Chapter 7. Sculpting Divinity

'I am your voice. I am your story. I am within you deep down. I want you to come visit me.' Amrit gets up to find himself sweating, sweating in the harsh cold. The camp is situated 130 km from Srinagar in The Pahalgam town through which the holy cave of Amarnath which is at an altitude of 12500 feet is reached. The other medical staff in his camp including three doctors and two nurses are still asleep. He walks out of the tent, the cold is indeed chilling. Wrapped in an inner, a shirt, a sweater over it, a leather jacket over it, a huge fur jacket over it and finally a shawl he walks slowly towards tent 2, the place where the patients are admitted. The moon is glowing in a peculiar golden brilliance tonight , much above from the cave someone is looking down, as if waiting for Amrit. But Amrit is busy inspecting the patients, injured in the avalanche. The patient load is huge in comparison to the medical staff, 22 tents with 10 patients each and just 4 tents medical staff. After the round in two of the tents he takes a walk outside. A young girl from the town who distributes tea to the medical staff and the patients is seen with her thermos and small plastic cups. “ Miss can I have a cup of tea?” Pouring tea in one of the cups, handling it to Amrit with a smile on her face she replies, “Sir ji how are the patients? Hope they are recovering ?” “ Yes but gradually. You see some of them were so severely injured that their limbs had to be amputated. It was a terrible disaster” The girl was a bit expressive and continued, “ Sir ji these innocent pilgrims come here to bow before god with pure intentions, then why do they have to face such suffering” Hmm. Now Amrit is silent suddenly. He doesn’t understand what to answer her. He contemplates taking a sip from the cup. What was suffering? Why do humans suffer? Even when they want to reach god they suffer? Uneventful things? Why do they occur?  “I’ll answer you before I leave for Mumbai after the work is done here” The girl smiles and makes her way towards the camps.  

 Morning. Starts with emergency surgical procedures for those who have bled extremely. Moments of extreme focus and tension. Cries filled with pain, prayers of relatives in hope, sorrow struck in the land so holy and the dark silence following deaths of the one’s who could not be saved despite all the effort. Amidst all these working hands and minds of Amrit and fellow doctors. Isn’t he suffering too? Away from his family and all the comforts, in an atmosphere of growing anxiousness. He smiles. Maybe he doesn’t consider suffering a suffering. Someone smiles from the mountain top too. Finally finding time to eat something with the fellow doctors and nurses he is still discussing about some critical cases. Followed by lunch a rigorous session of rounds of the patients who had been operated the day before. Is he actually lost? No. He is on his own pilgrimage. A journey not defined by places or distance but a journey sculpted within our own character and outlook towards identifying that divine within.

 A call. It’s a call from a government official( or from someone watching from above?). “ Dr Amrit. We are sending a helicopter to Pahalgam base camp. Some people are injured and stuck at Panjtarni you will be accompanied by two army officials also. Please prepare right now, the helicopter will be there very soon” “ Yes sir”, he replied in the tone of a soldier, in that moment, he was one! The rotating wings of the helicopter made that peculiar noise and he rushed out of his tent with his equipment. He climbed into the helicopter and was greeted by Major Satvik and Major Nirvan, young officers with a beaming glow of service and enthusiasm on their faces. “ Hello sir! I’m Major Nirvan and this is Major Satvik, and we are accompanying you for the Operation” Amrit smiled. Operation! Wow! Now here the operation meant something different from the medically used one. He replied in his firm voice, “ It is my honour working with you gentleman.” The helicopter took flight, closer to the divine.

 As the helicopter moved through the humongous mountains the evening sun was visible from a small window. The base camp down looked miniature. Amrit had one mantra on his lips “ Om Namah Shivay” Which means that universal consciousness is one. The helicopter lands at Panjtarni. All three speed up their pace and very soon find two men on the track amidst huge stones. The first one holding his severely mutilated left leg and the second one lying down bleeding from a wound on his forehead. Amrit checks the airway, breathing and circulation of the two. The first ones pulse is feeble, he is about to go in shock. He quickly starts him on intravenous fluids. The second individuals who is feeling extremely breathless is started on oxygen supplementation. Amrit, Nirvan and Satvik carry them one by one on a foldable stretcher and bring them to the helicopter. “ So shall we start towards the Pahalgam base camp?”, asks Major Nirvan. The two nod in affirmative. Before stepping back in the helicopter something strikes Amrit and he turns back and for a second takes a look at the cave, not much far, almost 2 kms from the place he stood, still at a height. From the cave he sees a scarlet light. In between the snow covered mountains the scarlet light shines on brighter...and he hears that voice again, the same voice.

 'You finally came Amrit. I was calling you from so long. Don’t you recognise me? It’s me your voice. They travel long distance to visit me, sometimes knowingly sometimes unknowingly, do they know that I know them very well even if they don’t? I’m so happy to see you and I’m proud of you. Believe in your deeds and work meticulously as you are working now, and I’ll keep meeting you again and again. Don’t cry. Don’t cry Amrit. Shiva is strong, Shiva is Shakti and Shiva is the ultimate divine. You sculpted this ultimate divine, you sculpted you, you sculpted Shiva, I am Shiva.' 

 It appeared as if the whole mountain had turned into an enormous cosmic Shiva Linga and the scarlet light was a red tilak on it. Amrit bowed turned back quickly and went inside the helicopter. The helicopter flies in the depths of the mountains, that divine voice settles in the depths of Amrit’s soul. Minutes later the helicopter lands near the Pahalgam base camp. The patients are taken into the emergency tent and treated promptly. Amrit bids the Majors farewell and salutes the, the two salute him in return with an emotion of pride. Someone still looks Amrit from above, from that cave.

 The day passes, days pass, a week passes and slowly it is almost a month. The situation is no more an emergency. Most of the patients have been treated, and sense of relief is their in the atmosphere. Finally the day of Amrit’s departure arrives. He is happy and content. Packing his bag he thinks of his parents and Meera, his smile widens. Outside where an army truck is waiting for him there stands the same girl who distributed tea. “ Sir ji you want some tea?” “ Yeah sure”, Amrit twinkled. “ It is gods grace that everything is fine now, thanks to you all, you all did a wonderful job. I wish you a happy journey Sir ji” “ Well I’m not leaving without answering your question” “ Which question?” “ The one about suffering” “ Oh sir you remember it”, the girls face turned red, “ then do answer” Now Amrit was seated on the front seat of the army truck next to the driver and his face was outside the window looking at the innocent girl. “ Suffering. God suffers too when we forget him. It is a part. The events of life are all important, some do give us pain but we must accept them, fight with them and move forward again in the direction of god. It is not that the people who got injured are the only ones who are pilgrims. Even you and I are pilgrims if we remember god every second and incorporate him in our actions. Sculpt divinity out of pain. There will be tests but we must stay unaffected because we must not forget that we are his part. The universal consciousness is one. Shiva. Om Namah Shivay.God bless you!” The truck moved in the other direction now and Amrit looked forward. From the rare view mirror beside Amrit could see the young girl with moist eyes taking a glance at the cave on the mountain top much above.

  (To be continued............)