The Call of Kailash

By Srihari Janakiraman

A journey to a call, and an unspoken promise kept.

One may slip and fall a dozen times in a hundred feet between the front door and the car, and perhaps never even make it in the end.

And yet, one may traverse thousands of miles across fifteen timezones and three continents traveling through airport security and desert sands, over high mountain passes and suspended bridges in the space of a few incredible weeks - and find oneself being providentially lead to where one was called - with nary a scrape or a bruise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365186738

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The Call of Kailash

The Call of Kailash

Om Nama Shivaya

One may slip and fall a dozen times in a hundred feet between the front door and the car, and perhaps never even make it in the end.

And yet, one may traverse thousands of miles across fifteen timezones and three continents traveling through airport security and desert sands, over high mountain passes and suspended bridges in the space of a few incredible weeks - and find oneself being providentially lead to where one was called - with nary a scrape or a bruise.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

Hari Om

*****

Hi-Five and Fly High

A parched river Yamuna snaked through the ground miles below, as I peeked into the window on my left, looking past sheets of white clouds gently gliding west. And then out of nowhere, a snow capped peak glistens in the distance, bursting through the clouds far to my left. I would find out later based on the location, that this peak was part of the famous Annapurna massif, one of whose peaks is the the 10th highest in the world at almost 8100 m. And soon I saw another one. I leaned forward in my seat quite suddenly, like a zombie brought back to life.

It was so true, it was believable. I was on a plane to Kathmandu, on my first stop from New Delhi on a yatra to the sacred Mount Kailash and lake Manasarovar. Organized under the aegis of the Chinmaya Mission under the extraordinarily blessed guidance of six friendly and venerable Acharyas (five Brahmacharis and one Swamiji) this trip was the first time I was going to be this far up in the Himalayas, and the first time I was travelling with such a large group of co-passengers - there were 63 other saha-yatris (verily the modern avatars of the 63 Nayanar saints?). If I had any reservations about traveling with such a large group of people - mostly elder to me - I did not know it, for I had unconsciously invoked the most powerful mantra for exactly such circumstances, thanks to my association with the Chinmaya mission for over a year.

Yes, it is a two letter, single syllable word, not native to English. But if you're thinking about Om, the answer is no - which is actually not a word, but a sacred, mystical,universal, all-pervading, primordial sound. But I digress.

It is ji, the suffix that magically transforms even the grumpiest of dispositions into a loving smile, and by the respectful utterance of which, people have been known to willingly give away all their wealth, and volunteer their time and service and generally do anything the entreating party woud ask them to do. Armed with such a potent mantra, I was able to hypnotize several elderly people into believing that I was the most helpful, kind and obedient young man they would ever meet. Except Subburam Chandrabose, that is. Bose didn’t need to hypnotize or cast his ji spell, as his half-smile would suffice, for he hardly ever spoke a word on the yatra, much less ask a question, or say no to anyone.

Most yatris probably remember the first time we heard about the yatra, and the exact situation when we decided to go on this yatra of a lifetime. In my case, while I had not decided to go on this yatra on a whim, it was definitely instinctive. Now when I think back to the day I told Br. Uddhav Chaitanya-ji that I was on for the Kailash-Manasarovar trip, without even knowing the exact dates, it feels like the decision to go came so naturally (I just remember immediately telling him Yes and him sealing the deal with a characteristically broad smile and a high five), it was like responding