Saturday, July 17, 2010
Man and God
God smiled mischievously and tasting his shrewd lips, said," worship me and I will impart you the Divine Bliss".
Buoyed with utter delight, Man dedicated his mortal forehead in the feet of the God and kept worshiping faithfully for long. After it was long enough, he raised his head and looked at God with beseeching eyes.
God opened his lotus-eyes and with a smile weaved of the fabric of death, pointed towards the Man's forehead which bore the blot from God's toes. "See, your head has stain. You cannot be blessed. Worship more."
Man bowed again,his forehead touching the God's feet. The stigma on his forehead grew larger. Later, he raised his imploring eyes again.
God said," the stain has grown darker".
Man put his head in God's feet again.
Since then, the sequence of faithful adoration and darkening of the stain has continued endlessly.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Am still waiting.....

Its been almost 2 months now….. I have become a non-living body…. Hitherto, I hardly got to meet a dozen of my friends whenever I got the chance to stay at my home…. Ah…. Home sweet home…. Patratu. How I used to crave for it. How I loved staying for an hour extra while a whole group of enthused fitters n supervisors worked their minds n hands off to ensure that I complied with the forecasted time. The weary looks of disturbed AMEs touching me here and there titillated the mischievous self of mine. How happy I used to get at the sullen face of the Senior DME in the morning power meeting when he said… oh, 14167 won’t be going out today!!! These moments I used to spend at the home shed were really precious as my wheels got the time to sleep… a welcome respite.
But now, things have a changed. Each of my 99 friends have exchanged pleasantries with me more than twice. Its pinching me now. I really want to move on….. I used to define ‘locomotion’, a trait of living organisms…. And now, its like I am on a hospital bed for the last two months, dying a silent death. The treads of my wheels have got layers of rust … a shame for me. I have become a show-piece now….’ Here’s the WDM3B 14000 series loco…. It’s useless… waiting for a truck frame it lost in an accident’…. Its becoming hard to bear these harsh comments. I used to run 2873 up constantly on eighth notch for hundreds of kilometers, and now, even the dummy truck frame on which I was standing for so long has been taken away. I stand on one truck frame and two godforsaken whiting jacks. Cursed be fate.
It was that doomed day when I was hauling 2874 down back towards Hatia. I almost derailed but this info was never relayed. Don’t know what made the pilot do so. A day later, I reached Patratu shed where Toppo my friend came to me with troubled eyes. He knew at once that I was in pain. He called a sahib from the adjacent pit, a rather new one whom I had seen just once, to have a look at me. Soon, it was the talk of the day. One of my truck frame had been damaged beyond the repairing capabilities of the shed. Everyone seemed perturbed. I could sense somehow that this stint wasn’t going to be enjoyable. And it proved so. Its been two months now… n I don’t see myself running before another month.
The injured truck frame was booked to KGP w/shop, thanks to the efforts of the sahibs behind desks. But unfortunately, the cursed wagon got lost in the sea of wagons of SER. Even hundreds of phone calls could not trace my lost limb. After all these painful days, the idea of getting a new bogie flashed in someone’s brain. Teams were sent to DLW to ask for the same. The fact that I belong to the rare species of high load 3D locomotives with heavy motors and equalizer made the task more difficult for my AME sahib. Well, they have returned now and for the first time in the recent past could I see the brightness in the eyes of my admirers. They look confident of rolling me out and I am dying for that.
Blessed do I feel that despite all the misfortunes, I will soon be setting out on the rails again, carrying thousands of pairs of eyes… some sullen, some desperate, some full of hope, some carrying the only hope… but all waiting for the destination. I am also waiting…. waiting for the day I set out again. All I have for the moment is the hope that my caretakers might comprehend what an ailing heart of a ‘dead loco’ feels.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Introspection....
I guess this dedication has dwindled down in me. I now feel less excited or shall I say less motivated to walk this path. What goes beyond my cognizance is the probable cause of this transformation. A couple of years back, this desire to attain peace was too much to handle. How very agile my mind was in its pursuit of eternal happiness. What is it that has changed now? Was it a hollow desire that has died down because I have been on this path and it’s the characteristics of this path that whosoever walks this way loses his desires? Or is it that I have been walking on some other path, in some other direction, constantly getting farther from my destination? It’s time now for a serious introspection. I must check my controls.
Looking back at the milestones I crossed could give me some hint, I guess. Before I started this sojourn, I was deeply laden with unwanted emotions that were suffocating me. I had run out of breath in that excruciating environment of expectations, grief, longings and pain. In the desperate attempt to inhale the freshness of eternal peace, I decided to take the path which the direction board showed as the ‘way to salvation’. I would better review that decision now. What was it that I actually wanted? Was it that I was unable to face life as it came to me? Was it that I was whisking off my responsibilities? Was it that I wanted an easy way out from the complexities that life came up with? I am still not sure that these were really false. Agreed that the desire came from within, but still, it was a desire. And desires lead to sorrow. Is that the reason why I am in this mess now? It is said one thinks of God only when one is in trouble or when one’s self enlightens and tries to reach to its destination. What was the truth in my case? It did look like the latter one, but was it truly the only cause? I fear it wasn’t. There was some bit of hesitation to take up the challenges of life too. I did feel that this way, I could stay happier as I would have fewer nuances to deal with. But does this path teach to run away from your responsibilities by calling them nuances? Not at all. This path teaches detachment from emotions, not from duties. This path never weakens you, it only strengthens you.
Then why is it that I am feeling weak now. It seems to me that I am not at all on the path to salvation. Rather, it’s a path which boasts of leading to salvation and takes you to the very world you ran away from. The reason obviously is the lack of conviction to shun the worldly bindings. On a positive note, I may be on the right path, travelling well and that has caused the desire that initiated me on this path to wither away. But this is not true and I don’t feel shy to accept that. This proves that I am not on the path I desired to traverse onto. That’s discouraging, but still that’s what it is. And I will have to accept that. Okay. Accepted. What next? I now need to know where exactly do I stand at the moment. I feel I have a fair introduction of that divine holiness. And I can at least recognise where I am. This in itself is a blessing from that Almighty. I know the differences between the worldly path to life and the path of renunciation to salvation. I have fewer desires now and I do know now that desires cannot take me to salvation. Save for some sporadic exceptions, my mind works as a part of my intellect. I do get SOS calls from my intellect in case my mind tries to run on its own. These are the traits of the path to salvation. This proves I had set out on the right path. Glad I am. So, where did I make the wrong move?
The worldly path to life and the renouncing path to salvation are essentially two extremes. I guess as I progressed on the latter path, it occurred to me that it would serve a higher purpose if I stay within the world, and attain salvation. It does sound truthful and I bet it is true. But the fact that the ratio of world and renunciation has to be intellectually monitored got lost midway. It’s like walking on the edge of a sharp razor, working out a fine balance between the world and the no-world. It’s like staying in the world physically with a constant awareness of the ephemeral existence of the same, realizing that the world is but a dream. The worldly component has to be limited to the body only, while the mind, the intellect and the conscience have to be devoted to the bigger cause, salvation. Renounce, not this body, not the world, but the thoughts, the mind. Work, not because it will yield you worldly gains, but because that’s your duty towards this world.
Expect not, refrain not. I guess that’s what I have been aiming. And, the digressions as they seemed, were just the check-points which He offered me to realign myself to the requisite path. Thus, all fears dispelled. I am doing it the right way, and I don’t care where all this would lead me to, as even that bit of expectation doesn’t remain. Happy, carefree, dutiful, unattached, I move on.
Friday, February 19, 2010
IT’S ALL HUMBUG
Digressed I was. Carrying on with the life. Had lost my aim long before. It was just an aimless ride, similar to the test drive of new cars. You keep driving on and on, riding the car onto whichever road that comes your way. Driven not by desire, not even by will.
I am still unaware of the force that kept driving me.
Anyways, then, I did not even think of pondering over the cause that led me astray, or shall i say, steered me to some latent goal that laid beyond the visible horizon, sheathed beneath the veneers of physical appearance. It was just that I kept moving wherever my legs thought of / led to. Footloose. Unabrest of the path, unaware of the reason, I kept lurching on.
People say, digressed are those who leave the path leading to their goal. And here I was, unconcerned of the goal. Did not know the goal itself; leave aside the path that would lead me there. That way, it would be wrong to say that I was digressed. I had no idea which way I was treading. I could have found my goal moving that way too. And then, people would have talked of my perseverance. Hah, isn’t it all a rubbish humbug. That, is realization. IT’S ALL HUMBUG.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Unlamented let me die....
I intend to keep a low profile, and would definitely love to leave this world in utter silence. I must clarify here that I don't mean living a hermit's life and dying a hermit's death. I will live in this world and with this world till my soul finds a new guise. And more importantly, I will keep working towards my objectives till I stay here. But throughout the journey, I would like to be among the people whose lives I intend to ameliorate. Thus the low profile. And being constantly aware of the fact that it would be HIM doing things through my hands, I will evade the ever so dangerous 'ego', keeping a safe distance from it. In the very end, I would like to die a death which wouldn't pain anyone. For those who wouldnt be knowing me, the event wouldn't make a difference; but even for my acquaintances too, my death would only be a space time event. For, the people who will be knowing me, will also be knowing the deathlessness in my death, or shall I say, the deathlessness in death.
LAXO'S LIFE - A short story
It was last april. We were a nice little group. Lakka senior, Khadim bhai, Sree, Lakka, Bata and me, Laxo lived happily together. We shared the same rack, and that made us not just neighbours, but very close friends too. The long chats we shared about our future, predicting the other's destiny as if we were the Almighty, the way Sree used to get jealous when people praised Bata, the way we all laughed at Bata when his admirer would find some fault with him, or with his own pocket, and drop him back, the way we prayed together for our eternal friendship, despite knowing that any potential buyer will end our camaraderie in no time, the grim face Lakka senior used to wear at the sight of fat customers.....all the memoirs flashed before my eyes within seconds. Alas, I couldnt even recognise Lakka and it was him who waved at me. And by the time I came out of that reverie, Lakka had disappeared. Cursed be fate.
I was the first one to leave the troop. So, I had no trace of any of my lost friends. A rich man happened to choose me, when I had least expected. I always used to think that any sensible man would go for the likes of Bata or Sree, and thus never bothered to think beyond the rack. But, my destiny was written in a different ink. Before I could say sayonara to them, I was put into a small carton. Darkness all around, I was left alone with my tears. The very next day, my owner took me out of the box and placed me along with some very worn out seniors. Their condition spoke volumes about the barbarism of my gentleman owner. However, I was proved wrong. My man was a sophisticated fellow in all respects. The way he cared for me, I could only thank my stars.
Since the day I was sold, I have seen enough of the polished world. I have been on aeroplanes, I have seen many high-level meetings, I have been to a number of formal parties..... But despite a so-called royal life, I have missed something. Something that I realised only today after that short meeting with Lakka. Although he started his worldly sojourn after me, he had seen more of life than I had. My world has been nothing more than a cocooned stretch. I never alighted from the tiled floors, never walked on the soil..... never did the shine on me fade. And Lakka, he seemed to have lived his life to the fullest. The wrinkles and the whitened skin said loudly about his rugged life. I had never run into others the way Lakka rammed into me today. Probably, my master was a bit out of his shell today, or was it that Lakka made his debut on the tiles today. Before I could regain my senses after the accident, annoyed as i was, I saw the familiar face of Lakka waving his laces shouting "O jesus, is that you Laxo.... you look so young..... Pardon me, I din intend to hit ya, its jus that I've been cursed with this ruffian master."
The incident left a longing in me, to run aimlessly on the grass, on the soil, to walk through mud, to drench myself. How unfair? I have been through a life imprisonment, jailed to live my owner's life, forced to wear the 'civilized' tag.
I am not sure whether Lakka would be enjoying his life, free of qualms. But then, destiny by nature, is cruel. It has only pains and spasms to offer. And in my case, it has been gruesomely hostile, snatching my freedom.Cursed be fate. Cursed be fate.
Now, I am desperately waiting for someone who will steal me from some temple and will let me live as Lakka, the rugged shoe.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Life to me....
In short, I have seen what life takes a lifetime to show to its owner. And that way, it woudn’t be wrong to say that I own a right to write about life. After all, I am a veteran at the age of 22.
Life has different phases, and this makes it difficult to summarize life in one sentence. Every part of the classification has its own yardstick. To an infant, its nothing more than the closeness it shares with its parents. The quanta of love that the child gets from others, dominates his perception of life. His yelling being answered, his wishes being fulfilled, toys all around make him a happy face and the opposite holds true too. He feels the life to be ecstatic, if he gets what his nubile brain asks him for. Contrarily, life is hell for him if he feels deprived of luxuries.
As the kid grows up, he starts learning the relations- among numbers, among alphabets and among people. Thus entering into a more complex world, where human perceptions and emotions rule the definition of life. He starts comprehending the critical terms like studies, pleasure, anger, satisfaction, love, hatred, sex and more… its then that the complications arise. He feels entangled within the cobwebs of various emotions, and keeps floating on the undulating waves of pleasure and pain.
Slowly, he gains wisdom and becomes a learned intellectual. He shares his views about wide range of topics and feels bigger with every passing day. And then comes a day, when the road his life has been riding, comes to a dead end. The cruel life completes one cycle.
In between, a phase comes in his life, when he looks back at the life he lived. He scrutinizes all the decisions he took at the meanders. Having summed up all his life, he feels he did not live it his way. And thinks it better to write up his experience so that some other person may live his life his own way, by learning from the predecessor’s experiences. Alas, even after living full-length life, he couldn’t learn that it all belongs to destiny.
Things happen the way destiny decides them to. The codes are written up somewhere. Every moment pre-decided and recorded, waiting for its execution. It’s a set of events, a random selection from among the various event codes, put together in the form of a software program file. The files are distributed randomly to the life-owners. Owner he is, but not the administrator authorized to edit his life’s program. So, he lives it the life’s way and not his own way. He gets his wishes fulfilled if his life decides so. Better to say, his wishes are what his life decides him to wish. If he tries to differ, he gets punished. Pain, sorrow, revulsions, spasms…. all are the methods the life uses to make us learn that we are not the authority.
Life to me has been no different. I mean, the program file containing the event-list of my life, has a good mix of many ups and downs. I have been blessed with divine moments of delight, and also, I have been through tortures of hell. And at the end of it, I would only like to thank that programmer. U MADE MY LIFE.