Mr. Mano and his mother accompanied with his sisters were set to visit The Jagat Jyoti Buddha Vihar, New Delhi. They were also joined by Deva in their car. They offered a lift which I declined politely. I prefer to bike on my own these days. I have learned to travel faster by bike in a city like Delhi.Within no time, I reached the temple gate by following the Ring Road motorway. It was a quick ride and I waited outside the temple’s entrance gate a long while for the Mano & co. to arrive. Unfortunately, they would never make it as I would later find out that their car broke down half-way. So, I walked alone into the temple/The Jagat Jyoti Buddha Vihar is a well-kept temple in a pocket of East of Kailash. It is mentionable that the Vihara sits upon a sizeable plot of land. If you know East of Kailash is situated in south Delhi and this south of Delhi is brutally expensive, you understand why I must make a mention. The foundation stone of the Vihara was laid in 1966 by the incumbent Vietnamese Ambassador to India then. It is quite easy to locate because the Vihara is on the same street as the ISKCON temple, one of the boldest landmarks of the capital. Personally, I have known its specific location since the last couple of years because my office site is just a stone throw distance from it. Even better, one of my co-workers that I closely gel with resides exactly opposite its main gate.Once inside the temple premise, I was amazed to discover a wondrous sight. There was ample more than the reclining Buddha statue, normal rows of lighted candles and wafts of incense in the wintry air. I caught a sea of Chakma! Instantly, my heart brimmed with elation alike Tennyson's upon sighting a bloom of colorful daffodils...
Awe-struck, I retained myself at one spot and simply look about the place and the multitude, so many of them all at once! Beyond the prayer hall, many swarmed on the courtyard and grassy lawns. They were majorly elderly men and women. All Aju & Be-Beis!
This Vihara serves as a halting point for them. If I am right, every bone was mighty tired after a lengthy cross-country bus ride but they belied any of it with their cheerful smiles, lively chatters and unbridled excitement upon meeting New Delhi city. The women carried traditional attires in which they looked really graceful and unique! I noticed some of them used their colorful khadis conveniently as head scarves to beat the nibbling cold. After a short while, it came natural to me to get close and greet and to introduce myself and to vow before them. We lit warm conversations instantly. I was asked a common question by most of them: which state that I hail from, where I lived in the city, how far was the place from that temple, what do I do - study? When I reply no to their last question, they curiously waited me to tell the type of job I do. In a way, it is fun to answer because you felt like being the most talked about person in the whole town! I tried to satisfy them by giving honest answers. After I had spoken each time one of them would quip "saw de sey" which loosely meant "ah, look, very good, very good". I entertained all their inquiries with an open mind. In my prosperity and happiness, they found rejoice.In between, I did some quick maths and also put myself in their shoes. I thought if I were one of them, I would not know how to drive a bike or operate a simple cell phone, not know how to bargain with the local shopkeepers due to language barrier, not know to read any English or Hindi road signs, just meaningless signboards. Similarly, the essential morning newspaper on the front porch of the temple wouldn't interest me either. Let’s keep aside internet, shall we? As you do deeper introspection on the topic, you find out that these Ajus and Be-Beis live without many things in life. The lives they lead look both shallow and hollow.
Standing on the same ground in the heart of a modern city like New Delhi - an educated man amidst a bunch of 'Ajus and Be-Beis' - there was certainly very less common between I and them except our connection by blood, a native language, the traditional attires, our unshakeable faith in Buddhism and a common taste of food. This is sad, at the same time it is bound to be for such is the fate of our community.
In the course, I got a chance to connect with Mr Pradhir Talukdar of Regha fame who took the lead on this pilgrimage. I found it very pleasing to converse with him, the more we chatted, the more I got infected with his words and his goals for our Chakma Buddhist community. I noted he has a distinctly greater hold of the original Chakma language, application of the proper dictions and countless interesting, uncommon phrases. After listening to him for quite a while, I do believe that his words relay a certain powerful impact to the listener’s ears. When he says, he could say it, whatever it was, the same thing, in a very different style. Listen to this you would appreciate it: our Chakma community carries a mighty 'hallongful' of past misery and impoverished present.
I was told that this pilgrimage is being operated under the banner of Regha Tirtha Yatra. Once I found out how big the group was, I thought I could nearly form 5 soccer teams out of them. As I learnt about their travel itinerary, I could hardly hold booking myself a seat with this group. Their next day plan was to fulfil their appointment with the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World! Everyone was looking forward to the over-night journey for they shall enter the monumental gates of the famous Mahal in the next 12 hours!
On that particular happy evening, by joining into their fold, I found myself often carried away into a maze of thoughts.
At the turn of the 21st century, it is a minuscule minority of our tribe that has shown the will and courage to venture out from the jungle borders and started to live in metropolitans cities like Guwahati, Kolkata, Hyderabad and New Delhi. The number is discouraging but we will concentrate on its significance rather. Let’s use a metaphor. If our whole tribe be taken as a hunting spear, the pointed-tip is the minuscule minority that thrives today among India’s top metros. It’s you and I. It’s a bachelor or a household man. It’s a layman or a Dhamma guru. I recall a respectable person addressing a congregation at Ashoka Buddha Vihara saying –“folks, please realize that we are all blessed. We have a good reason to be here. We walk the heart of India where thousands of our tribesmen shall never come to walk or had our forefathers either. Let's perform our respective duty and study and live in a discipline way. Let’s grab this golden opportunity.” Leave aside from the city; let’s look at one of the far flung Chakma village nestled in the North-East of India. To this today, it is only common in our community to find that that the best-ornamented Chakma couple will seldom cross 2-rivers-and-3-villages before halting and turning back homeward. It is also true for our grandmother to walk probably 4 hours far from her village to join her grandchildren at the next and halt. We are a weak community with weak people to take weak strides.Today, let's recall what our local boy does in his native environment. Our local boy meets his field at day-break that he ploughs hard for long hours, whiles away the afternoon grazing the cows, and retires early to bed along with his animals in rhythm with the movement of the sun. He who rises and retires with the sun is our living, local boy. However, like you and I who live in the city, when he reaches for his bed at night, there is no power that can arrest him from being an emperor as long as he is curled in his deep slumber. Lamentably, each following day he wakes up to resume the same, sorry, back-breaking 'field-plough-graze' routine. This is the characteristic of our tribe. This is our reality. This is how poorly we perform & act as an individual or community in whole. A small tribe, small measures; small tribe, small steps!
By joining into their fold, there was a new heart rhyming with the withered hearts. But the mixed throbs of our hearts in unison gave rise to many happy thoughts and happy faces, peeling away all signs of fatigue and nausea and homesickness. Each Aju and Be-Bei literally seem held so much revitalized energy in their bodies upon alighting in New Delhi, I thought, if I had taken their joyful group to a theatre-hall I could tell you that not a single body would have drifted away to counting sheep! I didn't do any spectacular, however, there was another light but benign task that I could easily do: offering each a bottle of water. My beloved Dhamma teacher from Thailand always says, no need to travel all the way to offer, offer not to me but start from within, start from your immediate surroundings, service anybody, any life.
Leaving aside everything, what is distinctly new in this group travelling under the banner of 'Regha Tirtha Yatra'? Is there a special message for all of us? How can an individual of the Chakma tribe better himself or herself? How can the collective community speed up and be better?
A luscious moon surrounded by a constellation of sparkling stars shone at me and the pilgrims. As an onlooker, I posed some of these questions before myself. And, I'm glad my conscience awakened me to this thought. I can gladly conclude that, yes, there was a message for all of us. Besides the strong Regha pillar and many wrinkled faces, one of our best-ornamented Chakma couple including one grandmother was part of this travelling group. The couple and grandmother have crossed 2000 miles far to a 21st century metropolitan city like New Delhi by leaving their home far behind! Very Symbolic! Very, very symbolic!
*[I am humbled to take the name of Mr. Pradhir Talukdar of REGHA Society and amateur videographer, Mr Anand Chakma. I wish I could thank you enough for volunteering with full enthusiasm and making this walk happen. It is true that each ‘Aju’ and ‘Be-Bei’ of this group has walked a memorable journey in your noble company. Last but not the least, viewed from a different perspective, yours is also an act of leadership.]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment