The Portal

Painting by my artist friend Samudra Sarma | Instagram: samudra246

Recent events in my life has made me a deep thinker, some stargazer of sorts. Life is still good, don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge believer by default and if something goes wrong, I tell myself- the universe is listening, and it will all come together in the end. Life’s been a good teacher and trying to settle in a foreign land has been another adventure. My life here is a mystery that unveils every single day and there is no room for weakness. I’m done with pessimism, skepticism and all sorts of unconstructive opinions and people that feed their soul on negativity – these are contagious and the minute you stand too close to them they eventually always get to you.

I try and stay in touch with my friends back in home as much as possible, social media is a big blessing that way. However, I do try to keep a clarity and limitation with my time spent on scrolling through things. Sure, it's easy to make fun of friends and celebrities and discuss the future of our nation on Facebook, salute anti and pro- Modis riveted to their social networks and getting all worked up, but who says people have to engage in serious activities all the time in social media? Peter G Stromberg Ph.D. Sex, Drugs, and Boredom aptly pointed out- If we look at what most people have been doing most of the time throughout human history, it's probably not discussing moral philosophy and inventing calculus. And part of the reason for that is that people need rest and recovery time and enjoyable activities: without some sort of stress relief we would self-destruct.

Music has been my best escape here. Music feeds the heart with what it needs in the moment. It is like a portal that transports me to a happy place. It is the zing of my life, a source of all my positivity. I have learned so much more than I thought I knew about music over the past couple of years. When music is on, the world switches off for me. One other such zing in life right now is the Easter Holidays next week. I’m excited to spend much needed family time with my parents and friends and rekindle with my roots. It’s homecoming after 2 long years and I’m going to make most of it for the Holiday schedule is excruciatingly short and tight. The song from “Wake Up Sid”- Iktara Unplugged, playing in my laptop speakers is summing up my feelings really well now. Music is nothing but a Portal to the depths of our soul. This is one of the songs that truly cheers me up while I listen to it. One of Javed Akhtar’s finest writings.

“Oh my mind, you are like a nomad

Only you know what you are thinking
Only you know what you are thinking, oh wanderer
Why are you showing me dreams while I am asleep and when I am awake”

I wanted to share with you this story I am reminded of that I heard from my husband once - an incident from his childhood. For reference, I must begin by telling you that Indian mythology has always had a deep-rooted connection to the idea of “Portals”. I remember my fascination for mythological stories that I had heard from my friends, back in my Hostel days and pondered upon the existence of an alternate universe. Portals are believed to exist in many parts of the world and comic books, video games, television and movie makers have used the idea to extend plotlines. Hindu mythology stems from such beliefs and if you happen to have a chance to visit India, you will find interesting historical evidences that suggest the existence of Portals. Each Hindu epic celebrates the belief that the universe is boundlessly various, that everything occurs simultaneously, that all possibilities may exist without excluding the other.

So, my husband was 14 then and had gone to visit his uncle for the summer holidays who lived in Ashta, a small city in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh in India. His eldest son, around 18 at that time had epilepsy and was prone to frequent seizures. Medical treatment for seizures hasn’t found much light in rural India even today and back in the day, one would consult a “Pandit- Ji” or an Astrologer for help. This family had tried everything in their capacity to treat their son’s illness and alas resorted to a jin baba who suggested an “exorcism”. The jin baba said their house was built upon an ancient Shiva temple. To give you a bit of a background, Ashta has a river named "Parvati" which is the main source of water to the inhabitants there. Parvati is named so because it has a Shiva temple nearby which is believed to be more than 3500 years old. Shiva is the name of a Hindu God and Parvati is his wife, and hence the river was named after them. One interesting belief in Ashta is that in the month of “Sawan” (or the Rainy season), the river Parvati gets flooded with water and the water level rises until up to a level where it reaches the “Shiv-Ling” placed inside the temple.

Through the course of time and due to recurring floods and changes in water levels of the river, it might have caused the temple to bury down underneath. The family had been living in that house which had been passed on from generations. Their ancestors might have no idea when they built this house. The jin baba said all the problems in the house were occuring due to the house being built on top of a Shiva temple. He said that they should dig up the Tulsi altar in their backyard to confirm his suspicions. Tulsi ( the Indian basil) is a sacred plant in Hindu belief and is worshipped in Indian households including my own. In most parts of Northern and Southern India, the Tulsi is planted in a raised altar at the backyard or in the front of the house.  And so, they began the digging, and slowly the extended family had gathered around with a few onlookers. After only about a few minutes of digging, what was visible through the broken rocks and debris was something that shocked everyone. There appeared to exist a tunnel which looked like a labyrinth of stairs that descended downwards endlessly into the dark. My husband vaguely remembers seeing those flight of uneven rocky steps beneath the altar. After-all the jin baba had proved a point. Stories like this confirm my belief in the supernatural and the unknown which deeply reflects in our traditions. Well there goes another to-do in my list- to visit an ancient temple in India and try to find out more such interesting stories.