Please, don’t misunderstand me, Mr. Holmes. But if you get a wish me to present at your meeting with Sai Baba, knock me when he get you up. I’ll be near.
Thank you, Grisha. I’ll certainly follow your advice and tomorrow we will meet again, if your plans don’t change.
Prakash saw the Russian translator off and having returned back suggested walking in the ashram before the sleep. It was about eight p.m. Unusually bright stars shined in the sky. Streets were full of pilgrims: men, women and even children. Holmes and Prakash went to the temple and Prakash told of the special order, in accordance with which did that town of the new religion lived. Being in the room Holmes noticed the absence of radio or TV-set: there were just two trestle-beds, two chairs and a small table. Prakash explained that in the ashram a special regime of silence was obeyed. Thus there was neither radio nor TV, and savadals, who appeared as if out of nowhere, interrupted even loud talks. “Keep silence!” – sounds behind your back. There the use of alcohol or smoking was prohibited. And in the canteen there were not but vegetarian dishes. Holmes was impressed by absolute cleanness regarding so large amount of visitors. But it wasn’t surprising because everyone used to put off his or her boots entering the temple or the canteen.
There was no conditioner in the room. The only ventilator hung in the centre strived with the heat though to no effect. Holmes took a shower and fell to sleep. He woke to the knock at the door: somebody woke pilgrims for the morning ritual. It was three o’clock. The temple stood in the low place and looked as a huge bad lightened spot. Lines of pilgrims came to it from every side and they sat down the rocky area in the right rows. After about an hour Holmes counted more than thirty rows each of about a hundred of pilgrims. It meant that there were more than two and a half men (women went through the procedure separately). The casting of lots began which row to go to the temple the first. Holmes and Prakash sat somewhere in the sixth row, but Holmes suddenly got a strange assurance that the very their row would go the first. A savadal dressed in white slowly moved along the rows of sitting pilgrims carrying an object similar to a cap for drawing lots. A person sitting first in the row rose, took his number and sat back to his place. Everybody waited who would get the number one. A tall slender black man sitting first in Holmes’s row rose, took a paper, looked at it and the whole row began to rise in the full silence.
We’ve got a chance, – Prakash whispered to Holmes.
They rose, took their jute cushions bought on the previous day by Prakash, put off the sandals and went to the temple almost running. At the entrance, as if in the airport, they passed through the “special control”. It was prohibited to take either photo or video cameras or any other outside things. The huge space inside the temple was divided into two parts: for men and for women. The floor was paved with black marble; the ceiling was decorated with golden and green. There were no walls as they were; the massive columns with high pedestal took their place. The front part of the temple had a magnificently beautified podium with a construction, resembling Christian churches’ altars, and a small special room where Sai Baba probably received his guests.
First pilgrims achieved the white marble road and began to sit down along it on brought cushions. It was the only thing that one could take to the temple and Holmes soon made sure of its importance. It was about two hours before Sai Baba’s entrance and it was hard for a European to sit for such time on the marble floor in uncommon pose. The lines of pilgrims entered the temple and silently took their places and in a half an hour both parts of the temple were fulfilled.
The sky lightened on the East and bird began twittering. Some moving started around the temple, something like a religious procession. A rhythmical singing with cries “Hare Krishna!” sounded. Then the unanimous sigh “Ho-o-u-um!” escaped the crowd of five thousand people and invisible bells rang out of somewhere. Holmes noticed the extraordinary order of everything. A small group of savadals kept it during all stages of preparing the ritual and during the ritual itself. They carried out a huge roll of red carpet runner and began unrolling it strictly along white marble flags, which stood out against a background of black marble of the temple. Minutes of tedious silence and everybody’s tension came. Holmes even began to feel how did that tension created by crowd of many thousands waiting for wonder began to paralyse his mind. He remembered what had Grisha warned him about and tried to escape the approaching public euphoria. With the first rays of the Sun bright chandeliers beneath the ceiling fired and at once lighted up all of many rich colours of India. A charming eastern melody sounded and birds began to sing, as if they had awoken from the deep dreams. Suddenly the whole temple seemed to breathe a deep sigh and everybody turned right as if trying to get up. And when the tension in the temple culminated, there, far off, at the very edge of red road getting beyond the horizon, in bright rays of the rising Sun a small nearly transparent figure with a noticeable black shock dressed in orange tunic appeared. The figure slowly moved along the red road making some jests towards sitting pilgrims with its left hand. And the crowd rocked following the moving of his hand, from which something was falling down the pilgrims’ heads.
This is viphuthi special clay in a form of powder, – whispered Prakash, – they consider it to possess certain curing qualities.
Holmes hardly heard what Kumar had said. Nonetheless a savadal standing his back to the road and looking narrowly at excited pilgrims immediately felt something wrong and made a fierce face. Sai Baba approached Holmes and he understood why it was so important to sit in the first rows. Sai Baba though of all his divine majesty could see eyes of three or at most five rows. He was a man of about seventy-five with tired swarthy “peasant’s” face and big sad black eyes. He carried notes given by pilgrims in his hands. A vacant smile of calmness wandered at his face. Sometimes he slowed down a little and peered at a face, which had attracted him; but then he made a slight wave of the hand as if bidding farewell to that glance impatiently waiting for him; then he continued his slow moving. Finally he appeared before Holmes and their eyes met each other for a second or two.
Who art thou? What dost thou need here? – Strictly asked the glance, though the face was still calm a peaceful.
A human. I would like to talk. – Holmes also silently answered not lowering his gaze, without a challenge, friendly but not ingratiatingly.
The gaze of Sai Baba said nothing. It roved somewhere forward and away from Holmes. After it he continued going forward with the same festinating gait.
It means that he didn’t hear or didn’t want to talk, – Holmes decided for himself still not taking his eyes off of Sai Baba’s back.
But suddenly he slowed down, then stopped and slowly turned back. After it he moved back and stopped before Holmes, looked at him and shortly asked:
Are you English?
Yes, – Holmes nodded assent.
How much[81]?
Two.
Go, – Sai Baba waved his hand and followed forth continuing his beat.
Holmes and Prakash rose and carefully overstepped the carpet road (a savadal interdicted to step on it with some jest). They went to the podium where two women had been already sitting waiting for an audience. Holmes before sitting down looked around searching for Grisha. But he was already getting out the privileged crowd on the podium.
Well, even here a certain hierarchy exists, – Holmes noted to himself.
Grisha came and sat down near.
Mr, Holmes, everything is going as with the Russians in the last year. That time Swami didn’t invited them at once as well. Let’s see what is going to be.
The ceremony has ended and Sai Baba called those who were waiting for him to follow him beyond the massive oaken doors opened by savadals for him. The room they’d entered was rather small. A heavy armchair resembling a throne upholstered with red velvet stood in the corner. To the left of it was a way to another room, hung with a heavy curtain. Sai Baba took a white napkin from a small escritoire, wiped sweat from his face and sat down the armchair. Women situated to the right and men to the left on the floor. The conversation at first started with women. It was a usual talk of women’s fate in the western inhabitant’s life, of her grieves and joys. For each of them Sai Baba spared some minutes, asked about their home deals and like a father gave advices what shouldn’t be done for living in calmness and gladness. But at once he for some times mildly rebuked them for improper behaviour. It was very similar to Catholic confessions but without any external attributes referring to the “church mysteries” of the ritual. It the end of the conversation Sai Baba seemed to shrink into him. Holmes strained all his attention, feeling that something strange was going inside the room. It was hard to find the words for it. That “something strange” was just hovering near, though one couldn’t either see or hear “it”. Suddenly Sai Baba made a wide jest with his right hand and a golden chain with an elegant pendant on it. He put it on the neck of the woman gone for ecstasies. And his eyes studied thoroughly the face of the woman sitting next to her. Her face was an ordinary face of a woman who had seen an inaccessible adornment in her friend’s attire. Sai Baba knew how to read even more intricate thoughts. He obviously had no intentions to bring up a feeling of envy. Thus the second jest followed, and another chain with precious pendant appeared and move to the neck of frustrate envious woman. From the conversation Holmes got that one woman was from Canada and another from Australia; but separated by a great distance they were twins in their passions. Finally, when sincere tears of tenderness and joy and numerous hearty thanks of the happy possessors of signs of attention were taken, Sai Baba addressed to the men.