Continues from Race with the Sun
11/06/1908
The sun has risen from the east letting the first light fall on the Bigul temple and the idol inside, facing the sun. The temple is located on the highest point of the Bigulvihi village. As per the usual practice the day begins when the priest beats the huge drum six times to wake everyone up. This is just a ritual to snap sleepiness out of people. Most of the working class are already up on their feet and preparing to leave for work.
There is one person though who is still asleep, a forty-seven year old man named Dinkar Rao. When he opens his eyes he finds him laying on the muddy slope of Bigul temple hill. Something tragic must have happened for a handsome man like him to wake up in a place like this. His entire body including the white dhoti is covered in wet mud. Perhaps there was some drizzle before sunrise.
“Wish all this was just a dream.” Dinkar says to himself remembering the event that happened the day before,
“I’m getting old.” He grunts while punching the mud next to him.
He slowly stands up looking at the nearby temple. In that moment Dinkar is wearing just a white thin fabric dhoti which is torn in places. There are cuts and bruises on various parts of his body like arms, back and feet. His knuckles are covered in dried blood. It appears as if he had a fight with bunch of guys last night and one of them managed to knock him out. But that is not true. All this damage is self inflicted.
Dinkar slowly walks to the temple where there is a drum filled with water. Using a mud pot it takes some water to clean himself. “To what do I owe this pleasure of finally having you in the temple premises.” says the priest in a sarcastic tone.
This kind of response is expected. This priest is Dinkar’s school friend. In addition to that Dinkar is a non-believer. If you’ve read the previous story you will know that fitness freak Dinkar Rao has a daily evening running routine of racing with the sun where he has to run up the hill before the sun sets. But even then Dinkar runs around the temple, never steps inside.
“I am here just to clean myself. Don’t think too much.” Says Dinkar.
“Oh yes, slope of the hill isn’t exactly a comfortable place to spend the night.” he jokes.
Dinkar looks at him annoyed and the continues to wash his face. Witnessing that, the priest continues, “Your face is free from all the dirt, but how will you clean the disappointment that I see on your face?”
Dinkar doesn’t say anything and starts walking away. “Talk to me Rao, why do you look so disturbed?” Dinkar still exits the temple premises. But then he sits on a step. This is the cue for the priest friend to join him for a conversation.
“Following a religion is optional but faith in almighty is essential.” the priest quotes a religious text and sits next to Dinkar. He doesn’t ask anything, just admires the beautiful aerial view of the village below. He waits until Dinkar is ready to talk.
“In the last few weeks I sensed that my body is getting weaker. Despite all the efforts I take my body is failing me. You know my two sunset run routine. Yesterday I missed my target. I know it is a childish thing I used to say when we were young, but I sincerely believed that maintaining optimum level of fitness would help me life forever. But now I guess, that’s not possible.”
The friend carefully listens to what Dinkar has to say. He simply smiles in response. The priest has told Dinkar several times to stop obsessing over physical fitness and opt for spiritual enlightenment. But he never listened. On contrary the more he suggested Dinkar to be spiritual, farther away he moved from embracing spirituality.
“Mind is nothing without the body.” said Dinkar once. “You enlighten your mind and I’ll strengthen my body. Let’s see who lives longer.”
Dinkar expects the same wisdom to be repeated from his friend. But he doesn’t. The friend stays quiet. Even when Dinkar asks for some wisdom the friend resists. He knows his wise words will fall on deaf ears so he sees no point in repeating them. Unfortunately for the first time Dinkar is genuinely interested. When he doesn’t get any response, Dinkar stands up and starts walking away.
“Wait.” stops the friend. “I need a favor from you.”
The friend talks about package he needs to be deliver to the city. Dinkar knows in his heart that it is some sort of a test. “This will help me find answers to all my problems.” he says to himself. So without any hesitation or questioning he immediately accepts it.
Next day, Dinkar leaves to the city on foot. It is approximately a 50 km walk. In these times there are no automobiles. But there are facilities of riding a horse or a cart driven by horse, still Dinkar chooses to walk. That’s because walking is his favorite pass time.
“Walking not only adds to your fitness but also it is a kind of meditation where you just have to set your mind free to think about absolutely anything.” he says whenever he wants to promote the habit of walking.
The pace at which Dinkar walks, it doesn’t take him long to reach the city. As instructed Dinkar delivers the package. The package is a book wrapped in a red cloth. He is supposed to deliver it to the priest in the city and so he does that. All the while he is trying to see the lesson he needs to learn through this task at hand.
Once he has handed over the book he wonders, “Was I supposed to read the book? Maybe that was the test to see if I choose to believe in god or not?” But by then it’s too late. “It might seem rude to take back what I just gave.” he says to himself. So Dinkar leaves the temple and then starts with the return journey.
Dinkar still hopes there is some other lesson his friend is trying to teach him. “Admire the natural beauty… live in the moment… life and death is natural.” Dinkar says such random stuff to himself while remembering all the times his friend quoted such lines to him. Still none satisfy his curiosity.
Time goes by and Dinkar sees no point in doing the task at. On his way back Dinkar is disappointed that he learned nothing new. He is the same guy he was yesterday or the day before. “What a waste of time.” he grunts stomping his foot on the mud road.
Suddenly Dinkar thinks of utilizing this time. It’s a two hour walk to reach the village but if his runs he can cover it in half an hour. By this time the sun has lowered from zenith and it is not as hot as it was a while ago. “Anyway I will miss my evening routine if I walk back home, why not run now.”
Dinkar takes the running position, closing his eyes he takes a deep breath and starts running. There’s no one on the road for Dinkar to avoid bumping into, so from time to time where the road is straight he shuts his eyes for a while anticipating his position.
This goes on for a while. But then at one intersection he opens his eyes to suddenly find someone in front of him. He tries to avoid collision but is unable slow down. The person in front of him ducks and Dinkar jumps and rolls over him and then hits the ground.
When he opens his eyes Dinkar sees an old man with long grey hair, matching long beard and priest like orange attire. In addition to that he is carrying an unusually large collection of old books on his back. Dinkar has stumbled upon this old man on a crossroad. So by the time Dinkar stands up the old man has already started walking in the other direction.
Dinkar runs to him and apologizes. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.”
“No problem.” smiles the old man, “Thank you for the concern.”
Dinkar observes the old man walking away. The backpack of books is bigger and probably is heavier than the old man who is carrying it. Still he doesn’t break a sweat while walking the road. This old man clearly don’t need any assistance. Still out of courtesy Dinkar asks,
“Do you need any help?”
The old man stops, looks at Dinkar. He thinks for a while and then smiles saying, “Yes… yes I do.”
This old man’s name is Guruji. His job is to travel from place to place and curate ancient texts. Usually he never stays in one place unless he meets someone who needs some wisdom and a new perspective towards life. Now, it seems that Guruji has found his next pupil.
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT PART
Helping Guruji
Story of how Dinkar decides to help Guruji with his quest.
back to LIFE OF DINKAR RAO
First of all thank you for reading this post. What you read here is not my absolute belief set in stone. I am always open for discussion and future alterations to the post. Actually I consider these posts as a conversation starter. So if you have an opinion to share, please do comment down below.