The Great Escape

India has always been a country of myriad mendicants, dervishes and wandering fakirs, I have always been fascinated by their gay abandon, the ochre singlet they usually wear, and their total disdain for anything and every thing with moorings.

Once I struck a conversation with an elaborately decked up young Sadhu, he had obviously spent a lot of time in "make-up", not only was his forehead covered with "vibhutis", but he had the vermilion and sandal paste "tilaks" on his arms, cheeks, chest and ears too. He obviously had come for alms, and though he knew the basic tenets of Hinduism, he began with the usual mumbo-jumbo, implying, he could "see" more, than was possible for us, mere mortals.

After making some fantastic predictions, in which I pretended to believe, I asked him a simple question, "What were the circumstances which induced you to take up a wanderer's life?" He was silent for some time, and when I repeated my query, he began to talk. I don't know, what it is in my personality, that makes people open out to me. Many a times I have found myself privy to some of the most intimate secrets, people have unabashedly shared with me.

He told me he originally hailed from the Beed-Latur area of Maharashtra. This is an area of perpetual draught. His family owned a few acres of farm land. He was the youngest of four siblings, by the time he went to school, his parents were already dead. His eldest brother and his wife, were burdened with his responsibility, and they were obviously not too enthusiastic, about this. When he could not stand the torture meted out to him any more, he ran away from home. After much wandering, he reached Pandharpur, a religious centre. He was not in the least religiously inclined, but he visited the various 'maths (मट)' where he could get free food. One night he over heard a fantastic conversation, between two sadhu's, one of them was an escaped murder convict, and the other was on the run, after embezzling money from a business establishment. They were telling each other their life history, as both were on a marijuana 'high'.

The conversation had a deep impact on him, he decided to adorn the ochre singlet, as it would be his armour against all future adversities. Not only would this be his entry ticket to the most 'out of bound' premises, but  also, in case he was involved in some mischievous intrigue, he was sure to be above suspicion. Besides, asking for alms, in India, is never considered as degrading as begging.

I gave him some money, not out of any religious bidding, but for the insight he had given me. Long after he had disappeared (disappeared is the only word, which truly captures his act of going away), I went on ruminating over the story he had told me. 

We, are evolved from beasts, and either "fight" or "flight", are our basic responses, to any adverse situation. The later option being the easiest. If we look keenly, we can observe, this is the preferred choice, and if it is cloaked in the virtue of 'giving up' something, then one can enjoy not only the stature of a saint, but also benefit by saving one's skin form an ignominious fight.

A classic example of this is, our great lady leader, who 'sacrificed', her right to the highest executive post in our country, enjoys all the perks, and our poor Sardarji takes the backlash. 

Isn't this 'The Great Escape'?

Note: The Sadhu image in this post is from the site http://www.exoticindiaart.com/ , painter not known.