It was Friday, 25th September 2015.
I woke up early around 5.30am. I tend to wake up early on trains. I enjoy
viewing the early morning view from the window of a moving train. The colors
are mild but beautiful. The rapidly changing landscape feels like a fast moving
story. Like many, I still enjoy looking out of train’s window. I guess, I enjoyed
a good amount looking out. On the
previous night my brother and I boarded Ajmer-Howrah express from Howrah to
offer our prayers to the holy places of Ajmer and Pushkar.
The first time I went to Ajmer-Pushkar was in
December 2012. I had promised to self to pay a return visit soon. When I shared
my idea with my brother he too agreed to join in to complete his own return
visit. It was a rare occasion when only two of us would be travelling by train
(minus family liabilities!). It was a great opportunity to rekindle our
childhood memories and the constant fight for the window seat. We specifically
got the side-upper and side-lower seats to avoid any chance of the fight from
resurfacing! The plan was short and simple, a night stay at Ajmer, offer
prayers at Ajmer-Sharif-Dargah, Puskhar and back to Kolkata. I wasn’t aware
that this simple trip would become a life altering experience for me.
By 9 am, we both were done with our breakfast.
I was casually going over the newspaper when I noticed that my brother was
reading a book. I remembered that he informed me the previous night, about a
famous book written by an equally famous ISKCON swami. My brother came in
contact with ISKCON few months before this trip through one of his friends. He
had informed me about it but honestly I had NO idea what ISKCON was. I haven’t
even googled about it till then. After I was done with casual scanning of the
newspaper, I glanced upon him. He was still in the book. As far as I knew, my
brother was a kind of a person who showed very little penchant for reading
books and that too books inclined on spiritualism. It was a revelation for me.
My little brother had really grown up, I thought with an elder-brotherly pride
and started looking outside the window.
After taking a big yawn my brother said,”Bhai,
I will take a nap”. He kept the book aside after folding the page he was at.
After sometime, just on an urge, as there was nothing much to do, I picked up
the book. It was titled, ‘The Journey Home – Autobiography of an American Swami,
by Radhanath Swami’. My first impression was that the author must be some
“Indian” who became excessively rich in America (USA) and then turned to
spiritualism. I didn’t even register the word ‘American’ in its adjective sense. I looked at the back
cover description and realized the author is NOT an Indian but an American! As a habit I always read the preface of a
book. Not with much eagerness, I reached for the preface page. By the time I
completed the preface I was already hooked on to the book. It was NOT an
ordinary book that I had picked up reluctantly. When I look back today on that
fateful day, I see it as the only turning point of my life that has changed
direction of my pursuits forever.
The book presented author’s deep emotions
expressed vividly in a soulful manner. It was a fascinating story of a young
man’s journey hitch-hiking all the way to India from America. I could
understand that with each passing day the author was being driven to a
destination and to the true objective of his heart that was yet to take shape
and reveal itself fully. It’s a must read for anyone who want to experience how
seemingly odd things fall in place when something is intensely desired by an
honest heart. Please read the book to experience pure joy.
I continued reading the book after quickly
finishing the lunch. My brother had sensed it already that he was not going to
get back the book till I finished it. While reading I smiled on occasions on the
naivety of author’s acts and at other moments I felt the pain of his yearning.
After dinner I picked up the book again. I was progressing very well. My
brother was eager to know if I had already reached or crossed the point where
he left book. I would throw in statements like – Richard is still in Europe, He
is into Iran, He is out of Iran.
We reached Ajmer station very early morning of
26th September, it was still dark outside. The auto dropped us
quickly at our hotel. After taking a
quick nap at the hotel we got ready for Dargah Sahrif. Luckily upon our request,
the hotel reception had arranged for us a person who would assist us in our
visit. On the previous visit I had to brave through lot of rush. I guess, like
all other holy places there was a less crowded route through which the said
person was supposed to take us. The person explained several aspects of the
Dargah which I had not seen/heard the first time. We were done with our prayers
and donations and finally could relax. A small group was doing nice kawwali
within the premises. Luckily, that day it was less crowded. It was a nice
experience. I could see many people of different faiths were offering prayers
with very high reverence. I believe, Ajmer Sharif is the one of the very few
places where non-muslims can offer prayers that too in such a large number and
with minimal restrictions.
We planned for our visit to Pushkar in the
second half after the lunch. We took a maruti omni. I would suggest to anyone
to avoid autos, as many people may feel bit uncomfortable when it goes through
the undulations of road over the hill on three tyres only! We offered our prayers at the Pushkar temple
– the only temple of Lord Brahma on earth. We spent good time on banks of the
lake.
While I was out all day, I was still thinking
about the next stop of Richard’s adventure. After dinner, I was back with the
book. My brother looked at me longingly to see any possibility of him getting
the book. He opted for a good sleep rather than an uncertain wait!
On 27th morning we woke up early for
quick visit to the Dargah again. Our hotel was at few minutes’ walk from the
Dargah. Luckily there was less crowd and we were able to offer prayer at the
Tomb for few extra seconds. After soaking the spiritual environment for few
hours we headed for our hotel to checkout. The scheduled departure of the train
from Ajmer was at 1 pm.
After boarding the train, I was fully immersed
in the book. It took around 2 more days to complete the book after reaching
Kolkata. By the time I finished reading the book, I realized the meaning of the
title – ‘The Journey Home’. I could relate to the emotions and sentiments of
the author. As I understood author’s quest, it helped me to understand my own
one. As in the book the author reached
home, similarly I too had reached home, finally. The fog of doubts and illusion
was gone. I was at ease in the knowledge
that my salvation was in the Lotus feet of the Lord. Through his autobiography
Radhanath Swami has helped millions of souls to opt for the path of bhakti, I
consider myself to be very fortunate one to be able to follow the path revealed
by him. Truly he has helped many to ‘Journey Home’, I was lucky to be just one
of them.
The then Richard Slavin at age 31 took monastic
vows of a vaishnava sanyassin and is revered in ISKCON and worldwide as
Radhanath Swami. He took dikhsa from Srila Prabhupada, the Founder Acharaya of
ISKCON. Radhanath swami resides at Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai
and continues to travels regularly to many countries to spread Krishna
Consciousness. He visited Kolkata in February 2016 but I was NOT fortunate
enough to experience his presence. I eagerly wait for the day when I can
collect dust of his lotus feet. I am sure one day I will have his mercy and
blessings.
Hare Krishna!
“Sometimes the Lord gives us a free sample of
religious experience, but for more, we must pay a price with the currency of
sincere dedication to the process of cleansing.”
– Radhanath Swami in The Journey Home book
– Radhanath Swami in The Journey Home book
You can read more about HH Radhanath Swami at http://www.radhanathswami.com
You can
order a copy of The Journey Home at http://www.amazon.in/Journey-Home-Radhanath-Swami/dp/1601090560
