna’s head, could only take off
his crown! Like that, may be, something grave was directed at your foot. God
intervened and ensured that only the footwear was impacted! Who knows?”
You get angry with the mind for bringing up oblique
arguments like these. The mind brings up one more counterpoint, “Why don’t you
think about the 3rd anuvaaka from Shri Rudram? The answer lies
there!” This was too much, like asked to crack a clue in a Treasure-Hunt game. Shri
Rudram is that celebrated vedic hymn on Lord Shiva. The 3rd section
of the hymn is dedicated to an enumeration of all negative elements. It
mentions the “occasional-cheat”, the “pathological-thief”, the “land-grabber”,
the one who walks away with produce from a field, the forest-brigand, the
murderer- the list goes on and on. The section finally ends by saying…all these
dregs of human society, they too are “essentially” Shiva and non-separate from
him!” How do you answer the mind now? He
wants me to condone my footwear thief on these lines!
To bring the episode to a close, just a street away, there was
a footwear shop. I bought a simple pair of slippers. The topic was done and
dusted. The trip should have no more…no more…any mention of the word “chappal”!
Yes, the mind may be “chapala” and fickle, but I refuse to do any more chappal-dhyaana,
I said to myself!
Back in the car, our driver, Murti saar noticed. “That’s why
I told you to leave the footwear in the car itself! Weren’t they new chappals? How
much did they cost? Whenever you go to a temple….” he trailed away.
Just when the embers are about to cool down, the flames
flare up once more!
