Meeting with the Death!!

I will never forget the day when I saw my death in front of me and staring at me and I looked through the eyes of my death.
It was quite sunny when we started for Guhi after our meeting was over at 2.30p.m. It was just a two hours journey by bus throughout the forest. By the time we reached near Guhi by bus we were informed that due to heavy rains during the week, the road ahead was closed for heavy vehicles. So to reach Guhi we had to walk through the dense forest. That evening we reached Guhi by 7.30 p.m. By the time we reached it was totally dark. As soon as we reached there, it started raining heavily. By the night we got the news that it was raining so heavily that even if we have to reach up to Kanashi (where I used to work and stay) there was no bus up to Umbarthan so we have to walk for about 12 kms.
I and Raju (a 16 years young boy from tribal area) we have to leave Guhi as we couldn't inform about our stay at Guhi in Kanashi. So we started our journey at 8.30 a.m. It was totally a new experience for me to walk through a proper dense forest. We were not having much things with us, so it was quite pleasant to walk through the forest. We proceeded by enjoying the beauty of the nature. Whole forest was looking so fresh. Raju was from different tribal area but he was knowing many stories about the forest. So he was telling me about his experiences at his place in the forest. We walked around 9kms and by 12.00 noon we entered in a very dense area of the forest where we could see only trees wherever we looked. Raju told me that in this forest during noon time leopard can be seen. It just come out of its cave for food and to drink water. I thought that he was joking so I ignored his information in a laughter. He tried to convince me that whatever he told it is true, but I took everything lightly.
As we were feeling a bit tired we decided to sit on a rock at the side of the road to take some rest. The rock was sufficiently big where we could sit facing each other so we were able to see each others back side of the road. Suddenly Raju asked me to turn and see behind. I was in very much relaxed mood and just turned back. I was horrified by seeing a leopard climbing up to the valley towards the road. Due to shock I screamed. Before the leopard was walking its own way and its attention was not there towards us. As soon as I screamed, it noticed us, stopped and started staring at us. We were quite nearer to it. Raju immediately told me that I should not make any sound or moment, otherwise the leopard might attack us. His words hit my ears and I couldn't utter a single word. I was freezed and couldn't think about anything. Suddenly I experienced a stage "thoughtlessness". Leopard and both of us were staring each other. I felt that my legs were getting paralyzed. We were just waiting for the leopard's attack. For defending ourselves we did not have anything except a rain coat. I think, at the same time the leopard was also thinking about its safety. After five minutes it left the place and climbed up the hill. At that moment we felt revealed but shaken from inside as we saw our death in front of us. We felt more frightened after it left because we had to continue our remaining journey in the same direction in which the leopard went. We felt that since it had seen us, it might attack us from top of the hill. We were thinking about returning back to Guhi. Finally after 5 min we decided to proceed our journey in the same direction. We thought that if our death would be written by attack of leopard then nothing could prevent it. So we decided to take the risk and continued. Fortunately we reached safely in Umbarthan where we came to know that just a month before at the same point a man was attacked very badly by a leopard and that person was admitted in the hospital.When we reached Kanashi by mere a thought of death, I felt sick. I had to take 5-6 tablets of Brufen and 10 blankets to make me sleep and feel safe. I slept for 12 hours in that state. During the sleep also, I was thinking of the leopard and what would have happened, if it would have attacked us at that time!!

Beginning of the End

It was quite late when I returned from my office which was at another end of the city. Everyday I used to cross the whole metro city (Mumbai) to reach to Churchgate from Kalyan. I was fade up of this everyday hardship and wanted some peace. That night when I entered in the premises there was some strange atmosphere. I saw much crowd at the parking of our building and everybody was whispering something. I crossed the crowd to find out what has happened but couldn't understand. I heard one of my neighbors was talking about my wife. I started listening carefully. He was saying, "It is really a great shock to Mrs Shekhar. She has to bear this shock. Nobody can say what will happen at the next moment. Nobody can give any guarantee of anybody's life." Still I was confused and felt that I must go and ask my wife. I went on floor. Many people were there in my house some of them sitting, standing. All of them were discussing similar thing. Nobody was ready to look at me. I moved further and saw my wife and son were sitting beside a body covered with white cloth. I couldn't get the face so I moved a bit further and saw that it was my dead body. I was shocked. How it will be possible because I am alive. I tried to tell my wife but I realized that she was not in the mood of listening anything. I saw my close friend Jayant standing near telephone and making calls. I could succeed to reach up to him and tried to ask him but surprisingly he was looking towards my direction but couldn't see me. I tried to talk with a few more people gathered there but I couldn't. I realized that I became a soul and nobody is able to see me. By the time I came to know that while returning from the office, I was hit by a fast taxi and I died on the spot.

It was amazing to see, how much people think about you when you are dead. I saw a couple of persons in our building who used to abuse all the people all the time, talking good things about me. My body was taken for cremation. My 12 years old was asked to perform all the last rituals. I was worrying how he will manage all the things as he was so young. I was worrying about my wife that how she will manage all the loan which we have drawn from SBI recently for our new flat. Though I was feeling lighter and lighter, my heart in my aerial form, was found to become heavier. I saw my wife was trying to call Jayant regarding selling of our new flat as she wanted to pay the loan which we had drawn from SBI. I screamed her name. I found I was in the bed and my wife came running from the kitchen and asked, "what happened? Did you get any nightmare?" I realized that it was a dream and I am sweating. I felt relieved to see myself alive. I couldn't answer to the questions of my wife and got out of the bed to start my new day. I was thinking, yes, anything can happen anytime. I might be thinking this as a start of a new day but every new day might be a beginning of the end.

Can't hide and run away!!

Here is a story from Ramayana, the ancient scripture in India. Sage Vashishtha was Rama's kulguru (a person who is whole and sole adviser of the royal family). In India there is a dispute regarding Rama's existence but the stories of Ramayana are milestones for Indian culture, this fact nobody can deny. In some stories we find a simple philosophy for our life which is true everywhere on this planet. It is said that at some point of life.....may be after Rama's return from forest and after he deserted his wife Sita, Rama was feeling lonely and fed up of all the tragedies in life. During that time he was thinking for running away from his life's circumstances. When Guru Vashishtha came to know about this, he went to Rama and asked him, " is there any place on this earth where you can hide from your life's realities?" Rama understood what Vashishtha wanted to convey and he continued his duties towards his life.

We, anybody who has taken birth on this earth can't run away or hide from any reality of our life. By continuing our duties towards our life with positive thinking one can reduce the intensity of that suffering.

The treasure

Once a traveller was on his way to Narmada Parikrama. He had to walk through dense forests, marsh lands and through the sand at the bank of Narmada. One dark night he was walking through a dense forest and heard a serious voice coming from the darkness. The voice said, "Wait! and listen". The traveller was surprised and stopped but he was having fear and thought that there might be a ghost as he had heard many stories regarding ghosts during his Narmada Parikrama. The voice continued," there is a sack just down your feet. You have to carry it up till morning. You should not open it and see the things inside. If you do so then you have to face a bad fortune. If you carry it according to my instruction then you will meet your fortune." The traveller was frightened but still he had to carry that sack so he picked it up and continued walking. The sack was quite heavy. He tried to guess the things inside the sack by touching the sack from outside. He felt many uneven shaped heavy stone kind of things. He wanted to see but he recalled the words told by the voice. He continued walking. After certain time he felt that it is foolishness to carry such heavy unknown things whole night and decided to lighten the weight by throwing some of the things out. He strted throwing the things out and continued the same up till sunrise. By the time of sunrise the sack was almost empty and he was having only one stone in his hand. When he was about to throw the last one, the sun was coming up and he saw a shining diamond in his hand. He started laughing. Suddenly stopped laughing and started crying. He recalled the words of the voice and realised that he had missed his fortune by throwing all the diamonds inside the sack throughout his way.

We are also foolish............we don't listen what our inner voice wants to tell us.......what the supreme wants to tell us.................we think that we are the most intelligent people in the world and then try to bahave tooo smart and don't follow the instructions given by the supreme through our inner voice. Unfortunately we face our misfortune. we go on throwing the diamonds .....the opportunities to grow and flourish........and then cry.....Let's listen the inner voice........................................and meet our fortune

Burden

Two Budhhist monks were walking on their way to their Ashrama. On the way they saw a young beautiful girl, who was not able to walk and needed some help. Both the monks went nearer to her and asked, "Oh! what's the problem? Can we help you?" The girl replied, "Yes, I wish to go to my home which is in the nearby village, but due to wounds in my feet I am unable to walk. Please, will you help me to reach up to the village?" The monks looked at eachother. The fact was that Budhhist monks were not supposed to touch any lady or a girl. The youngest monk between them decided to carry her up to the village but the older one was opposing him. Still the youngest monk carried the girl on his shoulders up to the village and left her at the border of the village. Both the monks continued further their way and reached their Ashrama. The older monk decided to complain against the youngest monk regarding the incidence of the young girl to their Master. As soon as they reached, the older monk complained to the Master. The Master replied, "the youngest monk had left her behind on the border of the village but why are you carrying her still in your mind?"

I feel we carry things in our head unnecessarily increasing burden in our life. It is always good and benificial for us to leave the things behind and proceed.

Kalpavriksha: A tree which fulfils our wishes

Here is an interesting story related to this. One day a traveller was walking towards his destiny. He started early in the morning so by the time of noon he felt very much tired and hungry. Finally he saw a huge tree with a cool shade. He decided to take rest under that tree. While resting he thought looked upwards and murmured, "oh! I am feeling so much hungry, I wish if there are any fruits in this tree to eat." What a surprise!! suddenly 2-3 fruits fell down in front of him from the tree. The traveller felt very happy and ate those. After eating fruits he felt more hungry. He again thought and murmured, "Oh! I wish, if I get a nice food here". A plate of full meals appeared in front of him along with sweet dishes. He ate and enjoyed it quite happily. After filling his stomuch he started yarning and thought, "Oh! I wish if I get a nice bed here to sleep" and the bed appeared. While lying on the bed he was looking upwards at the tree. Suddenly he thought, whatever I am thinking, the same thing is appearing in front of me. Is there any ghost here in the tree?" At that moment a deadly ghost appeared in front of him. He was frightened and immediately thought, "Oh no! will it eat me?" The same time that ghost ate the traveller. It was a Kalpavriksha tree, under which the traveller was resting. I feel our society is like Kalpavriksha. Whatever we, by whom the society is created, wish we can develop in our lives and hence society. It means whatever we wish, we can get it back by our society. If we sow good seeds and do good deeds, we will get a pleasent future by society. If we sow unhealthy seeds we will get the same. May due to which always it is said that we have to THINK POSITIVE.

A Friend!!

Whenever I come across the term friend I get mixed impression. I have different experiences about friends and so I get confused when I try to divide the word FRIEND

F = Faithful = Fake

R = Reliable = Rude

I = Intimate = Insensible

E = Empathetic = Egoistic

N = Non-egoistic = Nasty

D = Dignified = Dangerous

Nowadays this word has become so loose that anybody can become friend of you. We have to be careful in identifying the difference between the blues and greens.

One Day!!

One day!

Will you listen to my earthly wish

By your senses of sky?

One day!

Will you listen carefully to my mind's song

By your senses of heart?

One day!

Will you read the emotions in my eyes

By your visionary eyes?

A Beautiful Mind!!

It's really a beautiful story of a developing journey of a beautiful mind. It's a story of transformation of a cold arrogant genius youth to a warm caring old aged passing through a disastrous path of insanity.....it's a story of development of a relationship which initially needed a legal certificate (broken legally in between) to more intimate with complete understanding of each other without any legal certificate. It's a story of damaged childhoods, of two sons of a Nobel Laureate, which has put deep impressions on their lives. It's a story of a love which didn't get the desired recognition. It's a story of development of a girlish infatuation which has survived the disillusionment, hardships and disappointments, in to a strong mature supporting love. It's a story of an honest struggle for a prize which had been done unknowingly. It's a story of strong realizations of the realities of a life........

It's simply beautiful........

A Realization: Time is Flying!!

I heard the bang of the big bell on the wall of the college library just opposite to my room's window. Being in half sleep, still in understanding state...struggling to get out of bed, I looked outside my window. It was so pale atmosphere it seemed that it was about to become dark...and I heard the bell ringing four times. Suddenly I looked at the same wall clock which was showing 4 O'clock.

I was disappointed. I was sleeping for whole night and almost whole day. I was sure, I lost a day in my life. I thought to call Mansi, one of my college friends, but suddenly noticed that she will be in the department. I heard a sound of opening the lock of the opposite door. Thought........ Mamta returned from the lab...usually in November she returns at around 4.00 p.m. Today I wanted to search some articles in the journals from the university library, but my whole day was gone. I missed a day in my life. I was horrified and feeling depressed.

In that haste I logged on to the laptop and tried to find whether anybody was online. Purposefully, I kept Indian time in my laptop. Something was wrong. In the haste I changed the time to 10.30 at night (IST). It was very strange none of my friends except Priya, one of the friends from Pune, was online. Due to disappointment, I wanted to talk desperately to somebody...so pinged Priya. I asked her, how come you are online at 10.30 p.m.? because usually she used to be online in her office hours. She replied...No! it's not 10.30 p.m., now I am in the office and it's 1.38 p.m. (IST). I tried to clarify her but she told me that it's 1.30p.m. To confirm the time I just looked again at the same wall clock outside my window..............and it was showing....8.08 a.m.

I realized what would have happened. Still outside the light was very dim. It was November in UK........so depressing and pale atmosphere. I might have heard half of the bell ringing and was in half sleep so saw (in a haste) 4.00 O'clock instead 8.00 O'clock. Probably Mamta was going to the lab and I thought she is coming from the lab. Now I was completely awake.

I immediately thanked Priya and logged out. I was so happy that I did not missed one day of my life and felt relaxed and proceeded for the daily routine.

During those 10 minutes I was really disappointed and depressed by realizing loss of a day! If I would have really been sleeping and would have lost a day in my life??......How strange is it !!......due to the outside darkness I felt that it as evening.......but it was not.

How important TIME is in our lives!! We all know that it is flying like anything.................before this I also was knowing the truth about time......but I really cann't express my feeling when I realized that!!

Men Know More but Women Understand Better

There was an old couple who lived a 35 years of happy married life and had fulfilled all their duties towards their children. In our Hindu culture four ashrams are expected to follow. This couple have completed their first two ashrams so wanted to continuetheir life with the third one that is Vanprasthashrama. The couple left their family, home and went to a forest and started staying in a hut. The couple really lives like Vanprasthi. The wife of the old man gave away all her jwellery to her daughter-in-law and daughter. The old man distributed his all bank balance and savings between his son and daughter. They came to the forest only with a pair of cloths and a few essential medicines with them. Their daily routine was set up. Daily they used to do prayers and read holy books like BhagvatGeeta and used to teach small children of Aadivasi families there. They used to discuss between them about what they have read in the holy books. Usually husband used to read and wife used to listen.( The husband might have tired of listening and the wife might have tired of talking for whole Grihasthashrama) It was her husband's impression that his wife doesn't know mush so doesn't understand much about the philosophy explained in the holy books. So he used to explain her with enthusiasm.

One fine day they decided to walk till the other end of the forest and return by evening. So they started walking towards the other direction. In between they had to cross a dense forest. The husband was walking ahead and his wife was following him. After certain distance, they entered in the dense part of the forest. The husband was trying to search the way ahead through the forest. Suddenly, he noticed something shining on the earth. So he picked it up and found that it was a Gold coin. He felt happy and reminded that for Vanprasthi people gold, money is just like soil. They should not keep it. He thought that he should immediately hide that coin from his wife's sight otherwise she would feel to keep the Gold coin with her. So he immediately hided it and threw it behind a tree nearby. His wife saw that her husband has thrown something so she asked him about it. He told her about the Gold Coin and immediately told the philosophy told in the holy books as well. After listening to him the wife smiled and said that she also had seen the Gold coin from long distance but she ignored it because Vanprasthi should not recognise the difference between the soil and the Gold.

The husband was knowing the philosophy but his wife had better understood it.