Hello my buddies,
It’s been a long time since I wrote to you all. Apologies for that, I have been quite busy in collecting some interesting stuff for my readers (you). The new year has been full of surprises for me till now. The start was probably full of tears like I was cleansing all the bad stuff of 2016 in that moment. This blog is about the time when I actually experienced as for how it feels like to be a Hindu God in India. This incident is the most memorable day of my life till now, and a lot of things changed in my life after this experience. It is the story of me attending Bhagwat Puran.
So it all started on 17th of January 2017, I was going to attend a “Bhagwat Katha” held at my aunty’s place in Katni. I was quite disappointed in my family and the feeling was of losing everything in life. Attending this event was a new beginning for me and an escape from the boring life I was living then.
Table of Contents
The Bhagwat Maha Purana
For those readers who don’t know what Bhagwat Katha is, Let me tell you a little in brief about it. Bhagwat Katha or Bhagwat Purana is one of the greatest religious books of Hindu. It is a big event whenever Bhagwat story is arranged in a house or a locality. It takes lots of money to arrange a Bhagwat Katha, huge management skills and great devotion towards god. I reached Katni in the evening and my first sight of the place was like a pre-marriage function in the house.
The stage was beautifully decorated and I volunteered myself in the food preparation department of the house. I went to the storage where all the food items were stacked in a big hall for all 8 days including the community meal held on last day. I volunteered for this work because obviously I love cooking and I got a golden chance to learn mass cooking with additional benefits of time management and food cleanliness. Also, the two maids hired for cooking were not that good. It was a 7 days event with community lunch on 8th day. Each day had a story related to lord Vishnu.
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Day1
This day was not that exciting, the head priest came and sat on his seat which was on the stage above all of the audience. He told us about the importance of listening to Bhagwat in Hindu religion. What Bhagwat is(in brief) and then the ceremony completed. Also at the very start of the event, ?there was a huge march towards the local temple. All the ladies including were carrying a water pot on their heads for about 2 kilometres straight. There were dance, folk singing and lots of fun during the first day.
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Day2
On the second day, my brother was transformed into a very cute little man who was adored by everyone that day. This day my brother became the 1st incarnation of lord Vishnu. My mother couldn’t stop her laughter when she saw her son dressed like a cutie pie. Everyone else also laughed seeing my brother coming in a saffron attire. I kept clicking his pictures to make him even more uncomfortable. All the people hovered towards him like was a rockstar for the evening. They all placed money in front of him just like they offer money in front of god. Everyone was dancing in front of him and then even I too danced in front of him teasing him at the same time.
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Day3
This day had a story of god and his disciple Naaradmuni. Again two of the men played these two characters and the make-up man was had awesome skills. One of the men who played neared muni looked dull and almost cried because of the stage fright. The audience was laughing and no one got up to dance.
As I told you that I volunteered myself in the food department, therefore, I had to immediately run after the story was over. I had to immediately clean and arrange the room for priest’s dinner. Before the dinner, they were served with tea. So all of this was my responsibility. I ran like a chicken from one place to another trying to get things right on time.
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Day4
This day has been the most exciting, hilarious, and memorable day of my life till now. O fourth day of Bhagwat, lord’s birth is celebrated. A small kid, usually 6-7 months old is chosen to play the role of little Krishna and an elderly man is chosen (mainly the person who is organising the event in his house) to become Krishna’s father. Coincidently, there was a 7 months old kid named shiva. He came specially to attend the event. My uncle was playing the role of Krishna’s father, who carries the newborn baby on his head. So the story telling started and then after two hours of long wait, we saw the little lord. The baby was in a basket which was carried by my uncle.
The exciting part of this day was the little kid who didn’t cry at all during the event. Everyone was trying to touch his feet and he just mimicked the lord by putting his one leg out of the basket. My uncle kept dancing and everyone enjoyed seeing this merry show.
The hilarious part of the night was when my uncle didn’t stop dancing even after an hour and then started doing funny steps. It was very embarrassing for my aunt but all of us just laughed at the couple holding our stomach.
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Day5
The story moved forward and little Krishna was a teenager in this story now. The head priest told us about all the beautiful happenings of those times. At the end, there was a play organised showing how Krishna and his friends used to steal the butter and curd. For this, there was a pot hanging 10 feet tall above the ground. My cousin got all covered in curd and his brand new sweater got ruined.
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Day6
This day was celebrated as the wedding day of Krishna and Rukmani. I became good friends with the local girls and two of them became Krishna and Rukmani. You must be wondering “why a teenage boy not becoming Krishna?” It is a tradition that the teenage life of Krishna has to be acted on by girls only. Everyone asked me as for why I did not become Rukmani. I planned myself for the better day. My day was the last day of celebration.
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Day7
Beautiful days flew like a humming bird’s wings. The last day came and it was predefined that the evening was going to be a memorable one. So the evening started, there was a blend of emotions inside the huge tent that day. Some were excited to play with 2 tonnes of flowers and some were just sad thinking that the Bhagwat is going to end soon. I listened to the story for an hour and then went to get ready for my Hindu god avatar.
I first went to buy some jewellery for the outfit and for the make-up I was totally relying on my aunt who has done a beauty course for 2 years. I got ready and then came in front of the crowd. I was wearing a crown that really gave me a headache and also the lehenga was 5 kilogramme in weight. I was told to dance in this outfit. My character was of Radha (beloved of lord Krishna). At first, there were thousands of flowers showered on me and my other partner in the act. She is an amiable person. After the flowers, people worshipped us like real gods. Some people offered me money and even my parents worshipped me like a god. I experienced the situation of being a god in India. I was more like the statue in a temple which is being placed and it looks smiling to everyone who visits the temple. At the end when I and my partner started dancing, that was the moment of real fun for us. Everyone danced just like us and everyone was so happy to see us both dance.
That’s how I became a god and experienced an extraordinary thing in my life. This was a lifetime experience and it literally changed my life. Please leave your comments below. Also, read my other blogs on education system, fear is not real.
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