Haridwar is engulfed within its own bubble of time, stuck in a time period where no changes occur, no progressions but no regressions either. The same shops with the same shopkeepers will be exactly where you found them ten years back. The hotel that we stayed in has been running for close to 25 to 30 years by the same set of people who started it, and the tea stall bang opposite the hotel has stood alongside the hotel for the same amount time as well. The narrow lanes are adorned with large mansions turned guest houses, dating back to British Raj, with their wall plasters peeling off and water seeping through them; yet they stand tall and proud, displaying the remaining of the elaborate wood craving on their columns, balconies, and doors, as a reminder of a bygone era.
That is why my mom and her side of the family love visiting Haridwar. They have visited many times before, and another visit is no different from the previous one. For me, Haridwar helped in reflecting upon myself and my progress, dwell upon my mistakes and what caused them. The main issue is when you reside in a large cities like Delhi or Mumbai, your personality is reflected on the city and the city's personality on you. You grow, the city grows, you pause, the city pauses a while as well. When everything around you is the same, you notice the transformation in you and feel the passage of time flown by as well.
Haridwar's heart rate and pulse is constant, it is you that is the variable.
Like always we took a dip in the river, its icy cold waters unwelcoming at first, piercing your lungs like needles as you hold your breath! And unlike the previous visits, I finally got to witness the famous Har ki Pauri Ghat and its famous aarti*! I stood amongst a huge crowd, in which some stood with their hands folded and a face filled with devotion and awe in watching all the aartis alongside the bank of the river, while some where busy clicking away selfies. Where once a souvenir or a plastic bottle filled with Ganga Jal* was enough for proof of visiting Haridwar, now a days, a selfie and a geotag with the photo seems to do it.
We also visited Rishikesh, another small town, just an hour away from Haridwar. While the former city expressed spirituality and devotion towards the Gods, the latter one expressed the same along with promoting different forms of artwork. I spotted a lot of graffiti work all along the city, some hidden on the walls between two shops while some huge and out in the open.
Some people themselves became a work of art! Check these two out!
We waddled through lanes which carried us from shops selling baskets filled with items essential for prayer at the temples to cafes and restaurants with hippie style decorations and clichéd names like 'Nirvana' and 'Buddha', and then onto a path with cottages built on one side of the road, nestled between the tall trees with no signs of habitation except for the saffron clothes hanging on the washing line.
This trip helped me in clearing my mind and created a black, clean slate for the upcoming semester. I walked a lot, ate lots of simple vegetation food, (especially potatoes, I gorged on aloo** parathas, aloo puri, aloo tikki!), and finally had three nights of good, dreamless sleep!
