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DISTANCE-DOORIYAN

        

       The sneaking distance … dooriyan had germinated long ago. But it had begun to flower only now. I wasn’t aware of it nor was my God. And there weren’t any signs of it either. Not even a whoosh of air. Even when the roots beneath may have been screaming about it, for a long time now. In the hope of a bright future perhaps, the venom was held back, for far too long. So, on the face of it there wasn’t even a chisel of hate. But no one knew what was brewing inside.

    He had parted long ago. Shama then, was young. And what followed was a serpentine struggle, all the way to get her children up to the root and wings in the hurricane of life. Affluence had eluded her and miseries had surrounded her. Where, I had sneaked in as her isthmus between the devil and the deep blue sea that is the horrid present and the unseen and unknown future. She kept accepting in warm grace, things I was doing for her and feigned happiness all the while in return. But the tempest was only building in her. Perhaps, she was angry with her own destiny and the person who had written it but she couldn’t have challenged him. The damning offshoots of which, she had even passed it on to her children for the final onslaught that was still to come.

    Uneasy years had flown by and her challenges had somewhat leveled. Life was beginning to smile at her again as she had almost passed the upstream. But hatred is the steepest upstream they say. And all throughout her overwhelming jinx I thought I was her steersman but she had carved me as the conman.

    For all the unpleasant things that had ripped her life, she now wanted a villain to blame squarely and that was me. Perhaps, she was blindfolded when she encountered destiny and later thought it was just another me. She delighted in praising select others for all the good things that had happened in her life and for the incorrigible turmoil and shaky vicissitudes it was me. She walked around with upbraided vanity claiming all the ancestry as she gradually passed the lethal baton to her restless children who were breathing fire.

    Time had flown in an unsurprising gush. There were murmurs one day that the villain too had parted or was he done away with. No one knew. But there were smiles and the wicked smiles all around. She had sighed in ecstasy after an eon. It was all bright and beautiful around her. As, she, had finally attained complete, unquestionable ancestry. The villain had finally gone.

    Ceremoniously her time kept ticking and with that her ambitions kept upgrading until one day Shama saw the first spectre of another villain in her life and this time it was her own grown up child.

posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

*****

Poem: IN THE ARC OF TWILIGHT

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IN THE ARC OF TWILIGHT

In the arc of twilight,

When the day recedes,

Night retrieves,

Is when the daylight dims,

And darkness begins.

*

That makes me wonder,

Is it time to surrender?

Where the end looks closer,

And time every minute a bulldozer.

*

It appears as if,

There isn’t much left to render,

For the thread of life,

Now looks slender.

*

So the time looks ripe,

In the realm of life,

To forthwith—account for,

What you missed in life,

And gathered in the strife.

*

But before destiny strikes,

 And takes you by its might,

Into the wide blue yonder,

That is full of thunder,

Only to surrender,

It gives you a flash to remember.

*

So before the untoward arrives,

Scan your blessed life,

To slate it out for your own sight,

What you attained,

And what remained in vain.

*

Yet rejoice,

At the opportunity of life,

That the rare attain,

Wrapped in cloak of humanity,

And under the aegis of Almighty.

*

And reflect honestly,

The count of your vivacity,

To feed your own vanity,

And ask yourself.

*

Did you see what you wanted to see?

Did you do what you wanted to do?

Did you say what you wanted to say?

Did you love, whom you wanted to love?

And care, whom you wanted to care for?

*

For the rhythm of life,

Is only as wide,

As the breath of life,

And only the lucky go past,

The fill of life.

*

So before the destiny,

 In plentiful,

Be kind,

Be sublime,

For that is prime,

In God’s mind.

*

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*****

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DEAR SHRAVAN

I saw you here and I saw you there.

Even when,

 I know all very well,

You aren’t really there,

And every year on this day,

You do send me to despair.

*

When I reflect,

I still can recollect,

 Those lovely moments,

When you were born,

And I had thought,

We’ll be together lifelong,

But that was not to be.

*

In your fight for life,

I remember with gripe,

Seasons had come and seasons had gone,

Where time was kind but destiny was strong,

Though time fought well, yet destiny won,

As it snatched you,

With its divine intents.

*

Now that you’re gone,

There isn’t too much of a song,

Except for the noble mission,

That you had brought along.

*

You often come in my dreams,

That brings me loads of serene,

Is when, I willfully dream,

To serve those sick umpteens.

*

It is said,

Life is a mystery,

Where destiny is another name of cruelty,

But God is kind,

And time is like a serpentine.

*

And when I bring it upon myself,

I realise,

Your short span was indeed the mystery,

Where destiny pulled off the cruelty,

And between mystery and cruelty was God’s beauty,

But where time still meanders like the serpentine’s ferocity.

*

In this windswept life,

One more year goes by,

But I’m happy to tell you,

I’ve kept your mission alive.

So rest in peace,

For you have achieved your destiny.

***

In warm remembrance of our son’s birthday. Who left us some years back.

*****

NGO ACTIVITY- MEETING THREE CANCER PATIENTS ON 16th NOVEMBER

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

    “Nobody can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied.”—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

    It is indeed difficult to even imagine how much these young kids suffer. Yet they put up a brave face. They don’t complain of pain, and require no one’s pity.

Recently, we visited these brave kids in a hospital. They are diagnosed of cancer. All are a bundle of joy. But are oblivious of what they suffer from. They smile more than us. And, that is where they put us to shame, when it comes to raw guts. We handed over our contribution in the form of cheques, to all the three Parents, of these bravehearts.

My eyes went moist. When, I saw young baby boy Rihan. Who is five and suffers from NHL (Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma). He has been fighting cancer for the last six months. His father who works as a compounder has already spent more than two lac on his treatment. His income as told to us is around ten to twelve thousand per month. We wish Rihan all the best. And compliment his Parents for taking up this brave fight against cancer.

Garv Chaudhury, baby boy, age two years, was the second child, whom we met from Bulandshahr. He appeared every bit a joy. He was fast asleep when his mother tickled him to meet us. Surprisingly, he didn’t wake up crying. On the contrary he got up staring at us. He suffers from Pre-B ALL (High Risk). We wish him all the very best by praying to God Almighty. We would also like to compliment his father who is a marginal farmer and his mother who is a housewife in taking up this arduous fight against cancer. We wish them the best.

Next, we met Ayesha, a bright girl in her teens from Jaipur. Her father is self-employed and runs a workshop. His monthly income is around ten thousand. Ayesha is fighting cancer for the last one year and is diagnosed of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We wish her all the best in her fight against cancer. We also wish her Parents the very best in taking up the brave fight.

We all are so busy with our daily lives that we rarely think of such unfortunate and poor children who suffer from cancer. Should you want to contribute for the cause the account details are as given below.

Name of Account: Shravan Charity Mission

Bank of India account no: (680510110004635)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*****

DOCTRINE OF KARMA AND REINCARNATION

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

DOCTRINE OF KARMA AND REINCARNATION

    Why do Hindus believe in these two doctrines? One being karma and the other being reincarnation. Because these doctrines not only explain the unusual occurrences logically, they also shed light on day-to-day events of life. Hindus do not consider life and death to be mutually exclusive. But intertwined and inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. If there are disparities between two individuals at the time of birth, and if we can see these disparities, then the cause for these disparities must have preceded their birth.

·       Karma: The word karma means “action.” In accordance with the cosmic laws of karma. Each individual reaps the fruits of his actions, performed in this life or in former lives. This logically explains the disparities in creation, between various individuals, environments and situations. No deed, small or great, good or bad, can be without an effect—this is the law of karma, the law of casualty. In fact one begins to feel as if Newton’s 3^rd law of motion—‘to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’ was drawn out of the doctrine of karma.

·       Karma is no fate. Fate implies helplessness in a human being, to determine his own destiny. The law of karma states that the individual is the creator of his own destiny because his conscious choices in life determine his actions and the fruits thereof.

·       Reincarnation: Hindus believe that the jiva, or the individual being, travels from life to life, acquiring bodies and environments best suited to exhaust his vasanas (vices) or innate tendencies that are expressed as desires, emotions, and actions. The exhaustion of vasanas allows the jiva to reach his ultimate goal: complete freedom from the cycle of birth and death through the realization of his true nature as the Self, or Brahman.

    ---I read this in a book on Hinduism—by Chinmaya Mission Trust---

*****

SHORT STORY: THE POWER IN ELDERS BLESSINGS-MAHABHARAT

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

    In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, both forces of Kaurava and Pandava were standing opposite each other and the battle of Mahabharat was about to commence. The forces had set their formation and bowstrings in the battlefield in a state of readiness.

    And it was only a matter of moments before the shunk (conch-shell) would have been blown to announce the battle. When suddenly Dharmaraj Yudhistir disrobed his armour, and kept it in his chariot and along with that he also placed his weapons respectfully. And, thereafter he started walking towards the Kaurava’s army and more specifically towards Bhishma Pitamah.

    Seeing, their eldest brother trying to cross over, and that too without his weapon and armour, Arjun, Bhimsen, Nakul and Sahdev too got off their chariot. They came close to Yudhistir and started walking behind him. And not able to resist, Lord Sri Kirishna too started walking along with the Pandavas. Bhimsen and Arjun were rather worried and decided to ask—‘Maharaj Yudhistir! What is this that you’re doing just before the battle?’

    Yudhistir didn’t reply anything to anyone. Meanwhile Lord Krishna signalled all, to remain quiet and said—‘Dharmaraj Yudhistir always behaves righteously and even now he is doing the same.

    And seeing them crossing over, there was chaos in the Kaurava’s camp. People there started saying, ‘Yudhistir has chicken out seeing our forces and wants to come under the aegis of Bhishma Pitamah.’ Some people even doubted that this could be a ploy to win over Yudhistir by Bhishma Pitamah. The soldiers were thus praising the Kuaravas as with this strategy the battle would have been over even before starting.

    Yudhistir straightaway approached Bhishma Pitamah and offered his Pranam (Hindu way of offering respects with folded hands) and pleaded—‘Pitamah we are forced to wage a battle against you. And therefore please give us permission to do so along with your blessings.’

    Bhishma replied—‘Bharat Shrestra! Had you not come here in this manner, to take my permission for the battle I would have definitely cursed you to a defeat. But now I’m happy with you; and may you attain victory. You can now ask for a vardan (blessing). Parth! Remember man is a slave to his vows, but vow is not anyone’s slave. Kaurava’s have put me under their thumb only because I have taken a vow to save and secure the throne of Hastinapur.

    On this Yudhisir asked—‘Pitamah you are invincible, so how can we win the battle and how can we defeat you?’

    Pitamah requested them to come some other time and ask this question. From there Yudhistir went to their Guru Dronacharya and did pranam and asked for his permission to fight the battle. Acharya Dronacharya said similar things and gave his blessings; but when Yudhistir asked Dronacharya the way to defeat him, then Acharya made it absolutely clear—‘as long as I have my shastra (weapons) in my hands no one can defeat me. But I have a weakness that during the battle if someone reliable as you all gives me the news of a mishap I will keep my bow and arrow aside, and get into meditation. You all can kill me then.’

    Yudhistir then said pranam to Acharya Dronacharya and then moved towards Kripacharya, and after pranam he asked for Kripacharya’s permission to start the battle. Kripacharya also like Bhishma Pitamah, said similar things and blessed the Pandavas; but Yudhistir could not ask his Kulguru (Chief priest of the dynasty) Kripacharya how he could be killed in the battle. And before he could even ask this tough question he fainted. Kripacharya understood what Yudhistir wanted to ask. He said—‘Rajan (King)! I cannot be killed by you all, nor can I be killed by anyone else. But I can give you my word that every morning I will pray to God for your victory and in the battle I will not come in the way of your victory.

     After this Yudhistir went to his maternal uncle Shalya and did pranam. Shalya also repeated what Bhishma Pitamah had said and gave the Pandavas his blessings. But along with that he also gave a word that all along the battle he will keep attacking Karan with his sarcasm.

   And after pranam to all his Gurujans, and after obtaining their permission Yudhistir along with his brothers crossed over to his side. And this humbleness of Yudhistir created a soft corner in the hearts of Bhisham, Dronacharya and others without which winning the battle of Mahabharat would have been extremely difficult for the Pandavas.

***

        

    

SHORT STORY: WHEN YOU PROTECT DHARMA, DHARMA PROTECTS YOU

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

    During vanvas (forced exile into forest) Pandavas were spending time in the Datya forest. And, while roaming around in the forest they felt thirsty. Dharmraj Yudhistir then climbed a tree to see if there was water in the vicinity, where at one spot he could see a lot of greenery and that gave an indication as if water was around. And then he requested his youngest brother Nakul to get some water from that spot; and obeying the eldest brother, Nakul left immediately.

    There he found a lake brimming with clear blue water; but the moment he bent down to drink it, he heard a loud voice warning him, ‘do not dare to have the water from this lake, for I have established my authority on this water and it belongs to me. So, first reply, to my queries before you drink the water.’

    Nakul, was extremely thirsty. He therefore did not pay too much attention to the warning that a Yaksha (nature-spirits, usually benevolent) was passing, but the moment he tasted the water from the lake, he fell down and expired on the spot.

    And back here, in the Pandav’s camp there was a bit of restlessness now as the Nakul had still not returned. Worried Yudhistir then sent Sahdev after Nakul. Sahdev too heard the warning of Yaksha but tried to drink the water, ignoring him and died on the spot. In the same manner Yudhistir then sent Arjun and Bhimsen. But they too came one by one and met with the same fate.

    When Yudhistir realised that all his four brothers had not returned from the lake, where they had gone to get water, he readied himself to go there, in spite of his being tired, and soon he was there. And upon seeing his valiant brothers lying dead he went into a deep gloom. And after mourning for sometime on the bodies of his brothers he felt thirsty when he too decided to have water from the lake. Yaksha first tried to stop him from having water in the disguise of a crane; but when Yudhistir asked him, ‘who are you?’ he dawned the form of a Yaksha and appeared on a tree top.

    When, peaceful and saint like Yudhistir said—‘Yaksha! I do not want to acquire anything that belongs to someone else. You have laid down your authority on the water of this lake so let the water be yours. Any questions you want to ask, please ask. I will try and reply to your questions, to the best of my ability.

    There after Yaksha asked many questions and Yudhistir answered all of them quite correctly. And satisfied with his answers, Yaksha said, ‘Rajan! (King) you have correctly answered all my questions; and therefore I grant the life of one of your brothers. So whom do you want alive out of the four?’

    Yudhistir replied, ‘kindly give life to my younger brother Nakul.’

    Yaksha in a surprised tone asked—‘you are wandering in life without a kingdom in these dense forests. And you need to wage a fierce battle against your enemies to protect dharma, and in such a situation you are not asking for the life of your most powerful brother Bhimsen or Arjun, who is the best archer of the world, and asking for the life of Nakul, why so?’

    Dharmraj Yudhistir said—‘Yaksha! The bliss of ruling a kingdom or the torture of vanvas depends on your fate and destiny; but a human being shouldn’t abrogate dharma. One, who protects dharma, is protected by dharma itself. And that is why I won’t deviate from the path of dharma. Kunti and Madri, both are my mothers. I am Kunti’s live son. And I want the lineage of my second mother, Madri also to remain intact and so I am requesting you to bring back Nakul to life, so that both the mothers have at least one child alive.

    Yaksha said--‘Yudhistir you are very knowledgeable and liberal in matters of interpretation, modesty and dharma, therefore I am pleased with you and may God give life to all your four dead brothers. And I’m your father dharma. I had come to see how you’re doing, and test your love for dharma.’

    And, in the manner Yudhistir tried to protect dharma, dharma protected Dharmaraj Yudhistir; when all his four brothers got up, as if from deep sleep.

***

SHORT STORY: DEFAULT DESTINY

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Many years ago, Rishi a friend of mine was returning from a hill-station with his newly married wife, after his honeymoon. They were in a shared jeep—the old one, with a superstructure and canvass top having two longitudinal seats at the rear, facing each other along the length of the vehicle.

    And, as all hill routes of those times, it was an uncomfortable journey, especially because of the narrow and single winding road, and that too with a plethora of hair-pin bends, and many of them, even without railings. It was drizzling low key, that had shortened the visibility, and it appeared, both, the vehicle and the driver were not solely depending on visibility alone, to course through, and were even delving some bit on their day-to-day, hands-on experience of the road, since time immemorial.

    In all there were ten people in the vehicle. Three in the front, and that included the driver, Rishi and his wife. Six in the rear seats, three on either side. They were two couples, and two men. And, last but not the least a half standing and half sitting, uncomfortable, restless, and a noisy kid of around ten to twelve years.

    Even when the jeep was meandering down the road leaving everyone fatigued, giddy and somewhat tired the untiring kid was all over the jeep trying to reach up to the driver, to fiddle the  gear lever and the steering wheel, and that was irritating the driver.

    The parents of the kid appeared quite bindaas, and were not even attempting to calm their hyper-child.

    After about fifteen minutes the jeep halted at the midway, to the railway station, which was a two hour drive from the hill-station.

    Most cafeterias and dhabas were located within a span of about hundred metres on the straight road passing the midway, after which the road winded to an immediate right, where on one side you had climbing hills and on the other side a dangerous fall of about a thousand feet, where there were no railings. The roadsides along the straight road were crowded, and so the jeep driver took the vehicle closer to the immediate right and parked it there, and quite close to the point where there were no railings in a routine fashion, to announce a stop of fifteen minutes, quite sufficient to freshen up, followed by a cup of tea and some hot snacks, tasting, tastier in the cold weather, with those panoramic views of tall coniferous trees, in the lap of those tall mountains.

    Everyone got off the vehicle except a lady in the rear seat who preferred to sleep most likely on account of giddiness that had set in her, and giving her company was her middle aged husband.

    The naughty kid was the first to finish his snacks, and soon came and sat in the vehicle without his parents. And soon from the rear seat he jumped over to the front seat and started swirling his hands on the steering wheel.

    The man behind mildly warned him to return to his seat but that fell on deaf ears. Soon the kid started enjoying the steering wheel when his hands reached the gear lever, and unknowingly his foot to the clutch pedal, and with that the jeep got into neutral mode and slowly started rolling. The man behind saw what had happened, and so, he jumped and ran towards the dhaba to call the driver, perhaps he didn’t know driving himself. His wife was still asleep in the jeep.

    The kid was still unaware of what had happened and about the ensuing danger. And as the vehicle slowly moved he started enjoying the feel of the vehicle even more as the steering felt light. The vehicle was now heading towards the fall.

    Upon hearing the shout the driver edged out of the dhaba and with grim eyes saw his fortune rolling towards the steep fall. He darted and jumped inside trying to push the kid aside to stop the vehicle, but by then it was too late as the front wheels of the jeep had already waddled off the road, where it overhung for some moments and off it went taking the unlucky trio along with it. All the three had died in the mishap— The kid, the driver and the lady behind.

    We often blame destiny for whatever goes wrong in our lives. But in this case wasn’t it a case of default destiny?

    For why were the parents of the kid so unconcerned about their hyper-child? In that one hour of journey they never reprimanded the child even once. Not even when he was irritating the driver while he was driving. And above all, they let the child alone, to the vehicle parked alongside a dangerous fall. So such parents who don’t reprimand their children at the initial stages need to introspect about the ghastly consequences.

    The middle aged husband realising the danger did not attempt to save his wife first, instead he thought of saving all— the kid, his wife and the vehicle but in the process could save nothing. So should it be, help yourself first?

   The driver knew about the hyper-child, yet he parked the jeep close to a dangerous point in all casualness.  And he could have stayed away from the vehicle in those dying moments yet he pounced on it. So think before you jump.

***

   

A SHORT POEM BY A CHILD CANCER PATIENT: 'IN THE LAP OF GOD'

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By Oncosuresh

IN THE LAP OF GOD

What was my wrong?

That you took away my song,

For when I opened my eyes,

I was in severe bites.

*

You taught me a lesson,

By plaguing me with cancer,

But I had not harmed anyone,

So why the torture?

*

As a child,

I had no great past,

Yet you stepped on my present,

To take away my future.

*

They call you kind,

They call you a forgiver,

Synonym for mercy,

But you left me in heresy.

*

Fear not my child,

For I’m with you every while,

And you are not alone,

And never ever be gone.

*

For you are special,

In life’s battle,

And you are my messenger,

And you are my harbinger.

*

You puzzled me God,

You scared me God,

But after talking to you,

I am at peace God,

For I now know,

I am in your lap God.