The road was winding up the hills giving mesmerising view of the valley being left behind with every turn...It was a huge respite form the chaotic life of Delhi as we headed on Jammu - Katra highway. Four of us were packed inside an old ambassador hired from Jammu railway station. It was relatively early in the morning and the wind was still chilling as we gained altitude. Our heads could not remain steady for too long as the fresh gush of air swept past our tired physical being. Soon I noticed that my companions at the back were oblivious to the beautiful sorroundings and were quite happily tucked away in deep slumber. I guess this is infectious as soon I too realized that keeping my own self steady was becoming a tough exercise.I dont know when I passed away. The faint sound of the driver humming an old hindi song was the only noise that was coming to my ears apart from the occssional horns of the army trucks passing by.
Suddenly all of us were awaken by a noise that made us go dry by the throat. I hurriedly caught a glimspse of my co-passengers in the rear view and saw that they were too confused with dishelved hair to understand anything. Finally the driver made us realize what had actually happened. Our tyre had a burst and we had to get it done before resuming our journey. Luckily it happened at a place which had a road side tea stall few meters away. Since it will take a good 15-20 minutes to get the tyre fixed, we decided to freshen up to a cup of steaming tea.
The tea stall was decent enough with wodden benches laid out in the sun for the travellers to bask. I also discovered by chance that it offered some of the best pakodas I had ever tasted. We finished one platefull and ordered another as we all had an early dinner before boarding the Rajdhani from Delhi the previous night. The feeling that a replinisehd stomach gives is always heavenly no matter wherever you are and in whatever situation. While having my tea I noticed a small boy of around 10-12 yeras, shabilly dressed smiling at me constantly from some distance. As we got ready to depart after our driver came and informed that the tyre was fixed, the boy approached me and asked for some money to help him buy his breakfast. I do not encourage giving money to kids but somehow could not refuse this little boy. Now this may be due to two reasons, one the boy had a pleasing smile and two I herad of legends that Mata vaisno Devi often visited in differnet forms to test her deciples in different ways. I dared not have taken the risk of erring the Mata. I gave him a fifty rupee note so that he could buy his breakfast and may be take some back home for other members of his family. He looked surprised at my genorosity and instantly took the note and ran away. I was taken aback by his behaviour for I thought he would atleast smile in appreciation if not anything else.
We resumed our journey in a couple of minutes after our driver too finished his cup of tea. Suddenly I saw from the window of my car that the same boy was coming out from behind a wooden house. He now had a mobile phone in hand and was talking to someone. As soon as our eyes met he gave a smile which conveyed to me that I was deceived by his behaviour.
I kept thinking on the entire way to Katra what a fool this small little boy made of me. But I had no one to blame but myself as I was moved by emotions and superstition and the combination of both has never given anyone a fruitfull result. At the end I consloed myself by forcing me to believe that I did an act of charity just before a piligrimage.Yes that was the only consolation I could offer myself....
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