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Like every year, Sawan (an auspicious time during the Monsoon season) came, but this time Sawan came with excessive rains for two whole months and this has happened after several years. Many devotees bring Kanwar (Way of carrying Holy water from Ganga) from far and wide to please (Lord Shiva) Bhole Baba. Every year many devotees walk to Neelkanth (a very well-known Lord Shiva temple in Uttarakhand) and this year broke the record of the last decade, with over four crore devotees in motion.
Some of my own friends have been carrying Kanvar for the last four years. They told me that there are many people who get food served at various places and are doing great deeds to support their journey. At the same time, poor people who are very poor and beg also get to share the food distribution that continues to run to provide three-time meals to all of them, and no money is charged to anyone. Different people, individual volunteers, and organizations set up pandals (tents), serving different parts of the meal like some feeding food, some giving water, some tea, snacks, and many other things.
Then I found from my friend, that there is a gentleman who has been continuously offering Bhandara (food offered in good faith for doing good without a charge) for the last sixteen years without fail. His name is Dhirendra and he is a farmer by profession. My friend has made sure that he definitely goes to eat food in his pandal every year. Dhirendra does the Bhandara for his son, who had died in an accident some time ago. He serves everyone who is hungry and thirsty throughout the time of Sawan. Dhirendra does it with all the kindness, compassion, and selfless nature of his every single year. Poor people whom he feeds, bless him a lot for his work and appreciate him for how he provides food to everyone.
I bring you a story of just Dhirendra, but there are many noble souls there doing this for their own personal reasons, satisfaction, spirituality, kindness, and many reasons that leave me believing that there are few people who make a mark in our hearts with their deeds. Similarly, there are other people who do Shiv Seva without asking for anything in return. Very few people get the fortune of service. It is such a good deed to feed someone.
