Mandu in Madhya Pradesh is a place of ruins of palaces dedicated to love. It was here that the Emperor Jehangir - probably interrupted from enjoying an afternoon of song and dance and wine and harem -  gave audience to an Englishman and hastily granted permission to set up a trading business in India, which gave birth to the East India Company and eventually the British Raj for over 200 years.

Sadguru ghar aayo: (Great Sage/Guru has come to my house)

Just outside the ruins of the palace of Raja Bagh Bahadur, lover of Rani Rupmati, sat an old man in the shade of a giant peepul tree. Dressed in a traditional rural attire with a turban, his tattered clothes bearing the marks of the soil on which he sits and sleeps, he had a tanpura in one hand and a pakhwaj in another and was singing a sweet lore, singing to the empty ruins, with not a soul around:

I sat next to him, absorbing the mahaul (ambience): the ancient palace, now in ruins, the peepul tree, the old man as old the tree, and his soulful ballad. I took the bard’s pakhwaj and gave him accompaniment.

I tipped him quite generously. Our guide asked him, in native dialect, to sing something special for me. Instantly, he sang,

“Sadguru ghar aayo Pahuna ban kar” (Sadguru came to me in the guise of a guest).

I felt that the allusion was to me. I was deeply moved.

                       Pravin Gandhi – Sadguru??

Godhuli: (Go = cow; dhuli = dust)

On the outskirts of Mandu, the wheel nuts of our rickety Amby taxi came off and we were forced to stop. Where we had stopped were a couple of huts and cattle sheds. It was nearing sunset, and suddenly the cows came running, against the backdrop of a sinking sun, mooing, kicking up the dust, their bells ringing, eager to see and feed their calves. I realised what Godhuli is. Godhuli is This Moment, This Scene, This Mood. You can’t put all that in one painting. Providence had given me the privilege of witnessing the moment that is Godhuli. In our culture, Godhuli is a very auspicious time (muhurat) of day, and I can understand why. I felt blessed!

The lady of the house brought out a charpoy (string cot) for us to sit. And water to drink. While curious tiny tots gathered around us, one of them gave us a little baby lamb to play with. We stayed a while even after the wheel was fixed, savouring this Moment, Scene and Mood that is Godhuli.