Sailing with the Tides

It was half past ten o’clock in the night and I had not yet crossed Karnal bypass on national highway. I was returning home from Patiala alone and that day being a Sunday, night traffic was not heavy, but due to the six-lane highway constructions between Panipat and Jalandhar cities, there were lots of diversions on the national highway number-one. I was driving very much within the speed limit of 90-KMPH and suddenly a dumper-truck loaded with stone chips stopped in front of my car and in spite of applying the brakes; I could not avoid the collision and hit the truck with a big bang. My car’s front-half portion was smashed very badly and gone inside the dumper; simultaneously the car-engine caught fire.

I was rather surprised that the car was burning, my body was profusely bleeding with deep injuries and wounds but I was not feeling any pain; how come? I could not make-out what was happening to me. In between lots of people had gathered at the accidental site, some people were running around and trying to put the fire off and few of them were working very hard to take out my body in one piece from the damaged car.

Suddenly, I saw an old man around sixty years of age, tall, fair, well-built, wearing very peculiar dress of an old Hindu god loaded with lots of gold and silver ornaments. He was wearing diamond earrings and golden crown which was studded with multiple gems and jewels. He was carrying one gold stick in his left hand and one book in his right hand. I could also see one chariot adorned with two very beautiful white horses standing next to the spot of the accident.

He looked like a very matured, peaceful and respected Angel (Dev-purush) and I saw him coming towards me. He extended his right hand to me and simply pulled me out from the car-window without any hurdle or hindrance. I came out in one piece standing next to him but I was literally shocked when I looked back and saw myself still sitting in that damaged car? I was surprised with wonders and questioning myself, am I dead? The person who was standing next to me, was the representative of Yamraj (God of Deaths) who had come to take me along to the paradise?

I was unable to draw any conclusion when the old man said: “Don’t worry my son, this was the time and place of our first meeting, and I am happy that we met just in time, you see; I am Yaksha Dev, my son”. I folded both my hands and bowed my head in respect and offered my Pranams, but simultaneously asked him: ”I thought, you must have come from Yamalok?” He immediately interrupted me in between and said: “No my son, I have come from Paradise. Remember, you often used to talk with me, whenever you were alone and you had asked me thousands of questions and I have also tried to give you my answers through various modes, means and methods from time to time but today, when you were calling your late father for help repeatedly, who had left you ten years back, I could not control myself and decided to come and meet you personally; that’s why I came running at this place to see you in-person so that we can talk face to face. I am willing to answer all your pending questions once for all; may be, after listening to my replies, it will quench your long lasting thrust and you will finally become calm quiet and at peace with yourself, my son”.

He was still holding my hand and we started walking towards his chariot and after making me sit he took his place and said: “Start with your questions my son, I am listening?” I was almost in a panic and was about to collapse seeing all this happening. I was wondering if he had brought that accident just to meet with me, in which my car got badly damaged and I didn’t know whether I will be back in one piece or not. On top of it, he was saying that he had come to see me and offer his help in solving my problems by providing accurate, correct and the right answers to my various unresolved questions? But was he really crazy, mad or insane, how could he do such horrible things to me and play with my life like this. Moreover, who gave him this right to interfere in my life, at the first place, damn it, who he thinks himself to be?

He said with a very warm smile: “I don’t need anybody’s permission to move around. It’s my decision, desire and wish, when, where and how will I reach my next destination. Therefore, don’t waste time on irrelevant things and start asking questions, my son, you are running out of time: come on now start, I am listening?”

What question, I don’t want to ask him any question; as a matter of fact, I don’t have any question, in fact I don’t remember any questions right now. I didn’t know what was happening to my mind and when I looked back and checked in my memory bank, I could see only a clean slate and not a single question was written on it. Some how, I tried to remember few questions with lots of efforts but without any success, nothing came alive in my mind as if I never had any questions in my life at the first place.

I have just fixed up my daughter’s marriage for October this year; I have to send my younger daughter for M. Tech. in Information Technology coming July; besides I have to admit my wife to the hospital for her sciatica treatment; my mother has to go for cataract operation ensuing summer and finally, I have to be at the services of my Rehnuma and Saheb ji, once again because I have promised them that I would come back and serve them in this life time.

I also have to meet my very dear friend in-person for the first time after so many years and last but not the least, I have to complete my book before the end of this year. So many things are pending, tell me my Lord, how can I die now; no-no, I can’t afford death at this very moment. I think there must be some kind of mistake at your end, may be some confusion at your office; there are so many people with similar names alive on this earth. Moreover, in my Punjabi community, even the father’s name is also similar and matching. Therefore, please check your records once more, thoroughly and then send a messenger; please for God’s sake, it’s my humble request to you, my Lord.

How can you be so careless, casual and callous, no you can’t commit such mistakes, my Lord, not at all, you cannot afford to make such blunders? You know very well that such matters have to be dealt with extra care, concern, caution and very precisely; after all, it’s a question of someone’s life and death, you can’t be so casual and careless, my Lord? I just want to remind you that you can’t be wrong in your calculation at the first place, it’s a serious issue and offense my Lord. I am sorry, but you can’t have this luxury, no chance, no-way my beloved God?

This kind of senseless and stupid conversation was going on in my mind and the Yakasha Dev was sitting just in front of me, very cool, calm and quiet. He was staring at me with his big, deep and sharp eyes. Finally he said: “Whatever is going-on in your mind right now is all created by you and to be more precise, it’s your illusion, misconception, notion and your own wishes that all the things should happen in your life the way you think right, but my son, life is not predictable, neither is it science nor mathematics. You can’t predict two plus two four all the time, but in real life it can be three or sometimes five also.

Nevertheless, I have seen you driving your boat always against the wind-pressure and flow of water; wasting your precious energy, efforts and time by sailing in opposite direction, which is very much against the nature. Please don’t do it, be with the Mother Nature, go and swim with the tide, pull-up all the anchors and the mainsail from your boat and let it be free from all corners, concerns and conditions, sail it free from all the fears and allow the boat to swim with the wind and you simply sit silently on the boat and just be a witness, just be non-committal and let the boat sail with the tide, and flow just flow with the wind, let it go, wherever the flow of water takes you, don’t stop for God-sake, just go with the flow. Surrender yourself in HIS hands and you will find yourself landed at the destination without any difficulty or struggle, trust me”.

“As a matter of fact, you will find the destination very closer to your place, but you were unnecessarily sailing in the opposite direction through-out your life, hence this lead to confusion, chaos, delay and total mess in your life. Although you were moving ahead in your journey of life, but in real terms not towards the ultimate destination; instead it was just quite contrary, as a matter of fact, with each step taken forward you were actually going two steps backward”.

He further said: “Therefore, just relax and accept his verdict happily you will always get HIS indications and instructions, just try to listen and understand his signals and you will find your life-boat sailing easily, smoothly and trouble free. You always thought that you were sitting behind the wheel of  your life-vehicle and can steer your life as per your dreams, desires and wishes but my son, the fact remains that you have always reached at the wrong place at the wrong time with wrong people, so to say; where you never wanted to be at the first place; and it becomes more frustrating when you don’t exactly know how to get back-home. You are still hunting that place which could be simply your illusion, wild goose chase or a stupid idea. Therefore, stop pretending, that you were the master of your life. Let the real Master do HIS job the way HE thinks it fit, fine and right. Therefore, don’t come in-between and create any hindrance, obstruction, problem and simply obey his instructions; stop resisting without raising any objections or question and you will be surprised to see all your problems resolved within no time and you will find yourself amalgamated, mixed and submerged with the universe; the way HE wants you to be, it is that simple, my son, welcome abode!”

Suddenly I found myself being pulled out of the bed and I woke up. It was my wife shouting: “Please get up, it is already 7 O'clock in the morning and you are getting late for the office”. I woke up with a jerk and found myself still alive and kicking!!! Was I dreaming? Oh no-no, but was it a dream? But if yes, then indeed a very good revealing dream! Thank you my Lord and thank you Yaksh-Dev for all the assistance, guidance and help. I bow my head once again for such a nice sojourn with you. Come again Yaksh Dev, I shall be anxiously looking forward for your visit soon, very soon, my Lord!!!

With prayers

Gurcharan

Few Unanswered Questions?

I was returning home after completing my last call of the day from Bawal Industrial Area, Haryana when I got a call on my mobile phone from an unknown number. Since I was driving on Delhi-Jaipur national highway, I could not take the chance to attend the call and disconnected it. Within next three minutes, I got five missed calls from the same number. Therefore, when it rang for the 6th time, I parked my car at the roadside and accepted the call and said: “Hello, who is this?” in response I heard my nick name spoken in a very heavy voice but I could not recognized the caller. He again said: “Charan, you have forgotten me, my friend? It’s me, your old friend Ramandeep Singh Grover from Calcutta”.

I got the biggest shock of my life, my childhood friend Raman, all of a sudden a very tall, thin, fair and handsome Raman’s figure came alive in front of my eyes and all the old memories started pouring into my heart and mind, one after another within flash of few seconds. In excitement, I even forgot to ask him his whereabouts instead I said: “where had you been all these years Raman, what a pleasant surprise, where are you calling from, my dear friend?” I asked so many questions in one go. He informed me that, he came in the morning to meet his client at Delhi and at present he is waiting at Delhi International Airport, his flight to New York City will take-off at mid night and therefore he wanted to spend some good time with me at the airport. Before disconnecting he told me that he got my mobile no. from my younger brother, who lives in Calcutta.

It almost took two hours to reach at the airport and after parking my Car I rushed towards the departure zone of Terminal-3 of the Delhi International Airport. I was frantically looking for Raman at the departure lounge but could not see him. I was about to call him on his mobile when a very bulky, fatty and a very heavy statured person tapped on my back; when I turned my back, I was literally amazed, stunned and shocked to see Raman in this condition, posture, position and status. Oh my God, is he my old friend Raman, what happened to him, he has put on lot of weight, must be weighing 100-KG plus with excess fat on his face, neck, hands, legs and tummy. But his face was having very bright smile and his nose, eyes, lips and cheeks were shining in the bright red color. He was wearing Gucci platinum frame with very thick bifocal pair of power glasses, Rolex-datejust watch, Montblanc pen, Louis-Philippe shirt & pair of trousers, Carton shoe and was holding in his hands ipad-2, Galaxy notebook and Blackberry mobile phone. Besides he was also wearing big diamond ring and gold bangle in his right hand.

His Samsonite-briefcase and American-tourister suitcase was laying besides him on the Airport-trolley. He was holding two soft drink cans in his hands and after hugging he was still holding me in his hands, he was staring at me and also laughing uninterruptedly. Meanwhile, he offered me one can of soft drink. Raman wanted me to go with him at the nearby Bar for few hard drinks but I refused by saying that, I didn’t take hard drinks or beer; after lots of arguments, we finally settled for coffee shop at the airport lounge.

We both completed our graduation in the same year and thereafter started our professional career in two different companies. He went to a healthcare unit and joined an automobile sector in Calcutta. We both were very good friends but we were poles apart to each other from all angles, aspects and aspirations. We were having different views in life towards everything ranging from our ambition, belief, dreams, goal, habits, hobbies, likes, ideals, love, dislikes, tastes, thought process, target, views and value system. He never believed in destiny, luck, love and religion, whereas, my day used to start with morning prayers at Gurudwara and it used to conclude with the last prayer of the day in one of the temples. We were a group of four friends who were regular on these places of worship except Raman who never used to accompany us at these places.

His rationale for not doing that used to be: “Only coward, lethargic and weak persons visit such places and wait for the miracles to happen in their lives. Such temples are flooded with cowards, defeated, defaulters and pessimistic people who does not want to face the world with their own caliber, capabilities, grit, power and strength instead they prefer taking short cuts to achieve success in their lives hence they take shelter at such religious places for comfort, safety, security and sympathy. The destiny and religious formalities are meant for disabled, destitute, poor, sick and weaker segment/section of our society who lacks confidence, courage and conviction to face the world with their own terms and conditions.

My friend Raman got whatever he wanted in his life but against a very heavy price. And to achieve his pre-set goals and objectives he exercised all the formulae, modes, methods, power, tools, strategies and schemes which he acquired and learned during the journey of his life. He never got scared of anyone and did what he felt was right at that point in time. He had no regrets in his life, so far. He became an entrepreneur at the age of 32. He was running a Healthcare company with the overall strength of 150 employee and a group turnover of Rupees 250 crores plus, having branches in all metro and mini metro cities of India besides five overseas branches abroad. He has divorced his wife few years back and having only one son as a family, who has completed his MBA from Stanford University, California, USA. At present looking after overseas operations of his company based at New York City.

His Branch Head of North zone draws more salary and owns bigger car than me. He has built a big Bungalow in Calcutta besides a farm house in the outskirts of Calcutta, having all the big brand of cars which includes: Audi, BMW and Mercedes. He visits abroad almost every second month for business and merry-making. His wife, after separation, lives with her parents at London; she visits India once a year during winter season to meet her only son.

I am finding myself in an absolute mess and confused state of mind. For few seconds, I felt as if my Life is going out of my hands. I was standing at a cross road of my life where right or wrong, Good or bad, Holy or evil makes no impact, impression and relevance on my day to day affairs/activities, any more. I have seen many of my relatives, friends and well wishers doing extremely well in their personal and professional life and earning lots of money and having fun-filled lives; they do everything possible with the money power, they go to discothèque, keep many social friends, enjoy late-night parties and don’t mind making easy/fast money. But I have never done any of these activities in my life. Earlier I could not afford it and later when I became capable of buying such luxuries, my ideal, principles and value systems came in between and restrained me to step forward on that road with a very Big-NO.

During our long conversation at coffee shop, he asked me few very probing questions: “Whether I still believe in my ideals, principles, value system and living under same age old rules, orthodox views, keeping conservative approach and living disciplined life under pre-set rules and regulations. He even asked me about my religious activities and thoughts”. At the end, he also asked me few very personal questions: “Have I ever tried hard-drinks or drugs? How many social friends I have in my life and finally: How much wealth I have generated for myself and my family??

Although I could easily answer all his questions with facts and figures but I preferred to keep quiet for the time being. He had already declared me an emotional fool and categorically told me that I was unnecessarily carrying weight of middle class etiquettes on my head. I was hundred percent confident that he will again abuse me, laugh and shout at me after listening to my straight forward, frank and honest answers, explanations and views. But I wanted this discussion to end with a happy note because; I was not sure whether we will meet again. But in this process, he has definitely disturbed peace of my mind and had literally engulfed me with his so called philosophy, principal and views of his modern-life-style.

For the time being, I stopped thinking, looked around and evaluated his philosophy with an open-mind, more logically, practically and rationally and within few minutes, I came to the conclusion that every person is free to live his life the way he thinks right, belief and trust and I am nobody to put any condition or question-mark on the authenticity, legitimacy, sincerity and sanctity of their philosophy of life, per say.

Therefore, I took a deep breath and within seconds I came back to my normal-self and in original form with the help and assistance of my will power, inner voice, strength and blessings of my Lord. I firmly believe in ethics, ideals, middle-class-etiquettes, principles and value system which were so strong that it has pulled me out of this dilemma and severe crisis without much hassle, hurdle and problem. Otherwise, I would have been in a real mess and could have been standing at such a cross road in a fix, which route to follow. Moreover, neither I have the interest nor any inclination to think otherwise at that very moment, I am honest about it.

But deep down in my heart, I know that I have got much more than all the materialistic life that he has been leading, everything so elegant, costly show pieces, and a wealthy look to show off. But a person like me who is at peace with himself will know and only feel sorry and sympathize with him that all his life was spent amassing the wealth, which no doubt brings material comforts that life can offer but gradually spent in maintaining physical health. But the actual freedom, peace, salvation and true wealth is available within us. We have to simply start inner-journey in order to reach our destination. So that we can become the part and parcel of the Supreme-Power, where our existence becomes non-entity and with the blessings of the God Almighty, we amalgamate with the Supreme-power and get released from the cycle of birth and death forever, Amen!

With prayers

Gurcharan