Hello everybody! Be safe and secure. We begin with the eleventh video of ‘Spinning into a Career’.
Ruchi smashes coconuts and propitiates Lord Ganesha every Wednesday morning. When she is on the job , she does the ritual every Sunday morning. She begins with no affiliation to spirituality or devotion. She does it out of fear. Strangely, she does not get numinous visions again. Ruchi’s dad wants her to accompany him to attend Chinmayananda lectures at Bhilai maidan. The guru makes a commentary on the eighteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. The chapter deals with the fear psychosis of Arjuna, who is not able to life weapons against his teachers and relatives. The lecture centers on karma yoga. Ruchi’s father takes her to a sacred matha in Kaveri. People pray in the matha which is clean, spacious and airy. The matha is surrounded by plants and trees. Ruchi continues with the propitiation of Lord Ganesha.
As destined, a TV artist, Mr. Dave, comes to Ruchi’s house. He happens to be her dad’s friend. He calls her dad “Murthy kaka”. He brings a red image of lord Ganesha embossed on a metal. He requests her dad to give it to the one who propitiates lord Ganaesha in his family. Her dad gives it to Ruchi. She gets it framed from Sagar. She is bewildered to see a small lizard moving back and forth in front of the metallic frame. While travelling by train, Ruchi hears someone talking about a temple of Lord Ganesha in Rakhwala. She asks the person the route she has to take to go to the temple. She wants her parents to accompany her. Her father declares, ” We will go next week.” Weeks pass by. Every week her parents postpone the trip. Ruchi thinks her parents will continue to postpone. So one day, she declares that she is going to the temple the following Sunday, Oct. 20, 1980. Her parents do not take it seriously.
Ruchi drapes her black cotton sungadi saree to go to the temple. She takes a fast local train to Sagar on the western line. She has to cross the railway bridge to reach a platform in Sagar Central, where the train for Bhiryan is available. She encounters her ex colleague from National Atomic Research Center. Upon knowing that she is going to Rakhwala he says it is a deserted place. She should not go alone since it is dangerous. But Ruchi has temple in her mind. She gets down at Bhiryan and takes a train to Rakhwala. Since it is a Friday the train is crowded. The smell of fish scents the air. Big baskets of fish are kept in the ladies’ compartment since the luggage compartment is not enough to accommodate them. Young and old ladies carry big baskets on their heads when they get off the train. The platform is deserted and silent. There are horse carts and rickshaws. The rickshaw runs over rubbles, pebbles, mud and stones. It is an uneven winding path. The rickshaw bumps several times. The rickshaw driver waits for other passengers to come. Nearly seven to eight passengers are stuffed in the rickshaw.
Ruchi gets down near the temple. It is just a shed. There is a small hotel close to it. She goes inside the temple. There is neither priest nor decoration. The idol seems to have been excavated. Ruchi can stand in front of the idol and touch it. She is very happy. The bliss reaches a hiatus when she feels that she should not go back to the world. She asks the Almighty to take her away from this world. She wishes for death instantly. The peak of ecstasy keeps her in trance for some time. After sometime, she realizes it is time for her to go. She comes out of the temple and goes to the hotel and has misal pav. She takes an autorickshaw to reach the station. She boards the train. A man sits next to her and presses her thigh. She is irritated by it. An old lady watches her. She tells her in Marathi to get up from her seat and sit next to her. She is a member of the jury, working as a witness in Panchayat court. She advises Ruchi to avoid visiting the place without and escort.
At home, her dad is ready with a stick to whack her. Her mother has cried the whole day. She has some coins tied in a piece of cloth to offer it to the temple if her daughter returns home safely. When her dad is about to hit her , Ruchi’s mother intercepts him. Ruchi’s perception changes. Everything in nature appears to be bright and new to her. Trees shine with foliage. Everything seems to be lit. Her brother wants to take the silver idol of Lord Ganesha from her. Ruchi pulls the idol toward her. Her brother pulls the idol toward him. In the pulling and snatching episode, her brother gets the seat of the idol.
Thank you for listening. We shall move towards the end of ‘Moving towards Faith” in the next video. Till then goodbye!
The video can be viewed on You Tube by typing ‘ Spinning into a Career’ by Usha Raman.
