The boys and I have been fans of Bhakti Mathur’s Amma series of books from awhile now. In fact this past Diwali I earned some undeserving brownie points from their school teachers after Adhyant insisted on taking along with him, Bhakti’s ‘Amma Tell Me About Diwali’ on the day of their school Diwali celebrations. The book was apparently passed around the entire pre-primary and read out to all the classes. Their teachers then messaged to thank me for sending such a thoughtful read. 🙂
While the ‘Amma Tell Me’ series focussed on festivals and deities, Bhakti’s ‘Amma Take Me’ series takes readers along on a journey to places of worship and of pilgrimage. We already had a copy of ‘Amma Take Me To The Golden Temple’ and @bhaktimathur @penguinindia and @puffinbooks were kind enough to send us a copy of ‘Amma Take Me To Shirdi’.
Having lived in Mumbai for many years, I had visited Shirdi myself but still couldn’t gather much about the significance of Saibaba and why he was so venerated. The rampant commercialisation of Shirdi perhaps blinded me from understanding the true value of this much adored legend.
Bhakti’s book takes us not only on a trip around Shirdi and to its various places of significance, but also back tracks in time to recount the life and times of Saibaba, showing the reader how he chose to live the life of a fakir and not identify with any religion. While the story was rivetting for Adhyant and Nirbhay, it made me appreciate the essence of this man who is now revered as a saint. The current circus of idol worship, commercialism and fanaticism in the name of religion were pretty much the antithesis of what Saibaba’s beliefs and values were.
The narrative of ‘Amma Take Me to Shirdi’ is in the form of a travelogue with Amma recounting stories about Saibaba to her sons Veer and Shiv during their trip to the pilgrimage centre. As a mom reading out the book to my own sons, it felt as if we were on a trip there ourselves.