It often strikes me how a certain strand of memory is triggered by a particular sight or scene or scent or sound. Recently, while running an errand to purchase a tuft of Chandra Mallika flowers (Chrysanthemum), I ran into a gentleman sitting on an elevated spot by the side of a public pool, feeding a school of small fish. I stopped for a while and talked to the gentleman as distant memories of my visit to Somnath & Dwarka in Gujarat came to mind.
From Ahmedabad to Veraval is an overnight trip. You board the train in the evening; so you cannot see the world outside. But something else craves your attention. As the train slips off into the darkness, you don’t notice it immediately. After a while you become aware, if you are a train spotter or rail buff that the swaying motion of the train is a bit different than usual, more comfortable and sleep-inducing.
First you recognize the different sound pattern of the wheels on rails. The train is not a superfast one. In fact it runs at a moderate speed. Then you realise that the railway track your train is using is a meter gauze one. Its rhythm and motion are soothing and gentle, and I remember I stayed awake laying on my berth lending my ears to the resonance of the sound. From Veraval to Somnath is a half hour journey by auto.
The famed Shree Somnath Temple is set on the edge of the Arabian Sea, a thick flat parapet wall running along the border with no access to the beach beneath. As might be expected, the Somnath seashore looks shiny and clean, the white-capped waves breaking on the shore. You just sit there, the sea breeze tousling your hair, some faint spray occasionally gilding your hand with beads of diamonds.
When dusk approaches and the clock ticks on into the evening another scene which remains hidden from view during daytime unfolds, that of the Kandla (now known as Deendayal) port. You have only to crane your neck to watch the not-too-distant array of lights decking the port, dreamy and beckoning.
From Somnath it took me six hours by bus to reach Dwarka, from where I first went to Bet Dwarka, the kingdom of Lord Krishna by boat. I bought a packet of bird feed taking cues from other tourists. Some way into the ride there came spreading their broad wings a flotilla of coastal seagulls flying in a pattern, squawking and hovering very close to the boat. They perfectly caught every morsel we threw into the air. Next morning I entered the Dwarkadhish Temple. Inside there are seats cut in solid black rock where I sat, and a very mild soothing breeze kept blowing as long as I stayed there. Later I saw the confluence of the sacred Gomti River and the Arabian Sea nearby.
The last memorable scene I witnessed before I got homebound was a fish feeding scene at the Gomti Ghat. Here I found pilgrims making a beeline to the water’s edge where shoals of fish abounded. They swarmed in and out and took the offerings sometimes directly from the palms of the pilgrims. Feeding the fish has always been considered a virtuous act having positive impacts on spirituality.