Taken for a divine ride

The other day I was taken for a ride. Not a very rare event in my life by any means, but this time it was by a vendor of flowers and other offerings you take to temples. Let me tell you the story.

I was in Haridwar. I thought I would visit the famous Mansa Devi temple. I decided to walk up the hill. When I was almost at the top of the hill, one of the two flower vendors on the road asked me to buy flowers to offer to the Devi. I said no, I didn’t need them. (I don’t make such offerings in any place of worship.) He didn’t insist.

As I stepped forward, he said I should remove my footwear before going any further. I was a bit puzzled because the temple was a clear 150 m away, behind a bend on the road. So I looked around. I saw a family leaving its footwear on the road near the only other flower vendor’s cart. Almost immediately, I removed my sneakers and left them on the road in ‘my’ flower vendor’s (paid) care.

Barefoot, I walked the rest of the road to the temple building. There I found several flower stalls and lots of visitors with their footwear on. There was also a ‘shoe stall’ next to the temple entrance, where one could leave one’s footwear before entering the building. I could easily have walked up to that point in my sneakers without offending the sanctity of the temple premises and without hurting my feet.

While climbing down the hill I asked myself: Why was I so readily persuaded by the flower vendor to leave my footwear so far away from the temple? Two influences immediately came up in my mind.

First, the example of a family leaving its footwear near the other flower cart. I assumed that they were local folks who would know the local conventions.  When we are unsure of local customs, we tend to follow others assuming that they know better. They may be as clueless as we are!

Second, I wouldn’t want to do anything that would violate local perceptions of sanctity and appropriate behaviour. This is particularly because I’m not a Hindu. I would already have appeared strange by not taking any offerings to the temple. In my eagerness not to offend, I meekly accepted the flower vendor’s suggestion. I didn’t think. I didn’t question. I just went along.

A moment’s thought would have been enough to realise that I could go further up before removing the footwear. If this is as far as visitors were allowed to keep their footwear on, how come there was no footwear left by the visitors who had already gone up? After all, it was evening, and I had seen many people go up and down the hill. Usually, there would be a notice and a place for people to leave their footwear before entering any temple. How come there was no such notice near the flower vendor and no place to leave one’s footwear and retrieve it systematically?

I learnt a lesson in persuasion for a small fee of Rs 10 that I paid the flower vendor for taking care of my sneakers for about twenty minutes.  Our fears, anxieties, and sensitivities can be easily played upon by those who want to persuade us. When these things happen, our eyes close and minds go to sleep. The strange thing is that they happen when we least expect them. We may be well fortified against the slick advertisement or the smart car salesman but not against the simple peasant.

Have you had any experience of being taken for a ride? Do share it with us. Also tell us when you discovered that you had been persuaded far too easily.