Photo courtesy: Claude Renault — Wikimedia Commons
Rameswaram offered sadus a livelihood, not that their needs were great. These holy men with an orange robe, bare feet and box of colours, spent their days at the temple where travel worn pilgrims flocked, seeking their blessing. After they shaved a head, painted a forehead and said a prayer, the devout Hindu handed over a rupee. Back then, that was enough for an all-you-can-eat vegetarian meal. The sadhu I came to know walked all the way from Benaras and only ate one meal a day.
I still remember him all these years later and have included him in a small section of my novel, Hidden Truths, which I’m in the process of editing.
