Dodwa Temple, Motor Cycle dan Siklus

Nama desa adalah Dodowa. Itu di Rajasthan di India. Adalah desa kecil, sekitar lima belas kilometer dari divisi kota Sirohi. Tingkat nada bukit tinggi Aravalli melinungi desa. Mount Abu ialah sekitar tujuh puluh kilometer dari tempat ini lewat jalan. Rute yang dipotong yang pendek lain di sana; tentu saja itu adalah jalan setapak kaki. Jalan setapak kaki seharusnya mulai dari bukit di kaki gunung di desa Anadra. Akan mengambil tiga jam waktu untuk menaiki untuk mencapai pemancar bukit di Mount Abu; cara itu, itu bisa menghindari lima puluh kilometer sekeliling jauh garis edar. Anadra tentang hanya dua puluh kilometer dari desa itu. Desa sudah akan menjadi tempat ideal karena berkemah untuk mengadakan karya geologis bercerai berai.

Lebih banyak di balik bandul lain adalah di sana bahwa berusaha tenda juga bisa dihindari! Surpunch (desa bagian depan) desa setuju untuk tempat tinggal sementara saya di rumah ziarah di ke luar rok desa. Rumah ziarah adalah sekitar satu kilometer jauh dari desa. Di dalam kampus candi yang sangat besar terletak. Dewata Dewi di candi dulu biasa dipuja sehari-hari pagi hari dan malam harinya. Pendeta serta anak perempuannya dulu biasa datang dua kali sehari dan sesudah menghabiskan pekerjaan mereka dulu biasa pergi punggung rumah mereka di desa. Sebagai seperti itu sesudah meratakan candi dan rumah ziarah betul-betul akan ditinggalkan dan sendiri. Kampus seluruh cukup besar dan dibentengi di seluruh. Ada pohon besar mango dan deodar serta semak-semak dan pohon lain sepanjang tembok batas.
Hari lagi sekelompok kera dulu biasa bermain dan makan buah-buahan pohon. Mereka dulu biasa bermain hari seluruh yang melonjak naik dari satu pohon ke yang lain. Pada malam mereka akan untuk tidak dilihat di pohon! Mereka akan mengambil perlindungan mereka di seberang atap tertinggi rumah ziarah. Rumah ziarah ganda storied. Sebenarnya gedung adalah yang sangat besar dengan sejumlah kamar besar di masing-masing lantai yang terdiri atas ubin indah marmar! Rumah seluruh dan halaman berdinding candi dulu biasa dibersihkan setiap hari oleh priest’s anak perempuan dan sedikit temannya. Malam harinya selama pemujaan pendeta akan mempesonakan bersembahyang di suara kerasnya dan gadis akan sibuk dalam memalu lonceng candi. Bunyi lonceng akan mengedarkan setiap pojok rumah ziarah! Matahari akan terbenam suara rendah! Burung akan mulai mengembalikan sarang mereka sedangkan ratusan burung dara akan menetap di pojok setiap tiang dan akan membuat baik untuk mengumumkan penampilan mereka!

Hutan di luar tembok majemuk akan aktif dalam waktu malam! Rubah dan dubuk akan mulai menggonggong, api terbang akan mulai berkumpul di balik daun pohon dan yang tak dikenal baik akan membuat suasana pulau terisolasi! Sebelum kembali ke desa pendeta tanpa kecuali akan datang dan duduk suara rendah perkemahan menangkap dan akan berbicara dengan saya di bahasa Rajasthani! Bahasa dicampurkan dengan sejumlah bahasa Hindi kata dan oleh sebab itu saya akan mengertinya dan akan dapat meneruskan percakapan cukup lama! Sementara itu, Babu juru masak saya akan menghidangkan teh serta beberapa makanan kecil! Day’s bekerja sekitar granitic keadaan tanah bidang ini akan melelahkan saya kadang-kadang dan oleh karena itu saya dulu biasa merasa dikendurkan dalam berbicara dengan pendeta! Anak perempuannya akan menunggu pemeliharaan bapaknya sendiri menjauhkan diri dari jauh! Sometimes I dulu biasa menelponnya dekat untuk berada di olehnya father’s sampingan. Dia adalah seorang gadis malu dan tidak akan menyetujui malah cangkir teh!

Her father used to be embarrassed and would say “ Never mind Sahib, my daughter does not understand Hindi and that is why she is hesitant”
I would reply, “ No, I don’t mind but let her join in our chit chat and she will automatically understand our talks!”
She would frown then and would shout, “ What do you think? I am not a kid, I am fifteen years old! And I studied up to class four in our village school.”
The priest would be further embarrassed. He would try to laugh and say “ Yes Sahib, She is now fifteen! Her husband will come soon to take her in the in laws house”.
--- “ Is it so? Your daughter is married! But she is still minor! Do you know, the girls should attend eighteen years before their marriage? This is the law in our country. You may be prosecuted for this offense”!
The priest would say with heavy heart “ In one side Government rule and in other side our social bindings! Do you know sahib, if I did not get her married before fourteen years of age our society would then boycott me! They would stop washer man, barber and all the shops for us”!
I would say, “ What nonsense! Are we in the medieval age? It is simply barbaric act! No one protest against it?”
--- “ Who will and why sahib! This is our custom and our forefathers introduced this system. It is being accepted generations after generations. How can we defy now?”
“ Ok, leave the matter. By the by what is your son in-law? Which place he belongs?”
--- “ He is from Kalandri, sahib. From here it is about thirty kilometer or so. Sahib, do you know Jasawantapura?”
I nodded on his query and he continued further “. Kalandri is on the way to Jasawantapura. My son in-law is a compounder in the hospital there.”
--- “ Oh! You did not choose priest’s family! That means he does not perform any worship like you!”
--- “ No sahib, there is nothing in this profession. Now a day’s people are loosing faith on God! Our situation is becoming precarious! We are almost in the verge of begging!”
--- “ But still, I find much potentiality in you. Your surpunch is at your beck and call! And I find, on every Monday, a lot many gift brought by many people from near and far!”
--- “ You are right sahib! By the grace of God, I don’t have any problem as such. Only thing, that I don’t have any extra! Now that I have to gift one motorcycle to my son in-law and only then he will accept my daughter! I don’t know what I will do, where from I will get such a huge amount?”

I wondered, how casual the people were! They accepted the dowry system and was tolerating in the name of custom & social system!
Priest’s daughter was so long silent! On hearing about motorcycle she got irritated and shouted at her father “ Do you have any sense! It is quite late now. Mother must be waiting and have you forgotten that tomorrow is Monday? We have to come early in the morning. Please don’t waste any further.”

They left the temple and went back to their village. Slowly the darkness crawled and gripped the entire surrounding. I was all alone; the cook was preparing the food in another room and the night watchman started his duty with a torch in his hand. It was a huge compound, the main gate was quite far off which was already been closed. Just above the main gate, one room of nahabat khana (orchestral place for any ceremony) was temporarily occupied by the driver and his family. My room was in the main building. A messenger was to be sent to call the driver whenever needed. The cook also, after doing his job would go to them to sleep! I would then be completely alone! I would remain lied over my bed under a mosquito net. I would hear the sound of pigeons and at times their frightened fly in the dark would hurt them by the pillars and would fall on the ground! The jungle cat hiding behind the pillar would immediately jump and catch the bird and would run away! I also would be frightened and would focus the torch! Nothing would be seen! The cat would be so quick in its action! This way I would not come to know when I would go to deep sleep! The night’s hyena would come outside the boundary wall in search of their prey. The night watchman would remain busy in chasing them away with his big bamboo stick. Thousands of stars would smile from above the sky! I would go on dreaming of my childhood days or of any dreaded imaginative events!
Next day morning was Monday. I was awakened by the cheerful and joyous voices of playing children. I saw a lot many people busy in arranging the cooking materials in the open courtyard. They were careful and would not disturb my sleep as far as possible!

I got up from my bed when Babu served me a cup of tea. I hurriedly prepared myself to go to the field work. All those people would remain in the temple for the whole day; they would prepare their food and would exchange and enjoy their special menu churma & bati (prepared out of wheat flower, sugar and pure butter). In my absence they would try to get information about my mission and my whereabouts. At times, in place of my cook the daughter of the priest would reveal the details of my objective of relentless search of valuable stones like gold, diamond and what not!

Like any other day, I would move around and would examine the rock exposures and would record & plot. The rocks were mainly granite and granite gneiss. The later rocks formed alternate bands of rich and poor mica ( biotite mainly). Those rocks were the oldest rocks in that part of the area. There were plenty of long dykes of granite porphyry, which were cutting across the granites mass and were running for kilometers. Those younger porphyries were much fresh and were looking elegant! Those rocks were quite hard and could be utilized in house building and for decoration purpose! There was a rock-cutting factory in the nearby vicinity in Jalor district. They, however, used to cut and polish the fresh granite slabs only. Perhaps they did not know about the porphyry dykes. I knew one day or the other; the dykes would be in great demand.

I took a long traverse and was availing the jeep able road and finally I came up to Kalandri. Last year I stayed there for about a month in a duck bungalow. Hospital of the village was just adjacent to it and therefore in my leisure time I used to visit the hospital and meet the doctors there. I made friendship with them and they also used to pay return visit! Among them Dr.Sharma was the in-charge of the hospital and developed a cordial relationship with me.

He was very happy to see me again after a long gap! We talked at length and he did not leave me, I had to share lunch with him in his Quarter! It suddenly struck in my mind about the son in-law of the priest of Dodowa temple. I enquired about him; the doctor said he was not a compounder but health assistant. Yes he belonged to Kalandri and stayed with his parents. Doctor did not know that he was a married man. I told him about the boy and said he would not bring his wife from his in-law’s house unless a motorcycle was gifted to him! Doctor became very unhappy and annoyed and commented how could he think like that, even the doctors did not have any motorcycle! Did he not know even the acceptance of dowry was a punishable act! Would he like to serve the hospital or ride the motorcycle to boss the doctors! At the best he could have requested just for a cycle!

My work around Dodowa was about to be over. I was planning to shift my camp at Jasawantapura. The priest came to know my plan and in one evening he came with his broad smiling face and told “ Sahib, there is one good news, my son in-law will come tomorrow to take my daughter to his house…”
--- “ Oh! Great news in deed! Did you give him money for the motorcycle?”
--- “ No, sahib! Where from I would get such huge amount! My son in-law is a very good boy; He asked me to gift a cycle only…!”