Original subtitles

My father told me

that I should travel to the ultimate pilgrimage of Hindus, Kumbh Mela,

and fetch him a bottle of holy water.

He told me that Kumbh Mela is the biggest gathering on Earth

and there I shall feel the force of faith

that connects us all.

I reached the Kumbh Mela like millions of other people.

All heading to one destination: the Sangam,

which is the confluence of the three sacred rivers:

Ganga,

Yamuna

and the invisible Saraswati.

All aiming to achieve the most important act: take the holy dip.

My father had told me the singular act of the dip is so sacred

that it earns Karmic merits for the lifetime.

This kumbh comes once in twelve years!

If we miss this, we won't have the strength in twelve years!

We'd rather die than not take the Holy Dip!

Jai Mother Ganga!

Like the rivers, Kumbh Mela is also the confluence of people:

those who live in the world, like most of us,

and those who have renounced the world,

known as holy Sadhus or Babas.

...2013 Mela Administration heartily welcomes you!

Hare Krishna! Free copies of the Gita.

God’s message free!

...wear this ring made from the horseshoe

and find a solution to all your problems.

Buy some necklaces!

Friends, life is impermanent. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Brother with bicycle, please move your cycle to the side.

Now let us all say, Mother Ganges - Jai!

Watching these millions of people driven by power of devotion,

I thought, besides bringing the holy water to my father,

I will also bring him some stories.

My name is Shrikant Narayan Das.

My penance spans many lives.

Yoga and Penance are my God, my everything.

Yogic practice enables me to inspire and understand the world.

There is no other way.

People sell yoga today! It's big business!

But I practice yoga for myself.

This asana is like being in the womb!

This is Garbhasana. I stay in it for four hours.

Cancer can be managed by doing this asana.

It’s about seeking perfection.

In this asana, pray to the Lord!

‘Sita Ram, Sita Ram!’

Only then you’re sincerely praying.

What do people do? Feast on junk food,

then they try to pray.

When the body is overfed, there is little scope for yogic prayers.

Too much food, no prayers,

Lots of prayers, no need for food!

Am I wrong, Babu?

Darling!

Hey Babu!

Don’t run please!

So frisky. Hey Babu!

Turn around. Son!

My darling, Babu!

- Let's go that way. Home. - No.

- Look how far we have come! - No.

How much you trouble me!

My foot is hurting, and you wear me out?

Do you have a Tulsi necklace?

How much?

Smaller.

- 30 cents. - Forget it.

Do you have smaller than this?

Like this string, which looks good on me.

...where a golden bird sings from every tree.

Such is my Motherland, such is my India.

Hey Baba!

Same political mess at home and abroad!

Fold hands and pray. Like that. Yes!

He must’ve been an unwanted child.

Nowadays, adolescents make love so young.

As teenagers, we were oblivious to sex.

But nowadays, the youth socializes more.

Within three months, the girl is sick in the mornings.

Her belly starts to show, so she avoids going out in public.

And when the child is born, it is abandoned.

These are the traits of today's generation.

They only want sex, money, youth.

He'll be 2 years next week.

I found him on the first day of the Spring Festival.

He was this small - just half a kilo.

I have named him Bajrangi.

I get as frantic as a mother would when he is out of my sight.

My heart starts thumping faster.

He is now learning to talk. Calls me mother. Pulls my beard.

My beard used to be this long!

Hey Ma, hey Papa, hey lady, he calls me many names!

Take off your footwear, respect holy Baba!

We’ll make you a naked Sadhu, Naga Baba.

Take off your knickers!

- How else will I make you a Naked Baba? - No.

- Why? Are you planning to get married? - No.

Then you can become a Naga!

If not, all well, son?

Shall we take off his pants?

Make him a small Naked Sadhu.

Why do you keep the mobile if you don’t know how to use it?

Hey you, off to the Ashram of Naga Baba?

He says he will murder four tonight.

Two murders!

Two murders! One will be me, the other my boss!

- Why do you want to murder them? - I have to.

Why?

Who will you murder?

Any one or two will do.

To become a gangster?

Yes, I’ll murder those two cops...

and then scoot from here!

Let's say fifty thousand vehicles in one parking.

In my estimate, there must be a total of two and a half million vehicles here!

Not less!

When water level goes down in the Ganga...

then the authorities decide where to set up Mela on the riverbed.

After the rains, the government machinery gets to work.

The Mela is built like a city in the river basin.

Jai Hanuman!

The Kumbh Mela is spread across 55 sq kilometers.

Camps are set up for Sadhus and devotees of various sects.

Thirteen sects form thirteen Akhadas - associations of Sadhus.

Each has its own camp.

The Mela runs through 55 days.

80 to 100 million take the holy dip in the confluence.

To possess the nectar of immortality

the Gods allied with Demons to jointly churn the ocean

and agreed to divide equally the jewels that would emerge.

At last, an urn (Kumbh) of nectar emerged from the churning.

A fierce fighting ensued between Gods and Demons to possess the urn.

During that battle, drops of nectar fell on four places on the earth.

Those drops of nectar manifest every twelve years as the Kumbh.

The planetary alignments decide when and where the Kumbh Mela is held.

The Kumbh is the only opportunity to dip into that nectar...

to savor the spiritual light of divine wisdom.

Those drops fell right here at the Sangam,

the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati.

Hey baldie!

He says he's from Pratapgarh.

Get out of there! Quick, out.

He says his parents are dead.

His brother gambled and lost everything, so he sold the house

and ran off to Mumbai.

Hey, you too out!

So, this boy Kishan has run away and come here.

When I asked, 'How do you survive?'

he said a friend taught him to stand looking helpless, palm held out.

That way he made 10 dollars a day!

Get your utensil quick, we’re running out of milk.

No milk anywhere.

Kishan used to hang out here.

Slowly we grew fond of him.

Then he started living inside our shop - sleeping, eating...

He became one of us.

Chewing tobacco?

Open your mouth.

He is expert at chewing tobacco.

Didn’t I tell you not to chew tobacco?

He is the same boy who worked for you?

Don’t laugh! Naughty!

What’s wrong with chewing tobacco?

Kishan, why have you come here?

I’m just gallivanting!

A Baba had already warned me this boy means trouble,

that I should be wary of him.

One day he goofed up, misplaced some money.

So I asked him to leave.

- He’s very bright! - But a fraud!

That brat, he’s wild!

Thereafter, he’s been hanging around with those Babas.

He stays at the Agni Akhada camp, eats and sleeps there.

My Guruji asked me, 'Why do you want to renounce the world?

'You are still young, enjoy the world, live.'

I replied, 'What is there to enjoy?'

The world is corrupt, political, cynical.

I can’t fight that.

I've already walked a tough road.

I‘m still not a realized soul - a Mahatma.

But renunciation is greater than self-realization, isn’t it?

So one must practice detachment.

Surrender leads to the knowledge of self

and allows us to answer: 'Who am I?'

We must seek an answer to that question - 'Who am I?'

It is said God is in every child.

No one is ever unhappy in childhood.

Leave an infant on the road, some woman is bound to feed it.

You see a child crying, offer a chocolate and the child stops crying.

A child has no tensions.

Everything has its own laws.

Doctors have laws, lawyers must follow certain rules.

Similarly, there are laws governing every era.

So the current era Kalyug has its own laws.

In today’s era, parents teach children to work only for money.

Study to earn, earn to eat. Be it doctor, engineer, policeman...

Only for money, nothing else.

We never focus on the essentials.

We never look at the seed.

All we look at is the trunk and the leaves!

Read the newspapers...

This is the Kumbh - people come here to take a holy dip in the Ganga.

Tradition is to worship and pray. But what do we see?

A conference to decide politics and power. ‘We will do this, we will do that!’

We want do everything - WE - who actually have no power.

We will not pray to the One who really runs the show.

We want nothing but status, power!

Enlightenment comes to a special one, the land is not bereft of the wise...

But there is only one who knows

and what he knows he doesn’t share with anyone.

Once he wakes up to that truth, he prefers solitude.

....your husband Mishra is waiting for you here.

Wherever you are, please

...reach Lost & Found Camp.

Akshay Kumar, please reach your base camp.

Devna Devi, wherever you are in the Mela

report immediately at the Lost & Found Camp.

Your son Ashok Rai awaits you here.

Jokh Ram?

District Avadi.

Sir, please register this.

Where’s your village?

In District Purulia.

Name of the person who is lost?

I left him to take a dip. When I returned he wasn’t there.

I searched everywhere.

- Me too, - Waiting here three days - no sign!

Sunday we lost each other. It's been four days.

I was walking with my grandson.

We came upon a crossing.

It was jam-packed and we got separated.

Six days since we lost each other!

Your husband may have reached home. Listen to me first!

Will you listen to me?

Would you like to go home?

Get me to talk to him somehow, Sir!

Please don’t cry again. Listen.

Shall we arrange for you to reach home?

Sit comfortably.

We will send you home.

I need my man!

Please sit here. We’re searching for him.

- Your name? - Rajinder Yadav.

I cannot find my husband!

A senior citizen, eighty years old.

Each tiny piece of paper is one missing person

Hello.

Laxmi Devi, wife of Dev Rai,

wherever you are in the Mela,

please report to the Lost & Found Camp.

Santosh awaits you here.

Paging Lakhpatia Devi.

Bahiro Singh awaits you there.

In this Kumbh Mela,

there are already 135,000 people missing.

And we’re still in the middle period!

Earlier there was no system to locate missing persons.

People would throng the rivers for the holy dip,

but later were unable to find their camps or groups.

Women would be weeping.

Our hearts melted, thus we started this service.

We crafted a loudspeaker out of a tin sheet to call out.

Back then we had no mics. But the idea was to help.

I’m talking about 1946 Kumbh.

I felt a calling...

Helping someone in need is the greatest pilgrimage of all.

Helping people find their way home is like a blessing.

We’ll drop her home. Don’t worry.

Don’t worry. Don't worry.

I promise she will reach safe and sound.

Then there are those who have nothing on them, so we offer their passage home.

We arrange for them to go home by bus or train.

Losing and finding loved ones is in God's hands.

God has given us this opportunity to be his agents to reunite the separated ones.

We’ve reached the heart of Kumbh, and this cool breeze makes me sing!

Eat!

Babu, you eat.

Like this.

What is it?

- Potato. - Potato.

You eat now.

My son, eat once...

Please eat one bite.

Biting my finger instead of bread!

Take one bite.

You eat.

My darling, please eat.

Eat?

Yes, my darling.

I'm supposed to feed you! Not you!

Ten thousand people!

We serve full meals twice a day to ten thousand people.

Don’t even ask how much ration is used!

Limitless! Trucks after trucks, we don’t keep count...

Accounts you people do!

We Sadhus like to feed and serve, night and day!

It’s the Lord who provides.

Money is also offered to all.

Sita Ram!

True success only comes from generosity.

For it is in giving that we receive.

Sita Ram!

What’s the meaning of being a Sadhu?

Being a Sadhu is no stress, nor fear.

Relax all day long by the sacred fire.

No mundane responsibilities.

Daily smoke marijuana, puff on the pipe, drink tea.

Eat dinner after offering it to God.

Do Sadhus do good for others?

It is God who does good.

These birds too must come for a purpose!

Maybe seeking liberation! There is something to it.

No? Else why do they come all the way from Siberia to peck grain,

that too in the Ganga and Yamuna? And then simply fly off!

We humans are reborn...

so those with good karma may be taking rebirth as birds!

These birds are avatars of a few lucky souls!

Your Guru, Bhole Baba supplies ganja to the entire Mela...

When did you meet him?

I’ve known my Guru, Bole Baba, for a while...

Maybe since 1991-92, but I don’t keep track of time

Bhole Baba comes from the Himalayas?

For the Sadhu, all of India is his.

Ask a Sadhu where’s he from and he’ll flare up, instantly!

The whole world is ours. Even the universe!

The sky is my home, the netherworld my village.

See, you got that?

- True abode is the cremation ground. - Where they burn the dead.

That is the ultimate destination.

Many smokers! Almost everyone in the mela smokes ganja (marijuana).

And even the non-users inhale the holy smoke!

How many Sadhus do you think have come to the Kumbh?

Guess. Take a wild guess!

Take 10 million smokers.

Each Sadhu smokes 10 grams, that’s a billion grams !

Consumption is directly proportional to population!

Everyone is addicted to something.

Bidis, cigarettes, alcohol harm the body...

but Ganja has become legal in several states of America.

- What? Ganja? - Yes cannabis!

Marijuana has healing properties.

It’s an antibiotic.

'God made grass, man made booze, who do you trust?'

If you consume marijuana with measure, then it is good.

Like a yogic exercise

What kind of Sadhu are you if you cannot control mind?

The mind is restless. When you smoke ganja...

you get stoned and naturally mind stops wandering.

Then you can sit without any worry.

Get stoned, go to sleep...

Or keep sitting and enter a trance.

You can be still, and your mind can be wandering.

Or you can be wandering and your mind can be still.

Something to think about.

He’s been missing since 5 pm of the 9th.

He went to a discourse at an ashram, and has not been seen since.

Her name is Gyan Devi, she’s been missing for three days.

Lachhmania Devi. Missing since the 10th.

Missing since Sunday 10 am.

I am Mamta. My husband's name is Sonu.

Our three-year-old son Sandeep is missing.

We're from Dumduma village.

- Whose son is missing? - Ours. Mamta's and Sonu's.

- Full name? - Sonu Nishad, boatman.

...near Shastri Bridge, Sandeep was playing after his bath.

He strayed a bit towards the crossing...

There, two people in uniform found him.

My younger sister saw them and ran immediately.

But they told her Sandeep can only be handed over to his parents.

So she rushed to call them...

By the time we got there, those people vanished with Sandeep!

We made numerous announcements. We’ve scoured the entire Mela. No sign of him.

Maybe they were not soldiers

But they were in this kind of uniform.

The battalion base camp is near the bridge.

Only they can tell you who was on duty that day.

I think they were on duty around 5 pm...

Understood. But go enquire with the base camp, they'll know.

Go to Sector 4, find out who was on duty that day.

Pure White like Camphor, an Incarnation of Compassion

The Essence of Worldly Existence, whose Garland is the King of Serpents

Always Dwelling inside the Lotus of the Heart

I Bow to Shiva and Shakti together

Om Jai Mother Ganga!

Blessed are those who Pray to You

Your Flame is like the Moon, Your Waters so Pure

Liberation is his, who is in Your Protection

You truly are my Mother and You truly are my Father

You truly are my Relative and You truly are my Friend.

- So you're from Bandgarh district? - Yes.

- You came via? - Allahabad.

What about your parents?

Don't have any.

Traveling on your own! How did you come here?

I came by train... just traveling.

- Did you buy a ticket? - No, without a ticket.

How will you go back?

Jai Shri Ram!

Sita Ram!!

Hail to Lord Shiva!

Hail to Lord Shiva!

Time to wake up.

- Wake up? - Yes. Wake up.

Babu, press my head.

What style of yoga is that?

I have kept cows. He’s lucky to have my cow’s milk.

This is a divine cycle.

This milk nourishes Bajrangi, like mother’s milk.

I've renounced the world

but the world I renounced has come back to me.

It is now for me to look after this baby. This is my cause.

A Sadhu must live for the good of humanity.

Thus bringing him up well is my duty, my dharma.

What are you eating?

Hemp fritters.

Why are you shaving?

Are you planning to get married?

Even I want to shave.

What are you applying, Kishan Tiwari?

- Perfume. - You'll finish off the bottle!

It's meant for that.

- Whose perfume is that? - Mine.

Whoever wants hemp fritters, please go over to the Agni Akhada.

Like your friend Inderpal, join the police force.

No!

Why not? It’s a noble job.

Not police. I want to become a don.

- Gangster? - Mafia don.

- You want to become a don? - What kind?

- What’s the meaning of don? - Murder!

- Whose murder? - Anyone. Anyone I run into.

It seems you’ve seen too many movies.

Not movies, I've seen reality.

You seem stoned?

This is nothing.

Even two hemp balls didn’t get me stoned.

That's too much!

You promised me you would drop your addictions.

I had left it, but... I couldn’t resist two hemp balls.

You are lying again. What did you say yesterday?

That you’ll give up bad habits.

- Did you not say so? - Yes I did.

And what do I advise you? Tell me.

I don’t know.

Do I tell you to take that stuff or to kick your addictions?

Kick them.

Then why don't you break yourself of the habit?

You yourself say you've quit...

But what’s the problem in eating hemp fritters?

Hey! Ganja expert, how many days since your pant zipper's been open?

525 Days!

You plan on being the don with open zippers?

Why didn't you offer fritters to your police buddies?

None of them can eat this stuff. They would knock off in a jiffy.

I feel no effects.

You behave badly with your police pals?

When they tease me, I beat them up.

They should obey you, or you should obey them?

Kids should listen to grown-ups.

Still when they mock me, I beat them up.

You’re just a kid

and you beat these guys knowing they’re policemen...

What the hell can police do to me?

That you don’t know.

I know everything.

If they lock me up, I'll make a mess of their prison!

They gave you shelter, didn't they?

- What shelter? - They let you sit, eat

If they don’t, I’ll shove a bamboo up their ass!

You can't say that...

They talk nonsense, so I abuse them with love!

You’re not even ten, and you abuse...

I’m not ten. I’m fifty years old!

So where did you get this idea of becoming a gangster?

From heaven!

What? Lord Hanuman phoned you?

And the idea of becoming Sadhu?

From heaven!

Who phoned?

Lord Vishnu!

Baba will maintain this yogic posture like in meditation.

He'd be hanging for continuous twelve hours!

- Where was he last seen? - Jhunsi.

You should look for him that side then! How will you find him here?

There are thousands like us in uniform.

How would a three-year-old wander all the way here?

Playing cricket with a mace? Oh, it’s a bat!

Use this as a bat. With both hands.

Four runs! Bravo!

My son has prepared the chillum for the first time!

What a blessing!

It broke.

- Let's button up. - No buttons.

Of course there are two buttons.

This is button, Baba. All done

What do you own?

Three sweaters. One shirt.

One pair of trousers.

One bed sheet.

That’s all I have.

I've also this talisman a Sage gave me,

for snakes and ghosts.

What does that mean?

Snake talisman - keeps snakes away!

And ghost talisman - keeps ghosts away!

Broken?

Hold it like that.

It's flying!

What is this? Airplane.

Let's make bear sit on the plane.

Bear sit tight!

Don’t fall! Don’t fall!

It never sat on a plane before, no?

Poor one has no insurance!

No sign of Sandeep...

They abducted him from this crossing.

The child was playing right there.

Then God knows where they took him...

Big Guru has arrived!

I’ll be busy today.

Doing what?

I will be serving Big Guruji and his entourage.

Are we all prepared for the Royal Bath?

All good, Guruji.

- Are you prepared too? - Ready!

My Jaipur team!

Light a mind-blowing chillum!

First tell me: who is lost?

A three-year-old boy, Sandeep.

He is too small to say his name...

But you can tell me!

Sandeep.

- Complexion? - Like his. Dark.

He is wearing a black-colored sweater.

Tell me only what I ask.

I've got a photograph.

- Is he wearing any pants? - No. He's naked.

Mamta, have faith. You'll find him.

Any hope? The whole week has gone...

What to do? The Mela is so vast. God knows where he could be!

Who made you in charge of getting twenty people stoned?

As a Sadhu you’re responsible for society’s well-being!

People will thrash you if you don’t give them what they want!

Public wealth for public welfare!

The Ramayana states clearly: In the current age of Kalyug...

to earn good karma, you must use part of your income for charity.

But we're brought up on Karl Marx, Mark Twain, Shakespeare.

We’ve never bothered to read our own scriptures!

We're not curious about our history.

Instead, we’re still stuck with the Greeks and Arabs!

The joy of being a Sadhu is also in knowing...

This breath is all I have.

This world will continue to clash even if I am dead tonight.

If I survive the night, we’ll meet again in joy!

No tension!

I started serving ascetics

while smoking ganja at a Shiva temple.

I'm a social worker at heart.

Showing the way to lost souls is what I do!

Actually, I’m not a Sadhu. I am the people!

But I wear pants and a shirt, so people call me Pant-Shirt Baba!

No one is born wearing saffron robes, anyway.

I can pray wearing any clothes.

When did Gandhi dress like a Sadhu?

He simply clad himself in Khadi.

He too was a worldly man.

Yet this land has seen no Sadhu greater than him.

I'm a big fan of Gandhi!

A real Sadhu is wholesome.

Actions make a Sadhu, not wardrobe!

If a man acts from pure karma, we can call him a Sadhu.

Bob Marley did good karma, he can be called a Sadhu!

Also, some are fake Sadhus for gain and greed!

No one gives a shit about those motherfuckers!

So they land up here and call themselves Sadhus!

That way you can be a Sadhu too!

Smoke hashish, get stoned...

No fucking better life than that, right?

This age is Kalyug.

Babas must adapt to the changing times.

For example, Pilot Baba used to fly airplanes.

So people named him Pilot Baba.

iPad Baba must log on the iPad a lot!

There is also a Stock Exchange Baba

Maybe he runs a stock empire!

With the blessings of Visa Baba,

you can get a visa for America!

In Nepal, we have an ebony skinned guru,

so people call him Obama Baba!

It needs some adjustments.

Give it to me. I’ll fix it.

It leaks too much air.

Our police duty will end soon...

- What’s the date today? - Thirty more days of the Mela

So thirty more days of duty.

After that, we’ll leave. So will you miss us?

Where the hell will you all go?

Home.

No one will go.

Kishan, you’re in demand. Many Sadhus want to make you their disciple.

Would you rather become a disciple of Vivekanand or mine?

I don’t know...

Whatever is my destiny, I’ll become that.

I sometimes wonder if this child is an avatar of Vishnu.

Abandoned in this holy city,

possibly by a virgin mother.

Why only here and not in another city?

So as a devotee of Lord Vishnu, I feel he’s an avatar.

I’ve also seen a sign. In the night, his eyes radiate a light.

So I strongly suspect he's a divine reincarnation,

not an ordinary being!

Lost & Found Base Camp here!

Give me a copy of the report and show me the poster.

Mention where the boy is from.

- What color clothes is he wearing? - Only a black sweater and a shirt.

- He's not wearing any pants? - No.

- Which number is important? - Both.

Now put it up.

Do you fear he's kidnapped?

Certainly. Something is wrong.

Greed drives people crazy!

They're trafficking kids for 400 dollars.

Only 400 dollars!

I'll collect some holy water in this.

...when God Hanuman soared through the air in search of Sita...

a serpent demon blocked his flight.

Hanuman transformed into a tiny avatar, instantly the demon gobbled him up.

Once inside, Hanuman pierced a hole through the demon’s head!

The demon ate anything that flew.

So Hanuman let himself be eaten...

and then burst out from the top of his head!

Now we know why you’re so devoted to Hanuman Ji!

You don’t pray to Lord Shiva?

They're all one.

We humans are mere dust.

Dust?

Without spirit, what is the body?

- What is it? - It is nothing.

It can click a photo... like this.

I'll show you.

Click one of me getting stoned!

Capture all my bad habits!

In fact, I have only one - chillum!

- I learnt it! - You learnt it?

When the baby was three months old,

some people accused me of stealing him.

Some lodged a complaint that I had kidnapped Bajrangi...

It was all over the newspapers.

One morning, I was smoking chillum,

the police came and started beating up my disciples!

Without any genuine inquiry or investigation!

I found this child abandoned. How does that imply I had stolen it!

When I raised him from three days to three months,

when he needed most care, no one came to help.

After the police, the social workers came to take the child away.

'Why?' I asked. 'I haven’t stolen him.

'Why can I not look after him?'

'No you can't! You don’t have a woman, you’ve renounced the world.

'What will you feed him? You're a Sadhu.'

I showed them seventy cartons of baby-milk powder.

Then I asked, 'How do you intend to make the child come with you?

'Have you brought something for the baby?'

Not even a pack of biscuits!

Ten or twelve of them had come empty-handed,

assuming the child would come along, just like that!

Being a Sadhu, I took so much care,

but they didn’t even think!

My heart exploded! 'You may be social workers or whatever.

'Before I strike you down, get the hell out of here!'

Our scripture says sage Valmiki raised the sons of Ram.

Ram was King, he banished his expectant wife...

An ascetic looked after her sons.

Where were your laws then?

If I as a Sadhu am bringing up a child,

don’t you dare show me your laws! Get lost!

Then I picked up my Parashu axe.

This sacred axe is only raised against injustice.

If innocents are attacked or untruth is spoken...

I would not hesitate to strike, be it police or social worker!

I can fight alone, I'm ready to die.

They just took off!

Thereafter, orphanage people came with the media in tow. I said to the media,

'Please ascertain that the orphanage actually takes good care of orphans.'

I sent a secret agent Sadhu to find out.

He came back to report horrifying conditions for the children!

Feeding sixty or seventy children with one tiny cooker?

The girl children - exploited, raped...

Some official was caught...

When I heard all that, I was adamant

I would not send this child to such a fate,

even if it meant going against the law!

I know no law - I am a Sadhu. How do I recognize the law?

For the last twelve years they've not listed me in any census!

No identity card, no ration card.

No concerns whatsoever!

Now, I've taken it upon myself to get this child up on its feet.

And look, he is running about. Such joy!

My dream is to have him educated in a good school.

Soon, I’ll send him to school every morning.

In uniform, hair combed, shoes polished.

I will iron his clothes - everything.

All will happen, in a jiffy!

And my light will remain in him!

Even if I do not remain in this body, I will dwell in him!

I am a Yogi...

and I am blessed to be so!

I will reside within him!

- Was a child deposited here on the 10th? - I only came here on the 12th.

Please enquire from the security guard.

This boy? No, he isn't here.

If he was here, I would have known. I’m always on duty here.

Could there’ve been someone else on duty?

No, I’ve been here for the last two months.

I’m sure there is no child in our camp.

But they said the child was left here. At least let us check the campsite.

Our guests are all out for the holy dip. You can check.

Yes? We're searching - no sign at all.

Where do the children stay?

Strange, you guys! Your child went missing a week ago...

And you are searching today?

We’ve been searching non-stop.

How can you be sure that your child is here?

- Two soldiers gave us in writing. - This address?

Yes, look.

Tell them Agni Akhada procession is coming for the Royal Bath.

Oh, it's you!

I will now take a holy dip.

Come.

Bliss! It's rare to see Yogi Baba going for a holy dip!

This is nature’s playground.

Nature’s spring cleaning!

The rains have transformed the Kumbh Mela!

Everything seems changed...

After three days of rain, millions of people started manifesting again

I arrived at the Agni Akhada...

only to discover that Kishan Tiwari was nowhere to be seen.

His parents came searching!

The policemen across the road told me: 'Did you hear the news?

'Kishan’s parents have come!'

I had sensed he was a charlatan!

'My parents are dead!' They were here!

His parents confirmed he had run away.

Kishan as usual was loafing on the street.

Somehow, the father spotted him in all that crowd!

He asked him to come home.

Kishan solemnly came to me and asked for his bag...

'My father is here, I'm going.'

I'm not sure if he went willingly, but...

he may have felt compelled, seeing his father here.

His heart was not ready to leave but he had to obey his father’s wish.

One day a Baba saw through Kishan’s lies.

He studied his forehead

and told Kishan to his face that he was a liar!

The Baba warned me to be careful of Kishan.

I even saw him drinking alcohol, a quarter, and a beer.

What capacity!

He was an expert, he knew exactly how to make a drink!

This much water, and that much alcohol!

Master of all at such a tender age!

Good the parents took him away.

If not, who knows where he would’ve ended up?

Certainly he's on the road to delinquency!

He has such a clever mind! He could’ve fooled the best of us!

He wasn’t afraid to abuse even a policeman!

We’re all sad since Kishan left.

I keep thinking he is around...

I thought he was an orphan, with no one else in the world.

Thus, I felt very connected to him.

Kishan is such a bright boy.

That child has such potential, he could be famous one day!

The crux of the matter is...

energy flows, but which path will it choose?

Kishan endeared himself to everyone in such a short time!

He used to kick Sunil!

Sunil is a cop, mind you!

He made such an impact, they all miss him terribly!

I also felt we had a connection.

Look how Sunil's face has fallen.

Policeman with wet eyes!

He has sterling qualities, and that is the truth.

No matter what he chooses to do in life,

even if he ends up being a gangster, he’ll be the best gangster ever!

He has the spark within.

Now how he puts it to use, that is his karma and God’s will.

The story of Kishan’s disappearance went on till late evening.

But the miraculous incident was yet to happen!

Police told us that Sandeep was found and handed over to the family!

An unidentified jeep had chucked Sandeep on the road and vanished in the rain.

In the morning I met up with Sonu by his boat.

Sonu said that even after nine days Sandeep was found in good health.

That meant it could have been a case of organ trafficking,

where victims are kept healthy.

As Sonu sailed me towards his camp, I had butterflies in my stomach!

I could not wait to meet Sandeep!

Did you miss Mommy?

Where's Daddy?

It rained last night, where did you sleep?

We are so happy Sandeep is found!

I can’t tell you how happy we are!

We’re joyous today! We bathed today!

We were trying to sleep, when we got a call

from Jhunsi Police Station.

We went running, and it was him!

This is how we lost him, this is how we found him!

His mother is laughing so much today

I told my father about Hatha Yogi Baba and baby Bajrangi,

Mamta Devi and Sonu,

Sadhus like Vivekanandji and Umeshji,

pilgrims like Shuklaji

and all about Kishan Tiwari.

What about this kid?

Yes, what about Kishan Tiwari?

Where is he?

What did he choose to become finally?

I knew from Kishan’s family name and accent

that he had to be from central India.

Many questions filled my mind as I hit the road to look for him...

Excuse me! Is this the way to Baragarh?

You mean Badhgarh? Burgad?

Baragadh?

It did not take long to find the name of Kishan’s village

located on the edge of the jungle.

Do you know village of Anokhelal Tiwari?

Who?

Anokhelal Tiwari...

An amazing sense of revelation filled me when I learned

that in this same jungle...

Rudyard Kipling found inspiration to write "The Jungle Book".

We are looking for Anokhelal Tiwari.

His house is near here.

Where you saw that motorcycle go? His house is on the left.

I felt I was searching for a Mowgli of my own...

named Kishan Tiwari

- Anokhelal? - Tiwari.

Tiwari? There.

Namaste!

How are you?

You live here?

Yes that’s our house.

My friend! You left us there and vanished!

You disappeared, Tiwari Ji!

He talks about you all the time!

Three weeks since he ran away!

I finally caught him twenty-four days later!

We both were worried to death.

Where would he be? Was he safe?

Finally I tried Kumbh Mela on the day of the Royal Bath.

He was nowhere to be found.

I was empty-stomach and totally shattered.

I had already looked all over, in Chitrakut, then Allahabad.

Spent a good couple of hundred dollars. Went hungry many days.

That day, I had a hope I should see him somewhere, somehow!

Finally I spotted him from afar...

I recognized him from behind, after all he’s my son!

He was standing in his classic pose, hands inside pockets!

Kishan did not realize I was standing right behind him.

After a moment, he turned. 'Hey, it's Dad!'

He started to weep. I asked, ‘Will you come home?'

He said, ‘Yes.’

He is a child yet. When he grows up he can be anyone.

But a Sadhu - no way!

I have only three children.

I would not like him to be a Sadhu!

I would like him to have a wife, children, a good family.

As a mother, I would like that.

But not a Sadhu, please!

I will become a Sadhu, even though my parents don't want that.

I am decided I will be a Sadhu.

The idea of being a Sadhu came to me while I was at the Kumbh Mela.

I had never thought of it before.

I saw many Sadhus in the Mela.

I met an ascetic who often took me to the cremation grounds at midnight,

He would chat there and smoke up.

Vivekanand Ji would discuss spiritual matters with people.

A Sadhu renounces the world.

If I become a Sadhu, I will leave everything.

I will not study, nor marry.

If a girl likes me then

I will leave that place.

I will train to be a Sadhu under Guruji.

I will study the Gita and the Ramayana.

I will also discuss spiritual matters.

I will be a genuine Sadhu.

As a true Sadhu I’ll serve the people.

Being a Sadhu, I will continue to meet my parents.

I will come to the next Kumbh Mela as a Sadhu and I will stay at the Agni Akhada.

I will bathe in the Ganga.

I will also take the Royal Bath that the Sadhus do.

I am ten years old now.

The Kumbh will come again in twelve years,

By then, I will have become a Sadhu.

All this drama for just a bottle of water!