2

The trek to Pindari Glacier started in October as

scheduled. The team comprised a total of six adventurists,

i.e., Thomas, Raja, Poonam, Paul, Saket and Ravi. They

left for Kathgodam from Delhi by train. Thomas was

considered by many as the guru of trekking in the

Himalayas. He was 40 years old and had been trekking for

more than 15 years. Thomas had many tales from his

trekking experience to share. He shared one such story

while the team was travelling by train.

***

The incident had happened six years back. Thomas and

three other trekkers had reached Tapovan along with a

guide and were simply captivated by the enchanting

beauty of the place. This place was at an altitude of around

15,000 ft and could be reached after 3-4 hours of

challenging trekking from Gomukh. The original source

of river Ganga is called Gomukh which was further up

from Gangotri. This heavenly meadow of Tapovan was

where, since time immemorial, many seers and yogis

performed austerity and practiced spirituality to realize

God; hence this place is considered quite sacred. Shivling

and Bhagirathi, the mighty snow-capped peaks towered

majestically over Tapovan. The sun was shining very

brightly and the group was deeply influenced by the

spiritual vibration of the place.

In this secluded high altitude place, far away from any

civilization, there lived few saints who the visiting

trekkers would meet upon arrival. One was a lady saint

known as “Mata”, aged around 60 years. She had been

living in Tapovan for nearly fifteen years except for the

winters when she would move down to a relatively less

cold area of the region. When Thomas and the fellow

trekkers huffed and puffed their way to Tapovan, they

encountered Mata in her little cottage. She greeted them

affectionately, inquired about their wellbeing and invited

them to her cottage for a cup of hot tea. The entire team

felt grateful towards Mata for the hospitality shown by

her. As they were sipping tea and resting their limbs, the

discussion veered towards the background of the

individuals present, including Mata.

Mata’s story could make a beautiful Bollywood movie.

She was married to a Bengali person in a small village

about 75 kilometres away from Kolkata. They had a

blissful married life and were blessed with three lovely

kids. Years later, in his late forties, the husband made a

pilgrimage to the Himalayas and, after returning home,

developed complete loss of interest in married life and the

bondage associated with it. He stopped going to the paddy

fields to work, sat in one corner of the courtyard and

would be lost in his own thoughts for hours. When his

wife approached him to find out what the matter was, he

would get irritated and annoyed. At night, he would lie

motionless on the bed next to his wife with his eyes wide

open, oblivious to her presence next to him. Sometimes,

in the middle of the night, she would wake up to the

murmurs of her husband in his sleep that would last for

several moments. Several times she tried to make out what

was he saying and with whom was he talking to. All she

could make out of his murmurs was, “Oh Guru, do not

make me suffer here in this world where Maya is lurking

in every nook and corner. Please take me to your feet; I

want to spend the rest of my life there.”

Noticing these drastic changes in him, she was very scared

that one day her husband would abandon his family and

leave for some unknown destination. Precisely this was

what had happened after a month. One night, while his

family members were asleep, the gentleman quietly

slipped away under the cover of darkness, never to return

again. Mata was heartbroken completely. With her limited

contacts and resources, she tried to find the whereabouts

of her husband but to no avail. Financially they were not

badly off, so luckily survival was not an issue. She leased

out their five acres of farmland for agriculture on the basis

of equal sharing of harvest while she took care of the three

growing kids. The eldest one was 21 years already and she

had to start searching for a suitable bride for him. These

were the moments when she missed her husband a lot.

Her life went on monotonously for a year and half. Then

one day she heard something totally unexpected. One of

her neighbours had gone on pilgrimage to Gangotri along

with a group of few others from Kolkata. There he came

upon her husband who was quite difficult to recognize in

his attire of sadhu. In fact, he was known as “Bhola Baba”

in that area. Baba lived in solitude in a higher altitude

place called “Tapovan” and came down to Gangotri only

occasionally. He had expressed regret to his neighbour for

abandoning his family but he thought that it was God’s

wish that he became a saint. The only way to achieve this

was to leave his family without telling them because he

knew that he would never have got their approval

otherwise. He asked about everyone at home, blessed

them and assured his neighbour that there was nothing to

worry as God would take care of the family he had

abandoned. He had passed on a message for his wife also

and then taken leave.

Mata was weeping inconsolably hearing about her

husband. Since then her mind turned into a vortex of

worries and thoughts. A devout wife herself, she could not

think of life away from her husband who was practising

sadhana (devotion) in a challenging place like Tapovan.

At the same time she had the responsibilities of three

children that she could not avoid. She was tormented with

these thoughts relentlessly day and night. Her husband’s

feet was the ultimate place for her and while she was alive

if her husband had no one to take care of his daily needs

in Tapovan, then she would find place in the Hell after her

death.

For several months she struggled with these thoughts. She

tried to weigh her responsibilities towards her children

against that towards her husband. There was no one with

whom she could share her problem. It was not that she did

not have any well-wishers in the neighbourhood or

amongst the relatives, but she knew very well that it was

up to her to find an answer to the dilemma in her mind as

nobody could understand her problem well enough to

advise properly. Mata finally made up her mind to seek

out her husband and to join him in his sadhana.

She could not leave her three children on their own and

had to make some concrete arrangements so that they

could live properly after she left home. She fixed up the

marriage of her eldest son with a suitable bride from the

nearby village. Marriage was performed within a month

with pomp and splendour befitting their stature. She let

the new couple settle down in their conjugal life and after

a couple of months disclosed to them her intention. She

requested them to take care of her two younger children

in her absence. All of them cried and begged their mother

not to leave; her eldest son was genuinely worried that his

mother was leaving for such unknown place without

proper information and guidance, all alone. They pleaded

with her to drop the idea as their lives would be a complete

void without her. But Mata had firm resolution in her

mind and there was no turning back.

On the fateful day, Mata took leave of her family and the

closely knit neighbourhood for her destination. It was an

emotional sight that remained etched in her memory

forever. At Howrah station, she boarded a crowded

general compartment of Kalka Mail to Delhi. The thirty

hours of journey was tough for her as she had never

travelled by train before. Squeezed between all kinds of

travellers, mostly ticketless and jostling throughout the

journey, it was neither possible for her to get some sleep

nor eat a proper meal. Almost at every station that the train

had stopped, more and more ticketless passengers would

push their way into the general compartment and make it

extremely cramped. Exhausted and fatigued, she had

finally arrived in Delhi.

Mata’s biggest problem was the language barrier as she

could not speak Hindi fluently. She was lucky to find

helpful people all throughout the journey. From Delhi, she

boarded a bus to Rishikesh for a six hour ride during

which her mind was occupied with mixed feelings and

emotions. While she was feeling thrilled at the prospect of

meeting her husband and being with him after so many

years, the thought of not being able to see her children for

the rest of her life brought her tremendous agony.

Her journey from Rishikesh to Gangotri was her first

encounter with the Himalayas. She was simply

overwhelmed by the experience. The freshness in the air,

the greenery all around, the snow-capped mountains at the

distance, the deep valleys, narrow and scary roads, all kept

her eyes wide open during her twelve hour bumpy ride.

After arrival in Gangotri, she spent the night in a

dharamshala (religious rest house). The whole night she

could not sleep due to the high altitude sickness including

splitting headache. Also, lots of thoughts regarding her

husband were racing past her mind. She knew that he was

not far away from her. It was perhaps a matter of two or

three days before she could meet him. The next morning

she got up very early and along with other devotees took

a dip in the holy river Ganga. Her simple mind found it

amazing to think that if this was where river Ganga

originated, then how much distance she might have

travelled to reach and flow through Kolkata.

Mata performed puja (worship) in the temple, ate some

breakfast and then inquired as to how to go to Tapovan.

The stall owner thought she was crazy. He explained to

her that it was two days journey uphill on foot and one

needed a local guide to go there. Ladies hardly visited that

place and there was nothing but mountains and glacier all

around. No people lived there. He asked why she wanted

to go there.

“My husband lives there. His name is Bhola Baba,” Mata

replied. The stall owner was taken aback. He knew Bhola

Baba who lived in Tapovan as once in a while he would

come down to Gangotri. Baba was a totally quiet sadhu

who would not interact much with anyone. He would

spend a day in Gangotri collecting his essentials before

returning to Tapovan. The stall owner did not however

know that Baba had a wife who he had left behind. He was

deeply touched by the devotion of Mata who had come

from a far off place in search of her husband. The stall

owner knew he had to help her, no matter what.

He arranged for a local guide, some food, warm clothes

and a walking stick for Mata. He gave strict instructions

to the guide to carefully take Mata all the way up to

Tapovan, to leave her in the safe custody of Bhola Baba,

and then return. The journey was arduous, to say the least.

Mata had never climbed any hill, leave alone mighty

mountains like the Himalayas. She wore only slippers and

climbing up was a challenge. By the time she had reached

Bhojbasa, fourteen kilometres uphill from Gangotri, Mata

was struggling to breathe rarefied air and suffering from

the attack of high altitude sickness mainly splitting

headache. They had made a halt at Bhojbasa in the cottage

of a sadhu for the night. For the first time seeing a

Himalayan sadhu, Mata started imagining how her

husband would look like. Tears rolled down from her

eyes.

Early morning the next day, they recommenced their

journey for Tapovan. This was the most treacherous part

of the journey. One had to literally walk over the hard ice

of glacier with water flowing beneath the ice sheets. The

guide was an expert in this area; he tapped the ice top with

his walking stick to figure out if any danger existed and

then signalled Mata to move. At many places they had to

walk carefully to avoid crevasses which were like death

traps. After three hours of gruelling walk, they arrived at

the base of Tapovan. Mata was pulling herself on by her

sheer will power and the indomitable desire to meet her

husband. They had the last leg of their journey to complete

which was a climb of about fifteen hundred feet in altitude

in a short slope of less than one kilometre. Mata stopped

after every eight to ten steps struggling to breathe. Her

heart was pounding like a drum and at times felt as if it

would burst out but she persistently moved ahead slowly,

step by step.

Finally Mata arrived at the majestic meadow called

Tapovan surrounded by fascinating snow-capped

mountains. She was desperate to find her husband and fall

at his feet. She did not bother to experience the beauty

around. Her eyes were earnestly looking around for the

sight of Bhola Baba. At that moment the guide showed

her the direction leading to a small cottage a little ahead.

They both moved towards the cottage and arrived at the

narrow entrance. Mata was hesitant to enter; her eyes were

loaded with teardrops and her hands were trembling.

“Pranam Baba. Someone has come to meet you,” the

guide called out for Baba from the entrance of his cottage.

After a few moments Baba appeared from inside with a

kamandalu (gourd water pot) in one hand and a danda

(stick) in another. As he was about to raise his hand to

give blessings, Bhola Baba got the biggest surprise of his

life! His own wife was standing in front of him with wet

eyes, in a place thousands of kilometres away from their

hometown and at 15,000 ft altitude. He could not believe

what his eyes saw. His raised hand was frozen in the air,

he stood transfixed and dumbstruck!

Every second looked like eternity. Mata could not hold

herself back any more. She ran towards Bhola Baba, fell

at his feet and started crying inconsolably. After a few

moments Baba came to his senses. He quickly withdrew

his feet from the clasp of his wife, moved back a few steps

and said sternly, “Look lady, I am no more your husband.

I had left the material world and all the relations for good

when I left home on that fateful night. Why have you

come here in search of me? I have dedicated my life to the

service of God and there is no turning back. There is no

place for you here, so stop troubling me further. Go away

immediately!”

Mata was adamant. She said, “Like you, I have also left

everything, including our children and home, in search of

you. My only aim now is to be with you for the rest of my

life and serve you till my death. Nobody can take me away

from here. I do not want you to accept me and

accommodate me as your wife. I respect your decision to

leave the material world and would not try to influence

you otherwise. All I want is for you to please accept me

as your disciple and let me serve at your feet for the rest

of my life.”

Bhola Baba would not listen to her at all, “Respected

Lady, please do not waste your time. Go away and let me

do my duty.”

“I am not moving an inch from here. If you do not allow

me in, I shall spend days and nights on the doorstep in the

open, harsh environment and die in front of you. Choice

is yours.” Mata retorted.

Baba was not affected by the threat. He went out of the

cottage to meditate in the nearby cave. The guide so far

was confused with the entire development and did not

know what to do. He was standing there when Mata spoke

to him in broken Hindi mixed with Bengali, asking him to

return to Gangotri before it was too late.

By around 4:00 pm, the weather started changing

drastically. Temperature dropped to freezing level, the

wind started howling, the clouds darkened and it started

drizzling. Mata was exhausted, physically and mentally,

beyond description. Her legs had swelled badly, blisters

opened up all over her feet, the high altitude gave her

unbearable headache and she was unable to breathe

properly. On top of this, Mata was very hungry not having

had food for the last five hours while traversing a steep

climb of several kilometres. She struggled to keep

standing near the doorstep and after sometime, due to

sheer exhaustion she fainted and collapsed on the ground.

Baba was not able to meditate properly. All kinds of

thoughts were racing through his mind. The arrival of his

abandoned wife had totally shaken him. Knowing her, he

doubted if she would have returned by then. He however

firmed up a strong resolve not to accept her or to let her

stay there. As the darkness slowly descended, Bhola Baba

returned to his cottage. That day for some reason the

weather was extremely harsh. It was already raining hard.

With the temperature below the freezing point, Baba had

to hurry in his walk back to his cottage.

As he was about to enter the cottage, he stumbled upon

something and almost fell down. Immediately he heard a

cry of pain.

Oh my God! It was his wife who was lying unconscious

with very high fever running through her body. Her body

was fully wet and stiff. Within a moment all resolves of

Baba vanished into the thin air. He could not bear any

further the sight of his wife’s sufferings. He dragged her

inside the cottage, changed her clothes, dried her body and

made her sit near the dhuni (burning fire). She gradually

came back to full consciousness. He offered her hot

khichdi (rice and lentil gruel) to eat and also administered

some herbal medicine to bring down her fever.

For next two days, Baba nursed her like a little child with

lot of care which improved Mata’s condition

tremendously. The third day, he left her in the cottage and

went to the cave for meditation. His mind was much

calmer than before and he could quickly dive deep into his

subconscious mind and make efforts to connect with the

Brahman. His mind remained transfixed for several hours.

Suddenly he heard a booming inner voice, “Accept your

wife and let her stay with you. Initiate her into Bhakti

Yoga and let her be your disciple. This is the only

relationship that you both will have from now on.”

He understood it was God’s will which had brought his

wife to Tapovan. After receiving the divine instruction, he

completed his meditation and returned to his cottage.

There he talked to his wife about the divine voice and his

decision to let her stay there accordingly. Mata was

overjoyed and thanked the Almighty with closed eyes and

folded hands. She assured Bhola Baba that under no

circumstance she would cross the boundary set by him as

her guru.

Next day, Bhola Baba performed an elaborate puja, other

rituals and initiated Mata into Bhakti Yoga. Her favourite

deity was Lord Shiva so a Shivlinga was installed in their

worship place and puja was performed with wild flowers.

Thus a new life for Bhola Baba and Mata started. They

shed their earlier relationship of husband and wife and

sincerely pursued the new relationship of Guru and

disciple that the divine voice had instructed.

Since then ten years had passed by. Baba helped Mata

tremendously to progress spiritually. They both would

enter adjacent caves and meditate for days together. Mata

experienced many mystical moments. She was very

grateful to Lord Shiva for bringing her closer to his sacred

feet, for giving her a pure and blissful life and the

opportunity to serve her guru husband.

Having lived there for so many years, Bhola Baba had

developed asthma and heart problem due to extreme

climatic conditions in Tapovan. In order to perform deep

penance and austerity, for three consecutive winters the

guru and disciple did not go down to habitable places

below Gangotri. This further worsened his condition and

finally Baba left for his heavenly abode after one year.

Mata decided to continue living in Tapovan for the rest of

her life and pursue sadhana on her own.

***

It had been almost four years since she had been living

here alone. She would go down to a relatively warm place

during the harsh winter and come up once the weather

improved. She was sixty years old when Thomas and the

group had met her and she had casually mentioned that

she would live for another five years as per God’s will and

then would join her Guru in another realm.

Ravi was totally engrossed with the gripping narration

from Thomas about Mata while the train was chugging

away in the darkness of night. Ravi developed a strong

desire to meet Mata someday but, upon inquiry, Thomas

mentioned to him that it had been more than five years

since he had met Mata in Tapovan and therefore was not

sure if Mata was still alive. If her premonitions were to

come true, Mata might have left for her heavenly abode

already.

There was a long hoot from the train’s engine and it

slowed down to a halt in the wee hours. The train had

reached Haldwani, one stop away from Kathgodam the

final destination of the train journey. The group went

down to the platform to get some hot tea while Ravi’s

mind was still in the land of Tapovan imagining the life

of Mataji.