Daily Star Dhaka November 28, 2014
The life of a sadhu
Andrew
Eagle, from Ghoraghat, Dinajpur
Sadhu Santosh Chandra Kumar stands
beside his house at Shahargachhi village in Ghoraghat of Dinajpur. Photo: Star
There's
little to do when a baby is born with fever – not meaning fever of the ordinary
sort but of a spiritual kind. When Santosh Chandra Kumar was born with fever
most of a century ago in Manikganj, his parents considered it a miracle.
His father
ran a rice wholesale business in Aricha. Together with his mother he accepted
that his newborn son was blessed. They refused to let him cut his hair.
As a young
man, Kumar disappeared suddenly from his family home to begin his geographic
and spiritual journey.
Some twenty
years ago it led him to Shahargachhi village in Dinajpur's Ghoraghat. He still
lives there, in a tiny hut on a small plot of land donated by the local
administration – part of a cemetery in a community peopled by ethnic
minorities.
As he never
married, Kumar lives alone.
“The
villagers caught me,” he says to explain the cessation of his wanderings. His
life had changed by then: no longer was he Santosh Chandra Kumar. He'd become
Ranjeet Babu, a Hindu ascetic, called a sadhu, which literally means “good
man”.
He never cut
his hair. Ranjeet Babu, who says he is over eighty years old, has thickly
matted locks that measure twelve feet and are so bulky he carries the final
portion in a cloth pouch.
“There's
something spiritual about him,” says one of his neighbours, senior village
police officer Sree Jamlal Robidas, 60.
According to
Robidas when Ranjeet Babu first arrived, local police made enquiries in
Manikganj and ascertained he was of good character. They also located his
family, but when asked if they wished to reconnect with their son, they said
they had long since forgotten him.
Their reply
is unsurprising in the case of a sadhu, whose focus is on meditation and
contemplation of brahmacharya, the unchanging reality of the world and beyond –
although it is said brahman cannot be fully defined. A sadhu's aim is to reach
the fourth and final stage of life, in the process achieving liberation called
mokha. Theirs is a life of renunciation.
There are up
to five million sadhus in India forming different sects. They are considered to
be dead unto themselves. Becoming a sadhu sometimes involves attending one's
own funeral. They are legally dead to the country of India. As such, perhaps
Ranjeet Babu's Earthly age is of no consequence.
It is usual
for sadhus to adopt a new name. It is not out of the ordinary for them to
reside in cemeteries. Some believe they can commune with ghosts.
Sometimes
Ranjeet Babu receives visitors who cook his food. At other times the local
community provides it.
The
community constructed a small Kali temple beside his hut and gave him rings of
panna (emerald) stone, which is believed to keep one cool.
Asked what a
good life is, Ranjeet Babu expresses concern. “Who's asking?” he says, “I can't
say it openly.”
“I'm living
a hard life,” he continues, “for others to have a good one. I want that
everyone should be happy. I am nothing.”
Published: 12:00 am Friday, November 28, 2014
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