Arun escaped death in Rishikesh, but a sadhu stole his youth in return.

The city of Kolkata was quiet that evening as the rains had just subsided, leaving behind a cool breeze that filtered through the curtains of my flat.

 Jogen sat across from me, a distant look in his eyes as he narrated this peculiar story about his old friend, Arun.            There was a sense of disbelief mixed with genuine concern in Jogen's voice, as he recounted the events that had transpired over the past few months.

 Arun had always been a deeply religious man, spending hours each day in prayer, fasting, and seeking guidance from holy men. But lately, his devotion had turned into desperation. His horoscope had predicted that he wouldn’t live past the age of 50, and as his 50th birthday drew closer, a sense of dread consumed him. His eyes searched for a miracle, something that could change his fate.

 One day, Arun had ventured to Rishikesh, a city nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, known for its spiritual ashrams and mystic sadhus. The town, with its rolling hills and sacred river Ganges, was shrouded in an aura of timelessness. Pilgrims from all over the country came seeking salvation, wisdom, or—like Arun—a reprieve from their own mortality. 

 It was there, amidst the towering peaks and the gentle hum of temple bells, that Arun encountered the sadhu. He was an old man with long, matted hair, a face weathered by years of meditation, and eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of the universe. His ashram sprawled across the hilltop, surrounded by lush green forests and the distant echoes of the Ganges flowing below. The place was alive with the presence of devotees, clad in saffron robes, all seeking the teachings of the sadhu. The sadhu had told Arun that he could help him cheat death. There was a way, he said, but it required complete surrender. Arun, driven by fear and hope, agreed to follow the sadhu's instruction, leaving behind his old life for six months.

 The ashram was an expansive place, with stone steps leading up to a massive hall where the sadhu conducted his rituals. His chelas, disciples, worked tirelessly, maintaining the grounds, preparing meals, and chanting prayers, their voices merging with the sounds of the wind and water. Every morning, Arun would wake before dawn and sit in meditation with the sadhu. The first few days were difficult, but soon the rhythm of the ashram engulfed him. The sadhu had given Arun one specific rule: he was never to look at his own reflection. No mirrors were allowed. Arun complied without question, trusting the wisdom of the sadhu.

 Time passed slowly in the ashram, the days blending into each other, as Arun grew more absorbed in his practice. Yet, he began to notice something strange. His body felt different. He felt weaker, older. His joints ached, his hair turned gray. Concerned, he approached the sadhu, who merely smiled and assured him that this was part of the process, a transformation that was necessary for his salvation. The sadhu's words, spoken with such certainty, calmed Arun's fears.

 And then, one day, without warning, the sadhu vanished. In his place appeared a young man, clean-shaven and full of vitality. The young man bore a striking resemblance to the sadhu, but his eyes—those same eyes that had once held the weight of wisdom—now seemed alight with youth. The man instructed Arun to leave the ashram and return home. 

Confused and disoriented, Arun obeyed, but as he made his way down the hill toward the town, a deep sense of dread washed over him. He stopped at a local shop and, for the first time in six months, bought a mirror. The reflection that stared back at him was unrecognizable. His face was wrinkled, his skin sagged, and his hair had turned completely white. Arun had aged twenty years in the span of months.

 Realization dawned on him—the sadhu had stolen his youth. 

 The story weighed heavily on my mind as Jogen finished speaking. Arun, now back in Kolkata, was a shadow of his former self, looking like a man in his sixties rather than his forties. But I couldn’t help but note the irony. "By default," I said, trying to lighten the mood, "Arun has escaped the prediction. His danger of dying before 50 has passed. He’s aged, but he’s alive." Jogen nodded, though he still seemed disturbed by the thought of the sadhu and his dark magic. "It’s strange, isn't it? The sadhu helped him escape death, but only by stealing his years. He lives... but at what cost?"

 As I sat there, thinking of the sprawling hills of Rishikesh, the ancient ashram, and the enigmatic sadhu who had exchanged youth for life, I wondered if there were other such stories—hidden in the mist of the mountains, waiting to be uncovered.

Confluence of Wisdom: Dialogues Under the Banyan Tree

Samaranand and Bhootanand, two Sadhus of different spiritual paths, engaged in a discussion under the ancient banyan tree. Curiosity sparked in Samaranand's eyes as he asked Bhootanand, "What awaits those who follow your teachings after death?"

Bhootanand, with confidence, asserted, "They ascend to swarg, where they revel in the pleasures of life—beautiful women, gold, and luxurious living for male devotees, and similar joys for the females."

Amused, Samaranand chuckled and shared a tale. "Once, a devout follower of your sect reached swarg. To his surprise, he found his guruji on a cloud, with a beautiful girl seated on his lap. Congratulating his guru for the reward of his penance, the guruji angrily retorted that it was, in fact, the girl's punishment to be stuck on his lap eternally."

Samaranand's story left the air with a lingering laughter, but Bhootanand's face turned crimson with anger, livid at the unexpected twist. The banyan tree witnessed the clash of perspectives between the two Sadhus, each rooted in their beliefs.

As Samaranand concluded his tale, the air around the banyan tree echoed with laughter, but Bhootanand's anger intensified. In an attempt to diffuse the tension, Samaranand invoked wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita, saying, "Krishna teaches in the Gita that true devotion transcends material desires. It's not about the fleeting pleasures of swarg, but attaining a higher state of consciousness."

Bhootanand, determined to defend his beliefs, countered with a quote from the Bible, "As the scripture says, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.' Swarg, in our teachings, is the reward for a virtuous life lived in accordance with divine principles."

Undeterred, Samaranand responded with another verse from the Bhagavad Gita, "Krishna also teaches that attachment to material desires can be a hindrance to spiritual growth. True liberation lies in detachment and devotion to the divine."

Bhootanand, firmly rooted in his convictions, quoted from the Bible, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Our path emphasizes purity and adherence to moral principles as the way to salvation."

The dialogue between the two Sadhus became a philosophical exchange, blending the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bible. The ancient banyan tree stood witness to the convergence of diverse spiritual perspectives, creating a mosaic of thought under its expansive branches.

Thus a Sadhu was born

Thus a sadhu was born ………………….. Baren was returning from his work in the evening. The dark cloud was hanging on the rice field, the zig zag lightning often was flashing. Baren could feel the static in the air. His body hair was charged, he was feeling as though he is a human battery carrying charge with him. He was wearing a rubber sole shoe so the charge was not discharging to the ground. The feeling was funny, as per science, he was full of electron on his synthetic cloth and hair. He was hesitating with his cycle to go any further towards his house in the village because of that eerie atmosphere. He had heard many stories during his childhood about ghosts coming out in such weather. Lucky that it was not raining yet, he was not carrying his umbrella. The blinding flashes of the lightning was scary, he could see lightning strikes on the field. As a precaution, he avoided standing below any tree, as a science graduate he knew that lightning would strike the tallest structure or tree. He was keeping a safe distance from the trees as if the lightning strikes a tree then the heavy current will fan out in the ground, if he stood near such lightning struck tree then he would get shock from the ground because of the rush of that current.He was transfixed by that celestial show. Suddenly he heard an ear splitting sound when a big ball of dazzling light fell on a mound, which was within his visibility range. He was scared , like a magic the dark cloud cleared and the thunder stopped. He could see the reddish sky to the west where sun was setting. The refracted light of the setting sun created a magical atmosphere around him; he heaved a sigh of relief. He cautiously approached the mound where the fireball had fallen. To his surprise, he discovered that it was no lightning strike as there was no sign of any burn instead there was a round object which had impacted the ground with such a force that it had formed a cavity in the earth. The object was lying in the ditch; it was of a size of football. Some invisible force was pulling him towards the round object. The handle of the cycle turned toward the object and started taking him towards the object. First he was scared as he thought some demonic force is pulling him but then he thought that there is no such thing as ghost or demon. He did not resist and reached the object by getting down from the cycle. His cycle flew towards the object, and got stuck on it. But as he was going nearer to the object he was feeling a repulsive force, still he kept on walking towards object as he had to retrieve his cycle . Suddenly he felt himself levitating. He spread his hands to balance so that he can stay vertical.

A group of people who were passing by watched with awe the miracle of a person levitating in the air in that diffused sun light of setting sun. They all ran towards Baren ,who was still suspended in the air. He acted nonchalant as though it’s nothing. Those villagers took him to be a yogi with supernatural power. They ran to the nearest village, a big crowd gathered around to witness the miracle. Baren with a beatific smile started blessing the crowd and thought to himself that it was time for him to leave that shitty work in the shop and cash on this godsend chance to become a spiritual guru. He addressed the people, “ I am happy that I could demonstrate my yogic power to you all. ‘’ The crowd was spellbound by the show of supernatural power , they requested ,”Sir you please climb down and come to our Kali temple, there is a guest room where you can stay as long as you want.” Baren replied, “I will come back after a week and spend some time with you all.”’ Somehow he managed to climb down. In the dark, the villagers could not make out that while getting down he had to more or less eject himself from that invisible force. He decided to sharpen his knowledge of magic mostly sleight of hand and study some medicine book for easy remedy. Also he would have to brush up Ramayana and Mahabharata for discourses. He had French cut beard but now it had to grow full. But first within those 7 days he had to make arrangement of a spherical container for that diamagnetic object. After getting down he removed his rubber sole shoes and thus literarily grounded himself, all accumulated negative charge in his body got discharged. Then how come the cycle is positively charged! He had been negatively charged peddling the cycle so the cycle must have got opposite charge,that was what he derived. That extraterrestrial object was negative diamagnetic he reasoned.Baren thought that his first priority would be to get in touch with Babulal so that he could garner help from Samaranand for his journey to Sadhudom or may be Samaranad himself would be interested to seize the oppertunity to become Sadhu. The crowd in the dark could not see his face so he can switch place with Samaranad and he could be the side kick like Babulal. Note: Though Baren used his knowledge of Physics to explain the invisible force as magnetic but can the repulsive magnetic force be strong enough to hold his weight? Chances are it to be some antigravity phenomena associated with that strange globe. I am Samaranand and heard the above story from Babulal. I could have made the journey to find out more about the terresterial object but because of Lockdown could not go. In the meanwhile I have to organize a Geiger Counter to make certain that strange object is not radioactive!

Sadhu and me

I have this penchant of being  drawn to Sadhus, it is not acquired now but as far as I can remember it is there from my childhood. During our school days in Delhi, we would be following Sadhus with Kamandal and Trishul  whenever they came to our area, as though they were pied pipers. They would be going round the houses to collect food grains or money and we would follow them around. Some of them would get annoyed finding us following them . However, a few would entertain us by singing bhajan or show some magic like producing something from the air.

I have interacted with various Sadhus during my adult life, in my earlier blogs  I had mentioned those.

I am not very clear whether Sadhus attract me or they see an easy prey in me to make a kill so they approach me, this boosts my ego as though I am the chosen one. One such Sadhu fleeced me of some money when I was in Barauni inspite of my wife cautioning me that the fellow was a fraud.

But now I will tell you about a Sadhu the conversation with him is still etched in my mind.

It happened long time back.

The meter gauge train from Gauhati was whistling out, I was waving at my friends from my first class compartment. Those days first class was a coupe of two. There were lot of women seeing off a Sadhu who was my co passenger. His devotees made the bed for him in the lower berth, my reservation was for upper berth, but it was yet not sleeping time. From the door, I looked back, the sadhu in plain white kurta and dhoti was sitting relaxed, I was irritated as he had left no place for me to sit. With irritation in my voice I said, “It is not yet sleeping time!”

He was embarrassed and with a folded hand invited me to share his bed, “Sorry for the inconvenience, my devotees in over enthusiasm spread the bed. If you wish I can roll it!’’

‘”No , please don’t, I will sit by your side.’’ I was ashamed of my rude behavior.

My luggage was below the seat; I pulled out my suitcase , took out my nightwear and headed for the attached washroom. After changing to casuals I comfortably sat by his side.

“Have you taken dinner? I can offer you some.”

“”Thanks, I had dinner at the station dining hall with my friends, you please carry on.”

“I don’t take dinner; I will take some fruits before going for sleep.”

Thus our acquaintance started. During the conversation, he told me that he has followers in Assam, Bengal and Bihar running to nearly a lakh.

He smiled at me and said, “From your attitude and questions I can make out that you don’t have much faith in God.”

I was caught, hesitantly asked him,’How do you know that the God exists?”

“Why your own Ramakrishna has said that if you believe then the God is there but if you don’t then the God doesn’t exist. It is the belief. You actually want to see or feel Him.’”

The discussion was becoming interesting; I was getting warmed up to the subject as I could feel that I was having conversation with a wise learned person..

He continued.

Have you seen Alaska? Have you seen Mars? You have not but you have heard or read about those. Similarly, you would get people who have felt Him or got some blessings from Him. I know you are a student of science and will look for scientific proof. Have you ever wondered who had produced so many species of leaving beings, the ocean and mountain? Can scientists produce a  tree where the water will be found like inside a coconut? Do you know that an albatross flies round the world without flapping it’s wings. Who designed those wings, which they flap only while taking off or coming down? It is believed they sleep during the flight, rarely come down and keep flying hundreds of miles without any rest, in their life period of 60 years or so they fly millions of miles. The aero engineers are studying the flight pattern and wings of this bird to design efficient airframe. Imagine a bird weighing 7 kgs or more flying on wing span of 12 feet across the continent miles after miles. Who has created this heaviest creature to fly?
There is God in every living being, you me and all.When you help some needy then you become God for him for that moment. We can not do faith healing but at least by extending our sympathy and empathizing with others problem we can give healing touch to their troubled soul.I don't perform any miracle or don't have solution for disease, that is the job of a doctor. i listen to others problems , try explaining the reason. 

Whatever he said on that day is the universal truth, there is no conflict of ideas, i was pretty impressed by his prabachan.

Well I was a skeptic but after talking to him I could know the limitation of my knowledge. Those days there was no Google to get instant information, one got to study books to acquire knowledge and then have to have intelligence to interpret those information. That Sadhu had read books and some realization had come to him which made him to adopt the life of a sage. To me he did not appear to be a fake like the modern ones we come across. He did not offer any magic potion to me like I have mentioned in my other encounters.

It was approaching bedtime, after bidding him good night; I climbed to my upper berth.

Next day morning the train reached Barauni, again there was a crowd of devotees to receive him. He smiled at me; I waved at him and got down with my luggage.

During my service life i was lucky to be posted in BHEL,Bhopal where apart from day to day work there were lot of social events. I was fortunate to come across some religious leaders like Jitamanand of Ramakrishna Mission, Rajeswaranand ( a muslim sufi turned hindu sage), the head of Digambar Jain sect, Shankaracharya of Kanchi,Mata Amritanandmayi of Kerala etc but that Sadhu on Assam Mail left an everlasting impression in my mind.

Sadhu on the step

 Sadhu on the step

…………………………..

After visiting Kal Vairav and Sankatmochan we rushed back to hotel for rest. After a while we headed for Assighat by a scooter rickshaw. It was around noon but the sun of December month was not harsh in Banaras. It was one of our yearly visit to this thousand of years old holy city.

The clean India movement was very much visible at the ghat, found it to be cleaner than last year. This time I nudged my wife to climb the stairs leading to Pizzaria restaurant where Pizza baked in wood fire oven is available.

Having taken a seat facing Ganges noticed that most of the customers were foreign tourist, the menu card showed Italian preparations in addition to Indian cuisine. We had pizza and coffee and then headed for the river bank to catch a boat.

“What is the hurry?’ I heard a sound thrown at us. I looked back and found the smiling face of a sadhu perched on the steps. Around him were arrangement for preparation of tea and personal belongings.

‘’Don’t stop, keep walking !” my wife hissed at me. She knows that I have this weakness for sadhus and get into discussion with them, finally land up shelling out money .

I ignored her caution and walked up to the sadhu , he gave a knowing smile with twinkle in his eyes.

“I am in a hurry to keep my programme, so going to catch a boat, that is why I was climbing down the stairs.” I informed him.

“We are all going up and down the stairs of our life, here some go down to take a dip in the holy Ganges thinking that it will wash off all sins.”  he said philosophically. His  these words made me interested in continuing the conversation, my wife started pulling the sleeve of my blazer but I stayed on.

“Yes I know one dip cannot wash away the accumulated sins of years or for that matter any dip at all but it gives a momentary satisfaction !” I said.

“Yes, the dip is significant for cleaning the visible dirt on the body but not the subconscious!” I was impressed by these words, he appeared to be a learned sadhu. I have a theory that all sadhus are not fraud, there are some who have chosen this path to get away from the routine life.I am always in the lookout for such wise sadhu.

‘’How long have you been sadhu?” I took the liberty of asking this personal question.

He laughed out loud and said, “You too are sadhu but that moment comes to you when you are alone, your mind is more or less a vacuum but those moments for family man like you are far and few. The other thoughts related with your day to day chores keep you occupied subconsciously. For us we get into that state of vacuum more frequently. If I give 50 out of hundred to my sadhuness then you will get 10.”

I sat down on the step besides him and my wife went down to fix a boat.

In the meanwhile, the sadhu started pumping the kerosene stove and started boiling water. In that windy winter afternoon by the side of Ganges a cup of tea was welcome. He took lot of care in boiling the water and then put tea leaves, put off the stove, put some tulsi leaves. Allowed the concoction to soak for about 3 minutes, I requested him not to put sugar and milk, I wanted it to be black.

“What you have already consumed your life quota of sweet?’’ he said teasingly while handing over tea in earthen glass, kulhar to me .

I took a sip of the tea, it was not scalding hot but the taste and aroma were out of this world. I complimented him for the tea.

“You might have noticed that to produce that tea I controlled the boiling time of the water and also put tea,tulsi in measured quantity. Our life is like this tea, to enjoy the life one has to go through hardship, like I boiled the tea. I could have boiled the tea leaves along with water and save time but I did not do that. For every good thing you have to wait for your time but that will come only if you have put sincere effort.”

I could know that I was talking to a learned man who has turned himself to a genuine sadhu and his offering tea to me was meant to give some wisdom to me as I gave my time to him. In today’s busy world no one wants to give time but doesn’t mind giving money.

I could make out he was enjoying our discussion, I also started feeling relaxed as he put a break to my rush to catch the boat.
He pulled out an envelope , handed that to me and said, "Open that when you are alone after you leave this place."

He picked up a guitar lying by the side of him, it had only one string. I was surprised as I knew either there are 4 or 6 strings in guitar so I asked curiously about the guitar.

‘’You are pretty observant! My this guitar is having only the last E string, see the grooves of the other five are vacant. I can easily strum this string and chant OM .” He strung the E string, the thickest string of the guitar which was making thung, thung sound rhythmically  and started chanting OM by closing his eyes. I could sense that our conversation has come to an end, Istood up, I wanted to give some money but there was no bowl or box for money anywhere visible. I slowly started walking off to the bank of Ganges where a boatman was waiting for us.

“You had quite a long discussion with ketlibaba!” the boatman said.

“Does he serve tea to everyone?” I asked.

“I have not seen many people talking to him, mostly he sits there and reads books and strums his that odd guitar.I heard that he belongs to a rich family, unlike other sadhus!”

After boarding the boat I looked up at the steps , the sadhu was busy chanting Om and the sound of the E string from a distance was casting a spell , the sun was slowly setting casting long shadows of the edifices on Ganges.

After returning to the hotel i opened the envelope and found a letter. 
Dear Friend,
I don't know your name but the moment you crossed me it appeared as though i know you. I am not a sadhu but i am pretending to be one for 1 month till i pass on this mantle to someone for a month. Let me explain, there is a group of professionals who have formed this exclusive club for professionals who sometimes feel to get out of the rat race for sometime, a kind of sojoun. This spot where i am sitting has been reserved by that group and there are people around who make sure nothing untoward happens. I am top man of a MNC and was disturbed, like you i came to Varanasi and met the Ketlibaba here, he was also a disturbed soul like me. We had conversation and he passed on the letter to me asking me to become sadhu for one month. I went back home, had discussion with my family, came here and have almost finished one month. The group has a guest house where i stay and if you wish to become next Ketlibaba then you too can stay, fooding and lodging are free. Whatever you saw around me will be yours of course not the one string guitar because that's my personal instrument. You don't have to carry these items everyday as there is a guard who looks after these. Yes, you have to get gerua uniform of your size. Before completion of your stint you have to select the next one and give a similar letter to him. I know you are curious to know how it works, who is funding? This organisation is funded by some HNIs ( high net worth individuals) as an experiment which may in future roll to some more sacred places.I have selected you as the next Ketlibaba after scanning a few. You have 10 days time and contact me on the mobile number given at the bottom.
Regards,
Ketlibaba.

I was not ready for this but the offer was unique. I was thinking why not take a chance? After returning to kolkata i have to discuss with my wife and son, then probably i may take the plunge.He carried his guitar, i will carry some of my books and painting set for my newly acquired hobby. What do you say friends?

The wise one

The wise one

………………….

“Do you believe in God?”

He smiled at me and said, “Why, your own Ramkrishna Paramhansa Dev has said …if you believe that God is there then He is there but if you doubt or look for proof then he is far away from you!”

It was pretty strong logic as I know many believers and the same time I know many non-believers. For example at Farakka Superthermal Power station we were facing a serious problem in our 500 MW turbine.I normally don't believe in rituals of puja etc but somehow thought of approaching the divinity for solution. Me,my wife went to Tarapeeth with two of my colleagues from finance Mukherjee and Thakur.We did puja there for BHEL. Parallely of course we were putting technical efforts to resolve the vibration issue.Lo,behold a letter from our collaborator from Germany resolved the issue. As it has been often found that one who keeps on helping others gets help from unexpected source. It's the circle of Karma, " Kar bhala to ho bhala ".

I have this habit of irritating the wise one by asking him random odd questions.

“Do you believe in rebirth?”

He laughed out loudly and said,” let me quote something for you!”

Quote

As per the scriptures, depending upon his good/virtuous and bad/sinful actions, the jivatama will be taken to Yama and after judgement he will be meted out the judgement as per his actions during his living years on earth, accordingly either he will be sent to heaven or hell .Only after he has experienced those that he will obtain another body on earth.

So the answer to your question, yes it depends upon the karma. More good karma means more time in heaven and hence it will take more time until the jivatma enters another body. Only after their stock of punya is over that they fall down to earth:

Unquote;

“Are you serious, The Wise One?” I asked.

“Don’t ask me?Ask Google? Google is the present day God, it has answer for all questions. It will give you both negative and positive answers. Even if I give any answer still you will check in Google. I know people are consulting Google before consulting doctor for any of their health related problem.” He said sarcastically.

“You are sidestepping my question” I said grudgingly.

“I know that you have been going to Varanasi every year, didn’t you find any answer there to your question?” He asked teasingly.

“Yes,I got part answer there. The devout Hindus go there to get Moksha from this life cycle of death and rebirth. I mean if they die there.”

“ If this rebirth is so certain then there is no scope of increase of population. It is soul the leaving one body and entering another body, it is one to one replacement.’ He said with a twinkle in his eyes and continued with the logic,” how does then new soul get created as in reality the population keeps on increasing?”

He confused me with his logics but made his point. Not only Hindu, Jain, Budhism talk about rebirth but Greek philosophers like Plato, Pythagoras held the belief of rebirth/metempsychosis.

I thought to myself not to pursue this topic of rebirth any further with him instead asked him , ‘What rules a man, his mind, body or soul ?”

“What is this QA session with me? When you asked this question to me then it is your mind prompted you to ask. My answer to you may be or may not be acceptable to you because instantly your mind will start analyzing. Take another instance you are passing a beggar in the street, you feel pity and want to give some money, here your soul has prompted you to act. The body is our external envelope but when that envelope starts dominating more than the content inside then the woes of acquiring more worldly possession start. Unfortunately, today we are in that materialistic world where people are in a hurry to acquire so you can say ruled by the body, bodily comfort is more important than spiritual fulfillment. There are many smart evangelists who are taking advantage of this mental chaos. You find televangelists giving out sermons day and night or those enumerable gurus operating from various ashrams. I see you are not wearing any ring in your fingers with stones but if you look closely then you will find most of the people wear rings with all kinds of stones to wade off evils or for good luck.”

True,I have noticed all kinds of artists, businessmen, politicians , in short celebrities have this ring fetish. So ring gets substituted for God. The other day a political leader told me that he had shouted on some guy for some work and later on he realized that he might get a curse from that guy so to escape that he paid him 500 bucks.

At the end of the day these are all faith or belief but somehow these click.

“Any more question?”

I could see he was enjoying the session with me.

“Next time I will come with some mundane questions.”

I got up and started walking out. He smiled at me with an imperceptible wink. While going out I could hear Righteous Brother’s “Unchained Melody” from the English movie “Ghost” was playing softly in the background and The Wise One was swaying with the music. I smiled back at him and walked out of the sanctum sanatorium.

Me and Babulal

The apprentice…part 2

…………………………..

After two rounds  i leisurely walked towards the bench by the side of lake to enjoy the cool breeze blowing. Not much crowd was there, i was enjoying the solitude in the cool shade of the tree.

I heard a feeble coughing sound, looked up from my book and found Babulal standing  with a broad smile. I was pretty surprised to see him though I had given him 500 rupees about two weeks back but I could not keep my promise to engage him in some work. I rather hesitantly asked him how he was managing to keep himself engaged.

“I used a part of the money given by you to purchase some dot pens and rest I spent for food.” He said unabashedly.

So many questions were crowding in my mind about him so I asked those related with his shelter, spending time, earning money etc ,the usual things required for sustenance.

He disarmed me by his reckless answer.

“I have managed to make friend with that muscular guy who used to chase you for massaging, of course I promised him that I will help him to convince you in getting messaged by him. He took me to a football club located at the other half of the lake facing Menaka cinema hall and introduced me with some young men of my age. One of them took pity on me and offered a bed in the shanty near Tollygunge.”

I remembered to have brushed off that muscular guy who very often would try to befriend me. It was my mistake that initially I exchanged some pleasantries with him when he told me that he did massaging, he had a rolled up yoga mat with him. Then I understood his interest in me and I started avoiding him and now Babulal has again brought that fellow back. Babulal could sense that I was not happy, he hurriedly said, “ Don’t worry about that guy I will manage to keep him away from you.”

I was relieved and asked, “ Ok! Are you doing any work?”

“I told you I purchased some dot pens, I sell those pens in front of temples. Just now I was selling opposite to that Lake Kali temple. Seeing you I quickly changed my dress and came here. When I am selling then I am dressed up as sadhu, you know that I was with sadhu so I have that garb with me. I sell these dot pens at 200 to 300 rupees whereas I paid 2 rupees each.”

“Why someone will purchase the silly dot pens for that kind of money?”

With a beatific smile he and said, “ The scam runs like this “ and he narrated .

I have targeted a few temples and this one at Lake is one of those. I have fixed up some street urchins at each of the temples. I put on my Sadhu garb and sit outside the temple. These boys surround me keep on shouting , “ Show some miracle! “

I will pick up a retractable knife and push that on my cheek, for any onlooker it will appear that I have pierced my cheek. All will be in awe. Then one of them would ask ,”what do you eat?” I will show them coal and pick up a lump of coal and will start chewing it. By the time a crowd will gather around me. Then one of them will ask, “Have you brought those miracle pen which my friend purchased from you before the examination?”

“You mean that pen where I have put special power so that any student purchasing that and using in exam will pass?” saying that I will pull out three sealed boxes and say , “Last night I could put mantra in three only as moon was visible for a very short time.”

Then that boy will ask me the cost. I will say, “ It is 400 but to you I will give for 300.”

As he is my side kick so happily he will pay 300 and take one sealed box of pen. I will warn him not to open the box now. He should go back take bath and should open it when no one is around. Once he did the purchase there will be scramble from other on lookers to get the magic pen as the final exams are within one month. After that selling the first one other two hardly takes 10 minutes ,as you know every second a sucker is born.

“Wait wait not that fast!” I said.

“The retractable knife thing I understood but chewing lump of coal! How can you digest those? They are unhygienic!”

He laughed loudly and said, “No no those which I ate are not coal, those are black sugar crystals kept in the heap of coal.”

That was very clever of him.

He quickly told me about his ploy of the magic pen. “As the exams are one month away so till then merrily I can sell these pens in front of temples. I pay some 10 buck each to those urchins and I have a neat margin. As of now my business of selling the miracle pens is going well, later on with this capital I will think of other schemes or you may have some assignment for me. I am usually available in front of that temple in the morning.”

I was impressed by his business acumen and timing. Those  parents who purchased those pens with divine power will never know that they have been fooled. If the students pass then it will be because of the pen and if they fail then the parents will conclude that even God could not help their son or daughter in passing the exam. It was neat trick where fooled guy doesn't declare that he has been cheated.

I patted him, to keep him in loop gave 500 bucks and promised to call on him for any exigency.

The apprentice

Sadhu

The apprentice

As usual I was completing my round around the lake in the morning, my usual bench was vacant, I sat down and started enjoying the beauty of the lake in cool breeze.

I was absorbed in my thoughts when I felt the presence of someone coming and sitting by my side, I was irritated and did not bother to acknowledge his presence.

“Sorry to disturb your concentration.” I heard a meek voice addressing me in Hindi. I looked from the corner of my eyes still ignoring the guy, a short thin young man of less than 5 foot height in shabby cloth was looking at me with a broad smile. His honest smile disarmed me.

“Yes” I said.

“Do you have some time to listen to my story? I am not asking for any money”

I frowned at him and thought why not, I may hear an interesting story; I am always looking forward for a fresh plot.

“Why chose me?” I asked him mischievously.

“I am coming to this lake for the last one week and have been observing morning walkers, from my experience of dealing with various cross sections of people you looked to be the one who will sympathetically hear my story.”

His words inflated my ego and I was all ears for his story.

Babulal started his story, oh yes I forgot to mention he said that his name was Babulal.

I am an orphan from Moradabad, I was adopted by a Sukhram, a madari.” I hope you know what a madari does?”  he asked me.

“A street magician!” I said and added , “I am from Delhi and during my childhood I was fond of watching these street magicians performing tricks without any proper props , pretty challenging with people all around.”

“Yes that’s it and I was his assistant.”

“Then you must know secrets of some of those tricks?”

“Yes certainly I do.By the way Sukhram and me moved to Delhi, there is money in Delhi. We were performing mostly in North Delhi. I will go in advance and hire some people who will become the initial crowd and also they will be helping us indirectly without others knowledge.I will memorize their names and tag those with the colour of their shirts.”

“Oh, I have seen this magic. So you are the one whom Sukhram will pose as though hypnotizing and then you will fake a fall like a dead wood on the ground, Sukhram will cover you by a white cloth. Then Sukhram will ask you to tell the names of the people from the crowd whose colour of shirt he would mention.”

“Yes, you got it!” he said sheepishly.

I was enjoying this discussion as now a days I consider myself to be a good YouTube magician. I remembered that during my school days in Gol Market ,Chummeries once I have seen a Madari performing a trick which I could not figure out, now I got the chance to know the secret of that trick from Babulal.

“Did Sukhram perform rotating bidi trick? In this trick the magician sticks a nail on the ground and then on that puts a bidi horizontally, the bidi starts rotating.”

Babulal smiled and said, “Yes I know that trick.It is very simple, it requires preparation. I will go in advance and bury an old watch mechanism in the ground  where Sukhram will come after ten minutes to show magic. After that I don’t have to explain you how it works.”

“Oh! you rascal, then it is simply pushing the nail where the shaft of the watch would have been, as the nail is round so it’s slow rotation is not noticeable, once the bidi is placed then the bidi becomes the seconds hand of the watch and rotates.”

“Yes, that’s it!” he won over my heart.

“Ok, how come you are in Kolkata now.”

He continued his story.

The street magicians were harassed by police, whenever any robbery was there we were the first to be hauled up, whereas it was the gypsies from Rajasthan who were the real culprits so we had to windup our business; I joined a Sadhu and helped him to perform miracles. The job was similar, the tricks were more sophisticated. Because of my small frame I was chosen to help the Sadhu in levitation. I will be holed up below the throne of Sadhu for one hour in the evening when during the peak kirtan time with lot of smoke coming out of incense sticks in the dim light the Sadhu will start his meditation and I will crank the hydraulic jack below his throne when the disc on which he is sitting would slowly rise above the throne. His white robe will screen the hydraulic shaft, the chanting devotees will see the Sadhu by yogic power levitating above the ground. There would be madness all around, for those ignorant it was the ultimate show of divine power. It was a better life but then that one hour was so claustrophobic that one night I ran away from the ashram and came to Kolkata by hitching a ride on a truck.

“Now you guide me what should I do for a living. I can be a good apprentice of a magician as i know most of the tricks.”

Babulal offered me a choice unwittingly, after my retirement I always thought of an alternate career , here is that opportunity for me of either to become a full time magician with Babulal as my assistant or  also i can become a corporate Sadhu with him helping me in all those Sadhu stuffs like ashes falling from my pictures or water of India etc.I thought that Babulal with his small frame can remain invisible in a crowd , his exposure with the street Magician and the Sadhu has made him street smart. He is an asset  worth investing time and money.

I gave him 500 rupees and told him to meet me at the same place after a week.

I am still thinking about my future course of action..…….

My sadhu time

My sadhu time
.....................
The sadhu maharaj was there on the dias.The hall was crowded. All bhaktas were on the durri which was spread in front of the dias.There were kitsch pictures of Krishna,Ram & Sita,hanuman in the back.Low key ramdhun could be heard from a distance.I entered the hall and took my seat in the back.The low key kirtan with the incense burning at strategic corners created a mesmeric atmosphere. People were whispering there was no loud talk. All eyes were fixed on the sadhuji as though a miracle was going to be performed. There was an atmosphere of great expectation.I leaned side ways and whispered to my neighbour,"What is going to happen?" "Levitation", he replied benovalently. I was quite excited as I have watched in TV the magician David Blain levitate in the streets of New York. I eagerly waited.The ramdhun was being sung in a faster mode,all the devotees closed their eyes and raised their hands.I could not follow how these people would watch levitation with closed eyes.I thought to myself "Is it that in our mental screen we have to imagine sadhuji is levitating.Be it then." I also closed my eyes and raised my hands. Suddenly I felt as though I was holding a bar in my hand and I was being pulled up.Oh my god this was a reverse process we were levtating.I must have risen to a height of a foot or so above the ground when my cell phone started ringing.I forgot to put that on silent mode.I huriedly reached for my cell phone in my pant pocket and released that invisible bar.I fell with a thud.I was lying on the floor of my bedroom and the alarm clock was ringing,it was morning ,but the dream was so real.