‘Will you come with us to Mount Abu, Nanna?’ I asked my father on one of my trips to Hyderabad.
My father was 92 years old and barely able to walk around in his house. So my question was half serious and half jovial, more to humor him than anything else. However, to my surprise, I found that his face immediately lit up at the suggestion.’ Ask your mother’, he said, ‘I am ready to come’.
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This I knew was a hopeless task. The idea would most certainly be vetoed by my mother.
‘We can’t go anywhere outside of this house’, my mother said on expected lines. My father was disappointed but bore it bravely.
He turned to me and said, ‘what is there in Mount Abu? There is only a small lake’. ‘A ‘smaaaaall lake !!!’, he reiterated. ‘I have been there 35 years ago. I have seen it’, he said, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince me.
I did not know how to respond. So I just gave him a rueful smile.
This however set me thinking. This small lake had something about it that made him remember it after all these years, while he failed to do so about the several other popular tourist and pilgrimage attractions that Mount Abu boasted of. Surely there was something about it that made it so special.
Since the day I set foot on Mount Abu, I have been walking around this lake regularly, sometimes once and sometimes twice in the day. The day that I am unable to do this, I would find myself craving for it. I prefer the morning time because of the relative quiet and peace, but it is as charming in the evening, albeit in a different manner, with an atmosphere of abandon and festivity, brought in by the tourist crowd.
The car park near the lake is practically empty in the morning time. The moment we alight from the car, I am greeted by the shouting and screaming of the mountaineering students. If I am early I see them jogging under the watchful eye of their instructor, warming up before they start climbing. I usually take an anti-clockwise direction in my circumlocution around the lake.
As I start walking, to my right, I find the Dadi Prakashmani circle with the statue of a torch in the centre . Crossing it, I come across a small, in fact tiny temple of Hanumanji on the left and a dargah dedicated to Peer Baba on the right. The interesting thing is that you find the same people often seeking blessings in both places.
As we walk further down, we get an uninterrupted view of the lake, which till now was hidden behind trees. It comes into view in all its glory with gentle ripples of water forming in response to the gentle, cool breeze of the morning. Birds of a variety of species are seen in these waters: some known ones like the egrets and the geese, and some unknown but very pretty and unusual ones too. The kingfisher, hitherto seen only on calendars, is seen on a regular basis, perched on one of the wires hanging over the water.
I see the cormorants, which are migratory birds. Most of them have presumably left after the season, but there is one full-grown one and two small ones looking for fish in the water of the lake. I think of them as the mother and it’s offspring, who have probably adopted Mount Abu like me and chose to stay back for good. I am amused at my own imagination and move on.
A little further down, there is a nice temple of Lord Shiva on the right side. Here, I take a left turn to keep walking alongside the lake. This is the place which is thickly populated with monkeys. I walk past them a little warily, thankful that I am not carrying anything that might attract their attention. I walk briskly past and then, a little farther. Here, my attention is arrested by the rays of the morning sun on my left. The sun was rising behind a hill, giving it a silvery shimmer. The scene is most beautiful and I imagine that it is the kailash mountain as described in mythology.
After a few moments, it is time to move on.
I slow down as the road takes a gentle upward slope. I am relieved when the slope turns downward. Taking help from gravity, I quicken my pace. This takes me to the cow shelter near Gayathri Mata temple, another temple along the walkway. The deity is at an imposing height and I pay obeisance from my humble position on the road. I find a cow calling loudly. A calf runs in response to its mother and starts cuddling and sucking at the cow’s udders. My heart warms up watching this scene.
I proceed without stopping though. I pass another temple of Hanumanji and a signpost showing directions to the quintessential toad rock.
By this time, I am a little tired and feel tempted to sit and rest on the various benches strewn along the edge of the lake. But, as the poet(Tennyson, I think) so rightly said, there is no time to stand and stare, or in my case, sit and stare at Nakki lake. So, I proceed further without much ado.
I come to a side gate of the park near the lake. I enter the park, preferring to go through it rather than skirt round it. I exit through the main gate of the park, turn left and walk some more. In the evening, a view from here would show the lake dotted with numerous colorful boats in interesting shapes like the swan or dragon. In the morning it is quiet except for the fish feeders, and the geese trying to compete with the fish for the food dropped.
I now reach the Bharat Mata Naman Sthal, quite a tongue twister for persons not familiar with the language. This is an exalted site at the top of 2 to 3 dozen steps, where a statue of Bharat Mata looks benevolently upon the Nakki Lake and the people gathered around it. In all the time that I have been living in Mount Abu, I have not ventured to climb these steps and look at the statue from close quarters, although I have done much more climbing to reach Toad rock, Gurushikhar and other places. In front of the statue of Bharat Mata, there are statues of 4 lions looking rather ferocious.
Having walked past this, a few more steps help me complete the Parikrama and take me to to the place where my car is parked, waiting patiently for my return.
I breathe in the crisp, cool morning air near the lake for the last time that morning and climb into my car, feeling rejuvenated, energetic and ready to face any challenges that the day may hold for me.
I feel privileged and blessed to be able to experience this every single day in my life!
written by
Dr A Shyamala
