Gateway to memories - page 6

Like a wizard he reached into a cauldron and focused at the planet of his choice. 'This cauldron is the gate to all my space travels. I want you to have a look at this planet to help you visualize. I call this planet Hōm, In this dimension you will notice all those individuals who excel in all fields of art, science and philosophy. Come my friend, let me show you here some of the best artists and my world’s best scientists'.

When I looked closely, I saw a city full of museums and laboratories. The people looked serious yet calm, sober yet joyous. This journey will be interesting, I told myself. I turned to him and said ‘I am ready to come’. He placed his palm near his heart and the other palm into the cauldron. And in an instant he disappeared. I looked around wondering will I be able to travel. Then I followed the steps carefully, first visualization. I could visualize all the parts of the city. Involuntarily my thoughts drifted to my family. I began to wonder if I am the same person that I used to be. How soon my life transformed! What am I doing in this dark room with a mad guy! Pictures of my sons rolled in front of my eyes. I placed my palm near my heart and the other hand in a cauldron mechanically. Something happened.

I saw myself couple of years younger than I was now, standing in a hospital room. My eldest son was three years old. He clutched me tightly. ‘Will amma be ok?’ he asked me. I carried him and consoled him. Doctors and mid-wives passed by several times. My son began to cry incessantly. Tension began to grip me. I began to pray for my wife. And then in an split second all pain was wiped out clean, my second son was born hale and healthy.

Before I knew anything I was back in the dark room.

The beginning of a itinerary - page 5

“Some creations, my friend leaves the created and the creator in a alluring enchantment.. There forms a bond between these conjoined entities – creator and creation. One cannot exist without the other. The satiety as a creator cannot be described in mere words. But I shall give a modest introduction. This universe of mine has exactly four hundred and thirty three dimensions. If in one dimension I exist today, in the next I may not be born yet or in another I might have passed on. The marvel being that all these dimensions exist in a unison. You may enter any dimension you like and feel perfectly at home. For traveling between these dimensions all you need is a strong will, visualization of the goal and approval. Let no more subterfuges disturb your mind. Would you like to accompany me in this space travel.” His words seemed to have hypnotized me and I dared not disagree him. In fact I willingly approved of everything he said. I was ready for this inter universe travel.

“please follow as I do, I shall guide you through this journey between the worlds. And you can decide who has been a better God!”

The creator and his creation - page 4

Mithun’s attainments seemed to pierce my conscience. Look at him, he lives for his goals. He lives to make his dreams come true. And me, I live for my family, I live to earn money and fame. My contribution to my field are limited. My life is a story similar to hundreds of others, but look at my great friend Mithun! He is the winner in the race of life. At that moment, like every other moment in my life mithun seemed to have a preponderate influence in my life.

I followed his pointed finger, to the cauldron. The cauldron exhibited a revolving image of what seemed like a miniature solar system. Planets revolving around their respective suns, satellites revolving around planets, shooting comets, heavenly bodies, stars, asteroids. It seemed to contain the whole cosmos! ‘My friend has invented a satellite which shows a miniature universe’ I said in a delighted voice. And I patted Mithun’s shoulder with great pride. ‘Yes my friend, you have shown our universe through this mirror of yours’. But Mithun retreated and laughed aloud. The twinkle in his eyes was replaced by a certain minatory gaze. And when he spoke, his voice seemed like a thunder. “this is my answer to your God, this is the universe I have created.” I couldn’t believe my ears. This can’t be true I said. He is mad, I told myself. He has taken this melee (confused conflict) with God a little too seriously.

‘Mithun my dearest friend, you have worked for ages in this laboratory. You need some fresh air now. Join me and my family for a while. I really think you need a holiday.’ I uttered these words as sympathetically as possible. My attempts to mollify him seemed futile. I was in a state of trepidation.

Cauldron of life - page 3

A few feet away from where I now stand was Mithun’s mansion. My heart filled with joy as I approached it. This was a re-union I had been waiting all my life. I couldn’t wait to see him. I calmed myself and took those few feet. My instincts alerted me at that moment. It forewarned me that these few feet would change my life forever.

The mansion was in a state of decay. Plaster peeled off from the walls. Wild weeds growing everywhere in the garden. Is this where mithun lives? Can anyone live at all here! I stepped upon huge anthills. Carefully I made my way to the door and knocked. I knocked again, no answer. The door wasn’t locked I realized. Sweat beads had formed over my forehead. I wiped them with a handkerchief and made my way inside.

The vestibule was poorly lit. the whole house seemed to be decaying out of poor maintainence. Weeds were beginning to grow inside the house. No sign of inhabitants till now. I moved slowly anticipating worse things. The hall contained a heap of books. Admist them a man who seemed lost at looking into a something that resembled a cauldron. The sound of my footsteps seemed to disturb him and he looked at my direction. For a fraction of a second he didn’t recognize me. then Mithun’s face lit up. He came closer and cried with excitement ‘Anand, you have come!’.

Inspite of all the changes around me, I knew this was Mithun, I knew the sound of my name when he uttered it. And I knew I was in troubled water.

I questioned him about the decrepitudeof his home. He replied it hadn’t annoyed him at all. He even added that he hardly left home. He cooked his food at a corner of the huge mansion. inspite of all the decay, I could sense joy in every cell off Mithun’s being. The lustrous face, the twinkle in his eye and the dignity of a king. I asked him about the significant reasons that led him to live such a sedentary life. He pointed his finger at the cauldron, the only source of light to the whole mansion. It seemed to be the only passion in his life.

The pendulum called time… (page 2)

Some children walking around the well shouted ‘Look at that old man, he is throwing stones into the well. Just like us!’ I made a gesture that frightened them away. They called me ‘old’, those rascals. I am over fifty years, but that’s not old by any standards! I wonder how Mithun would have aged! Does he wear spectacles with thick lens? does he wear dentures? Is he bald?

Both of us finished our schooling and entered college. We had to travel 8 miles from the village to college. Those days everyone rode in a cycle, so did we. A heavy breakfast would prepare us pertinently for the long day’s routine. Our academics went dexterously. By then we were the only two students who exhaustively used the library and lab facilities. I remember our first successful attempt at constructing a telescope. A pair of lens is all we bought from the optician spending a few annas. We were at the paddy field and gazed at the star lit sky through our telescope. Mithun cheerfully said, ‘look that’s the great bear constellation. Can you locate the bear’s paws!’. I was spell bound. ‘We are the greatest scientists’ he shouted. And then both of us cried ‘we are the greatest scientists!’ it echoed. I told him “ the great bear is linked to gods and goddesses, heavens and immortality” That day Mithun asked me a strange question ‘what do you think, Anand?’ ‘Is God a master to his slaves or is He a loving father to his children? I shrugged and said God is a loving father, always. And that He loves all his children. He laughed it away. And said emphatically ‘ If there was a God, there would have been no sorrows. Only love everywhere. There is no God. We are all slaves to someone who is more powerful. And some day I will become as powerful as He is’ The look in his eyes was strange. This is not Mithun, there was a kind of madness in his voice.

After that day, we never discussed God. We passed out jubilantly with Bachelor of Science. We opted for Master of science and later a doctorate in physics. Physics was more than what we had imagined. Physics was indeed the queen of sciences. There is a romance around the subject. Every idea, every concept so beautifully unfolds in the world of physics. And we continued to imbibe within us everything that was taught and more.

Time moved swiftly and our lives never crossed each other’s path after we finished post graduation. I got married. And moved to Calcutta, I got my doctorate in physics from Presidency college Calcutta. I live in Calcutta presently with my wife and two sons. Mithun, moved to Bangalore, he never married. He got his doctorate from the Indian institute of science. I only heard from him recently. He wanted me to visit him, here in Cochin.

My itinerant would finally end here, in Cochin.

A microcosm within a macrocosm- page 1

As I walked along coconut grooves circumambient my route I could trace back this road to my childhood. A vivid memory began to appear in my mind. I could see myself, as a six year old beside me was a familiar face. The focus of my mind turned to the face. Yes, I can see him now. it was the brilliant face of Mithun, my childhood buddy. Walking laboriously beside me was Mithun. Oiled hair combed back a checked shirt which contained around four colors, carrying a bag, talking in a meticulous manner. Ok now let me focus on what Mithun was saying on this Monday morning on the way to school. Focus focus focus.

I now hear a confident loud voice. We were talking about a recent discussion that was a revealation to both of us. It was a English class where a lesson was being taught about Galileo Galili. His famous Pisa tower experiment. On Sunday we had tried the experiment ourselves. We suspended two stones of approximately equal mass into the water. Waited to hear the first splash of water. SPLASH. Ok they created ripples at the same moment, we observed. Next we suspended a heavy stone and a lighter stone at the same instant. Both the objects traveled at the same speed. The only difference was the sound with which stones touched the water surface. SPLASH. Splash.

We were at the point of an argument and I had finished my say about the matter and now it was Mithun’s turn. I patiently listened to him reasoning out. What he spoke appealed to my mind, I silenced my doubts. What had begun as a bandinage became our leisure pursuit. It was in the eighth grade they taught us about gravity and it’s laws, several years after our experiment. By then we had mastered basics of classical Newtonian physics. And enthralled at studying various theories about the atomic nature.
I saw the well which had witnessed our first scientific feat. I picked up a few stones and threw them. Splash. SPLASH.