The on-site Kumbh Experience

I never thought that Kumbh would ever see me,

As the religion and this number of crowd never distracted me,
I laughed and ignored this 
When I heard about the Mela during my travels in the tropics.
 
But when I returned to India 
 I heard about the Kumbh more than ever,
So I took it as a sign,
To participate in my personal growth,
At last I attended this Kumbh at Haridwar in 2010, 
And wrote this following from the start to the end: 
 
Kumbh fore and after word
 
Kumbh as i had heard 
represents the biggest religious congregation,
where children separate,
new relations with God are made
and this journey includes no laws or rules to break.
 
Kumbh with Naga babas,
& then mixed with those village simpletons,
one can click here the best shot with simple cameras
in this universal kingdom.
 
When you start the journey in a train,
the station to Kumbh draws near – so does the
unstoppable flow of people – its insane,
and everyone fits in the matchbox form of journey
as we all want to shed in the Ganga – our joys & our pain.
 
The slippered soul mock
the barefoot believers,
but here we all came for the same reasons
to celebrate our hunger for religion.
 
The Mela at Kumbh can leave you breathless,
speechless ,
if you go deeper; then the people there
might even touch your soul,
and finding answers in every question 
might seem `Meaningless`.
 
The Kumbh is so well organised,
this came to me as complete surprise,
there were people helping the ones who seemed lost
and they would walk with you to that 
next confusing road with a cross.
 
No gazes staring at me,
no bodies following me,
everyone there was there for their own sake,
Kumbh seemed to be that Peaceful brake.
 
People driven from far by their faith,
were there to find their gurus,
their helpful holy saints.
 
And as far as your eyes could stretch,
there were countless to serve you,
to help you focus on your internal breath.
 
The magic reflected seemed similar in a man & a beast,
and today i became one among these uninvited pilgrims,
i felt the peace in this chaos within,
and i am enjoying this feast.
 
To find faith is like finding roots,
this universe becomes your body
and the holy earth your shoes.
 
The way of nature is to share belief,
the teachings that come from deep within,
touches a child, an old man, and an unknown family,
with eager eyes we all gaze at the flow of the Ganga,
to recieve her blessings equally.
 
The flame deep inside, can`t be lit by our 
educated eyes,
you begin to follow the belief
 which seem like lies,
but when the reason touches your heart and your soul,
the guru, the leader and and the saint can remain unknown.
 
The first calling of the Kumbh you will surely feel,
the helpless judgement might be some educated doubt
from within,
the ritual, the ceremony in any country
 starts with an individualand later attracts the other literates.
 
So experience the energy in its physical form
at the Kumbh,
but until then read these words,
the light and stares on these pages
and dissolve yourself in the journey of these 
        
BAREFOOTED SOULS!!
by MANISHA JAIN