no! no! no means no!!...i wont say cheese!!!

last month we had been pavagadh, a famous hill temple near halol, about 50 kms from baroda. the kalika mata temple at the top of the hill draws large crowds through out the year. the tourism deptt has made decent facilities for pilgrims and tourists. there is a hotel at the base, where you can put up the previous evening. also available is a ropeway, that reminds me of where eagles dare, it takes 6 mins to reach the top. there are also well laid out steps for the more adventurous. i took 2 and half hrs to reach the top, so a healthy person will take less for sure. its an enjoyable climb, esp if done early morning. the entire path is dotted with tiny joints selling assorted tit bits like salted amla, lassi, chaas, pepper mint, chips, toddy, tamarind, and of course gota-n-bhajiya. on your way up one comes across animals, like the langur mom n kid pair. for once the ever hyper active baby remained stable for a few seconds to give me a nice pose...

appearances are deceptive!!!

many years ago, we had been on a trip to rajasthan. also happened to visit the nathdwara temple, and a small incident just outside the temple is etched in my mind. as we came out of the temple premises, a sadhu dressed in a loin cloth, with ash smeared on his forehead, and a few rudraksh malaas strung from his neck, sat on a small parapet, cutting an apple with a small knife, and distributing pieces to devotees as prasad.

we accepted the apple pieces. just behind us was a group of college students, all young boys, eager to display their "collegian" status at the very first available opprtunity. they not only refused the prasad, but one of them rudely remarked in english, "what a crazy guy, giving out apple pieces.... why doesnt he sit and pray instead, to get rid of this poverty he is in...."and to their shock, the sadhu gave them a very polite yet stern rebuke in excellent english! all present were stunned.

the essence of what he told them was two things. 1) never judge a person unless you know him completely, and you will never know a human being completely, so never EVER judge anyone. 2) if you cant spread positive vibes, remain as you are, at least do a big favor to this world by NOT spreading negative vibrations.as the students left, embarassed and ashamed, this sadhu smiled at us. he later told us that the younger generation in this country at times does behave irresonsibly, and sometimes need to be corrected a bit.we all do tend to judge people all the time, dont we?