YOUNG MAN AND THE SEA

Saturday 9 May 2015

Bright sun in the night

Friday 25 January 2013

SEVEREST PUNISHMENT TO PREDATORS

If God happens divide the whole Universe between men and women, more than half of the Universe will go for the women-share. This is speculated for her three big and vital contributions—1. Her nine-months-pregnancy factors—2. The divine factor of her breast feeding (giving elixir of life)---3. The divine factor of patience in fostering her child. Women, therefore, are worshipped every where in one way or other. Those who do not understand or evaluate such common things are mindless or merely simpleton or dunce. It can be hoped that, one day, such persons will understand and evaluate its subtle implications. But those who do not understand this or evaluate it and go to the extent of sexual assaults on woman with beastly behaviour are no longer human beings. So such inhuman should be paid in their own coins. The need to be treated and punished in that inhuman ways. All these predators should be given severest punishment something more severe than hanging. According to Justice R S Sodhi, hanging will augment the dangers on victims’ lives. The predators will try to efface the main witness--- the victim ( or victims). This looks meticulously logical. These days newspapers are replete with the news of both rape and murder. The news of incestual rapes is also found most off and on. I think the following measures should be adopted forthwith to mitigate cases of sexual violence on women and girls--- 1. Special Courts for speedy trials and judgments should be managed.--- 2. The predators (culprits) should be deprived of right to vote or right fight elections.---3. A big heavy (but bearable) ring of iron rod be locked round their neck even after the duration of punishment is over …. 4. At all working offices of the women they should be permitted to work from 10 AM to 4.30 PM. In case the work remains pending, other women are appointed for its disposal…. 5. Police protection or escort be given to the women working in an office or factory in the night shifts…..6. Women police should be appointed in requisite numbers to avoid all such mishaps anywhere….7. All those youths who had assembled at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi on 22-12-12 and also the youths who wanted to but could not come due to the reasons best known to them and all the youths who burnt candles and prayed for the eternal peace of the Vasant Vihar victim (Damini) are advised to keep vigilant eyes on such predators in their respective locality and help the police of that area as far as possible to curb such sexual violence…8. All ‘netas’ be honestly serious in curbing this dragon like menace. Netas like Narain Datta Tewary, Gopal Kanda, Shiw Charan Sharma, ‘Chand Mohammad’ and many of their ilks be thrashed out from public affairs and active politics on account of their misconduct….9. In all schools and colleges ethical, moral and emotive education be imparted to prepare responsible, active and brave citizens of India, able to face all such odd situations…. 10. Laws, powerful enough, be enacted to enable police as well as the courts to spread easily its tentacles to reach and grip the necks of all offenders in such cases. If all these speculated views are given a practical shape and facts be given a fast go, then feminine prestige in India will be saved and a sense of fast relief will be felt by all women. This will be a fair and honest tribute to the departed soul of Damini whose death at Singapur sowed the seeds of a great revolution in India. Mr Altamas Kabir deserves our heartiest thanks for sending his message to all High Courts to start high track courts for finalising all cases of atrocities on women.

Giriwar Nandan Prasad, Jharkhand

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PATIENCE FOR GOODNESS

Jana was born in a poor family. His parents were illiterate. They were landless. They worked as labourer. They had to work hard all day long to make both ends meet. Sometimes Jana’s elder brothers also went with parents to work. Poverty persuaded them to do work. It added something to the total earning. His mother was simple and pious. Unlike other ladies in the neighborhoods she was calm and quite. No one ever heard her talking in high pitched sounds with anyone. Not to speak of quarrelling with anyone. Her life style was quite peaceful. She managed patiently with whatever they earned. She had four children. Jana was the youngest. He was intelligent, smart and good looking. Family members loved him very much. He was 11 years old but behaved like a grown up boy. He didn’t like the old and superstitious belief of their caste. He was against their mental backwardness. He despised to see most of the men and women of his caste quarrelling in drunken state. Therefore he liked to keep company with the children who read in schools. He would play with them if they by chance included him in their plays. The school going children were well-fed, well-clad and well-behaved. He would look at them with gloating eyes. Seeing those attending schools regularly he too thought to go there and read. He asked his parents to get him admitted in the primary school. He insisted hard to read with his friends. But his father had a wrong opinion. He believed schools and colleges were meant only for the high-ups. Poor had no entry in those institutions. They were born only to work, earn, eat and perish. They have to serve the rich. To educate children was to spoil them. His notion was old and inane. He only believed in what he had seen from his childhood. He was born in the Zamindari days. He saw his mother, father and brothers working in the houses of lords from his childhood. At that time none of his caste men got education, not to speak of the women-literacy. The old, the young and the child had to work to earn. To earn was to eat. Earning was so meagre that the family could only fill their stomach. At the time of greater needs they had to borrow from the big farmers or the moneylenders. Nearly the same were the conditions of most of the people of his class. Their children too got easily acclimatized to the prevailing situation. They walked, ran and jumped naked. They defecated in public places without any hitch or hesitation. Sometimes their noses ran with mucus fluids. They played and danced with drum-beating to make noise and pass time. Elder children tended cattle. For this the big formers employed them at niggardly pittance. But Jana was odd among them. He didn’t believe in it. His mindset didn’t permit to follow his father’s foot-prints. He saw other boys and girls of his age-group going regularly to the school. He thought many times why he and his brothers and sisters are not allowed to go there to read. It smelt of some long trickling intrigues in the veins of society.

Sometimes his parents would ask him to work in the field but he would refuse somehow or other. He would stealthily skip from the house and go near the school. He liked to pass time at its big gate. He liked to see the high caste students reading well in the classes. He would see with tantalizing eyes at the uniformly dressed boys and girls seated in the class rooms. He strongly longed to wear the same dress and sit with them. But he was weary with his luck. He was born in a society where education had no importance at all. His anger would rise against his parents and other elders of the society but would soon die down. In the Tiffin time his friends would come out and sit with Jana. With him they would share the light food brought by them from their houses. Jana would bring water for them and wash the Tiffin-boxes at the end. He would hear them talk about the teachers and their teachings. One teacher was very popular among them. His name was Sunil Babu. He was kind and compassionate. He loved the sincere students. Jana’s daily presence at the gate could not escape his eyes. He became eager to know more of him. He observed their day to day activities closely. At first he took it lightly. He thought it to be an ordinary event. But its continual repetition stirred his mind and drew his attention. He no more could resist himself. He called Jana and his friends to know the details. He heard them attentively. He was impressed by Jana’s strong desire to read. He asked him to meet at his house. Jana was delighted. He thought it a divine event. That a learned man had told to see him at home was a matter of great pride for this poor boy. That day he was not in himself. He ran to his house as an instantly released arrow from a strong bow. He reached home panting. His mother was by chance in the house. She was startled to see him in such a state. His delighted face and expression sparked off divine lights. His mother asked him, “What miracle had happened with you?” Jana was unable to tell her at first due to his ardent gasping but few minutes after, he told her everything. The mother remained nonchalant. She only chuckled affectedly to share his pleasure. But Jana was too jubilant to be relaxed. He pressed his mother to take him to the teacher’s house. She tried to avoid him saying ‘this or that’. She told they are big people. They won’t help the poor. You better work with us in the paddy field or tend the cattle. But Jana was not going to relent. There was no space in his mind for agreeing with his mother. This act continued till evening. His father came and heard the details. He said to his wife, “There is no harm meeting with the teacher. Go with Jana and see what happens.” His mother said, “I feel shy. You should go.” But it was final that she would go.

Jana was delighted to hear his father’s statement. He requested his mother to meet with the teacher immediately. Now she had no option left but to go with his son. They soon reached the teacher’s house. It was 6.00 pm. He was in his house. They both waited outside the house. Teacher’s mother peeped through the window. She called her son shouting his name- Sunil. After a short while Sunil Kumar came out. He saw Jana with a woman. ‘She must be his mother’, he thought. A sympathetic feeling rose on his face. To his mother he said, “Why didn’t you put him in a school? The boy is promising. He would do well in future.” At first the poor lady blushed but after a pause she said the whole story of her house and of her neighborhood. Mr. Sunil heard her say patiently and was drowned in a deep anguish. He thought that her non-participation in education is not a matter of a day or two but it dates back centuries in whole. Her passivity is the outcome of the exploitation and tyranny perpetrated against them from thousands of years back. His lost attention was retrieved suddenly by Jana’s whispers made to his mother’s ear. The teacher was a humanist. His sympathy surged for the helpless boy. He told in a firm voice, “If you allow this boy to read here I shall give him every help till he reads in this school or in a college or university.” Mother’s face shone with delight. She showed no hesitation and readily agreed. She spoke politely through her veiled face, “I am happy to hand over this child at your kind feet. He will be at your service from now. I wish he should be happy in the changed environments.”

Mr. Sunil Kumar called the boy in and said good bye to the mother. Jana threw a quaint look at his mother. He had a tinge of triumph in his eyes. The lone lady returned home with heavy heart. She narrated to her husband the details of Jana’s story. Jana’s father was both happy and sad to know the details. He was happy for his son’s free education and sad for his long absence. He took a long time to reconcile with the changed situation. Jana’s absence made the family members sad. Friends of his mohalla too didn’t like his go. But Jana was very happy in the guru’s house. It was almost like the ancient gurukul. He felt as if after a long struggle he came to his own house. There was a very sober and common mother to greet him as her son. She was lovingly called Guru Ma by other students. There were a few other students who had been given free facilities for accommodation, food and education. There was a big chunk of fenced land around his house. Its total cultivable area was not less than ten acres. These students worked in the field to produce for their own needs. Rice, wheat, gram and different vegetables were easily produced. Dairy products were also made available to all the residents of the Sunil Gurukul. The teacher had a herd of lactating cows of good breed. Sufficient milk was available for everyone. He had a good plan to recycle the dairy wastes for the fields’ compost and manure. The cow-dung and other bio-degradable wastes were dumped in big pits to make composts. Its use made his vast land requisitely fertile. The by-products like chaffs, straws, hays, weeds and grass were used as cattle’s fodder. The students and other employees both were healthy and happy with the teacher’s family members. All did their duties with full faith, devotion and attention. Things went on well within the Gurukul for many years.

Tulsidas wrote in the famous epic Ramayana, where there is goodness there is prosperity, and where there is ill thinking there is misery. “Jahan sumati tahan sampati nana,

Jahan kumati tahan bipati nidhana.”

The teacher paid equal attentions to physical, mental and spiritual development of his students. He was kind, sympathetic and loving to all. No distinction between his sons and students was seen therein. As such its result was shining. The inmates always passed in first division. Once a student enters there by the grace of God, his first division is laid secured by the grace of this teacher. Therefore his gurukul’s name had spread far and wide. Many aware guardians preferably sought admission in this gurukul than in the school hostel. The school itself had a well furnished hostel facility. More than three hundred students could be accommodated there. But each year many seats remained usually vacant. The hostel superintendent would try to seduce eager students to take admission there but even than thirty to forty percent seats usually fell vacant. But here in the Gurukul there was heavy rush. The teacher took admission tests every year. Only the competent students could get entry. Others had to go for the school hostel. The teacher had to face a lot of pressure and request from some mulish guardians. But he would refuse all those who didn’t fulfill the requisite criteria. Jana was a lucky boy. He had teacher’s special blessing over him. Jana was admitted in the school also. Sunil Sir managed everything for him. Dressed in the school-uniform he looked very smart. His greatest dream became true. He was now not stopped at the gate. His first day experience of the school was unique and memorable one. He soon became a part and parcel of the school and the gurukul as well. Some students didn’t find it easy to adjust with this newcomer but there was a strict reign of discipline. No one could violate. Jana read unhindered. Among all other students of VII class he gradually fared well. In the final examination he stood first in his class. His name spread in the school and all bestowed love and affection on him. He even raised the name of his mentor, Sunil Sir. It was he who had picked up the gem from the heaps of rags. It was his eye that had recognized Jana’s worth.

Sunil Sir had two sons Bintu and Bikku. They read in X and IX class respectively. Their performance in the school was very good. All teachers were pleased with them. The headmaster also loved Sunil ‘sons. Several times they were given prizes. Jana was junior to them. But the trio lived in the Gurukul as own brothers. He had then become a familiar member of the family. Jana had the habit of learning his all lessons at usually one attempt. His teachers and classmates were left surprised at all activities. Sometimes Jana’s parents would come to see him at the hostel. They would peep through the gates’ opening and wait there eagerly with due patience. When the gatekeeper would see them he would inform Jana. Taking permission from the teacher or Guru Ma he would run fast to meet them at the gate. His parents would become overwhelmed with pride and pleasure to see the shining face of Jana. Sometimes Guru Ma would call them and give something to eat. She would also tell them the good qualities and educational achievements of Jana. Sunil Sir would suggest them not to disturb him at short intervals. The flabbergast parents would immediately beg permission to go. While on way back home both discussed the good luck of Jana who got new leaf life by the blessing of God. Sunil Sir was a god-send agent.

Thus times passed gradually on and on. Weeks, months and years rolled on. Works, therein, got routinely done. Bintu and Bikku did MBA after post graduation and both got good jobs in a reputed multinational company. Both were married soon after their jobs. Despite all pre-plans to settle together both were transferred to different cities of India. Their works were appreciated well by the the superiors and the boss. After sometimes the company needed them to work on foreign lands. The first was sent to America and the second to London. Their wives accompanied them. During first few years they would regularly call their parents on hotlines but after that the call- frequency gradually slowed down. By this time a wave of mass transfer swept all nationalised schools of the state. Sunil Sir also was displaced to join a good school in a commissionary town. He had no option but to hand over the hostel’s charge to his advocate brother. For three years he ran the hostel in the name of Sunilji. But bad luck over-shadowed the hostel as the all the school teachers of the state went on a three months long strike. Hostelers fled away and didn’t return even after the schools reopened. The big flourishing hostel of meritorious students soon wore a ruined look. It is well said that the importance of a good temple depends solely on the good performance of its priest.

Nine years slipped away soon. Sunil Sir looked more pale and old. He had to face two woes at the same time. The first was due to the apathy of sons and the second was the loss of hostel. His sons and daughter-in-laws paid very little heed to the heads of family. Few letters and a parcel of photographs had come in this gap of time. At last a message came to bring them happiness and hope. It was from the first son. It said that he was coming to India on the company-duty. He wrote he find out time to visit them (his mother and father as well as in-laws house). His wife, Sony, too was coming with her eight year old son. Sunil Sir and his wife were not within their bounds to see his eldest son, daughter-in-law and the English styled grand-son. Long awaited day came. Great happiness had come in their retired life. Their eyes had petrified waiting for them. They would often regret why they had allowed their sons go abroad. The night passed in great festivity. They shared experiences of their life at home and abroad. They ate best culinary prepared by the old lady- the mother (Guru Ma). 24 hours passed by. Now it was Sony’s time of showing her deep embarrassment for staying at such a ‘filthy’ and conjested place. The small grandson too wept and supported his mother to leave this place. Sunil Babu’s plight was pitiable The old lady’s eyes were lachrymose. But the chic young lady was unmoved. She pressed hard her husband to set off soon. They had planned to go to her father’s house. It was in Delhi. It was big and well-styled. There they had to stay for a week. Here the old parents were haggard and pallid. Soon the beauty of spring time turned into horrors of terrible hurricane. At last the oldies succumbed to their pressure and had to bid them good-by. The desolation of the deserted olds was boundless. In the midst of utter agony weeks and months passed by. The son’s separation hang extremely heavy on the mother. She fell seriously ill. The family doctor saw her but her condition deteriorated day and night. She lost her appetite soon after she started taking medicine as per doctor’s advice. Her body graduately got emaciated. It was a matter of gravest concern for the retired teacher. He prayed god beseaching grant of a new lease of her life but god, as if, had turned a deaf ear to him. The perplexed father phoned his son and Sony. They assured to deposit some money in his father’s account for better treatment but refused to return to see the mother. The news of Guru Ma’s illness reached anyhow to Jana. He had left the hostel some ten years ago. However Sunil Sir had taken all cares for his higher studies. After doing MBA Jana started working in a reputed firm in Mumbai. His labour and sincerity pushed him soon to the post of assistant manager. He drew Rs 60,000.00 as monthly salary. He married an educated girl of Carnataca. She was Pinky Dobley. She too was working in the same firm. In all their monthly earning was more than a lakh. They were pulling on well. Jana’s parents some times went to meet them in Mumbai. They were very happy to see Jana in such a hi-fi condition. Their eyes would get wet with the forceful imulse of divine pleasure. In such hours of happiness they would never miss remembering Sunil Babu and Guru Ma. In this sequence when they had gone to Mumbai last time Jana’s mother told her son the whole stories of Guru Ma’s illness and the passive behaviour of her son and Bahu. Jana became exceedingly anxious and worried. He spent a night in utter restlessness. Next day he took leave officially and boarded a train. In 28 hours he reached his village. He rushed to Sunil Babu’s house. He wept to see the condition of Guru Ma. Her eyes too were lachrymose. The old teacher was pale, pallid and haggard. His look had lost its lustre. He was speechless. Once a teacher-prodigy had bestowed support to many but now he had leaned to hold a support from others. Few months before he was quite happy, stout and strong. No sign of old age was seen on his face. But now the situation had taken U-turn. First due to the apathetical attitude of his son and daughter-in-law and the second due the serious illness of his wife. Jana requested them to be ready to take the first flight to Mumbai from Ranchi. Sunil Babu wanted to avoid his planning and said him not to bother. But Jana was adament and firm. All were ready. He sent message to his wife about his plan. She arranged there everything nicely and came to the aerodrome to receive them. Plane landed at Mumbai airport as per its schedule. Jana’s wife received them warmly. She had brought an ambulance too. Sunil babu and Guruma blessed the new ‘Bahu’ when she touched their feet. She gave her a gold chain and a ring. All went to the Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Goregaon, Link Road, Mumbai. It was near their residence. She had set everything welll beforehand. Therefore the doctor admitted her in ICU and started treatment. Sunil Sir stood there as a silent spectator. Jana’s wife was very attentive. She requested her husband to take the respected Sir home to be fresh. She assured to be present there soon to prepare the bunch. Sunil Babu hesitated a bit but saw there was no need to stay. He went up the ICU, saw her and sent a message through the sister that all are in the lodge in the campus. She waved her hand as if she had received the message. The old man came down satisfied and went with Jana to his residence. There he was living with his wife for more than a year. It was a 2-BHK flat at 4^th floor in an Appartment of Goregaon West. This was sufficient for Jana’ small family and his guests. Jana’s wife came in time. She hastily prepared brunch and served. Sunil Babu asked Jana to sit and take the meal but he humbly said that he will have that with Pinky. After the lunch he wanted to pay off the hospital expenditure. He took out his purse but Jana was pale and mute. His wife came to his rescue. She said with wet eyes, “ Babuji ! we are your own humble, small and earning children. Please give us right to expend on everything including the treatment cost. You have made Jana able enough to meet your life-long expenses henceforth. With him I too share the same blessing, love and affection you bestow on him. It is our humble duty now to serve you and Guru ma till the rest of our life.” Jana’s face sparkled with joy at his wife’s advocacy and presentation. Sunil Babu had no words that day to sort out a reply to this modern-age girl, Pinky Dobley. He wondered how a modern educated girl could be so sensitive to express things in such a lucid manner! He blessed the duo whole heartedly and wanted to go back to the hospital. Though there was no need of any family attendant in the ICU, yet they went there. It was 10 PM. Nurses didn’t allow them to inter into the ICU but Sunil Babu requested the Doctor incharge to see the patient on bed no 10. He was allowed only to minutes time. He changed his dress putting on a greenish, sterlised, gown. His wife said she was feeling well. He needed not to bother. He said about Jana and his well mannered wife. He returned saying he would meet in the early morning. After 3 days her condition improved significantly. On the fifth day she was brought out of ICU and lodged in a paying ward. Here an extra attached room with a bed and sofa set were provided. Sunil Babu lodged here. Jana and his wife paid regular and two-time visits. Doctors and nurses kept due care of the patient. Within a short period of fourteen days Guru Ma was finally relieved. Sunil Babu waited at Jana’s house for an extra seven days then said, “ Jana and Pinky ! Now we want to go back to my house in Jharkhand. All money I had brought lie with me untouched. Do take this all and purchage this new building. Jana wept in joy and Pinky’s eyes’ too were wet. Jana hastily went inside and took out a paper (document) from the trunk. The house had been already purchaged in the name of Sunil Babu and Guru Ma. He also said that I had built a pucca house for his own parents and brother in the village. They are happy there. They know this that here the house is purchaged in your name. This was their suggestion and order. We only executed it. It was time for Sunil Babu and Guru Ma to melt down from a thick heap of iceberg into small chips of floating ice pieces. Sunil Babu complied and lived there for many days. Their sons and daughters-in-laws too visited them after a long interval. Grandsons and grand daughters had no complain of living in a small and nasty town. But Sunil Babu’s nostalgiac mind some times flew past like a hovering big bird into the distant past days of his old village, the school and his prestigious hostel.

Giriwar Nandan Prasad, Jaigiri Niwas, Hazaribag, Jharkhand.

01-01-2013

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Friday 17 February 2012

Young man and the sea

The Young Man and the Sea

It was summer season. I had gone on a tour to Orissa. My five friends had accompanied me. We were of the same age group. We had jobs in the same firm. Our boss was a very generous and intelligent man. He knew the techniques to take out good results for the company. Through lots of incentives and inspirations he kept the officers and workers up and doing. We young officers were in his good book. This tour, he allowed for us, on company’s cost. He had a good say among the board of directors. It was an easy task for him to get approval of this tour. I was made the team leader. My friends lovingly called me GN. We had checked in a hotel at Bhuneshwar. It is the capital of Orissa. We found the town good and clean. Roads were wide and clear. Traffic was not so heavy. Orissa people were simple and straight forward. The hotel attendants were honest, prompt and active. They as well as the manager took every care. My friends were very jolly and accommodative. They took little time to adjust anywhere. There also they had adjusted well. The manager of the hotel procured vehicles, food packages, railway tickets etc as we required for visiting holy and tourist places. The rates were reasonable. We had visited almost all local sites including the famous Lingraj Temple. The Dolphin Park, Chilka Lake, Konark Sun Temple, Ratnagiri, Udaygiri, Khandgiri, and Nandan Kanan etc we visited on hired vehicles. In a weeklong time we enjoyed the trips very much in and around the capital town.

Then we planned to shift to Puri. The manager gave me the address of a new hotel there, named Nilgiri Hotel. He had phoned the hotel manager to reserve two front rooms. It was just near the Gourang Mahaprabhu crossing. Rooms were on the first floor. They were facing the sea. We came here by train. By auto we came to this new hotel. The manager was waiting for us. We checked in the reserved rooms after doing the due formalities. Both the rooms were spacious and well furnished. The waiters brought our bags and briefcases from the lobby. They opened the big windows. Sufficient sunlight spread everywhere. The windows were well grilled and curtained. The outer terrace was full of small flowering plants. Pigeons were moving up and down making their usual love sounds. Beyond the window we had full view the Bay of Bengal and its long sandy shore. We were charmed to see the surging sea. Its turbulent waves struck the shore in quick successions. The existence of the rising and falling waves was short-lived. Its emergence and disappearance on blue sea-water gave the message of ephemeral aspect of life. People on this earth come and go in a short time like these waves.

It was just mid-day time. People were taking baths in the sea. The young ones were frolicking in the high rippling waves. Some of them were on inflated tubes. Men, women, boys and girls were in festive mood. Some stood on the vast stretch of the beach and looked at the waves. All wished to wash away their anxieties in the saline water of the Bay of Bengal. We could not resist our temptation to touch the sea water. After being fresh we called the waiter and ordered for the lunch. He said, “O K Sir, Please come in the dining hall after half an hour.” We then came down in the hotel’s lobby and taking due suggestions from the manager we frisked away. After a short while we became a part of the mammoth crowd. Our joys knew no bounds to get at the shore. Sights were wonderful. Blue sea-water, rising and heaving, thrashed the big heaps of sands. The sea and the sky seemed to meet at the distant horizon. We took a handful of the sea water and sprinkled overhead. It was a queer experience. The vast kingdom of God seemed all the more mysterious, holy and sacrosanct. We bowed in reverence to the sea-god. More than half an hour had passed. Our eyes wished to capture the unending beauty of Nature in the shortest possible time.

One friend said, “I am hungry, let us go back to the hotel.” The second said, “We have already taken bath at the former hotel in the capital town….” The third interrupted, “Don’t think we are going to jump into the sea just now.” Then we all planned to enjoy sea-bath very next day. It was 2 PM. Thirst and hunger rose to its peak, though eyes were not ready to be diverted from the sea. We were highly amused with wonders of the sea. Our eyes were not ready to move towards the new hotel or towards anything other than the waves and people frolicking on them. But we had to reconcile. Anyhow we plodded towards the lodge. Sand surface was hot. It was hard to move barefoot. With strain and effort we came to the hotel. There was rush in the lobby. We just sat on a vacant sofa and chairs. The waiter was pleased to see us. He requested us to move to the dining hall. We followed him. The hall was full of people and their humming sounds. All were taking mid day meal. A round table with six chairs was cleared for us. We took seats and waited for a short while. Then delicious dishes were served. It contained all we had ordered. I felt a bit of difference in the taste of vegetable preparation. But it was o k. Then we took rest in our rooms. Again watching the turbulent sea from the window was a happy pastime.

In the evening we went eastward to join the religious ceremonies performed at the famous Juggernaut Temple. There was heavy rush all around the prestigious place. Hindus of all walks of life were seen there. Few non-Hindus were seen doing their own business. There was a big macadamized space in front of the temple. People said that this vast space and the wide roads are used for the purpose of Rath Yatra every year. We then entered into the majestic temple premises. Saw with awe the artistically built temple structure. It was constructed some six hundred years back by a Kalinga king. Its sacrosanct interior consists of the holy deities of Lord Juggernaut, Balram and Subhadra. There are few other small temples in the vast premise. Here many poor people take meal freely. Few people paid something to the fake priests for that meal. We took a priest to explain some important things about the temple and meet us at the sea shore hotel. He told us many things that actually we didn’t know at all. Till late in the night spent time inside and outside the temple. We then finally came back. The manager was waiting for us. We took dinner and went to the market on the beach. A big market was held on the wide sea-beach. Many things were sold there but most of the things were made from the shells and corals found in the sea. Late in the night we returned and slept a sound sleep. In the morning the sun’s bright rays awoke us. We talked for a while our yesterday’s experience. Then one by one we got ready. It was 9.30 AM. Every one of us was eager to jump upon the undulating waves. We took tea and rushed towards the sea. There was heavy rush. Men and women, boys and girls, children, foreigners, etc were taking baths or enjoying the superb sights. We took off the dresses and on our inner underwear jumped into the sea water. The waves gushed over heads with immense force. When the waves ebbed we got up the saline water and rejoiced. This bathing, jumping and playing with the turbulent waves continued for two ours. The unusual frolics gave heavenly pleasure. The sun rose overhead. Hunger and thirst started their works. Some of my friends indicated me to be out. I too felt the need to go out. We had enjoyed to the full. But one thought came to my mind just then. It changed the whole thing. It took me to the threshold of death. I saw the death door from close range. Even today I shudder to remember that horrendous incident. Its spectre continued for years to haunt.

When I was about come out of the sea water I thought to wash away the sea sands spread in my hairs. I bent a bit with my head down to wash. But instantly a furious wave came, threw me down and dragged me along the shore with my face and stomach downward. First of all I was stupefied as to what and how it happened. In the mean time the big mass of ongoing wave water started receding. The down going water pulled me flat towards the sea. I resisted hard by thrusting my fingers into the sandy sea bed. I could hold my body being swept away by the fast receding bulk of the wave water for few moments. For this I remember I struggled hard. I tried as much I could to fight against the powerful flow. But I was defeated. I didn’t hold strong support. Sands turned helpless. My fingers got released. My whole body was at the mercy of the receding wave. I was then being swept away towards the Bay of Bengal. In those highly critical moments only one idea flashed that I couldn’t meet anyone. Then the total scene instantly changed. I was pushed in a very big hall of darkness. Nothing was visible. Only one small door lurked at a great distance. From there was a faint haze. May that door would have been the heaven’s inlet. In the big hall of gloom there was absolute peace. Peace in its all consummation. It was a queer experience. I had never felt such thing in my life. Mentally I was far away from my watery ambience. My body was in absolute rest. I was fully conscious, not of this world, but of that big hall of gloom. There all the basic human-instincts of Love, Anger and Fear had vanished. I was mentally transported to a new world. This seemed to be a small link between the heaven and the world I had left. I neither liked that world nor disliked. I was quite nonchalant. In the mean time an alternate, stronger, wave came upward. It pushed me forcefully, back to the shore. This wave was more powerful than the former. I was thrown up with great force. My body was lobbed at the safer region. The worldly consciousness sprouted forth. I got up. My friends were at a loss to find me vanished. They regained their cool to see me. They began asking me many questions. I was gasping and wheezing. My body was trembling and shivering. I was extremely tired. All the peace, I had felt in the vast hall of darkness, had vanished. I was unable to utter a word. They came near me. I signalled them to let me restore proper breathing. Normalcy returned slowly. After ten minutes I became able to open my mouth. But I was fearful. The waves looked ferocious. I answered in short, few of the questions of my friends. My mind was swirling. It was preoccupied thinking the sudden change of spiritual, mental and physical states. Where had the absolute peace gone and this tumultuous, shocking and alarming state had come, I failed to understand. What I was few minutes before and what I was, after being back to life, remains still an enigmatic riddle of my life. One thing, I can confidently say now, is that I could see from the closest range the mysticism of the peace of death and struggle of life on the earth. Men uselessly fear death because it has a lot of gifts in its treasure for them.

I was panting hard. My head was still not clear of sands. My friends were weary of my sudden change. I didn’t say them anything about the hall of death from which I had just returned. No one knew of my narrow escape from the clutches of death. It was strange and miraculous. God had granted me a new lease of life. Bizarre and weird was my journey from life to death and back. I was stupefied. All zeal and jest had gone. My friends were then impatient. They held my hand tight and pulled me out. We came to the dry sand heap. I saw back the roaring waves. It was frightening to look at them. I fearfully left the roaring sea. Soon we were in the hotel. I sat on a sofa and bent my head so that the chin touched the chest. Friends were at a fix to see me in such an alarming condition. They requested the manager to intervene. He came to me and very politely asked me several questions. At first I spoke nothing. He insisted me to tell the truth. At last I opened my mouth. I said the whole accounts in breathless tones. The manager held his head by both hands and thanked God. He was amazed at what had happened with me and how I was saved. Later on he disclosed that there were several deaths of the ignorant tourists due to the circular motions of waves. In such conditions the on going and down coming waves causes such circular motions of severe nature. When anybody falls in its trap he looses chances to come out alive. My friends looked at me with their mouths ajar.

We lived there for four days more. They regularly took bath in the bay but I didn’t dare. Once on intense insistence of my friends I took bath in the sea but I had to take help from the seaman. He put a flattened tube around my waist and held my hand firmly. We both started going 5 meters up and down in the mysterious sea-waves and enjoyed conversing with the god of sea.

[1]

Saturday 31 December 2011

I SAW TWO ALIENS

I Saw Two Aliens
     Stephen Hawkings, the famous astrophysicist of the world, expressed an apprehension of aliens' invasion on this earth. He said that he is almost certain that alien life exists in other parts of the universe. He uses a mathematical basis for this assumptions. He also said, "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational. The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like." He strongly believes that alien-lives not only exist on unknown planets but perhaps even in other extremely distant places, in between far off stars or even floating in outer space. He also warns that a few of these species might be very intelligent and can threaten the Earth. Contact with such species might be devastating for humanity." He advocated that, rather than try to establish contact, man should try to avoid contact with alien life forms. These are Hawkin's idea but today
scietists are much keen to explore extensively in this field and delve deep in unravelling the tangles of aliens lives.
     Flying Discs are other unidentfied flying objects (UFO) observed time to time at different parts of the world. Perhaps the oldest recording of a saucer-shaped object is from 1290, when a silver disc was reported flying over a village in Yorkshire. Disc-like flying objects were occasionally reported throughout the millennium. For example, in a mass sighting over Nuremberg in 1561, discs and spheres were reported emerging from large cylinders. They also frequently show a narrow beam of light descending from a saucer-like object. However, perhaps the first well-documented instance to specifically compare the objects to saucers, and the first to be widely reported, was the Kenneth Arnold sighting on June 24, 1947, while Arnold was flying near Mount Rainier. He reported seeing 9 brightly-reflecting vehicles.                                           Based on all these concepts James Camerone made a film Avtar, the highest ranking movie at the box-office. Its theme too is based on the aliens'( Na'vi) activities from the outer space. With high technicalities and precision he showed Na'vis and their wars with other giant animals of Pandora.
     In this connection I am going to narrate here a real story of aliens' appearance near my village Pobi,Ps Jamua, Dst Giridih, Jharkhand state of India. At a distance of one and half km from Jamua I had seen two aliens. One can easily locate this place and its road route on wikimapia or google.com.
   It was an evening of mid seventies of last century, most probably in 1974. It was twilight as the sun had already set in the far west. I was cycling back home from Jamua. My house is at a small distance from here. My bicycle was steadily moving on the Giridih-Koderma single pitched road. Nearly one and half KM distance I had traversed from Jamua. There is a depression on ground giving an incline to the road of about 200m length. I had crossed the down and up parts of this wide road. Then I was on plain path. There was no habitation of people on its either side. Barren land lay at vast stretch on the southern side of the road and in the north there were some paddy fields and Baso Ahar (Pond). I was musing and muring in myself with nonchalant air. I kept my legs moving up and down on the peddles with queer synchronic rythms. Bicycle was, then, running smoothly on the plain road. Twilight time and the canopy of silence lay spread over the fast fainting horizon. There stood a very big and old Peepal tree on left side of the road. When I was nearly at 40 ft from that old tree, which has now no existence, I heard a loudly audible air-shufling or rain-pelting sound from south. It just seemed that big rain drops were falling and pelting on on a dry hard land. It was all of a sudden, from the southern side of the barren field. Before I could understand anything I saw a giant alien running with tremendous speed,crossing the road within seconds. As I saw him crossing the road, in my front and while watching him closely,turning my eyes towards right side, I him found converging fast into a tiny shape on the wide stretch of the north horizon. And before I could recompose myself and try to understand the event, there again swooped one similar alien following him fast, with nearly the same speed. Both of them were running about two to three feet above the road and the ground. They looked closely identical. I guessed they were nearly 12 ft tall. Clad in faint brownish grey fur like cover, looked errect and smart. They had three antena like rods over their helmet that looked like woodpecker bird. I can guess it would have been 300 km/hr or even more. They had come from the southern side and crossing the road hustled away in the north. Their direction of flight was calculated. They scuttled away just in the eastern side of my village. They were tall, erect and lanky. Their outer wearing was presumably furry. It was of deep brown colour. Their heads looked similar to the heads of wood-pecker birds. Their faces were not distinctly seen. Three small aerials seemed attached to their heads or helmets. I can’t say this with due precision but it looked so. They were not fat, not winged either. Having no aggressive or inimical intentions towards the terrestrial beings, they flew past without hurting me. The case might be reverse too. They would have been fearful of me. I was a terrestrial being. I was moving on a strange, two wheeled, vehicle. I wonder what would have happened if collided. Their immense momentum would have smashed me into fragments. As far as I guess they might have been running on a tiny but highly sophisticated and well mechanised device. Both of them were quite separate from each other. Possibly they were running on the principle of hovercraft.
It is beyond doubt that they were highly advanced and scientifically well equipped beings of other planet of outer space. They might have come on the earth for some definite purpose. This visit would have not been for the first time. The forerunner would have visited more than once. They might have been a well trained in descending on the earth. The other runner following the former would have been a probationer. One thing was sure that their direction of flight and mission of works were preplanned. When I narrated this episode to most of my friends and seniors very few believed me. The more I tried to impress the truth upon them the more forcefully they negated it by saying simply that it was my phantasm or obsession. Whether anyone believes it or not I don’t care but I want to share this queer and true experience with anyone who is conducting intensive research on this subject (the aliens).            Here I must mention few of the newspaper tips and clippings in its reference.
   Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were born in Cleveland, Ohio. In June 1938 they created “Action Comics”. According to them the superhero of the action comics was a man of steel. He could fly in the sky without wings, run faster than speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and leap to any height in single bound. He was about 1.9 metres tall weighing 102 kilos. Though this was a fiction in 1938 but now I can justify that those aliens had high resemblances with the superhero of the famous Action Comics. Possibly Jerry and Joe might have seen them like me, may be from a closer distance and in more light. Being impressed by them Bradley Rica produced a documentary titled Last Son which included the myth of aliens. In the campus of the University of Wyoming Prof Jeffrey Lockwood and few students are busy to invent ways and means to address the aliens. They are planning how to talk with them.     The scientist Sara Seagate of the Massachusetts Institute of technology, America strongly believes in the existence of the aliens, who are more advanced and techniquely equipped than us. I request top Indian scientists to conduct intensive research in this field so that friendly relations, just unlike the views expressed by Howkins, can be established with aliens of other planets. On 26th July 2008, from 9.00 am to 10.00 am, there was a broad telecast on the Z-news channel. The show was titled, “Yes, I have seen aliens!” It was asserted by an American astronaut. He had seen the debris of a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). He claimed that this certainly belonged to the aliens. It was an important event in the intensive research on the aliens. Michio Kacoo of Japan is very confident of the presence of aliens. He has written a book on these topics. The book became very popular in the whole world. He claims to continue his search in future. Japan government has taken the Herculean task on its head to establish radio links with them. American government had also launched three separate missions in this field. It spent a lot on these missions but all got flopped or possibly they are hiding the findings. Amitabh Pande of India is also not very sure of aliens at present but he does not rule out its presence in the vast universe. He calculates that even the fastest space vehicle on the earth will take 80 years time to reach the nearest star from this planet. Therefore the possibility of communion with the aliens is presently bleak. He however takes otherwise to call them aliens. In stead he wants to call them distant neighbours. Many writers of science-fictions have assumed aliens to be tall, lanky, smart and weighing 102 kilos. But now I can justify that those aliens had high resemblances with the superhero of the famous Action Comics. Possibly Jerry and Joe might have seen them like me, may be from a closer distance and in more light. Being impressed by them Bradley Rica produced a documentary titled Last Son which included the myth of aliens.
        In the campus of the University of Wyoming Prof Jeffrey Lockwood and few students are busy to invent ways and means to address the aliens. They are planning how to talk with them. The scientist Sara Seagate of the Massachusetts Institute of technology, America strongly believes in the existence of the aliens, who are more advanced and techniquely equipped than us. I request top Indian scientists to conduct intensive research in this field so that friendly relations can be established with aliens of other planets.

On 2008-07-26 from 9.00 am to 10.00 am there was a broad telecast on the Z-news channel. The show was titled, “Yes, I have seen aliens!” It was asserted by an American astronaut. He had seen the debris of a U F O (Unidentified Flying Object). He claimed that this certainly belonged to the aliens. It was an important event in the intensive research on the aliens. Michio Kacoo of Japan is very confident of the presence of aliens. He has written a book on these topics. The book became very popular in the whole world. He claims to continue his search in future. Japan government has taken the Herculean task on its head to establish radio links with them. American government had also launched three separate missions in this field. It spent a lot on these missions but all got flopped or possibly they are hiding the findings. Amitabh Pande of India is also not very sure of aliens at present but he does not rule out its presence in the vast universe. He calculates that even the fastest space vehicle on the earth will take 80 years time to reach the nearest star from this planet. Therefore the possibility of communion with the aliens is presently bleak.