By RAVI SRIVASTAVA
Buying Manager, Vivaki Exchange
It is said that you can’t go for Vaishno Devi Yatra until there is a call from the divine Goddess herself. Located in the Trikuta Hills, 14 km from Katra in Jammu & Kashmir, Vaishno Devi is one of the most revered Hindu shrines in India, visited by almost eight million pilgrims every year. It is second in stature only to Tirumala Venkateshwara temple, which is the most visited religious shrine.
This July, my friend Ankur, his wife Radhika and I made a plan to visit Vaishno Devi. We decided to travel from Delhi to Jammu by train on a Saturday evening. Sunday was kept for the holy journey and our return was scheduled on Tuesday evening by train.
Accordingly, we reached Jammu and hired a cab from the station itself. It was an old Ambassador, but ran very well. In 90 minutes, we reached Katra and checked into a hotel. We had breakfast at Vaishno dhaba, where the guy at the counter had but one refrain: “Koi baat nahin”. We asked for alu pyaaj parantha, where the pyaaj was missing; he said “Sir, koi baat nahin”; we asked for dal in which salt was missing, again he said “Sir, koi baat nahin”! We asked for tea in which sugar was missing, and sure enough he said, “Sir, koi baat nahin”! We rolled with laughter and “Koi baat nahin” became a motivational phrase, which saw us through thick and thin during the yatra.
From Katra, we went to BadhGanga, and started climbing around noon. With many halts in between, we reached ArdhKumari by 2.30 pm and Bhawan by 6.30 pm. We bathed and bought prasad. We needed to keep our luggage in a cloak-room, but there were long queues. Meanwhile, Radhika stood on the main queue for darshan. An hour later, when we emerged after depositing our luggage, Radhika was not to be seen. We looked for her frantically, but couldn’t find her. So we decided to move forward for darshan, even as our eyes sought her in the crowd. Suddenly, I saw Radhika coming out from the temple and shouted out to her. We were angry, but burst into laughter the moment she said the magic words “Koi baat nahin”!
After darshan, we took rest for a while and proceeded to Bhairav Nath. The mountain ranges are so steep that climbing is extremely arduous, but people do it as a test of faith. There are 2000 steps in the two kilometers from the temple to Bhairav Nath. Pushing ourselves hard, we managed to reach Bhairav Nath at 11 pm. The beautiful temple and mountains made for an amazing scene.
After a while, we started back for Katra. This time it was even harder to negotiate the route, as we were very tired. We were literally crawling on the ground, finding descent more difficult than ascent. Finally, we hired three ponies and breathed a sigh of relief. But the feeling lasted only for a few minutes, as Radhika’s pony collided with a sheep, went out of control and hit a man. It could be calmed only after a lot of effort. Radhika was gently brought down and given medication. She seemed alright, and what lightened the situation was the phrase “Koi baat nahin”!
We decided to leave the horses and started walking down. Finally, at around 4.30 am, we reached Katra. It was like winning a tough race. We felt like conquerors! We halted at Jammu for a day, and there too, whenever there were issues with the hotel administration over water and housekeeping, we heard the same “Koi baat nahin”. The stay became pleasant thereafter.
Next morning, we were back at Delhi. Life started rolling along its set parameters of time management and goals, but somewhere deep in my heart, I understood the significance of three very small but magical words: “Koi baat nahin”, bestowing on us the power to take life as it comes.
Feedback: ravi.srivastava@vivakiexchange.net.in
