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Seeking the Infinite; Mahakumbh 2025 by Yakub Matthew

Mega events such as the Mahakumbh…bring upon us the realization that humankind has one unifying divine core—Yakub Matthew in his introduction ‘United in the quest of the infinite’.

By Usha Akella

In our times, where one feels pressured to cast her/his lot with Left or Right—and other fractured polarities—and be damned by ‘others’ either way, a bold book arrives shining and fearless at the IAAC Lit Fest 2025 to announce the possibilities of reconciliation—and harmony. A mighty event rooted in a myth of nectar, and a mighty book exploring the infinite, no less—Seeking the Infinite redefines the Mahakumbh as one of humanity’s heritages, drawing our attention to water as a fundamental metaphor of purification, unity, surrender and theclarion call from India of the truth of one ultimate religion—humanity. As a reader you can position yourself on its shore and marvel at the timeless ripples of faith ignited by—hope.

Dedicated to the journey within, Yakub Mathhew’s book aims to capture the unifying gravitas of the Mahakumbh—a once in 144 years riverine confluence or Triveni Sangam (reflected in the skies by a rare astronomical configuration of Jupiter, Sun and Moon and the orbital revolution of Jupiter around the sun) in Prayagraj that welcomed an estimated 640 million devotees in 2025. The three rivers whose waters become a single stream are read symbolically in various fashion but mostly as an emblem of unity. That a gathering of such staggering numbers rolled off peacefully, across nearly two months is a miracle in itself. A coffee table book with stunning visuals laid across 246 pages and lit by luminous quotes and narratives, Seeking the Infinite has immortalized the Mahakumbh as never before.

The very dedication states the resolution and celebration of paradoxes—the outward pilgrimage is veritably the turning within to touch some ineffable shore we carry in our souls. The book in its scope, aim and production is a Mahakumbh of an undertaking unafraid to boldly go toward impeccable standards of production and an archaeology of semantics. Turning the pages of this book feels like a mimicry of the journeying, by entering the preliminary waters of the first chapter of ‘Blessings’ by a mystic, Hindu Yogis and a Cardinal (Sadhguru, Swami Avdeshanand Giri Maharaj ji, His eminence Oswald CardinalGracias & Maharaj Radhanath, Swamiji), onward to deeperwaters of musings and explorations—finally the reader emergesrefreshed and reminded of India’s eternal reverberating spiritual current. And of a tenacious civilization that has never been afraid to ask questions, and never been afraid to attempt to answer them. Answers that have buffeted along seemingly contradictory banks of form and formless, faith and agnosticism, ritual and dhyana—finally averring the human soul as the ultimate river to begin and end all queries and journeys—preserving mystery as the anthem of human existence. Theoverlapping waters of three rivers continue to transfer to the pages of this book asking for awakening from narrow and bigoted definitions of religion.

Yakub Matthew states his vision early on casting the Mahakumbh as an inter-national heritage not just Indian or Hindu. Though he defines himself as an accidental author Matthew is not an accidental seeker. The journey undertaken by a Syrian Christian New York based banker with his beloved wife, and a bevy of 19 seeker friends to celebrate his 60thbirthday and life post a dire illness has spawned what will be an everlasting tribute to the Mahakumbh. That he sought such an experience to define a rite of passage in human life is an indicator of the predilections of his soul. Raised by a mother widowed young in Delhi, a childhood reminiscent with interactions and mentorship with Mother Teresa and His Holiness Bishop Paulos Gregorios, perhaps the first seeds of faith in its most spiritual sense were laid. Also, raised by uncles (Dr. P.C Alexander and P. M. Thomas) who were public servants brought Yakub to the ken of the political and powerful—thus two worlds of the temporal and spiritual spanned the orb of his growing years. Yakub Matthew was never to forget a delicate balance of human and cosmic forces define life. Schooled in St. Xavier’s, and St Stephens College—a typical brand of Indian Christianity contoured by an Indian world view shaped his humanist values and global perspective. He finally went on to manage his worldly role as a banker in New York City abiding also by his inner yearnings. A privileged life has not tainted his wonder of existence or barred his unceasing exploration of subtler mysteries.

The Kumbh till this visit was seared in his memory as a theatrical event of human drama, but alchemized spiritually into an experiential landmark expressed as, “I was just an insignificant speck of dust on the soap bubble of universe.” The riotous burgeoning of sounds and sights around him during night and day, were not cacophony but the pulsating of his soul; as he dipped into the waters as one of the multitude, he felt blessed for the opportunity to offer prayers ‘for peace in this turbulent world.’ The mammoth spectacle of humanity, and human endeavor brought forth an utterance, Shakti in Bhakti from him, and the Mahakumbh translated into a riveting passage of transformation too deep for words—reaffirming the knowledge that the microcosm and the macrocosm vibrate together: My soul too sang along with the music of the spheres.

A delightful potpourri of glimpses, encounters, and profound impressions rooted in personal experience, literary and academic scholarship, spiritual insight and musings, by an eclectic spectrum of spiritual, fashionista, religious, administrators, medical, journalistic, corporate, political, authorial, commerce and business, thespian, academia, sports, film, artistic, and musical luminaries

such as Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, Ashok Hinduja , Ayaan Ali Bangash, Kabir Bedi, Dr. Jagdish Bhagwati, Rajarshi Bhupendra Modi, Harish Parvatheni, Kamalesh Sharma, Satya Hinduja, Kirti Azad, Meenakshi Lekhi, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, George Matthew, Sardar Manpreet Singh Badal, Lord Meghnand Desai, Sunil Bahadur Thapa, Thomas Easley, Reverend Dr. Victor Lobo, Reverend Father Thomas V. Kunnukal, Dr. Navin Mehta, Lady Kishwar Desai, Sagarika Ghose, Dr. Pevez Ahmed, Sandeep Chakravorty, Prakash Shah, Radhika Bhattacharya Shah, Jayasri Burman, Mohit Burman, Farokh Engineer, Muzaffar Ali, Bibhu Mohapatra, Dr. Sushma Dhar Kaul, Jamuna Tamang, Brahm Rishi, Dr Mona Milkha Singh, Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Rajat Bahri, Neeha Nagpal, Brahm Rishi, Kavita Tankha, Yuri Mouchan, Sachit Soni, Raj Shahani, Anjum Nath, Didi Krishna Kumari, Rakesh Kaul, Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati, Haji Syed Salman Chisty, Swami Swaroopananda, Anjum Nath, Abu Samuel, Anupam Kher, Ashi Sonam Choden Dorjee Wangchuck, Dr. Dinesh Singh, Swami Sarvapriyananda, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Mokshapriya, Sooryanarayana Swami Ajin, Suhel Seth, Yogmata Keiko Aikawa, Kabir Bedi, Nawab Kazim Ali Khan, Paresh Maity, Marcia De Luca, Radhe Jaggi, Neelima Dalmia Adhar, Dr. Achintya Moulick, Barkha Dutt, Ustad Hidayat Khan—capture the myriad reverberations of the geo spiritual event from mythic to symbolic to historic to humanistic. Even Technology played its part in the 2,750 AI driven CCTV cameras monitoring the festivities as we are reminded by Amitabh Kant. Dr. Dinesh Singh creatively reads the famous and disappeared RiverSaraswati as the flow of humanity itself. Dr. Achintya Moulick brilliantly unravels his surgical work as his MahaKumbh, another kind of confluence of science and faith where he has witnessed miracles, the ‘hospital a temple, every heartbeat a mantra’. Such creative and profound writerly narratives mark the book as a treasure house of fresh insights.

But the book must not mistakenly be read as a page turner of the famous, high or mighty but rather viewed as a shore on which the melding of voices form one voice of homage to capture perhaps the mightiest spiritual occurrence in India—the Mahakumbh—which in turn ignites a reexamination of India’s role in the world, and her eternal/everlasting (Sanatan} message of unity in diversity. The pluralistic waters of the Mahakumbhare representative of the eternal seeking for the divine by the peoples of the earth, fired by the single current of—yearning for the transcendental. Water has no boundary, it surges and flows, turns corners and erodes hardened hearts. The Mahakumbh, demands all masks and attires are surrendered to her waters, to find a single skin underneath of—humanity.

Even though, the tumult has quieted down, millions have returned home, the waters lap on in all those who dipped into the sangam. And, symbolically now we dip in the pages of this book. For those such as myself, who could not attend the event, reading the book is a reenactment of the ritual bringing alive its excitement and energy. The book has done a great service memorializing the event making it tangible for posterity.Prayagraj, a holy site of pilgrimage just like Mecca, Jerusalem or Kashi is the human heart where we will find the reconciliations of all contradictions and paradoxes. Where Love finally is the remainder and beginner, and the one signature of the doer of all our inner and outer undertakings. As, is expressed so beautifully: This book will help us listen more deeply—to the longings of our own heart, to the silent music of creation, and to the voice of the One who speaks through both—His eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias.

Author: Usha Akella, Austin-based poet, author of 12 books that mostly include poetry and spiritual musical dramas, is also known as the founder of the decade-old Matwaala(www.matwaala.com) to amplify South Asian diasporic voices, and www.the-pov.com, a website of curated interviews. Her editorial works include a book on Keki Daruwalla ‘A House of Words’ published by the Sahitya Akademi.