The importance of Jalmahal
What is Jalmahal? It is a place near my home. It is a ‘mahal’, a palace, surrounded by a lake. It is said that many of its floors are below the water and only two-three are above. I have never seen it from inside; I missed those few occasional tourist boats that went there in the last decade. However, I don’t feel that great an urge to be there. Living around for quite some time now, I can tell you that while a tourist might get attracted to it, a wanderer like me is more interested in what lies at its periphery. The lake is surrounded on three sides by the mountains of the great Aravalli Range of Rajasthan. In part due to its location, and in part due to good monsoon rains, it is full all throughout the year almost every year. On its fringes, on its periphery, is the place where the mountains and the lake converge. It is there, in that narrow convergence, in that walking track, where my imagination takes wings.
Walking there is a relief. A relief from ‘progress’ of human civilisation, a relief from everything material. Countless evenings, I have spent my time walking there, sometimes alone, sometimes with company. Walking alone, however, has a different kind of pleasure. The understanding of ‘self’ and the ‘other’ are all blurred deep into nature. It is difficult to draw lines, it is difficult to believe in separation.
Sometimes I stop by abruptly; there’s some bird or squirrel in sight. I observe them eat, play and vanish. However, every other day, they return, in variable numbers. Then there is the sunset, casting a reddish glow throughout the sky, beautifully reflected by the lake. During the sunset it is difficult to separate the lake from the sky; it’s like a continuum, a convergence more perfect than the one between mountain and the lake. Like a cherry on the cake, a beautiful temple is situated on the top of a faraway mountain; physically and metaphysically, it represents a place where the sky meets the land.
Surrounded by a web of concrete and asphalt, we humans have gone crazy. We need a Jalmahal; everyone needs a Jalmahal. There is something there for each person. There is peace, there is joy, there are emotions hard to understand, let alone express. If you don’t have a Jalmahal near you, you can find, invent one. Our family, our closed ones too, are a beautiful creation of mother nature. In their eyes, in their soul, you can find something even more profound. Try diving once. What are you waiting for?
