Magh Mela-2023: Techies, budding professionals from India, abroad serving happily

In the quest for salvation, spirituality and to earn some good karma, youngsters – lawyers, budding techies, medicos and aspiring computer professionals – have arrived at the Magh Mela tent city from different corners of India and even abroad to serve pilgrims. Here, they are happily cleaning camps, washing utensils and serving food to devotees on the banks of the Sangam.

As the serpentine queue of devotees sit in Pangat (lined up) for the community lunch at the Magh Mela camp of Swami Harichaitanya of Tikarmafi Ashram, among the volunteers is a 40-year-old man serving with devotion. Tushar Kant, has come all the way from Helsingborg, Sweden, to serve as a volunteer at the annual religious fair.

Working with a well-known Sweden-based IT company, Capgemini AB, for the last six years, Kant says, “I have come from Sweden with my family to participate in the annual religious fair. I am serving food to pilgrims and seers at the camp who come here after their prayers and dip at Sangam for meals. I am excited for Mauni Amavasya as we are expected to get a huge number of pilgrims and I would be able to serve them and get their blessings.”.

It’s an altogether different experience and pleasure to volunteer here at Magh Mela, he added.

Kant is not alone. Several prominent camps of Magh Mela have professionals and budding professionals serving pilgrims.

Among the prominent organisations feeding seers and the pilgrims is Om Namah Shivay camp at the Magh Mela.

“We are running five food-distributing points in sector 1 and 2 of the Magh Mela area and we open our service at 7am and continue to serve devotees throughout the day. Although the hi-tech machines installed in our kitchen helps us cook food faster for around 50,000 to 60,000 devotees on any normal day—which goes up to around 1.5 lakh on a major bathing day —but it is the huge army of young volunteers whose support helps us meet the daily challenge of preparing and serving food to so many devotees,” said Deepak, managing food distribution at the camp..

Likewise, a group of budding techies from United College of Engineering and Research, Naini, too, are frequent visitors to the Magh Mela area and participate in serving devotees at any random ashram in the Mela area.

The group of friends including Shashwat, Satyam Prajapati, Kirti Jha, Shakti Shivam Ojha and Sonal Mishra have been visiting the Mela area in the run up to Makar Sankranti, and now Mauni Amavasya, to serve food.

“Serving devotees and seers at the Magh Mela gives us immense pleasure and satisfaction,” said Shashwat, a BTech (computer science) student.

Likewise, Rishabh, Anmol and Harsh are pursuing MBA from a prominent private university and this group of friends serves pilgrims during the Bhandra organised at another camp to feed devotees coming to the Magh Mela on all major bathing days.

“I try to come here annually for my peace and serving devotees. Currently, I have been entrusted with the task of collecting used plates and taking them for washing with the help of other volunteers,” said Anmol with a smile.

Close by, busy in work is Sanyam, having a diploma in business analysis and pursuing his engineering studies from Noida. “My job is serving food to pilgrims and seers who keep dropping in all through the day for meals. For me, the days spent here are special as I believe that it brings me close to God and allows me to serve devotees coming here from all corners of the country”.

At camps of Nageshwar Dham, Saket Dham and Santosh Das ‘Satua Baba’ also a number of such people are serving pilgrims and seers.