The Journey

 

  “Are you a devotee of Lord Krishna?” I was taken aback by the unexpected question and didn’t know how to respond immediately. I looked at the inquirer, my co-passenger in the Rajdhani coupe, and tried to assess if he was one of those self-righteous types who will extol the virtues of vegetarianism all the way to Delhi.
“I asked because you are wearing a Tulsi mala,” he clarified. “Tulsi is sacred to us Vaishnavas; it is a holy plant. I also have one, but I feel shy to wear it. Do you use it for chanting?”
“Well actually… I wear them for health reasons. I suffer from respiratory trouble, and someone recommended Tulsi. These beads are a gift from a friend,” I replied not untruthfully, leaving out the details about how they came from Nimtala Ghat crematorium — one of Calcutta’s more morbid corners — where we once went to smoke for Shiva, talk of life, and stare at death. Besides, which born-again hippie can be without a string of beads?

We made a contrasting pair. He was a middle-aged Bengali bureaucrat, neat and composed. Me — long hair, beard, the beads, a chakra shirt stitched out of a batik-print bedsheet, and dark glasses hiding bloodshot eyes from the previous night’s party. The ice broke when I mentioned I had lived and worked in Calcutta and spoke some Bengali. We exchanged the usual compliments about each other’s states and people before moving to personal topics. He said he was posted in Guwahati, heading to Delhi for a meeting, and would use the chance to visit his family.

When he asked my business in Delhi, I gave him no intelligible answer. Telling him I was joining a group of foreigners I’ve never met, as a voluntary bike mechanic for a six-month “All India Pilgrimage on Motorcycles” — pretentiously dubbed "Bullets for Peace" — might have sent him running out with his luggage.
We talked for an hour or two before falling silent and retreating to our berths. He climbed to his top bunk, pulled out the beads he was too shy to wear, and began chanting Hare Krishna. I opened Wilhelm Reich’s “The Function of the Orgasm”, immersing myself into the world of Orgone energy and human sexuality.