Prof A P Dimri

Ganga arti this evening before making my way to Kashi Mandir. A crying devotee was turned away today from Lord Shiv, but it only reminded me what I have always believed - God is within & we are showered with blessings for our good deeds. Today I was robbed of even 3 seconds to do darshan at the Kashi Mandir by a young priest who wanted 'dakshana'. I didn't try & go through 'contacts', I felt that was wrong. Hundreds of us waited for a long time. As our turn came closer, the main temple was closed due to some VIP family coming in. When I asked the cops who it was, they said some local VIP. The garb griha was shut down for over 10 minutes for this VIP family to do their prayers. Then the line finally moved & we were told to quickly pray & move on. Fair enough. As my turn came, the priest took my basket of flowers and prasad, threw the flowers in a bucket & then asked for 'dakshana'. All within 3 seconds. I didn't have any money left by the time I reached the temple (and I don't want to get into where the money went). However, when I told the priest I don't have money, he told me to move on. In my 3 seconds, I was flustered by the priest asking for dakshana twice. I looked blankly at the priest, to which he said 'kya dekh rahe ho, jao yahan se'. Then came a cop who said 'ye ghar nahi hai tumhara, yahan itna time nahi milega'. None of them realised that I anyway would've moved on after a few seconds had they just allowed me to pray in peace! I was weeping the moment I entered the temple today. I am not sure why. Perhaps I was overwhelmed. When this happened, I began to weep again. I had no will to fight or say anything. Another priest saw me and gave me a flower from the garb griha and told me don't go away unhappy. I was not unhappy, I was overwhelmed and then dejected that people's faith has been reduced to making money at every single point. I have a lot more to say, but I will let it be for now. There's a long way to go.