Mystic Mechanic

Lost in woods

     She looked here and there helplessly but no one was around. In hills it is difficult to get help. The local population is very less, that too distributed sparsely across various villages. She had no idea where she was. She had left Nainital at four in the evening and she was trying to make it to Ramnagar that same evening. She had a quarterly meet of her company at a resort in Ramnagar, famous for its Jim Corbett National Park. Now there were many beautiful resorts in Ramnagar one after the other, where tourists flocked for their wild-life adventures. These resorts on the bank of the river Kosi made a perfect destination for weddings and conference for corporate. Everything was going fine when on third day of her conference she decided to break loose and visit her aunt in Nainital. Her aunt had insisted that she stay overnight as it was not safe to drive in hills in evening. But the road was so good and drive so scenic she ignored all warnings and left. She knew it was hardly two and a half hours drive and she would easily make it back to her conference that very evening. But her car stopped all of a sudden and now she was stranded in wilderness and it was getting dark.

She was beginning to worry when she looked around and a deep silence engulfed her. There were tall deodar trees everywhere. The meandering road made a beautiful curve on the mountain. Everything was so silent she could hear her own breath. In the distant there was a stream flowing with waters splashing on stones and making a rhythmic sound that perfectly complimented this breathtaking scenery. A strange calmness was descending on her. She checked her mobile again but there was no signal.

Strangely I Stopped worrying       

        Strangely she stopped worrying but began to think whether she should wait for someone to pass by or she should leave the car and walk around to look for help. She was not sure whether there were wild animals in these jungles, though some of the stories would confirm leopards and bears that would descend sometimes from high altitude dense areas.

       She was sitting inside her car and wondering about these things when she saw a person dressed like a villager passing by. She immediately came out of the car and shouted “hello, hello please help me!” The person stopped and turned. He was a young man, with a funny face and peculiar mustache. His mustaches were circular and covered half of his cheeks on either side.  She asked him “can you please tell me is there a mechanic nearby or any shop where I can get some help? My car has broken and I have to reach Ramnagar today.” The man said “no sister the next market is approx fifteen kilometers from here. You can get a mechanic only tomorrow. But if you want, you can stay at a place few kilometers from here. It is a place of God”. She felt herself on the verge of crying. The man could sense her grief. He came nearer and asked “if you want I can take a look at your car!” she was surprised “are you a mechanic?” ‘No’ he replied, “But let me take a look…who knows ,may be it works!”

   

 

 She thought “this is a Honda City, latest model. I am not sure whether this person has ever seen this car before, leave apart touch it. If he is not a mechanic I don’t think he can do anything about it. But let him try. Anyways I am already stuck and it cannot be worse. Moreover I will be sitting in the car only while he sees it. So let him try.” Moreover the man seemed genuine to her. She had heard people in hills were usually simple and gracious beings and right now she wanted to trust that. She opened the bonnet of car and sat on driver’s seat. It took almost ten minutes when the man finally emerged from behind the bonnet and stood on the side. She turned her key few times and with a jerk the engine finally started. She felt like dancing with joy. Though usually she was not very dedicated in her prayers but she thanked God several times that moment. She came out of the car, thanked the man and offered some money for his help but he gladly refused it. She asked him “how did you do this miracle?” he just smiled and looked at the sky. She couldn’t understand it. The man replied “I can see today you have to reach somewhere, but whenever you come back here there is a beautiful ashram six kilometers from here. Please visit that and I will be sure that you have paid me enough in kind.”

       She sat in the car, started it and looked back to wave a final goodbye to the man. The road behind was lit in the back light but she could not spot the man anywhere. She was confused and looked here and there but there was no sign of the man. She thought “he was quick to leave. People here are really agile. ”. She drove ahead but the man’s last words were ringing in her mind. “What is the ashram the man referred to?” she thought.

      

 Near by Ashram   

    After driving for about four kilometers she saw beautiful lightening in distance. As she approached nearer she could see a white marble structure in the form of a temple. It was exactly in valley between hills and sound of prayers was vibrating from there. She felt herself driven to it. She wondered if it was the same ashram the man had referred to. She parked her car and decided to go inside.

It was a beautiful white marble temple of Lord Hanuman in the foothills of kumaon. It was also an ashram of a person called “Neem Karolibaba” considered to be an incarnation of lord Hanuman. There were very few people in the premises mainly the staff and few villagers. She came to know that it was the same place where the iconic Steve jobs had stayed when he came to India. The manager asked her to collect ‘prashad’ before she leaves. She bought few books, offered her prayer at the main shrine and went to take the prashad. When she was collecting prashad, she saw the same man behind the window whom she left behind few minutes back. Her mind went numb. She asked him “how did you reach here so fast?” The man looked confused “but I am here only didi. I don’t understand what you are talking?. She was terrified now. Though she was not good at remembering faces but she could never forget the peculiar mustaches of the man. She was nowhere mistaken. She went to the manager and narrated everything. The manager smiled and convinced her that the man never left the ashram. The man leaves only after ten at night when the ashram closes. But he was sure that babaji had helped her.

He showed her several instances from the book she had bought, where Neem Karoli Baba had done miracles like this.

      Though she reached Ramnagar that day but the incidents of that evening are still a mystery to her. It is one of those instances where here logical brain completely defies the experience of her heart.