by Amith vikram
Stranded
They were stranded in the middle of the road. They were not used to things like this since they always seemed to be in control of all life-situations. The illustrative couple was happily married for 16 years and in spite of being very affluent and quite popular, they had conducted themselves in a very respectable manner. He was in his forties, sporting a neatly trimmed moustache, dark hair pulled back, cleanly shaven and tall. She was a kind woman, exceedingly charming, had an even more charming smile. "Yes, everything seemed perfect except the tyres" he said to his assistant over the phone. "I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused sir, I understand your problem........". He always hated to hear that line. "That's okay, but never use that phrase again, please" he hung up. "So?" she asked. "There's a bus that's heading this way that we have to board in forty mins" he said looking around the place. It was a beautiful setting to be stranded. There were like series of hills on the one side and on the other, just green grass. The sky was blue with clouds here and there that were still as if in a painting. There was enough sunlight but it was a bit chilly. "Look I am really sorry about this. Are you OK travelling in public transport?" he asked his wife. "Are you kidding? You don't have to be sorry. It's fine" she said smiling. She got out of the car, looked around and said “This is a very beautiful place, Isn’t it? Come, let's go sit near that hill over there". They walked towards the hill and on the other side of the hill, again there was just green grass. They could see over a long distance. Just trees and hills. "Hmmm, If you think about it, this is like a blessing in disguise" he continued “I mean, what is so great about the place where we are going? All we do is constantly try to wade through people. It's nothing like this, just the two of us as if alone in this magnificent planet". She agreed “I think we should spend more time in places like this". They both sat in silence for a while trying to focus on very far away objects.
"What are you thinking about now?" she asked. "Man vs wild" he said. "Do you remember the last time being together like this, doing absolutely nothing yet supremely pleased?" she asked looking at him. “I think it was our honeymoon, wasn't it? Because that's the only time when it's politically correct to be doing nothing, except the other thing that's mandatory at honeymoon..." he remembered with a smile. “Actually our life was stranded for a long time now, that's how I feel. I am glad the car broke down here" she said. “Wow. I saw that coming from a mile. But it's true and I feel the same way" he said.
"All the memories came back to me like a parcel of gift" she said. "What's with the simile now, ha-ha? are you telling me a story?" he said. “And it's not a very good simile either" he added. "Is it forty mins yet, i want to get out of here" she replied. "I am sorry sweetheart. Was just trying to make you feel like we are in the past, you know how i made it up to you each time. Do you remember that?" he was quick to think. "Yes, the last time you got me a diamond ring. I have all types of jewels in diamond now except a necklace “she said. He nodded in silence and then quickly said "But you are right, I think it's about time. C'mon let's go" they went back to the car. They waited for a while and then he got a call " Sir, I regret for your current situation but the buss will be delayed for another hour. Before you say anything, you have to understand that I am not the bus driver" said his assistant. "What is it now?" she asked. “Can’t believe it, I can't do this again. Now there's a problem with the bus. And I can't be mad at my assistant either" he said in frustration. "Oh this is the worst trip ever" she said.
The Seven Islands
I would like to present a short description of the seven islands or the sapta dvipas according to Indian Mythology. I truly believe that this description is accurate to the best of my knowledge. The source text is Devi Bhagavatam authored by the extremely intelligent saint, Bhagavan Krishnadvaipayana Vedavyas. It appears as dialogue between devarishi Narada and Lord Narayana. It is also interesting to note the thoughtful reference being made to trees and mountains instead of other falliable entities when describing the vast earth. Also, the description of islands is one after the other which makes it even more easier to identify. One word: sophisticated. This also suggests that when it comes to India, the mythology and history are not seperate. Okay, so let's begin :
Plaksa Dvipa : Indo-china
Description - This name is dervied afer the plaksa tree which is Ficus religiosa and it is found in this region even today.
Relegion - Varna system
Diety - Sun god(Aditya)
Testimony - The Angkor Wat temple in cambodia
Shalmali Dvipa : Indonesia, Phillipines and Papua New Guinea
Description - Derived after the shalmali tree which is Bombax and it is native to south east asian countries and northern Australia.
Relegion - Varna system
Diety - Moon god(Soma)
Testimony - Moon temple of Pejenj and the historical ritual
Kusha Dvipa : Australia and Newzealand
Description - Dervied after the various types of Grasses found in this region.
Relegion - Varna System
Diety - Fire god(Agni)
Testimony - The Australian grasslands. Besides, the aborigines of Australia worshipped Fire.(NOTE that, one of the readers have pointed out that, this is not true. However, the other evidence is quite convincing)
Kraunch Dvipa : Antarctica
Description - Derived after the Mountain ranges, the transantarctic mountains.
Relegion - Varna system
Diety - Water god(Varuna)
Testimony - The mountains and the glaciers indicate the same description. However, Antarctica once enjoyed a tropical climate and there were many inhabitants in this land. One has to note that, the description is during the time of creation.
Saka Dvipa : South America
Description - Derived after the saka tree which is the Pine tree.
Relegion - Varna system, practised pranayama
Diety - Vital force(Prana)
Testimony - The pine trees, especially chile pine which can be found in S. America. Also the Inca tribe of south america believed in reincarnation and that vital force in the body transmigrates.
Pushkara Dvipa : North America
Description - Derived after the pushkara tree or the Maple tree. This tree is described to have golden coloured leaves and the tree sheds crores and crores of leaves. Spot on.
Relegion - Not known
Diety - Lord Brahma on the divine lotus
Testimony - The only evidence is the maple trees and it is the only remaining island and it is described in order.
Jambu Dvipa : Asia, Europe and Africa
Description - Derived after the jambu tree which is blackberry tree. It is also described as narrow in the north and south and far and wide in the middle.
Relegion - Varna system
Diety - Indra and a host of other gods, probably all gods.
Testimony - Traces of Varna system are still prevelant mainly in india. The worship of the Dieties too are prevelant to some extent throughout india. Not much could be obtained about other countries except Bharatavarsha that is today's India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of Afghanistan and Meru varsha or the country of mountains which is today's Nepal, China and Tibet.
Please let me know what you think.
Moments of Joy
They have been going out for a while now, unofficially. It was a beautiful day and everyone seemed to be in some sort of pleasing reverie due to the constant breeze of cool air and the sight of beautiful avenue of giant green trees waving. They were walking down the D V Gundappa road chatting non-stop and smiling at each other. It can't get better than this, he felt. She is hot, she is smart and she is hot. For someone wh
o has bathed in the sacred rivers of depression, failure and hopelessness, it was like liberation. There was the issue of not having a proper job, news of mass murder, general disharmony in his mind which he stomped on and walked away to a few moments of joy. He was always shy of girls but ever since he became one of those 'failure on the face of earth' type of guys he had virtually become invisible. But then, you never know when life will take a U turn. They decided to stop by a small hotel. "Listen, you get in and reserve a table, I'll be right back" he said. "Why what is it?" she asked. "Nothing, just have to recharge my phone" he said. She was sipping a cup of coffee on a table by the open window and he came back with flowers. She was delighted at the same time became a little conscious of the surroundings. They looked at each other with their pause-while-you-smile faces for a moment.
"This is for you" he said and gave the flowers to her. She took it admiring it and kept it carefully beside her. "wow, they are beautiful, thank youuu.." she said in a way that would annoy you if you were not dating her. He took his seat and looked relaxed with a constant smile on his face. He leaned back on the chair with his eyes fixed on her as if studying her face. She looked confused but knew exactly what was going on but she didn't wanted to talk about it. "I like you" he said, "I really like you". Her hand was not on the table so he couldn't hold it, but it's not a movie anyway. "I want to know if you feel the same way towards me" he said. Her smile slowly faded into a princess-of-all-three-worlds look. "I am sorry, but I have always considered you as a good friend but.....No. I am really sorry" she said. Another disaster. Nothing new, he thought. "That's okay" he said smilingly. This is pathetic, he thought. He wanted to know a lot of things: was he not good enough? what could a woman think of except men? career? bitch please...Anyway this is over, he thought. But he wanted to handle this smoothly, without exploding from agony. From past three months until entering this cafe, life seemed to take off positively but then, whatever goes up comes down, some or the other day. There was an excess of awkwardness at that table, both trying to look away from each other. Suddenly, the ceiling, his shoe lace, the spoon and the window frame looked very interesting. Finally they got and left.
Outside the cafe, the world had changed for him. The beautiful trees, the excellent weather nothing could cheer him up. Inspite of his self-control, he rudely bid her goodbye and stormed away from her as if she was a cop and he was a thief.
Jewel Thief
It was 4 in the evening and there was just a couple of hours for the shift to end. Mahesh, the chief of the Bangalore police, south zone, was looking forward to go home and smoke some weed. Granted, he was not the ideal kind of person but he was pretty good at his job. Just then he heard the dreaded sound of the phone ring. His assistant answered. "Chief, we have a complaint from the residents of a certain apartment" said the assistant. "Alright then" said Mahesh. The chief went to the apartment with his assistant to investigate. The one who gave the complaint was a young man who was staying with his girlfriend. He claimed that his girlfriend's diamond necklace was stolen. As Mahesh and his assistant walked up to the young man's house, "Diamond necklace" said the assistant "Does it not sound like right out of a movie?". "Yes, the 80s" said the chief.
As they reached the young man's house, they saw the door already open and a man was sitting in the living room with his head buried in his hands. The chief knocked the door with his club, just like the way it's supposed to be done. The young man looked up and hurried to the door and introduced himself to Mahesh, the police chief. He explained that the diamond necklace which he had bought recently for his girlfriend was stolen in a matter of 5 minutes. "Where was the necklace when it was stolen?" asked the chief. "It was kept right here on this teapoy and unfortunately the door was open and I had just gone inside my room for 5 mins before it got disappeared" said the young man. "I see" said the chief. "Sir, I demand each and everyone's homes to be searched thoroughly" said the young man. "We know what we have to do. But you seem to be sure that it is inside someone's house. Someone could have escaped with the treasure" said the chief. " I actually know who the thief is. Not just me! everyone in our apartment knows about it. But they refrained from lodging a complaint for trivial things. But unfortunately for me, it's a big blow and I desperately want my necklace back" said the young man. After having checked with his neighbors, the chief and his assistant went to the alleged thief's house. He was in his 40s and he had a wife and a daughter. "We need to search your house, we have a complaint against you" said the chief. The man resisted first, but later had to give in. Witnessing all the noise and commotion, many of the residents went to this man's house to see what was happening. "That thing is mine, you bastard", "And this is mine", "Oh my god, here it is!".......It was as if he had stored everyone's belongings and everyone started to thrash him while finding their belongings. The chief and his assistant intervened and appealed for maintaining peace. The man and his wife both were weeping and pleaded protection from the police chief. "But where is the diamond necklace?" asked the assistant. "What diamond necklace? I am a despicable man but i swear to god, i know nothing about any diamond necklace" said the man. "Liar! you filth, just give my diamond necklace back you thief" said the young man in a shrill voice and pounced on him. His wife covered him and said "We don't have your necklace, please don't beat him like an animal. We shall give you whatever it costs but please leave us alone!". "Yes, you are giving me my money, wait a minute" Said the young man and he prepared an agreement form which stated that, the man agreed that he was guilty of the crime and he would pay the necklace's worth. After that, the chief noticed that the young man became jovial. Mahesh was confused because a lot of things happened at a very short time. But before he left, he said to the young man "However, this case is still not over. I hope you don't mind if we ask for your co-operation until we find the solution". "Any time" said the young man.
"I can't wait till i go home, i need to smoke up right now. Do you have some weed?" asked the chief to his assistant. "I am sorry chief, I don't. But let's ask our driver, maybe he would be having some" said the assistant. "Can't believe almost everyone smokes weed these days" said the chief. After going some distance, the chief asked the driver if he had some weed. The driver was astonished and said "Sir, i would never ever do that. Why would you think like that at all? I have never smoked weed in my life" said the driver dramatically. "That's okay. I smoke weed. We are all humans after all, this uniform doesn't make me any different. You can tell the truth" said the chief. "I swear to god, sir. I really don't have any" said the driver. "That's okay, I will light up this cigarette anyway" Mahesh took out his cigarette pack. And then, the driver held out a plastic cover with grass. "Really? so much for this, huh?" said the chief a bit surprised but happy all the same. He smiled from ear to ear and lit up a joint.
One week later.....
"Sir, is the diamond necklace case closed? It can't be that simple, but who cares? right?" asked the assistant. "It is far from being closed, my friend. On the other hand, the thief is becoming vulnerable" said Mahesh. "I don't understand. Who is the thief? the young man or his girl friend?" asked the assistant. The assistant continued " I heard that his girlfriend has moved out of town". Mahesh said " Last week, when I visited the young man's house, I mentioned to his girlfriend that, you are having a doubt that, there might not have been a necklace at all in the first place. And then he got animated like....it was unbelievable. You should have seen him. But actually, that was supposed to be joke!". "wow...you suck at cracking jokes" said the assistant " but that does not prove anything, does it?". "True, it does not prove anything. But think about the other night when I asked our driver for weed. There is a pattern, and it is same" said Mahesh. The assistant said " You know, you are right. We should actually have such power that, we can arrest anyone just because we feel he is a culprit". Mahesh said " Why do you think I have not arrested him? because I don't entertain foolishness in my work. You won't
believe in the way I go about things? I don't give a rat's fart". There was silence after that. Finally Mahesh got up and said "Follow me".
Mahesh, his assistant and another guy went to the young man's house. "Good afternoon officer, please come on in" said the young man. " We have a very good news, we have found your lost diamond necklace!" Mahesh showed the necklace like a salesman. The young man looked puzzled. The assistant was keenly observing him. Before the young man could say anything, Mahesh said " It is diamond. we have already checked this with him" referring to the other man. It was an actual diamond necklace. The young man held it in his hand and concluded that, it was indeed diamond. He said " Thanks a lot officer! you did it!". Now everyone in the room smiled the smile of evil. The necklace belonged to Mrs. Mahesh.