Spiritual odyssey
Harbans Singh

Limping to the Centre of the World
by Timeri N. Murari. Penguin Books. Pages 287. Rs 350.

PILGRIMAGES have to be difficult or else little merit will accrue to the pilgrim. However, a pilgrimage to the Mount Kailas, the abode of Lord Shiva, is doubly so not only because of cruel message that the mountains deliver to the arrogant that nature can’t be mastered but also because of the new dimension that they add to the life of the pilgrim. Even those brought up as agnostics and those who have learned to be skeptics often come back calm, serene and acutely aware of being shorn of pretensions. Some, like the author Timeri N. Murari, are convinced that their labour coupled with the experience of having come in contact with the cosmic being has in some measure directed the energy of the universe towards the objects of their selfless affection and devotion.

Limping to the Centre of the World is a remarkable account of the Yatra to Mount Kailas and Mansarover. It is also an account of a series of coincidences that take a limping Murari to perform the circumambulation of the sacred Kailas and finally experience ‘seeing’ the face of Shiva on the Mount. The transformation in Murari is almost instantaneous as even before the pilgrimage is over, his spirituality, probably long buried under the studied reasoning of a scientific temper, bursts forth and is visible to one of his companions much before the yatra comes to an end.

Having decided to make the yatra for the well being of his ‘temporary son’ Bhima, Murari discovers that from the point his application was chosen randomly by a computer in the Ministry of External Affairs and then inability of that ministry to take notice of his e-mail communicating his inability to avail of the opportunity to ultimately the switching of the groups that made it possible for him experience Shiva on the Mount, he was definitely the chosen one for Parikarma of the sacred Kailas. He also realises that the association of divinity with that Mount in one of the most inhospitable regions of the world is shared not only by the Hindus but also by the Jains, Buddhists and the pre-Buddhists Bob Tibetans and gradually submits himself to the higher force that governs our lives.

But apart from the account of the spiritual pilgrimage of the author, the book also provides insights not only of the angularities of some of his companions but also of the history and the compulsions of the region. Among his companions is a person who is making the journey with the intention of leaving the jewelry of his late wife at Shivsthal and is "making this gesture probably to release himself from the memories". There are others who remain rigid and uncaring to fellow human beings. A few among them return convinced of having witnessed the descent of the stars to have a holy dip in the sacred lake Mansarover but a few also return with the understanding of the power of isolation and landscape in moulding the faith.

The fact that the author narrated the account of the pilgrimage on a scale that is much bigger than that of a faithful has made the book readable for various categories of readers. His keen eye has neither missed a sly but mundane trick by his fellow pilgrims nor has he missed the desperate response to history being made by the Chinese and the counter to it by the sundry but isolated Tibetans that he meets.

Finally, one also wonders as to why we continue to resort to half measures when providing facilities to the pilgrims. Surely, a comfortable bed and a hot bath for the aching bodies will neither erode faith nor devalue the merit that is earned by hardship!





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