Chai, Chillum, Chapathi......

One morning in Rishikesh Balajee and I planned to visit the abandoned Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram which is better known as The Beatles Ashram. We found ourselves asking directions from a sadhu. When I enquired if there were any guides around, he said he was a guide himself and this led to one of the best experiences of Rishikesh.

Suraj Giri Baba, our guide though he didn't know much about the Beatles Ashram, is a 25 years old Naga sadhu. He is from the city of Lucknow and was made a sadhu at the tender age of 8 years old. All of 25 years, wearing an orange T shirt, short hair, shaved chin - he was not the typical sadhu of my imagination. Suraj Giri Baba is of the kind where one should not judge, try to reason, to understand or decipher. It is just to be experienced. Here are the excerpts from an interesting monologue:

"It is bad times to be a sadhu now. I fold my hands and greet people with Jai Hari Om and people already begin to shoo me away like I am a beggar. How do they know if I have come to ask something or to actually give something to them.
"I want to be self-dependant. I don't want to go other sadhus' ashrams and survive on others' devotees money. I want to live on my own. So I got into the tourist line. I take foreigners on tours to Shimla, Haridwar, Pushkar etc. Because I am sadhu I dont charge them but just take whatever they give me as donation. There are people who give me 10,000 , 20,000 and even 50,000 for just one week's trip.

"I generally don't entertain Indians. People have given me such bitter experiences that Indians have lost my respect, though I am Indian myself. Indians don't treat sadhus well but look at me like a beggar. If I am with a lady tourist, they pass indecent comments. I have got into fights so many times because people pass filthy comments and some even try to molest them. I go on my own path and am happy with the tourist line. I agreed to guide you guys because I felt some good energy, some brotherhood. Otherwise I never entertain Indian tourists.

"Let me know if you want Charas or Cocaine. Rs. 900 for 10 grams of Charas but very good stuff. This price is because you are Indian, but for foreigners it will cost more. When I got loads of money from tourists, I blew it up on Cocaine and other stuff. But now I have learnt my lessons, a man needs a roof above his head. So next time i make big money, I will buy a piece of land and later build a hut. It will be enough for me and some wandering sadhus who come for shelter. At least people cant shoo me away, like they do now, when I am sleeping.

"I will not attain Moksha from this life. I do drugs, have sex etc and hence it is not possible for me to attain Moksha. But whatever I do, I don't hurt/harm others. I just want to do enough good deeds so that I will at least be reborn a Human Being. To attain Moksha one will have to go and live in deep forests or high mountains and not come in contact with other men and devote all time in meditating." And then seeing my expression, "You are from big cities, you don't believe in Moksha and Dharma. But most Indians, especially in the rural side, believe in the concept of Moksha."

We ended it with a Chai and Cigarette. The impressive Baba signed off with, "Hum Sadhuon ko chahiye toh bus Chai, Cillum, Chapathi.... aur ho sake toh Ch*th. Zindagi Kat Jaati Hai" (All we Sadhus need is Tea, Drugs, Food and if possible Sex. Life will go on."

I could just go on and on about the sadhu's impression of other sadhus, his philosophies in life, his favourite tourists, etc. It was an amasing experience for me. But it left Balajee, our Beatles fan, very disgruntled. The Baba did not know any trivia or interesting facts about the Beatles stay in Rishikesh. He had to satisfy himself with graffiti of Beatles' fans on the Ashram walls.