Walking Narmada
Distance: 3118 km
Days: 108 days.
Mode of travel: Walking
Place: Narmada River
Time: December 8, 2018- March 25, 2019
I am very happy to share with you that the long walk I was walking is concluded on March 25th. It took us 108 days to navigate Narmada from source to sea and sea to source. The total distance we walked was 3118 km.
Some basic info. about the walk
Since hundreds or thousands years, people have been walking along the Narmada river. The first one to walk the river was Sage Markandey. He not only walked Narmada but also traced the tributaries of Narmada. During the walk, we met many fellow walkers. Those who walk along the river are called Parikramavasi. There are endless rituals one needs to follow while walking but one usually follows according to their need and knowledge or understanding. Many years ago, only Saints and Babas used to undertake this journey. Now Grihasta (family people) are walking this journey more than Babas.
Each person has different reasons of walking. Some people walk because their wish got fulfilled or someone’s sickness is treated. Some people walk to meditate, as Narmada is a very peaceful and isolated space to concentrate with clean air, water and food easily available. Some people also walk to collect money and clothes as a pilgrim gets donations from locals. People living next to Narmada see pilgrims as Narmada herself. I will write more about it all in later days.
I started my walk from Amarkantak (source of Narmada) with Monja and Sajesh. For the first three weeks, we took it quite easy and walked only 18-20 km a day. It was cold and days were shorter in the beginnings. Nights were almost freezing and we hardly had proper sleeping places but we always had some protection. As I said there are many rituals one need to follow while walking: I decided to follow these rituals: 1. I will not cross the river. 2. I will not spend money from pocket. 3. I will complete this journey only by walking and not taking any vehicle. 4. I will not react to people’s statement about how I am walking.
I succeeded in every commitment except the fourth one. I have to work a lot to cultivate my patience.
After crossing Jabalpur, our walk became extremely mechanical and we were walking more than 30 km everyday without taking a day off. One day we even walked 48 km. It is very different to walk alone and than to walk in the group. When you are walking alone, you have the freedom to follow your observations and moods and you grasp more. But when you are in a group, you have to adjust a lot to fit into the needs of the group. We were three different people with three different upbringings and our way of approaching things was entirely different. All three of us were aware of it and we all wanted to make things better for each other but such walks are very challenging; both physically and mentally. This is a compromise all three of us did.
We were always invited by the people and ashrams for tea and food although it was never timely. It was eggplant season in MP, so we end up eating lots of eggplants. Although we got all the food we wanted; sooner or later. Having breakfast was a luxury. Usually we will get the morning tea and start walking. Sometimes we will get lunch at 12, sometime at 3 and sometime we will only get dinner but we always got the tea except on rare days. We never slept hungry. There is saying in MP, which loosely translates as “In Narmada valley, there is no dearth of food, stones and thorns.” and all those who walk this path can verify it.
Places we stayed at:
First night we stayed in a room in the middle of the forest which served as the home of big rats too. Every night we slept in new places, which varied from a small open hut to a room with very expensive mattress, hall, attached bathrooms and hot shower. We slept in schools, which were filthy dirty and we got invited by a farmer, which has a beautiful garden with all kind of fruits. We spent a sleepless night at a construction site and we slept peacefully in front of a heater in a hospital at the doctor’s house. Sometimes we had a room on our own and few nights we shared with people who snores louder than a DJ. We slept looking at the river, in middle of the forest, in a Gurudwara, huts, temples of dozens of Gods, houses, balconies, Dharmshalas, hallways and with idols. Mostly we slept on the floors on our yoga mats and rarely we had bed to straighten our stiff back. We had to adapt every single night.
Food we ate
For food we totally relied on the seva (service) offered by temples, ashrams and people of Narmada. We hardly got breakfast, as we had to start walking early. The food timing in ashrams was 11 to 2 and sometimes we missed it and did not get lunch either. We always got dinner. Mostly we were served cooked food and sometimes we had to cook on our own and for other walkers too. We always got tea invites. When you walk, tea was always a bliss. I started the walk for many reasons but during the walk, some days I will only walk to get the tea. Many a times, a tea was more important than the Truth. The food in Madhya Pradesh is very healthy and organic. We ate all kind of rotis ( jwar, corn, wheat, bazras). Rice, dal, paneer, and many type of green vegetables and puri and sabzis and poha and jalebis.
People we met
As everyone writes in their travel blogs ”You meet all kind of people when you travel.” It is true that we met many types of personalities during this walk. Someone who is walking the river fifth time, someone who has walked across the river, a person who left everything to become a true Saint, someone who is walking to achieve Siddhis, to know the meaning of walking, to tick off the list of walking Narmada, a baba who is not walking but doing the Parikarma Dandavat. Someone who is walking to build an ashram while another is walking because ashram is also a bondage for him. We met a person who walked 3,000 km in 58 days and we also met someone who is walking since 7 years and still has not completed his walk. We met a 90 years old person and we met a woman walking with her few months old daughter. The whole walk was full of weird cool characters. This journey offered me a great glimpse into the layers of the human mind and how it behaves in each situation.
The GEOGRAPHY
We started our walk at an altitude of 1,000 mtrs, crossed the forest which has hardly any animal left, we walked through the villages full of black soil and stones, sugarcanes, wheat and corn fields. We walked for more than a week climbing mountains of Shoolpani and Satpuras. We walked on the highways, narrow roads, muddy roads, village and city streets, we walked in stones and we struggled on sand paths. We walked looking at Narmada for hundred of kilometers and we walked miles away from Narmada because of the dam. We walked in cold early mornings and we crumbled on hot summer noons.
First night we stayed in a room in the middle of the forest which served as the home of big rats too. Every night we slept in new places, which varied from a small open hut to a room with very expensive mattress, hall, attached bathrooms and hot shower. We slept in schools, which were filthy dirty and we got invited by a farmer, which has a beautiful garden with all kind of fruits. We spent a sleepless night at a construction site and we slept peacefully in front of a heater in a hospital at the doctor’s house. Sometimes we had a room on our own and few nights we shared with people who snores louder than a DJ. We slept looking at the river, in middle of the forest, in a Gurudwara, huts, temples of dozens of Gods, houses, balconies, Dharmshalas, hallways and with idols. Mostly we slept on the floors on our yoga mats and rarely we had bed to straighten our stiff back. We had to adapt every single night.
Food we ate
For food we totally relied on the seva (service) offered by temples, ashrams and people of Narmada. We hardly got breakfast, as we had to start walking early. The food timing in ashrams was 11 to 2 and sometimes we missed it and did not get lunch either. We always got dinner. Mostly we were served cooked food and sometimes we had to cook on our own and for other walkers too. We always got tea invites. When you walk, tea was always a bliss. I started the walk for many reasons but during the walk, some days I will only walk to get the tea. Many a times, a tea was more important than the Truth. The food in Madhya Pradesh is very healthy and organic. We ate all kind of rotis ( jwar, corn, wheat, bazras). Rice, dal, paneer, and many type of green vegetables and puri and sabzis and poha and jalebis.
People we met
As everyone writes in their travel blogs ”You meet all kind of people when you travel.” It is true that we met many types of personalities during this walk. Someone who is walking the river fifth time, someone who has walked across the river, a person who left everything to become a true Saint, someone who is walking to achieve Siddhis, to know the meaning of walking, to tick off the list of walking Narmada, a baba who is not walking but doing the Parikarma Dandavat. Someone who is walking to build an ashram while another is walking because ashram is also a bondage for him. We met a person who walked 3,000 km in 58 days and we also met someone who is walking since 7 years and still has not completed his walk. We met a 90 years old person and we met a woman walking with her few months old daughter. The whole walk was full of weird cool characters. This journey offered me a great glimpse into the layers of the human mind and how it behaves in each situation.
The GEOGRAPHY
We started our walk at an altitude of 1,000 mtrs, crossed the forest which has hardly any animal left, we walked through the villages full of black soil and stones, sugarcanes, wheat and corn fields. We walked for more than a week climbing mountains of Shoolpani and Satpuras. We walked on the highways, narrow roads, muddy roads, village and city streets, we walked in stones and we struggled on sand paths. We walked looking at Narmada for hundred of kilometers and we walked miles away from Narmada because of the dam. We walked in cold early mornings and we crumbled on hot summer noons.
The condition of Narmada:
Narmada is one of the thousands of river in India whose water we can still drink. Not because it is clean enough, but because people have so much faith that mind denies to believe it is clean. People here says that Narmada will never dry out but I have seen it dry in the end where the sea water has entered the river in Bharuch. In Gujarat, you cannot drink the water as the water does not move anymore. Right at the source, there is a small dam which helps tourists to enjoy bath and boating. The dam gate has not been opened in the last 15 years and the water smells and has piles of garbage. Sand mining is at its peak. The big machines are digging the river as deep as possible. The water stinks wherever the sand mining is happening which is almost every kilometer. Many local people do not even take bath in the river because this pollutes the water whereas big mafias are using their full potential to destroy the river. There are many people talking online to save the river but I hardly saw anyone except a few locals who are making a real effort to keep the river clean and flowing.
In these 108 days, I observed a lot about people, nature, river, human minds and myself. In the coming days, I will share what I received on this walk. As the time will pass my understanding of the experience will mature and I will be able to share more deeply. For now, I am in Auroville for the next one month and I have a nice room, mobile network, a good kitchen and a laptop to write on. This walk indeed was a very difficult walk and now I can feel the pain in almost all the bones and muscles. We are taking our time to rest and be comfortable.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE WALK WAS THE PEOPLE WHO SERVED US. EACH SINGLE DAY, MANY PEOPLE WHOM WE HAVE MET FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WE MIGHT NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN. ALL THESE PEOPLE MADE AN EFFORT TO ENSURE THAT WE FINISH OUR WALK SAFELY. ON THIS WALK, WE REALLY UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF SEVA. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A PLACE SO FULL OF DEVOTION AND SELFLESS SEVA AS NARMADA VALLEY. I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO EACH SINGLE TEA, WATER, FOOD, SHELTER, GREETINGS, CONVERSATION, AND WORDS OF MOTIVATION IN THE MOMENTS WHEN I FELT LOW.
During the walk, many asked me many questions and I was not able to respond to any. Now you can reach me on my page or email which is sachinchhachhia@gmail.com and I will be happy to answer all your questions.
Narmade har.
