When the slippers slip away!

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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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!