A New India

Chapter 134: A Meeting with Neem Karoli Baba

Rohan felt the burden of every day work. Running a nation full of problems was never easy.

From balancing the economy to mending social divides, he was haunted by one persistent question: Am I doing enough?

The pressures of leadership were unforgiving. His thoughts no longer belonged to him, they were consumed by policies, political disputes, and the struggle to modernize a deeply traditional country.

Yet something else troubled at him, something deeper than mere governance. It wasn't just the divisions of caste, religion, or ideology that kept him up at night.

It was the sense that India, will inevitably walk towards a future with full of conflict long after he was gone.

One late afternoon, Rohan sat in his office, head resting against the back of his chair, trying to steal a brief nap between meetings.

But his mind refused to rest. His thoughts went around lots of doubt.

What was the point of it all? Was this endless cycle of decision-making really leading anywhere?

His body ached with exhaustion, but his heart was heavy with a deeper fatigue, a weariness of spirit.

It was in that moment that he remembered a conversation he'd had with Neeraj a few weeks earlier.

"Take some time, Sir," Neeraj had urged him during a quiet dinner.

"You've been running yourself into the ground. Go somewhere peaceful. There's someone you should meet, someone who might offer a different perspective. Neem Karoli Baba."

Rohan had heard the name before and knew about him from the future.

Neem Karoli Baba, a mysterious figure, a saint who lived a simple life in the Himalayan foothills.

Though Baba wasn't widely known in political circles, whispers of his wisdom was still everywhere.

People spoke of his deep spiritual insights, his strange ability to help people see the world differently without saying much at all.

But now, sitting in his office, Rohan felt perhaps Neeraj was right. He needed clarity. Maybe Baba, could help him find it.

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A week later with security fully arranged, Rohan went on towards the Himalyan state in incognito mode to meet the saint who even future generations found hard to understand.

The mountains, with their timeless silence, seemed to speak to something deep inside him, something that had long been buried under his responsibilities.

When he finally reached the small ashram near Kainchi, it was nothing like the grand temples or religious centers he was accustomed to visiting.

It was simple, almost serene.

Neem Karoli Baba sat on a thin chatai (woven mat), wrapped in a faded blanket despite the warm sun overhead.

His appearance was unassuming, an old man with a graying beard, his face lined with age but illuminated by a serene calm.

Around him, a few devotees sat in quiet meditation, their presence peaceful.

Rohan felt a strange nervousness. He had met countless politicians, diplomats, and world leaders, but this was different.

Here, in this humble setting, his title meant nothing. He was just another man seeking answers.

As Rohan approached Baba, his mind raced with questions.

But when he reached him, everything fell silent.

It was as though the questions that had been tearing at him for weeks had no place here.

Baba looked up at him, his gaze soft but piercing, as if he already knew why Rohan had come.

Without a word, Baba smiled and gestured for Rohan to sit beside him.

For a long while, neither spoke.

They simply sat together in the quiet, the only sound being the gentle rustle of the trees in the wind.

Rohan had expected to feel awkward, to feel the need to fill the silence, but instead, he felt a growing sense of peace.

It was as if Baba's presence alone was enough to ease the burden on his chest.

After what felt like an eternity, Baba finally spoke, his voice soft and unhurried. "You have come a long way and from far away" he said, his eyes twinkling with a kind of playful knowing.

Rohan nodded. "Yes… I have. But it's not just the journey here, Baba. I feel like I've been carrying the weight of this country yet i am not sure about the future it holds and the future i hold"

Baba looked at him with deep compassion. "The weight you carry is not the country, Rohan. It is your own mind."

Rohan blinked, taken aback by the simplicity of the statement. "My mind?"

Baba nodded, his smile never fading. "Your mind is restless, always chasing after solutions, always trying to fix, to control. But you forget that this world is not yours to fix. The mind is like a monkey, jumping from branch to branch, never still, never at peace. You cannot lead a nation with a mind like that."

Rohan swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. "But… how can I not feel responsible, Baba? I am the prime minister. It's my duty to make decisions for the future of this country. If I don't do it, who will?"

Baba's eyes twinkled with amusement. "You believe you are the one making the decisions. But the truth is, you are not the doer, Rohan. You are an instrument. The divine works through you, just as it works through everyone. You try to control the future, but the future is already written.

Your job is not to control, it is to act with sincerity, with an open heart, and then… to let go."

Rohan stared at Baba, his mind racing. "Let go? But how can I lead if I let go? If I don't control the outcome, how can I ensure the country moves in the right direction?"

Baba's smile grew wider, as if Rohan had asked a question that amused him deeply. "Control is an illusion, my child. You believe you are steering the ship, but the currents of life flow as they will, with or without your effort. Your duty is to steer with dharma, with compassion, but not to believe that you alone can guide the entire ocean. The ocean moves as it is meant to."

Rohan felt something stir inside him, a realization he couldn't quite put into words. "But Baba… how do I surrender? How do I let go when everything depends on me?"

Baba's gaze softened. "Surrender is not giving up. Surrender is trusting. Trusting that the divine plan is far greater than what you can see. Trusting that you are exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you need to do. When you act from the heart, from a place of dharma, the results will take care of themselves.

You do not need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Rohan. The world has already been carried by forces far greater than you."

Rohan sat in silence, his heart pounding in his chest.

The words were simple, but their meaning shook him to his core.

He had spent his entire life believing that leadership was about control, about making the right decisions and guiding others toward the right path.

But now, here in the mountains, he was being told that leadership was not about control, it was about surrender.

"Baba," Rohan whispered, his voice trembling, "how will I know if I'm on the right path?"

Baba's smile faded, replaced by a deep, infinite compassion. "When your mind is still, when your heart is at peace, you will know. The path is not something you find, Rohan. It is something that is revealed to you when you are ready to see it. Trust the divine, trust your dharma, and the rest will follow."

Rohan closed his eyes, feeling a strange sense of relief wash over him.

The questions that had tormented him for months no longer seemed so important.

The weight he had been carrying felt lighter, more bearable.

He realized now that he had been trying to control things that were beyond his reach, that he had been trying to carry burdens that were not his to carry.

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He opened his eyes and looked at Baba, who was watching him with a quiet understanding. "Thank you, Baba," Rohan said softly.

"I don't know if I fully understand yet… but I feel different. I feel… lighter."

Baba chuckled softly, the sound like the rustling of the trees in the wind.

"You are lighter, child. You have let go of the weight that was never yours to bear."

Rohan stood up, bowing deeply to Baba before turning to leave.

But before he could exist the Ashram, he heard Baba spoke

"The World will move accordingly, all you have to do it try your best, for your journey never started in this world and will never end this world"

Rohan who slowly turned frozed for a second. Before fully turning and looking towards Baba in disbelief, who was looking at Rohan with smile.

"Now go my son, just follow your heart and destiny will lead you towards the path you call for"

Rohan hearing Baba wanted to say a lot but felt he didn't needed to, everything was communicated and he got the answer, now it was time to leave.

He walked slowly with his security details getting ready to go back to Delhi.

He looked at the Ashram which everyone from all over the world used to come in hope of meeting Baba, and only today he realised why.