Fatehpur Sikri, a creation of Emperor Akbar

Fatehpur Sikri (Hindi: फ़तेहपुर सीकरी, is a city in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city was founded in 1569 by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585, when it was abandoned. After his military victories over Chittor and Ranthambore, Akbar decided to shift his capital from Agra to a new location 23 miles (37 km) west south-west on the Sikri ridge, to honour the Sufi saint Salim Chishti. Here, he commenced the construction of a planned walled city, which took the next fifteen years in planning and construction, with a series of royal palaces, harem, courts, a mosque, private quarters and other utility buildings. He named the city Fatehabad, with Fateh, a word of Arabic origin in Persian, meaning "victorious." It was later called Fatehpur Sikri. It is at Fatehpur Sikri that the legends of Akbar and his famed courtiers, the nine jewels or Navaratnas, were born. Fatehpur Sikri is one of the best preserved examples of Mughal architecture in India.

According to contemporary historians, Akbar took a great interest in the building of Fatehpur Sikri and probably also dictated its architectural style. Seeking to revive the splendours of Persian court ceremony made famous by his ancestor Timur, Akbar planned the complex on Persian principles. But the influences of his adopted land came through in the typically Indian embellishments. The easy availability of sandstone in the neighbouring areas of Fatehpur Sikri also meant that all the buildings here were made of the red stone. The Imperial Palace complex consists of a number of independent pavilions arranged in formal geometry on a piece of level ground, a pattern derived from Arab and central Asian tent encampments. In its entirety, the monuments at Fatehpur Sikri thus reflect the genius of Akbar in assimilating diverse regional architectural influences within a holistic style that was uniquely his own.

The above description is from Wikipedia, after our Taj Mahal visit of 13th October,2016 we proceeded to Fatehpur Sikri next day 14th October by road. a drive of about two and half hours. 

This place has two part visit itinerary, Fatehpur is the walled city with dargah of Salim Chisti, Jama Masjid and Buland Darwaza. One has to go barefooted and we did that in scorching sun.Most of the time we walked in shades. We were duped by a guide in purchasing costly chaddar to spread on the mazhar of Chisit,so advise to visitor to be careful of guides.

Here are the pictures of Fatehpur.

The marble structure of Dargah of Salim Chisti

Omu,Shuvo in lungi because he was in shorts and shorts not allowed inside the dargah,me,Purnima,Bula and Ronny

Courtyard of Chisti Dargah

The Grave of Chisti with our chaddar

Omu tied thread to fulfill his mannat

Me,S N Roy at Dargah of Salim Chisti

Dargah of Salim Chisti

 The Mughal Emperor Akbar came to Chishti's home in Sikri to ask him to pray for a male heir to the throne. Chishti blessed Akbar, and soon the first of three sons was born to him. He named his first son Salim (later emperor Jahangir) in honor of Chishti.^[1] A daughter of Sheikh Salim Chishti was the foster mother of Emperor Jahangir. The emperor was deeply attached to his foster mother, as reflected in the Jahangirnama^[2] and he was extremely close to her son Qutb-ud-din Khan Koka who was made the governor of Bengal and his descendants are still to be found in Sheikhupur, Badaun.

Akbar held the Sufi in such high regard that he had a great city Fatehpur Sikribuilt around his camp.

This is from Wikipedia.

Meena bazar in Buland Darwaza complex

Buland Darwaza as a backdrop,Shuvo,Ronny,me,Bula,Omu and Purnima

Buland Darwaza from outside

Bula,Omu,Shuvo and Purnima with Buland Darwaza as a backdrop

Buland darwaza and Jama Masjid

 Buland Darwaza (Hindi: बुलंद दरवाज़ा, Urdu: بُلند دروازه‎,^[1] pronounced [ˈbʊlənd̪ d̪ərˈʋaːzaː]), or the "Gate of Magnificence", was built in 1576 A.D. by Akbar to commemorate his victory over Gujarat. It is the main entrance to the palace at Fatehpur Sikri, a town which is 43 km from Agra, India.^[2][3]

Buland Darwaza is the highest gateway in the world and is an example of Mughal architecture. It displays Akbar's empire.^[4][5]

From Wikipedia

................

Sikri is the second part of the visit to the great walled city of 16th century. To enter this place one has to purchase ticket and one needs guide to explain the historical significance.

While walking through this sandstone edifice of thousands of square meters i was trying to imagine that in the late 16th century this place was once treaded by Akbar, his Hindu wife Jodha or Marium, his navaratnas like Birbal, Tansen etc. Yes it is history all around created by the most secular Mughal emperor Akbar who tried to bring a new religion Deen ey Ilahi which was mixture of Hindu and Muslim religion. After coming here one realises that he created most of the Mughal structures visible in India. The Agra red fort is his creation and many other structures of Agra which was the capital of Mughals then were created by him barring for Taj Mahal. A distinct Persian architecture of influence of Indian culture is visible.

Here are some of the pictures of Sikri, It was a scorching hot afternoon and i was thinking that if Tansen would have been there then i would have requested him to sing Raag Megh Mallahar to bring rain, as per the legends he could do that, he could even light fire by singing Raag Deepak.

Kitchen

Panch Mahal at the back ground, Bula,Shuvo and Ronny

Diwane Khaas is visible at a distance

Shuvo and Ronny

Khwabghar

Open courtyard

Foreign tourists clicking away

Diwane aam and the foreign tourists

Diwane aam

Jodhabai's mahal

Aankh micholi tehkhana

Wah Taj

The decision to go to Agra as a group of our family members was taken a month back. We were toying with idea of taking the newly introduced fastest train of India travelling at 160km/h, Gatiman which leaves Nizamuddin in New Delhi at 8.10 am and reaches at 9.50 am to Agra. One can return the same day by taking the same train at 5.50 pm from Agra which reaches Delhi at 7.30pm. The cost of AC Chair car each way is 750 bucks.
But then we all agreed to go by road as after construction of the 6 lanes Yamuna Highway of 205 km to Agra the road journey has become pretty routine. We took a SUV and started off in the morning, it took about 4 hours with a break in between.

break

our SUV

There are numerous hotels suiting to one's budget, we checked in one such budget hotels very near to Agra Fort. One thing to note is that Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays.
I have chosen a few of my favourite pictures of Taj Mahal which mostly i took during our visit to this marble edifice of symmetrical structure. I don't want to delve into history and geography of this marvel. I know that i could not stop myself from clicking Taj from every possible angle on that day, i was awestruck.I have chosen a few of the pictures taken by me on 13th October,2016. I refrained myself from editing the pictures by putting effect or colours, these are just unpolluted first cuts.
Enjoy the poetry of marble.

First view of Taj from the entrance

Outside from the right Madhuri,me my nephews Monish and Amit with their mother Purnima in the center.

The first view of Taj

The gate from the Taj

From the left my brother Dr.Amarendra Nath Roy, me, Purnima my brother's wife and Madhuri,my wife

Tried to capture Taj from the center, but it is slightly off

• 
  

Taj from the right

Taj from the right

Taj with it's reflection in the pond

The signature picture,me and my wife Madhuri with Taj as the backdrop

Taj from left

Taj and Jama Masjid

Madhuri,Purnima and Ronny by the side of Taj

Taj from left ,from the road level

Yamuna flowing behind Taj

Delicate calligraphy on the wall of Taj 

Taj and Jama Masjid from the right

Taj pillar with Yamuna

Tourists at Taj

Calligraphy on the wall of Taj

Resting after visit,Taj in front, Shuvo and Madhuri

Ronny taking picture

Monkey at the back of Taj

Shuvo clicking

Yamuna from Taj

Resting, Purnima,Madhuri,Amu,Shuvo and Ronny

The visitors of Taj

Trooping to Taj

Djinn

curio shop

                                                           

Hasmat

It was time to check out of the hotel, my nephew Monish came and reminded about our next destination to Fatehpur Sikri. I was sitting with the jewel box in hand with the lid open. Inside of the cover there is a mirror which was reflecting my sleepless face. I looked up to him and gave a blank stare.

“What happened you look devastated as though you have not slept last night? What is that box?” He looked at me and then at my wife who was getting ready to go out.

“It is a strange story and lost a valuable asset which was in this box.” I said absentmindedly clutching the pearl.

He got interested and pulled the chair and sat in front of me. I was sitting on the bed with legs dangling.

Here is what I told him.

“Do you remember the guide Hasmat at Tajmahal whom our guide introduced?”

“Yes that old fellow who said that he is the oldest guide of Taj, I have heard you discussing about Djinns with him.” Monish said.

Yes, he said he has seen Djinns. He further told me as we are born from earth Djinns are born from fire. Djinns live in a parallel world to ours. They are also born and die like us but are not visible in our dimension of world but they do exist around us. They are active at night and mostly hang around the old ruins. He informed there are bad Djinns and good Djinns. During the discussion I asked about the genie in Aladdin’s lamp. He informed me that an evil Emir had punished that Djinn by putting him in that lamp. I wanted to know more about Djinns from him. He asked me to come in the evening near the gate of Taj.

I was curious so after we all returned to the hotel I left for Tajmahal, the sun had set and it was getting dark.

“Oh,I came in search of you in the evening and auntie said you had gone out for some errand, she had no clue about your nocturnal adventure.” Monish said sarcastically.

I smiled at him and continued with my narration.

Hasmat was waiting for me near the curio shop. I had walked down the last one kilometer to Taj where only non-polluting mode of conveyance is allowed. He took me to a room inside the curio shop. It was kind of office of Mustaq, the owner of the shop. Mustaq left us alone. Hasmat asked whether I am interested to go inside Taj to see Djinn.

“How can you arrange to go in? It is closed now.”

“Leave that to me, there are many secret entry points of Moghul time which are not properly guarded. The main entrance point is only guarded.”

“How long will it take to sight Djinn?”

“Depends on them, they have seen me loitering but as you are a new person so they have to make sure that you are not up to some mischief. They may not appear, it is a chance you have to take.”

As such before coming I have Googled about Djinns .I gathered from Google there are some bad Djinns too, but the curiosity of learning more has pulled me to Hasmat. I was not in a mood to do experiment with unknown in a desolate place.

Hasmat watched me hesitating; he got up and went out. He brought this box which I was holding in my hand in the hotel.

Hasmat said, “ This box contains a Djinn, not a dangerous one”. He opened the box there was a small pearl like thing, he pointed to the pearl and said the Djinn is there. He asked me to hold the pearl in hand and look at the mirror which was embedded inside the lid.

I was excited like a school boy, I took the box , picked up the pearl and looked at the mirror. First it was hazy then a face appeared , the face was of a school boy and that was me when I was 13 or 14.I looked up at Hasmat with awe , he smiled and said, “ whatever you are seeing can be seen by you only, it reflects your mental age at that moment.”

I started wondering how that was possible and tried to recall if anything like this had happened to me. Again I looked at the mirror and saw my face of the age of 24 or so when I had met a mystery man in Gauhati during start of my career in Indian Oil refineries. That time a sadhu in Kamakhya temple had touched my forehead and transported me to a dream world. I was ecstatic with that box and asked Hasmat to give that to me at any cost. I was surprised that he did not bargain and gave the box free with a caution not to keep the box open for more than 5 minutes otherwise the Djinn would escape.

I came back before dinner time and had dinner with you all.

‘Yes I remember you were in a kind of hurry to finish the dinner.” Monish said.

My wife said, “ I did not know all these about Djinns but I have seen him getting up a number of times in the night and doing something with that box and a pen torch.”

“ I was so curious that in the night I would get up check which face the mirror would show. Mostly it was showing my this face but sometimes it was showing a much older wrinkled face of mine. I was exhausted by the long walk of Tajmahal and the second time walk in the night. Eventually I fell asleep and forgot to close the lid of the box.I had kept the box by the side of my pillow. In the morning I got up , held this pearl and looked at the mirror, I saw my this face. Then I noticed there is a micro hole in this pearl, I guess the Djinn has escaped by that. I heard some kind of rattling sound in the night but did not bother.”

“ Jethu, I don’t believe in your this story and as usual you made up this yarn, now get ready , we have to check out.” Monish got up with a huff.

It is very difficult to convince someone about my seeing me in that mirror at my different age depending upon my mental frame then. But I did see and know from various articles that Djinns create illusion in the mind and whatever I was seeing in the mirror was nothing but playback of my memory which is cached in the subconscious. It is a kind of hallucination, what people achieve by consuming drugs like marijuana, cocaine etc. Next time when I come to Taj will search for Hasmat , I am writing this article for the benefit of readers to experiment with Djinn when they are in Agra.

Twitter, the new force

Twitter , the new force

.........................................

The other day i watched the movie Chef where the lead character played by Jon Fabreau's career of Chef got ruined by adverse comment written by a food critic in Twitter......later on with the help of his 10 years old son he gets his Twitter handle and watches how his son starts putting him in the virtual world when he starts operating a food truck....because of his son's posting he becomes a hit and people starts crowding wherever his truck goes....

I had first hand experience of the power of Twitter. Last year i had gone to Taki with my family and relatives. As usual i was taking pictures and videos by my mobile camera. Many of my apps with auto uploading were on...like Flickr,Google photo etc. After about 10 hours or so my data service stopped and next day my mobile service stopped....i received a message from Vodafone informing me that my bill has run up to 45,000 as i was on international roaming whereas i had spent 20 hours or so in Taki which is in Bengal....then i realised that as Taki is in Bangladesh border so Vodafone service of that country overlapped and so the international charge....when i rang up customer service then they asked me to pay half the amount that is 22,000 to resume services. I wrote to appellate and got the same reply of paying up the amount...then me and my friend Raja Mitra started Twitter war quoting the correspondences and the technical fallacy of virtual border of the service provider...my son Anish Roy and my nephews Monish Roy Sumit Roy Aviraj Chatterjee etc joined in and retweeted to Vodafone.... within a day i started getting ring from the service provider, they resumed my services next day and the whole thing they settled at 5,000 ....this is a major battle i fought...there are some minor ones with Samsung,BSNL etc too i used Twitter to resolve....

So friends this is the new force to ruin a man or a company if negative things starts trawling...disgruntled employees, vendors, customers etc are more and more taking to twitter to hit......it is good to have more virtual friends to back you up in case of such need........now GOI has Twitter handle for all ministries and PSUs so higher officers of PSUs have become vulnerable to these complaints...i have used for complaining against BSNL to the CMD and the minister...I was to write this piece long back but did not, certain happening with BHEL  recently compelled me to share my experience of Twitter and it's impact......

The survival kit

The survival kit

…………………..

The life is not that smooth as we wish it to be. The ups and downs are inevitable and one has to be mentally prepared that the good phase is not going to continue for ever. Well, it is easier said than done as any period of routine thaws our brain to a state of rest, we tend to become complacent and forget the realities of life.

The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of the nature but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adoption, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable to harmonize with or changing conditions.

A Maori saying states, “a little storm and then rainbow appears.”

It means that worry over small difficulties is often found to be needless when a successful outcome follows.

While listing down the tools for survival I have used my experience or the experiences shared by others. Also the tools given below are not put in any set order as the adverse situation does not come in an orderly fashion.

Core Competence

……………………

In today’s world where professionalism is becoming the buzzword there one must identify ones USP (unique selling proposition). What is that unique skill you have developed or in other words what is that skill or knowledge in which you are proficient. If you have not yet thought on that it is better that you take help of your friends to identify your strength. For example you may be good in public relation, may be you are good in writing précis and so on and so forth. In your hard time like suddenly the establishment retrenched you then your core skill will take you through in your hunt for a job.

Networking

………..

I personally give maximum weightage to this skill. You must keep on making friends and be in touch with them in regular basis. If you are introvert then you have to muster this skill of making friends. When you are in a difficult situation then this network of friends acts as the lifeline. You can use this network for gathering information which otherwise you are not able to get within the confine of your work place. If you are out of job then again this network comes to your rescue.

Favor banking

……………..

You must be wondering about this bank. It is nothing to do with money. The moment you mention money then this bank vanishes. Whenever any one does anything for some one then he expects immediate return in terms of money or any kind of gift. The operative principle of this bank is keep doing good to others even without their requesting you and don’t expect any return from them. Then you will find that when you are in trouble then from some unknown place you are getting help. If you enquire about this help then you will discover that it is some one whom you helped long back is returning your help. It works like magic. This particular tool I am listing from my own experience.

Positive mindset

…………………….

The moment any adverse thing happen to any one then he starts blaming others and goes pitying himself. Very often such people loose heart and become depressed. They start visualizing that now the situation is hopeless and he can not get out of the abyss. A man with a positive mindset takes the set back as a lesson and tries to learn from the failure. As George Bernard Shaw wrote, “When I was young I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failure; so I did ten times more work.

Take initiative

………………..

I have noticed many people with rich learning and experience are not getting job after VRS or after getting laid off. They assumed that as because they were in some reputed organization so the other employers must be aware of him and will come to him with job. This is a very rare situation, if one would have been that good in profession then he would not have been the man forced to take VRS or got himself thrown out. One has to restart the journey like a fresher; he has to present himself to the market. The birds have to fly in search of food; they don’t sit on branches with their beaks wide open so that food will fall from the sky. The marketplace for job is just a click away. One has to put his resume in the internet.

Creative thinking

………………….

There are number of instances when somebody has been thrown out of job but was not disheartened. With whatever little money he has saved started a business and prospered. Here he did a creative thinking. There are cases when you are not satisfied with your work then you resign and start your own business. If you have a new idea of business then money to start the business is not a problem at all. How Narayanmurthy with his four friends started Infosys twenty years back is a part of the legend now.

Multitasking

…………………

Every company is clubbing work to reduce the cost of man power. You might have noticed that the person issuing the boarding pass to you is also checking your boarding pass at the gate. The same is not done by the employees of the government owned airlines. I have seen in foreign country, the driver of the long distance bus does the loading and unloading of the luggage and also issues ticket. In India also this is catching up so one should not mind in doing some add on job. The idea is that every job is important in the work chain.

Ready to move

………………

We often fall in this trap of searching job at the place of stay. This may not be possible always. One must be mentally prepared to leave the comfort zone where he has friends and relatives and move to a place which offers greater opportunity. It is a trade off one has to accept in life. The internet gives access to jobs available anywhere in the world so one has to widen his vision.

Computer savvy, internet

…………………………………

This is the most necessary modern tool. One may not become expert to make programmes but one should be able to store data, retrieve, write, send e mail etc. In today’s knowledge ocean the skill to surf the internet is must. The internet is a virtual library; one has only to know how to scan the catalogues. One can find articles on any topic written by experts and freely available in the internet. It is lightly said the one can get enough know how to assemble an atom bomb from the internet.

Data warehousing

……………………….

It is a good practice to log the data of the work done. We Indians are very poor in maintaining records. You will find that in adverse condition these data so kept come very handy. We are in knowledge era and where the data operate the system, they are like gears of a wheel. You might have noticed that how every one is busy on their lap tops. They can not move an inch without the ubiquitous lap top.

Communication skill

…………………………

Now a days there are professionals available who coach people in acquiring this skill. One must be able to communicate clearly either verbally or in writing. It is said that more than 60% is communicated by body language only in verbal communication. We Indians are accused of talking more but not to the point. That is the reason why every one wants to own cell phone so that even if the friend is not present physically still he can contacted for any insignificant reason. The points are to be conveyed in a précis and organized manner. The summing up has to be definitive to show the conviction of the logic.

Developing new skills

…………………………

If one is talented as Hussein then one need not learn any other skill, but in reality it is not so. It is a good idea to acquire some additional skill for enhancement in career or survival. There are numerous self help books are available to guide you in proper direction of learning. It has been observed that by profession one might have chosen a field but he may have knack in some other field. I always advise people to cultivate his that talent. What he developed for profession is skill but what he has in born is the latent talent. That talent has to be nurtured and ultimately that may become his survival tool. Like many people indulge in cooking as a hobby but this can be developed to a full time business venture.

Be alert

…………..

The changes taking place are infinitesimal. These are not noticeable, but by the time it becomes noticeable the change has already occurred. This is the age of smart operation and one has to do constant reality check. Even if someone is in a secured job but still he must find out his market value. If you don’t constantly check your market value then you will not know when you have become obsolete. A recent study has shown that in knowledge industry a man more that 45 years of age can not find a suitable job as the industry prefers younger people with fresh mind. Though there is many fold increase in salary but at the same time hazard like this also cropping up. One must be alert and keep all options open.

Learn

……..

Many industries are allowing sabbatical leave to its employees so that they can acquire fresh knowledge. The other name of learning is life. As the life goes on similarly learning has to continue. There is no age bar for learning and one can learn from any one. The continuous learning keeps the mind busy and keeps away from the disease like Alzheimer. Look at Khuswant Singh, the writer and journalist who even at an age of more than 95 is alert like a school boy.

Safety net

………….

This is also known as nest of egg for the future. This is the age of consumerism. The banks are ready to give loan in easy terms. It is a big trap. Today we see practically every one we know has taken some loan or other. So now he has to keep working to pay back the loans. EMI is the buzzword. This amounts to every one working for the banks. It is a honey trap. We are following Charbak’s philosophy of “Rinang kritya Gheeritang pibate” Have Ghee by taking loan, live for today as tomorrow is not there. But if there is a recession or because of any other reason some such person loose his job then how is going to manage his finances? So one must save simultaneously for that rainy day. He has to cut his coat as per the length of his cloth. The paper is full of stories about suicides as they were not able to payback the loans.

I have enumerated the soft skills required for survival under adverse condition. The persons with skills like fitter, welder, electrician, plumber, carpenter etc are much sought after skill set in today’s booming real estate market. Even the foreign countries are issuing visa readily for these types of experts. They have to only keep themselves physically fit for the hard manual work. 

Tell me your dream

Tell me your dream

…………………

I got down from the taxi near the Bandra band stand once again like I had been doing for the last one week. I started walking up the street past Sahrukh Khans house. I walked for about ten minutes and then turned right to begin the search for Dr.Rehmani.I went to the first high rise apartment complex next to the petrol pump. The security guard did not stop me, I wondered why? May be I don’t look like one to break in the houses or I was looking very old to carry out any nefarious activity. I gave a broad smile to the security guy for his generosity which is very hard to come by now a days. He nodded in response. I crossed the lawn and reached the lobby of the multi storey and looked at the letterboxes. I could not locate the name of Dr.Rehmani, so I trudged back out of the security gate, it was December so the sun at eleven o’clock was not harsh. The length of my shadow has shortened; I looked down at the shadow and thanked it to be still there, I have lost all hopes of regaining my self. So I and my shadow started our search for Dr.Rehmani once again and to no avail.I had to find him, so I continued my search at Bandra for Dr.Rehmani.

 The above is the narration of the oldish looking guy sitting in front of me at Copper Chimney where I had gone for lunch. It was chance meeting with Champak Kumar on that day.

It happened like this, after my retirement from BHEL,Bhopal in 2003 i had joined a firm in Kolkata. In 2004 sometime in December I had landed in Bombay in connection with a consultancy work. I was booked at Wankhade stadium guest house by my friend Jamgade.I did not like the ambience of the restaurant there in the stadium so I took a cab and came to Copper Chimney for my lunch. I had ordered my lunch, was smoking and waiting  to be served, suddenly I found this handsome old guy in tweed coat and corduroy pant appearing in front of me and asking for  match box. He appeared to be a nice and kind guy, surprisingly he appeared young from some angle, his stance was youngish but he looked old, I obliged him. He went back to his place in the corner of the restaurant, my lunch course was served. I hurriedly finished my lunch as my meeting with the client was scheduled for three in the afternoon. After paying my bill I got up and went towards the door, I heard a voice behind me; I turned around and found that old guy was waving at me. I went near his table.

“Do you have some time to spare?” He enquired.

“Sorry, I am in a hurry for a meeting.”

“Do you come often here?”

“No, no I have arrived here today and will be staying in Bombay for the next four days,” I informed him.

“Can we meet here tomorrow; I want some time of yours.”

I had work in the late evening next day, but it was a strange request from a stranger. But this is not the first time when strangers had confronted me and unloaded their worries on me. I don’t know why I am picked up, may be I have a very ordinary common man  face which remind them of their some close relatives or friends. Any way I too did not have much work next morning and scented a good story, agreed to meet him at Copper Chimney at one o clock next day.

Next day I got down from the taxi in front of the restaurant and found that old gentleman sitting at a table of four. He was wearing this turtle neck grey sweater and black chinos pant and was looking like an out of work hero. He was about five feet eleven and a slim body. He got up and invited me to the chair opposite to him. I shook hand with him and sat down.

“You are surprised why I chose you? You see you look like one of my cousins whom I adore. I was feeling lonely, so I requested you for this meeting.”

“Oh, that's alright, I too don’t have much to do today. Let us order some drink.”

“The drinks and the lunch are on me, that is my payment to you for your time,” he smilingly told .

We ordered scotch and he started his narration. In between he was continuously receiving calls on his cell phone. He was either asking them to sell or purchase, it was the time when sensex was trying to breech 10,000 marks.I am Champak Kumar; you might have heard my name. His name struck a chord in my memory, was he the hero of the film “Khooni Khanjar’.He acted in one movie in late eighties, it was a super hit but after that no one heard any thing about him. He just kind of vanished, there were rumour that he had hot affair going with the heroin of the film.

“I am not sure, are you the hero Champak Kumar.”

“Thank god you have heard my name; you look to be of a generation before me.” This remark of his surprised me as he looked to be more than sixty and that is more or less of my age.

“What happened to you, why you did not act in any other movie?”

He sipped his scotch and ran his fingers through his hair. I noticed him doing this very frequently. I looked at his hair and wondered whether he was wearing a wig or not but I could see his parting hairline, it was natural hair but dyed.

He philosophically looked at his scotch glass and said,"Let me start from the beginning then you will know my problem."

This is what he told me:
I am a graduate from Barkatulla University; Bhopal. My original name is Dharmesh Chandra Agarwal.I used to take part in college plays and because of my good look I was always chosen to play the role of hero. After my graduation I decided to try my luck in Bombay so I boarded a train for Bombay. It was just after Bhopal gas tragedy. We escaped the gas as we were staying near the BHEL Township. I was in the AC chair car; the passenger next to me was a girl who was traveling from Delhi to Bombay. Because of good looks the girls automatically get attracted to me, so this girl was no exception. She looked to be lonely and I lent my ear to her. I did not give out much about myself. She had gone to Delhi to attend an art seminar. She was a budding artist from JJ school of art; she was neither beautiful nor smart. She informed me that she had no true friend. She looked to be rich and as I had no place to stay in Bombay so I started flirting with her. During the course of our discussion I came to know that she was the daughter of a psychiatrist. Her father was having many film artists among his clientele. I thanked my lucky star for this break. So I doubled my charm, blasted it to her with full intensity and by the time we reached Bombay she was eating from my hand, she started begging me to stay with her family. It seemed her mother had died and she was the only daughter. I did not say yes readily, I pretended as though I had many friends where i can chose to stay. She took the bait and started pleading and I agreed, remember I am an actor so these things come naturally to me.
We got down at Bombay Central, there was a car waiting for her outside. She took me to her house at Vila Parle. It was an old fashioned house with tall columns and the works. Her father was waiting for her at the porch, an old fellow in gown with clipped moustache, medium height,  high powered specs .Oh by the way the name of the girl was Percy and they were Anglo Indian.Dr.Brown was a jovial guy and I took immediate liking to him. He did not mind giving me shelter in his house as long as it pleased her daughter. I was allotted the guest room in the ground floor. It was a two storied gothic structure; airy .I would not go to much detail about how the doctor took a shine on me. Mr.Sippy, the producer is one of his client. He introduced me to him.Mr.Sippy gave me chance in his film Sholay, it was a bit role as one of the constables with Asrani.While shooting for the movie, I came in contact with the heroin Anita and she recommended me for hero role in “Khuni Khanjar”.I found out that Percy was using me as a hat rack for parking her self esteem, she was not much for romance or sex,she lived in her own world of art. So there I was a part time lover to Percy and a full time hero with Anita. There was lot of rumour about me and Anita, nothing really happened between us. It was one of those pre release hypes they built up through PR.
I was not happy with the film line, it was plastic world very artificial so I wanted to quit. I wanted to continue a free life with lots of money. I used to share my thoughts with Dr.Brown; he was sympathetic to my views.One day he introduced me to a doctor whom he came to know the previous day in a conference. The doctor was introduced to me as Dr.R.He was a weird looking guy, like a character from Harry Porter. He attracted me like a magnet. I started visiting his hotel room. He was thinking of settling down in Bombay along the Arabian sea. He was interested in Bandra.I shared my wish of early retirement, and my dream of spending a leisure life of playing golf and visiting places. Somehow without my knowledge he started influencing my dreams. I started dreaming as though I was like Manu Chabaria who has built his empire with 10,000 rupees so I was also capable of doing that.I was having a few lakhs earned from the film. I slowly started thinking about stocks and real estate.My thinking process was changing,a new me was emerging who was focussed towards money. I purchased land in Greater Bombay which was yet to develop to the present magnitude; similarly I invested in tech shares where no one was investing then. Whatever i touched fetched money as though i had Midas touch. I knew that metamorphosis of mine was due to Dr.R so I helped him to purchase the land which he wanted.
Suddenly one day while brushing my teeth in the morning I noticed that I was getting wrinkles around my neck, on closer look found out extra strands of white hair among my black hair. I was very particular about my good look so I started worrying and the worry caused my physical aging faster. I had not met Dr.R for a year or so but came to know that he has moved out of the hotel to his newly built house on the land which i helped him to purchase. I visited him, found that he was no longer looking weird but instead he was looking younger. I requested him to do something about my aging .He asked me to come next day. Accordingly i went and he asked me to lie down on the reclining couch  I was hypnotized by him , when I came back to my senses then I found myself in my flat at Lokhandwala with all my memory and the location of Dr.R’s house totally wiped out from my mind.
“How old are you now?” I asked curiously.

“I am just 45 years old but see I look as if I am seventy years old. He stole my years through my dreams.

”“How”

“During the process of my investment I was getting this dream regularly where there was an old guy in a castle in the clouds. He would ask me to give my youth to him and he would make me rich beyond my imagination. You know I was so possessed that I agreed.”

“You mean to say that Dr.R was that old guy in your dream.”

“Yes, now when I sit back and think then all the pieces start falling in places.”

“What about Dr.Brown,cant he help you to track down the devil.”

“The father and daughter moved to Australia and heard that Doctor died.”

“So now every day I go out to Bandra and search doctors whose surname starts with R.For the last one week it is Rehmani.”

“The appearance of that devil might have changed, how would you recognize him?”

“I can identify him by his gait, eyes, mannerism etc.” he said desperately.

I felt sorry for the old guy, sorry I mean for the young fellow. His youth was stolen by a wicked doctor. I don’t know how this could be possible. I was wondering whether the body in front of me in the form of Champak Kumar was actually Dr.R and Dr.R is using his body which is forty five years old now. It means he switched the souls; it was real scary. May be the guy in front of me made up a story and took my time to narrate that and see my reaction. I was utterly confused. These types of things happen in story books not in real life. Though there are people who claim that we could not explore all the dimensions, like say time dimension. This is to do with time.

“I told you my story because in case you come across some one who can give back my lost years then I would pay handsomely. Why don’t you come with me to my house?” He gave his visiting card to me, I did not give mine.

“Sorry, I can’t as I have some urgent business.”

“Will you come tomorrow?

’“If I am free then I would come, good bye.”

With his permission i took his snap with my mobile phone and left him.I was in no mood to continue my association with him, I was too scared,started getting goose pimples thinking about his talk.I started searching for an internet café, got one after walking a few hundred meters. I got hold of a computer and surfed for  Hindi film “Khuni Khanjar “, found some images from that film.Yes,that guy whom I met in Copper Chimney was really Champak Kumar. He should be around 40 but to me he appeared to be older. Was he telling truth? May be due to some illness he was looking old and made up a filmy story.

 I was puzzled by that chance meeting with Champak Kumar and his strange story. When i told this story to some of my friends in the club they did not believe it so thought of sharing with you all.

RIO Olympic 2016..my take

RIO...my take
Mrinal Kar was the 100 meter dash champion in 1960 of IIT,Kharagpur when I joined the institute... Mrinal Kar was resident of Patel Hall where I was alloted accommodation...one day Mrinal spotted an African boy C B Simpson in the hostel...he confronted him in dinning  hall and asked him has he ever taken part in Athletics..an emphatic No was the reply...Mrinal Kar who was in prefinal year then encouraged this 2nd year African student Simpson to come to the track...well that was the introduction of an athletic power house to our hostel team..he started winning all 100,200,400 plus long jump not only in inter hostel but also in inter IIT sports meet...those days he used to clock 11. something secs  in 100 m...here is this boy never took part in competitive athletics at the age of 19 or so started and dominated IIT sports scene for next 4 years... it's all in the genes of the people of that continent...watching Usin Bolt winning the 7th heat so easily showed the effortless easy way doing a job in World arena ...
It is great that our sportsperson have met the minimum criteria for taking part in RIO Olympic but then competing with those natural sporting persons from all those highly physical country is another matter... those countries keep on producing sportsperson like a factory....as usual China has caught on and streamlined the production house like all other engineering products from that country.....
Our case is story of one off like a Dipa Karmakar here or rich person Abhinav Bindra doing his bit...yes we rightly focussed on archery,rifle shooting,wrestling which has traditional base... let's see if tennis and badminton players can do anything ,till then let us enjoy watching the excellence in sports after all those people winning gold are the best unlike say in India where people manipulate the system..good that Goel fellow has been recalled back,enough of Tom foolery ...