This is a tale of two walks.. Gosh, this sounds like Charles Dickens’s – A tale of two cities 🙂

The first walk was through the walk of life.

A walk through Lalbagh, in the early part of the day. There was a slight nip in the air and though there were many walkers, given the expanse of the park it seemed not so crowded. I had carried my earphones with me but did not feel like wearing it, as the chirp of the cuckoo was music to the ears.

My mind went back to the years when my father used to be stationed here more often, on work. I was about 14 years then. We used to come here during holidays and stay in my father’s company’s guest house. It was beautiful and spacious independent house. Coming here for holidays had its share of challenges though.. Adjusting to the climate, culture, trying to make friends, trying to huff and puff and ride a cycle on the incline and be scared when there is a decline etc. My solace and refuge was the library near the guest house and I read and read and read.. The other thing that really came to my rescue was listening to many M S Subbulakshmi’s songs, and memorizing them; and this was at my neighbour’s house :-).. The ups and downs of a teenager’s life!!!

As we walked through the Lalbagh, there was this tree which caught my attention. The trunk looked all convoluted, with the branches twisting and turning with one another.. What was more beautiful to see was the crown of reddish orange flowers, looking down on the tree trunk (no pun intended :-)). The tree is so rightly called ‘The flame of the forest’. In all this convoluted twists and turns, the tree had a gnarled old look but looked amazing with its crown of flowers.. Seeing this in a tree is acceptable but when life gives convoluted twists and turns , it doesnt really look nice. It is easier accepting the crown of flowers which are the moments of happiness!!!

The hillock in Lalbagh is one favorite spot of mine. Just sitting there and looking at nothing but everything has always attracted me. This time I decided to lie down in the hillock and close my eyes – thoughtful or thoughtless state, did not matter. I opened my eyes but the bright blue of the sky made me close my eyes immediately. I opened my eyes slowly and kept looking at the sky, making myself get used to the bright light. Then I realised that closing my eyes again was difficult, having got used to looking at the bright blue sky. Life is all about going from darkness to light, isn’t it? and once you get used to the light, going to darkness is not easy.. Just like from ignorance we go to knowledge; and having gained knowledge , going back to being ignorant does not happen 🙂

A walk by the side of the lake gave a view of a few well bloomed lotuses. How does this flower and the leaves manage to look so beautiful, and remain unaffected by the water that they are floating in? There is something about the leaves that was so captivating. I felt that I was a spectator sitting in the tennis court and watching a tennis match being played; with a long volley being played between the two players. Should I look at the lotuses or at the leaves? Should I look at the leaves or the lotuses? Life’s like that also many times – gives two options and makes us to make a choice between the two. In addition, to stay unaffected by the surroundings around, is an effort!!

Walked a little further and saw ripples in the lake waters. These ripples gave the effect of the water moving but I am not sure if the water was moving. Nature’s creation seems so much more attractive than ones that are man-made. What literally stopped me in my tracks were the design that the ripples made in water. The one question that struck me was, “Where is the intelligence coming from to create this pattern in the ripple?” Pujya Swamiji’s words kept ringing in my mind, “Anything that is intelligently put together for a purpose, is called creation.”

It was a refreshing walk which gave a lot of food for thought. This is life, enjoying nature’s goodness and being thankful for being able to experience it..

The second walk was literally a walk through death.

I was returning from Church street and I decided to walk it back home, and home was a good 10 kms away. I remember taking this route by car and I would know where to take a turn to bring me back home. So when I walked, I thought I would know the route. What a ‘grave’ error!!!

From the main road that I was walking on, I decided to take a right turn and this turn has an Indian Christian Cemetery. The low wall of the cemetery gave me a peek into the granite tombstones that were built with engravings from the psalms, year of birth and death, thoughts from the living and some also had the picture of the person whose tombstone it is. Some of them had no tombstone, but mud arranged in the shape of a tombstone. Made me wonder, if these were people whose relatives had no money to build a granite tombstone for them.

As I walked a few more steps into this narrow lane where traffic was allowed only one way, I saw another cemetery on the other side of the road. This road looked a little different and I was thinking if ‘this’ road was made one way recently, as the last time I used ‘this’ road it was a two-way traffic road. Other than this traffic, the ONLY person walking on this road was ME.

I walked a few steps more and I saw a Hindu Burial Ground on the left side of the road. I almost stopped walking because I have NEVER seen this on the two-way traffic road. This is when I knew that I had taken the wrong right turn. I was way into this road, and to turn back meant that I had to retrace my steps for another 10 minutes. So I decided to keep walking. The silence on the road other than the sound of the moving vehicles, was getting to be eerie. Till then I was mentally praising myself, for walking in the ‘middle’ of the dead. Suddenly a fear engulfed me. I continued to walk. Then a Muslim Burial Ground appeared. I thought to myself, “Well, people of these 3 religions seem to be ‘living’ in harmony, even after they are dead!! What are we doing fighting when we are alive?”

Having seen some cemeteries and burial grounds, I was looking for more to come. Was I disappointed to see ‘no more’ of them or was I relieved? Gosh, look at the terms, looks like the dead have really got to me!!!

I had no clue where I was and I just followed the movement of vehicles. I heard someone shouting “oi” and I was petrified to even turn. What if I turn around and I DON’T see the person whose voice I heard? I kept walking and saw no familiar sight, and I knew THEN that I was lost. From behind me, I heard someone loudly saying “Kokkara ko ko” as though a hen was crowing. I could feel a jolt in me and I moved aside – these 4 youngsters smilingly walk past me. Oh Men, or should I say Oh man, why do you do this to me?

I came on to the main road and asked an auto rickshaw driver how to go to Bannerghetta road. He asked me if I will get into the auto, for him to take me there. I said that I was going to walk and if he could guide me. He just gave me a look that said that he was not interested in giving me the directions, as I was not traveling in his auto anyway. I then saw a police inspector. He was kind enough to ask me to turn the way I came from, to keep walking on the main road and then I will reach another main road, which will take me to Bannerghetta Road. I walked another 10 minutes to reach the other main road. On reaching there, I found that I was almost at the spot, where I took a right turn to the cemetery road. I had come a full circle or was it oval?

I had no more courage left to walk and when I looked at my mobile, I realised that I had walked for almost an hour. I flagged an auto and got into it, looking straight ahead so that I don’t see any cemetery or burial ground.

–  Why did I have no fear when I started to look at the tombstones?

– What made me to keep walking, even after I started getting flustered?

– Why did I get scared, when I saw that this was NOT the road that I was supposed to take?

– Is it because it is an unknown path leading to an unknown destination?

– And more the unknown, more is the impact on anything that affects the sense organs, which then affects the mind?

– As I was walking from Church Street and through the roads that had the cemeteries and the burial grounds, I had my ear phones on and was listening to a Bhagavad Gita discourse by Pujya Swamiji. Is that what helped me to stride on, find a way and then reach back home?

So many questions and no answers really!!

Death is something that always generates a sense of fear in many of us. Being near a cemetery or a burial ground gives many of us a sense of discomfort. This walk today, was an experience for me. An experience from life as though to say, “Well lady, death is also a part of life as much as being alive is. Being fearful of death or the ‘grounds’ of death will not help. Accept reality as it is and life becomes a learning experience.”