SACRED AWAKENING

YOUNG INDIANS ARE EMBRACING SPIRITUALITY. THERE IS ALSO A WARNING IN CONVENTIONAL IT FOR RELIGIONS

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

the crowds that thronged the sangam waterfront in Prayagraj have thinned down, and the tents and pontoon bridges, the cameras and the barricades have all been taken down. But the Mahakumbh will live on in the crores of videos and photos posted on social media, capturing every aspect-the personal and the political, the sacred and the profane, and the agony and the ecstasy-of an event billed as the 'biggest gathering of humans in history!

It was also undoubtedly the most youthful of all Kumbh Melas. By one estimate, more than half of the 66 crore or so who took a holy dip, as estimated by the Uttar Pradesh government, were below the age of 30. Another study, by the Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, also took note of the changing participation patterns, with growing number of women and a notable presence of those in the 18-35 age group.

Dheeraj Chauhan, 29, of Noida describes himself and his gang of friends as "not particularly religious or anything like that". But that did not stop them from setting off on the long, crowded and chaotic train journey to Prayagraj, and taking a 4am 'snan' at sangam ghat. "We were a bunch of boys out on a trip, but the mood was certainly spiritual," he says.

"Nothing is possible without belief," says Akash Sharma, 22, a priest in Haridwar. "More than my upbringing, it is when I studied the scriptures and mantras further that I became a staunch believer." Sharma comes from a family of priests, but his father had veered off the tradition by taking up a private sector job. But Sharma has decided to join the family profession. "I feel more satisfied and have more peace of mind in this line of work," he says.

For an increasingly large number of young Indians, faith is giving solutions and solace in a fast-changing world. And they are taking to it with open arms, cutting across the religious, caste, creed and urban-rural divide.