In India, John joined the ashram of a guru, next to the temple of a revered Hindu god. He shaved his head, practiced meditation, chanted Sanskrit hymns and ate vegetarian meal, while spending several months listening to his guru’s words of wisdom and witnessing his non-materialistic way of life. On his return to US, he even walked bare-footed for several months.
But, modern India with its current population of billion people already shed its image of mysticism and mindfulness. Thanks to modern invention, globalization and easy access to cheap technology, even an old-fashioned rickshaw-puller in Calcutta nowadays checks the score of an international cricket match on his smartphone. Then, there has been the invasions of those glitzy western-type mega malls satisfying the materialistic needs of a vast population. John began to feel dejected by the shattering of his memory of old India. However, he was still looking forward to find that ashram in the same tranquility last time he was there.
He landed in the nearby town in a late night flight from New Delhi. Next morning, hailing a cab, he arrived at the complex of the ashram and the temple. While waiting for his old guru in the ashram, he noticed that there had already been a long queue of at least several hundreds of Indian youths, both males and females, each one holding what appeared to be an individual passport.
The explanation about the gathering of this new generation of devotees came from a member of the previous generation. With the new administration in US cracking down on immigration, there spread a fear through the local young IT professionals of not getting the required visa to enter into the county for a lucrative appointment. Then one day, one particular visa applicant (still unidentified) was able to request the head priest to pray with his passport in front of the deity. That very afternoon, his visa request was granted by the local US consulate. And a myth was born.
John felt a sense of relief. In some way, the mysticism has been still alive and well in India.